24th March 2020 Current Affairs

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24th March 2020 CA
24th March 2020 CA

National Affairs

CBSE announces new Helpline numbers on COVID 19 safeguards for students

The Central Board of Secondary Education has announced new Tele Helpline numbers on Corona Virus Safeguards for Students. The facility will be available from 10 A.M. to 1.30 P.M. and 2.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M. from tomorrow to 31st of March until further announcement.

  • This helpline is meant primarily for students to make them aware on how to protect themselves and others by following guidelines, how to get on with studies at home and how to plan their days effectively.
  • Students can contact on numbers 9899991274,8826635511, 9717675196 and  9999814589 from 10 A.M. to 1.30 P.M. While from 2 P.M. to 5 P.M. students can contact on 9811892424, 9899032914, 9599678947, 7678455217 and 7210526621.

ICMR recommends use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Coronavirus

The national task force for COVID-19, constituted by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 for a high-risk population.

  • Hydroxychloroquine is generally used to treat malaria infections. The medication can be used with other medications to treat particular auto-immune diseases when other medications cannot be used for the treatment.

**Download Daily Current Affairs 2020 – Month Wise PDF**

State Affairs

Gujarat

Gujarat Police first in India to introduce taser guns

The Gujarat Police is now equipped with taser guns as a part of their modernization drive to ensure public safety and security. By introducing the taser guns as part of police weapons, Gujarat becomes the first state in India.

  • The taser guns (electrical weapon) use compressed nitrogen to fire, by sending electricity through attached wires, which disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

About Gujarat:

  • Chief Minister – Vijay Rupani
  • Governor – Acharya Dev Vrat

Madhya Pradesh:

For the fourth time, Shivraj Singh Chouhan becomes Madhya Pradesh CM

BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on March 23, 2020 at the Raj Bhavan in Bhopal. The oath was administered by Governor Lalji Tandon. This would be Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s fourth term as Chief Minister of the state.

  • He took over as new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh following the resignation of incumbent Kamal Nath.
  • Chouhan previously served as the general secretary and president of BJP’s Madhya Pradesh state unit.

Uttar Pradesh:

UP announces Rs 1,000 financial aid to 35 lakh labourers

The Uttar Pradesh government announced that around 35 lakh labourers in the state will get Rs 1,000 each as financial aid while free ration for one month will be provided to 1.65 crore construction workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.

  • Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials for immediate release of payment to MNREGS workers in the state and to make foodgrains available to the poor in cities and villages.
  • This payment will be sent directly to their accounts through direct bank transfers.

Summits & Conference

Coronavirus outbreak: India’s 1st AI summit ‘RAISE 2020’ postponed to October

Amid the growing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, the Indian government announced the postponement of the country’s 1st summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI), ‘RAISE 2020– Responsible Artificial intelligence (AI) for Social Empowerment’ to October 5-6, 2020.

  • It was to be conducted between April 11 & 12, 2020 in New Delhi by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

About MeitY:

  • Headquarter– New Delhi
  • Union Minister– Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

Banking Affairs

SBI launches “Covid-19 Emergency Credit Line”

The State Bank of India has launched an additional liquidity facility “Covid-19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL)” to meet any liquidity mismatch for its borrowers in order to tide over the current crisis situation.

With CECL, SBI will facilitate funds up to Rs 200 crore which will be available till June 30, 2020. The facility would be available for all standard accounts which have not been classified as Special Mention Accounts (SMA) 1 or 2 as on March 16, 2020.

About SBI:

  • Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar;
  • Headquarters: Mumbai;
  • Founded : 1 July 1955.

Ranks & Index

India ranks 120th in Index of Economic Freedom

The latest Index of Economic Freedom ranks India 120th globally and 25th among 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, clubbing the country with BRIC nations in the “mostly unfree” category.

  • Hong Kong and Singapore finished first and second in the rankings for the 20th straight year.
  • India scored 55.7 points on a scale of 0 to 100, its highest ever.

 Appointments

Justice Bhushan P Dharmadhikari as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari appointed Justice Bhushan P Dharmadhikari as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. He was sworn in at Raj Bhavan.

  • President of India, Ram Nath Kovind issued a notification for appointing him as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

About Maharashtra:

  • Capital– Mumbai
  • Chief Minister– Uddhav Thackeray
  • Governor– Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Awards & Honors

2020 Abel Prize winners announced

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the 2020 Abel Prize jointly to Hillel Furstenberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Gregory Margulis, Yale University, ‘for pioneering the use of methods from probability and dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics’.

  • They share the prize & the amount of Norwegian Krone (NOK) 7.5 Million (USD 8.3400).
  • Based on the recommendations of the Abel Committee, which consists of five internationally recognized mathematicians, the Abel Laureates is chosen.

About Norway:

  • Capital– Oslo
  • Prime Minister (PM)– Erna Solberg
  • Currency– Norwegian Krone

Books & Authors

A book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Great tale of expectations’ released

A book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Great Tale of Expectations’ penned by senior journalist & author Tavleen Singh has been released.

  • The book was published by HarperCollins India, narrates the first support for Modi the candidate by the author, once an excellent supporter of the government.

Sports Affairs

Canada becomes first country to withdraw from 2020 Tokyo Olympic

The 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have been thrown into further doubt after Canada became the first major country to withdraw.

  • Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has admitted for the first time that the games could be postponed.
  • The International Olympic Committee is expected to decide the fate of the games in four weeks’ time.
  • The games are currently due to begin on 24th July.

Obituary

Veteran director M.R. Viswanthan passes away

Veteran director Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanthan, popularly known as Visu in the Tamil film industry has passed away. He was an actor, director and writer who also hosted live-debates on television.

  • He started his career as an assistant under the legendary filmmaker K Balachander.

Important Days

24 March: World Tuberculosis Day

The World Tuberculosis (TB) Day was observed across the globe on March 24, 2020 with an aim to raise public awareness about the upsetting health and economic consequences of tuberculosis and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

  • The theme of World TB Day 2020: ‘It’s time’.

About WHO:

  • Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Director-General – Tedros Adhanom

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