Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 APRIL 2020

::NATIONAL::

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today greeted people on the occasion of World Heritage Day. In a tweet, Mr Naidu called upon people to make a strong resolve to protect and preserve our heritage, culture and all the monuments that stand as a testimony to our glorious past.
He said, people must remember the fact that heritage is the shared wealth of humanity. The Vice President said,there is a need to increase awareness on India’s rich heritage, traditions and vibrant culture among the people.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 1982 announced, 18th April as the World Heritage Day. It was approved by General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, with an aim to conserve and enhance awareness about the importance of cultural heritage and monuments.

The Union Health Ministry on Friday said the doubling rate of positive COVID-19 cases was now down to 6.2 days, compared to 3 before the nationwide lockdown that began on March 25.
India reported 1,076 new cases and 32 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 13,835 and 452 deaths. As many as 1,749 persons have been cured/discharged after recovery. The active cases now are 11,616.
However, according to reports from the State Health Departments, the total number of positive cases are 14,250, of which 11,853 are active cases. As many as 493 persons have died of the disease.The ICMR said there was no evidence suggesting that novel coronavirus is showing any signs of mutation.
The Ministry had shared forecasting tools with States/district administrators for better planning of infrastructure across COVID facilities based on the assessment of case loads. Cumulatively, 1,919 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals have been identified at both the Central and State levels, Mr.Agarwal(Health Ministry Joint Secretary) noted.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a slew of liquidity measures to ease financial stress and increase credit flows, while indicating that more room was likely to emerge for reduction in interest rates as inflation softens.
Among the measures announced was liquidity infusion of ₹1 lakh crore, of which ₹50,000 crore is exclusively for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), via banks.
The move was aimed at providing greater comfort to the States for undertaking containment and mitigation efforts, and to plan market borrowing programmes better, the RBI said. On April 1, the RBI increased the limit by 30%. The increased limit will be available till September 30, 2020.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said on Thursday the country could not support a general allocation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it might not be effective in easing COVID-19-driven financial pressures.
Ms.Sitharaman said that she also was concerned that such a major liquidity injection could produce potentially costly side-effects if countries used the funds for “extraneous” purposes.
Mrs Sitharaman also mentioned that as responsible citizens of the global community, India is supplying critical medicines to the needy countries and will continue to do so. She commended the speedy response and efficiency of the World Bank Group in rolling out the Fast Track COVID-19 Response Facility.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa exchanged views about the domestic, regional and global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed on phone, the steps being taken by their governments to protect the health of their people and to minimise economic impact.
Prime Minister Modi President assured President Ramaphosa that India will provide all possible support to South Africa for ensuring supplies of essential medicines during this challenging time.
He commended the proactive role being played by President Ramaphosa as the Chair of the African Union, for coordinating a continent-wide response to the pandemic.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute has developed PUSA decontamination tunnel. It was inaugurated on April 16, 2020 by the Union Minister ShriKailashChaudhary.
The Tunnel includes foot operated water dispenser and soap. The tunnel also provides fogging for about 20 seconds. Also, it sources Quaternary Ammonium Compounds that are used at concentration of 0.045%. The concentration amount has been fixed as recommended by the Health department.
These are compounds are often used as surfactants, disinfectant, antistatic agents or fabric softener. They also have antimicrobial activity. They are cationic detergents that are commonly used to remove organic materials.
They are commonly used in food service industries as sanitizing agents.They are effective till 100 degree Celsius. They work against fungi, viruses and amoeba by disrupting their cell membranes.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research coordinates agricultural research and education. In 2006, the institute developed vaccine for bird flu. Also, the ICAR scientists were the first to sequence pigeon pea genome.