Daily updates May 30 2020

State News

1. U'khand govt starts "Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana" for returnee migrants

Uttarakhand chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat has inaugurated the "Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana" for returnee migrants. The project aims at giving self-employment opportunities to youth and a boost to reverse migration, especially entrepreneurs returning to Uttarakhand and encourage skilled and unskilled artisans, handicrafts and unemployed youths to start their own business. The scheme will offer credit facility through nationalised banks, scheduled commercial banks and cooperative banks.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Uttarakhand state was formed: 9th November 2000
• Capital of Uttarakhand: Dehradun.
• Governor of Uttarakhand: Baby Rani Maurya.

2. MP govt starts ‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme for skilled workers

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced the launch of the ‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme. This scheme would help to secure employment for skilled workers who have returned to the state in the COVID-19 situation. The government of Madhya Pradesh launched a portal ‘MP Rojgar Setu Portal’ for the unemployed migrants to register and find jobs in the field related to their skills.

Appointments

3. Venkataramani Sumantran becomes new independent director of Indigo

Venkataramani Sumantran has been appointed the independent director of airline company IndiGo. He presently served as the chairman and managing director of Chennai-based Celeris Technologies. He will hold the post for the next five years.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Indigo Airlines Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana.
• Indigo Airlines Established: 2006.

Economy

4. India’s GDP growth slows to 11-year low of 4.2%

National Statistical Office, under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has estimated India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.2 per cent in 2019-20 as compared to 6.1 per cent expansion in 2018-19, the slowest growth in GDP in 11 years. The earlier estimate by various arms of the government was 5 per cent growth in ‘19-20.

Defence News

5. Missile park "Agneeprastha" to be set up at INS Kalinga

The foundation stone for a missile park "Agneeprastha" was laid at INS Kalinga, Naval base in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The park ''Agneeprastha''once completed will be dedicated to all the officers, sailors and support staff of INS Kalinga, who has served in this premier op-support Base of the ENC since its establishment in 1981. A 2-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant was also commissioned at INS Kalinga by Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain. It is the largest plant in the Eastern Naval Command and has an estimated life of 25 years.

Summits & Conferences

6. Russia hosts BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities meet

The meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was held on 29 May. The meeting was hosted by the Federal Tax Service of Russia, which currently holds the BRICS Presidency, to discuss the response of BRICS Tax Authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore potential areas of cooperation in tax matters.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Members of the BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Sports

7. SAI's extends Sandip Pradhan tenure as DG for 2 year

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has extended the tenure of Sandip Pradhan as Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) by two years. The extended tenure will come into effect from 6 June 2020. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for extension.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• Sports Authority of India Headquarters: Delhi.
• Sports Authority of India Founded: 25 January 1984.

8. WADA hands 4 year bans to Kiranjeet Kaur for doping

India's long-distance runner, Kiranjeet Kaur has been handed a four-year ban by World Athletics’ anti-doping body for testing positive for a banned substance (Enobosarm). She will be stripped of the gold medal she won at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K. Her ban period begins from December 15 (2019), the date of in-competition sample collection. She was provisionally suspended by World Athletics on February 26.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams:

• President of WADA: Sir Craig Reedie; Headquarters: Montreal, Canada.
• Founded: 10 November 1999.

Important Days

9. International Everest Day: 29th May

International Everest Day is being observed on 29th May. Nepalese Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary had climbed the Mt. Everest on this day (29th May) in 1953, as the first humans to achieve the feat. Nepal decided to observe the day as International Everest Day since 2008 when the legendary climber Hillary passed away.

Obituaries

10. Rajya Sabha member M.P. Veerendra Kumar passes away

Rajya Sabha (RS) MP from Kerala and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) Leader, writer and journalist, M.P. Veerendra Kumar passed away. He was born on July 22, 1936, at Kalpetta, Wayanad district, Kerala. He was a recipient of the Sahitya Academy award.

11. Veteran lyricist Yogesh Gaur passes away

Veteran lyricist Yogesh Gaur passed away. He wrote the lyrics of hit songs “Kahin duur jab din dhal jaye” and “Zindagi kaisi hai paheli” that defined the superhit film Anand (1971). He got his first break as a lyricist with the film Sakhi Robin (1962), in which he wrote six songs. He also wrote songs for films like Chhoti Si Baat (1976), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Manzil (1979), Rajnigandha (1974) and many more.

