Top ranking states in Public Affairs Index 2020 : Highlights

The state on the southwestern Malabar Coast of India, Kerala has been named as the best-governed state in the country according to the Public Affairs Index 2020. Kerala was followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the large state category. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar ended at the bottom in the list.

Goa ranked first in the small state category followed by Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh has been named as the best governed union territory followed by Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

Public Affairs Index (PAI) is an annual report which ranks the States of India from the lens of governance. This report is released by Delhi based non profit organization Public Affairs Centre headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Kasturirangan.  

Major Highlights of Public Affairs Index-2020

Large State category

• Top 3 :
1. Kerala
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Andhra Pradesh  
• Bottom 3 :
1. Uttar Pradesh
2. Odisha
3. Bihar

Small State category

• Top 3 :
  
1. Goa
2. Meghalaya
3. Himachal Pradesh.
• Bottom 3 :
1. Manipur
2. Delhi
3. Uttarakhand

Union Territories Category :

• Top 3 :
1. Chandigarh
2. Puducherry
3. Lakshadwee
• Bottom 3 :
1. Dadar and Nagar Haveli
2. Andaman
3. Jammu and Kashmir 

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Meet the new Prime Minister of Japan : Yoshihide Suga

The outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe along with his cabinet has resigned today. This  makes the way for his successor and Japanese ruling party's new president Yoshihide Suga as Japan's next Prime Minister.

The 71-year-old Suga, known as Abe’s trusted aide, a longtime aide and chief cabinet secretary under Abe, is a self made politician. He is son of a strawberry farmer in the northern prefecture of Akita. Suga has won a landslide victory yesterday, to take over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He pledged to carry on many of Abe's programs, including his signature "Abenomics" economic strategy. 

Suga has so far served in several key political roles, including most recently as chief cabinet secretary. He has also effectively been the face of Abe’s government, serving as its top spokesman and defending decisions in daily press conferences.  With this, Suga becomes the 1st new prime minister of the Reiwa era.

Former foreign minister Fumio Kishida and former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba were the other two candidates running for the Prime Minister post.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister (7 years and 266 days), announced last month that he was stepping down due to health issues.

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Govt Restructures the Railway Board : VK Yadav is 1st CEO in Rail history

The union cabinet took a path-breaking decision by approving organizational restructuring of the 114-year-old Railway Board, making it's strength from 8 to 5. The govt changed the designations of the Railway Board Members appointing its first Chief executive officer (CEO) in history. There will be 4 other members, who will be incharge of — infrastructure, rolling stock, finance and operations and business development. 3 apex level posts -- member (staff), member (engineering) and member (materials management) have been surrendered and the post of member (rolling stock)  have been utilised for creation of the post of director general (HR) in apex grade as per the cabinet’s decision.

The govt appointed the current chairman of the Railway Board Vinod Kumar Yadav (VK Yadav) as the 1st ever CEO of Railway board. The Chairman and CEO will be the cadre controlling officer responsible for human resources with assistance from a DG (HR).

Pradeep Kumar, who was Member (Signalling and Telecom) has been appointed as the new Member (Infrastructure), heading assets like tracks and land. Member Traffic PS Mishra has been redesignated as Member (Operations and Business Development), while Member (Traction) Rajesh Tiwari will be Member (Traction and Rolling Stock) after the current incumbent PC Sharma retires end of the month. As is the custom, Tiwari has been made an Officer on Special Duty in the Board. Manjula Rangarajan, who is Financial Commissioner, will be Member (Finance). n appointed Member, Finance.

As the part of restructuring, the Cabinet had also allowed merger of eight railway-related wings into a single central service called the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). The Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) will be renamed the Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS).

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Meet the new Chairman of SBI : Dinesh Kumar Khara

The present Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), Mr. Rajnish Kumar is going to retire on 7th October 2020. Earlier, there were speculations that he is going to get an extension. But it is confirmed that Dinesh Kumar Khara is going to take the control of India's largest lender.

The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) today recommended Mr Khara as the next Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) after interviewing four managing directors of SBI. Challa Sreenivasulu Setty has also gave tough competition but the interviewers headed by former union personnel secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma has recommended Khara as the first choice candidate to succeed Rajnish Kumar as the bank's chariman.

