National Affairs
Centre asks States to stop all services in 75 districts with positive cases
The Health Ministry today stressed on the need to stop the chain of transmission of COVID 19.
- The Central government has asked state governments to issue directions to the 75 districts that have positive cases to stop all services except emergency services.
- These districts include Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Agra, Varanasi, Kolkata, Dehradun, Jaipur, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thiruvanthpuram, Kottayam. Erankulam, Bangaluru, Sri Nagar, Jammu , Faridabad, Ahemdabad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Delhi, Chandigarh, Vijayawada.
Union Cabinet approves AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres
The Union Cabinet approved Ayush Health and Wellness Centre under Ayushman Bharat Mission.
- Under the approval, an expenditure of Rs 3,395 crores have been allocated. The centres are to be constructed within a time span of five years. On the whole, GoI has planned to operationalise 12,500 centres.
- The centres will help achieve Universal Health Coverage. It will reduce the burden on secondary and tertiary health care facilities.
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International Affairs
Trump cancels in-person G7, summit to be held via video-conference
The US President Donald Trump has cancelled an in-person G7 Summit and is to conduct the summit through video conferencing. This is being done due to the increasing threat of Corona Virus.
- The G7 organization is made up of the largest economies of the world namely France, Canada, US, UK, Italy, Japan and Germany.
- They contribute to 45% of world’s GDP.
Website launched by SAARC Disaster Management Centre for COVID-19 information
The Disaster Management Centre of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has launched a website related to COVID-19. The website shows the number of coronavirus cases in the member states while updating the numbers regularly. The website is www.covid19-sdmc.org.
- The website shows that at least 960 coronavirus cases have been reported in the SAARC region.
State Affairs
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand abolishes quota in promotions for government employees
Uttarakhand government abolished reservation in promotion in the state government jobs. The Trivendra Rawat-government took the major decision on completion of three years of its tenure.
- Following the state government`s order, the employees from the General-OBC categories ended their strike.
About Uttarakhand;
- Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat.
- Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.
Jammu & Kashmir
J&K to implement dairy cooperative scheme to boost milk production
The Jammu and Kashmir government approved implementation of a scheme for dairy cooperative societies with the support of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
- The administrative council, headed by Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu, accorded sanction to the scheme that endeavours to boost milk production in the Union territory by empowering dairy cooperative societies with easy financial assistance.
Banking Affairs
RBI announces fresh purchase of Rs 30000 crore govt securities
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced additional purchase of government securities worth Rs 30,000 crore through open market operations (OMO) to boost liquidity.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced additional purchase of government securities worth Rs 30,000 crore through open market operations (OMO) to boost liquidity.
- The auctions would be conducted on March 24, 2020and March 30,2020
Star health unveils ‘Star novel coronavirus policy’ for corona victims
Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd, a company specializes in providing health insurance at low-cost rates to its customers, has launched ‘Star Novel Coronavirus Insurance Policy’.
- It provides coverage for hospitalized patients who test positive for the current pandemic COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus).
About Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd:
- Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Managing Director(MD)- Anand Roy
Ranks & Reports
India Ranks 144th, Finland tops: UN’s World Happiness Report 2020
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations released the World Happiness Report on 20th March, 2020.March 20 was designated as the World Happiness Day by the UN General Assembly in 2012.
- Finland is ranked as the world’s happiest nation for the third consecutive year.
- India, previously ranked at 140 dropped to 144.
- The World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.
Economy & Business News
SIDBI to launch a special train ‘Swavalamban express’ for new entrepreneurs
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has decided to launch a special train ‘Swavalamban Express’ on June 05, 2020, to empower budding entrepreneurs under its mission Swavalamban. It will construct an inter-connected small enterprise ecosystem that will include business aspirants, mentors, experts and experience at all.
About SIDBI:
- Headquarters – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
- Chairman and MD – Mohammad Mustafa.
Crisil lowers FY21 growth to 5.2% from 5.7%
Crisil downgraded India’s Gross Domestic Forecast (GDP) for fiscal 2021 to 5.2% from 5.7% due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Also, it is spreading rapidly in India causing adverse effects on domestic consumption, investment, and production and slowing the financial markets.
- As per Crisil, if the COVID 19 if not tackled by April-June 2020 globally then it may lead to a severe slowdown
About Crisil:
- Former Name– Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited
- Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Chairman– John Berisford
Appointments
IRDAI sets up 16-member panel on governance at insurers headed by Pravin Kutumbe
Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDAI) instituted a 16-member committee headed by Pravin Kutumbe to further strengthen its guidelines on corporate governance.
The committee consists of a head, six members from the insurance regulator besides members from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) along with other industry participants.
The committee has to submit report to IRDAI in three months.
About IRDAI:
- Chairman– Subhash C. Khuntia
- Headquarters- Hyderabad, Telangana
Obituaries
American actor-singer Kenny Rogers passes away
American actor-singer Kenny Rogers recently passed away at the age of 81. He was a three-time Grammy-winning singer. The singer was famous for various genres of his music albums including jazz, folk, country and pop.
- Some of his popular musical works includes ‘Lucille,’ ‘Lady’ and ‘Islands in the Stream’. He was celebrated as a Superstar by his fans during 1970’s and 80’s.
Important Days
World Meteorological Day observed on 23 March
The World Meteorological Day (WMD) is observed every year on 23 March to mark coming into force of Convention establishing World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 23 March 1950.
- The theme for WMD 2019 is “The Sun, the Earth and the Weather”.
- WMO has been celebrating World Meteorological Day since 1961 with a different theme selected for each year.
India celebrates “Shaheed Diwas” on 23 March
India celebrates “Shaheed Diwas” annually on 23 March to pay tribute to martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru. This day has a very important significance in the Indian freedom struggle.
- On this day, in India, Schools and colleges conducts various activities including poetry, speech or drama to pay tribute as well as to salute the revolutionaries who were not deterred even in the face of death.
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