12. Renowned astrologer Bejan Daruwalla passes away

Renowned astrologer, Bejan Daruwalla passed away. His name figured among the 100 great astrologers of the last 1,000 years in ‘The Millennium Book of Prophecy’, published by Harper Collins. His astrological predictions were keenly followed by millions of people in the country.

Corona lockdown 5 in India

New Delhi:

The centre on Saturday extended the coronavirus lockdown till June 30, but announced several relaxations in non-containment areas, including allowing malls, restaurants and religious places from June 8. Cinema halls, schools and international flights, however, will be reopened only after an assessment, the home ministry said in new guidelines that focussed on spurring economic activities stalled because of the lockdown. It also said there will be no restriction on movement of goods and people. If any state wants to regulate movement, it will have to publicise its decision in advance.

Here are 10 points on coronavirus lockdown5:

1. Face Coverings: Wearing of face cover is compulsory in public places; in workplaces; and during transport.
2. Social distancing: Individuals must maintain a distance of 6 feet in public places. Shops will ensure physical distancing among customers and will not allow more than five persons at one time.
3. Gatherings: Large public gatherings/congregations continue to be prohibited. Marriage related guidelines: Number of guests not to exceed 50. Funeral/last rites related gatherings: Number of persons not to exceed 50.
4. Spitting in public places will be punishable with fine, as may be prescribed by the state/UT local authority in accordance with its laws, rules or regulations.
5. Consumption of liquor, paan, gutka, tobacco in public places prohibited.
6. Work from home: As far as possible, the practise of WFH should be followed.
7. Staggering of work/business hours should be followed in offices
8. Screening and hygiene: Provision for thermal scanning, hand wash and santitizer will be made at all entry and exit points and common areas
9. Frequent sanitization of entire workplace, common facilities and all points which human contact e.g door handles etc... will be ensured, including between shifts.
10. Social distancing: All persons in charge of work places will ensure adequate distance between workers, adequate gaps between shifts, staggering the lunch breaks of staff etc.

Corona updates 23 May 2020

6,654 Coronavirus Cases In 24 Hours, Biggest Single-Day Spike In India: 10 Points

New Delhi:

India recorded the biggest single-day jump in the number of coronavirus cases with 6,654 new patients in the last 24 hours that takes the total to 1,25,101 cases, the Union Health Ministry said today. The country has registered 3,720 deaths linked to COVID-19 so far. Of these, 137 patients died in the last 24 hours. A total of 51,784 patients have recovered in India. Nearly 25,000 cases have been reported in the last four days, government data shows, after restrictions were eased in most parts of the country as the fourth phase of the lockdown began. Globally, India is 13th on the list of affected countries.

Here are top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:

1. Over the last two months, India has increased its testing capacity by 100 times - from 1,000 tests per day in March to one lakh tests daily tests this month.
2. In terms of tests per million of its population, India, (around 2,000 per million), ranks behind Spain (around 65,000), the United States and Germany (both around 38,000) and France (around 21,000).
3. Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours with 2,940 new patients, followed by 784 cases in Tamil Nadu. Both the states are the worst hit in India by the pandemic. While Maharashtra has recorded over 44,000 cases so far, Tamil Nadu has reported over 14,000 patients.
4. Delhi recorded 660 new patients on Friday as the number of containment zones - where restrictions are in place to contain the illness - rose from 79 to 92 in a single day. The national capital has the fourth highest number of cases in the country (12,319).
5. Amid spurt in the number of cases, Tamil Nadu on Friday appealed to the centre to rethink its decision to resume flights from Monday.
6. On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that passengers disembarking from short-haul domestic flights need not go into quarantine. Several states, including Karnataka, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, have now announced a mandatory quarantine for the passengers entering the state by planes.
7. Visa and travel restrictions imposed during the coronavirus lockdown have been relaxed for certain categories of Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) stranded abroad and wishing to return to India, the Home Ministry said on Friday afternoon.
8. Fewer than eight people per lakh of population in India have been infected, the Health Ministry said Wednesday, comparing it to the global average of 62 people per lakh. The government also said India's per lakh mortality rate (0.24) was better than the global average of 4.2 per lakh. It also pointed to a steady increase in recovery rate from 7.1 per cent in March to 40.31 per cent on Thursday.
9. Worldwide, more than 53 lakh people have been affected due to coronavirus, nearly 3,40,000 have died. Brazil overtook Russia Friday as the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections worldwide behind the United States, which is the epicentre of the pandemic.
10. China on Saturday reported zero new coronavirus infections for the first time since it started reporting data in January. In December, coronavirus had originated in China's Wuhan city.