Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 14 MAY 2020

::NATIONAL::

President,LokSabha speaker meet on 68th anniversary of first sitting of Parliament

On the occasion of 68th year of the first sittings of Parliament, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, LokSabha Speaker Om Birla., Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi and Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V. Muraleedharan today visited the historic Central Hall of Parliament House and Chambers of LokSabha and RajyaSabha.
On the occasion, Mr Naidu and Mr Birla discussed about various memories and experiences of the First Sittings of the two Houses. On 13 May 1952, both Houses of Parliament, LokSabha and RajyaSabha, held their first sittings after Independence.

Study finds requests for facebook user date higher from India

The number of user data requests from the Government of India to Facebook increased 28% from July to December 2019 at 26,698 queries for 39,664 users or accounts — the second highest globally, according to a latest Transparency Report by the U.S.-based social media network.
In the same period in 2018, the number of such requests was 20,805 for 27,410 users or accounts.The number for the first half of 2019 was 22,684 for 33,324 users or accounts. Of the 26,698 queries, Facebook said some data was produced in 57% cases.
The total duration of these disruptions affecting Facebook services was 36 weeks, 6 days and 9 hours.Other countries that were a part of the list were Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mauritania, Myanmar, Sudan and Swaziland.

::ECONOMY::.

Government announces first tranche of fiscal stimulus package

Government has announced the first tranche of stimulus packages, under the Atma-Nirbhar Bharat Yojana. Prime Minister NarendraModi had on Tuesday made a clarion call of making India self-reliant and had announced the Atma-Nirbhar BharatYojana.
Addressing mediapersons yesterday, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman gave details regarding these financial packages equaling to 10 per cent of the national GDP and amounting to 20 lakh crore rupees. She said the financial stimulus will cater to various sections of the society including MSMEs, labourers, middle class and Industries.
Ms.Sitharaman announced 15 special financial packages of 6 lakh 40 thousand crore rupees benefitting a wide array of sectors including MSMEs, Discoms, Real Estate, Middle Class, Tax Payers and others.
Study finds resumption of work after intermittent lockdown might turn risky
A staggered resumption of work following the end of the nationwide lockdown may reduce peak hospitalisations due to COVID-19 to almost 50% as compared with a total resumption that would force authorities to impose intermittent lockdowns to contain surges in the incidence of the disease, a model built by a group of scientists estimates.
They find that the best way to return to work after the lockdown is to have 33% of workers in any organisation work for say, two days. The second 33% should take over on the third day, and the third set replaces the second of the fifth day.
This cycle, which they call a staggered workforce or a periodic asynchronous lockdown, is preferable to a scenario where 100% of the workforce works for some days followed by a second lock down and so on (periodic synchronous lockdown).

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::INTERNATIONAL::

WHO warns of reopening of economies without proper contact tracing risky

A top world health official has warned that countries are essentially driving blind in reopening their economies without setting up strong contact tracing to beat back flare-ups of the coronavirus.
The warning came as France and Belgium emerged from lockdowns, the Netherlands sent children back to school, and a number of US states continued to lift their business restrictions.
Fears of infection spikes in places that have loosened up have been borne out in recent days in Germany, where new clusters were linked to three slaughterhouses; in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the crisis started; and in South Korea, where one nightclub customer was linked to 85 new cases.
Authorities have warned that the scourge could come back with a vengeance without widespread testing and tracing of infected people's contacts.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Two more products get added to GI tag

Jharkhand’s SohraiKhovar painting and Telangana’sTeliaRumal were given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag on Tuesday by the Geographical Indications Registry headquartered in Chennai.
The SohraiKhovar painting is primarily being practised only in the district of Hazaribagh. However, in recent years, for promotional purposes, it has been seen in other parts of Jharkhand.
Traditionally painted on the walls of mud houses, they are now seen on other surfaces, too. The style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.
Details provided in the application filed with the Geographical Indications Registry shows that TeliaRumal can only be created using the traditional handloom process and not by any other mechanical means as otherwise, the very quality of the Rumal would be lost.
During the Nizam’s dynasty, Puttapaka, a small, backward village of the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh had about 20 families engaged in handloom weaving, who were patronised by rich Muslim families and the Nizam rulers.
The officers working in the court of the Nizam would wear the ChitukiTeliaRumal as a symbolic representation of status. TeliaRumals are offered at the dargah of Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, with some devotees offering 50 or even 100 cloths.