Mr Khara, who turned 59 yesterday, is currently working as the managing director of the Global Banking and Subsidiaries (GB&S) wing of SBI and supervises the businesses of non-banking subsidiaries of the bank. Mr Khara, 56, did his Masters in Business Administration from FMS, New Delhi. He joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1984. He played a major role in merging SBI with its five associate banks and the Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

A final decision in this regard will be taken by the appointments committee of cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.   The current chairman of the SBI Rajnish Kumar took over as the SBI Chariman in 2017, and replaced Arundhati Bhattacharya.

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Full List of National Sports Awardees 2020 (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Dronacharya, Arjuna Awards)

The Sports Ministry today announced the winners of National Sports Awards for the year 2020. These awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. India's vice-captain and opening batsman Rohit Sharma will be receiving India's highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award along with Vinesh Phogat (Asian Games gold medalist), Manika Batra (table tennis champion), Rani Rampal (India hockey women's captain) and Mariappan Thangavelu (Paralympic gold medalist).  Rohit had a sensational run in the year 2019 - where he became the first batsman ever to score five centuries in an ODI World Cup. Before Rohit, only 3 Indian cricketers - Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have received this highest sporting honour. Rani Rampal, who will be honoring with Khel Ratna will be the 1st Women's Hockey player and only the 3rd player of hockey after Dhanraj Pillay and Sardar Singh to receive the award. These five sportspersons will receive a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Apart from these, 27 sportspersons will be conferred with Arjuna Award along with cricketer Ishant Sharma, women Cricketer Deepti Sharma, Archer Atanu Das and Shooter Manu Bhasker. 

These awards were finalized by a Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Mukundakam Sharma (former Judge of Supreme Court of India) and other members comprising of eminent sports persons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administration, etc. The awardees will receive their awards from the President Ramnath Kovind of India at a specially organized function through virtual mode from Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th August, 2020 (National Sports Day). Here is the compete winners list of National Sports Awards 2020.

Latest List of 2020 National Sports Awards Winners

RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD Winners

• Rohit Sharma (Cricket)
• Mariyappan Thangavelu (Para Athletics)
• Manika Batra (Table Tennis)
• Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling)
• Rani Rampal (Hockey)

DRONACHARYA AWARD 2020 Winners

 Life- Time Category

• Dharmendra Tiwary (Archery)  
• Purushotham Rai (Athletics) 
• Shiv Singh (Boxing)  
• Romesh Pathania (Hockey)  
• Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi)  
• Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Para Powerlifting)  
• Naresh Kumar (Tennis) 
• Om Parkash Dahiya (Wrestling)    

Regular Category 

• Jude Felix Sebastian (Hockey)
• Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb)
• Jaspal Rana (Shooting)
• Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu)
• Gaurav KhannaPara (Badminton) 

ARJUNA AWARDEES 2020

1. Atanu Das (Archery)
2. Shiva Keshavan (Luge)
3. Dutee Chand (Athletics)
4. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (Badminton)
5. Chirag Shetty (Badminton)
6. Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi (Basketball)
7. Ishant Sharma (Cricket)
8. Deepti Sharma (Cricket)
9. Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing)
10. Manish Kaushik (Boxing)
11. Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian)
12. Sandhesh Jhingan (Football)
13. Aditi Ashok (Golf)
14. Akashdeep Singh (Hockey)
15. Deepika Thakur (Hockey)
16. Deepak Niwas Hooda (Kabaddi)
17. Sarika Kale (Kho-kho)
18. Suyash Jadhav (Para-Swimming)
19. Manish narwal (Para-Shooting)
20. Sandeep Chaudhary (Para-Athletics)
21. Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting)
22. Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
23. Sanil Shetty (Table-Tennis)
24. Divij Sharan (Tennis)
25. Divya Kakran (Wrestling)
26. Rahul Aware (Wrestling)
27. Dattu Bhokanal (Rowing)

DHYAN CHAND AWARDS WINNERS 2020.  

• Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletic)
• Jincy Philips (Athletic)
• Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (Badminton)
• Trupti Murgunde (Badminton)
• N. Usha (Boxing)
• Lakha Singh (Boxing)
• Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu (Football)
• Ajit Singh (Hockey)
• Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi)
• J. Ranjith KumarPara  (Athletics)
• Satyaprakash TiwariPara (Badminton)
• Manjeet Singh (Rowing)
• Late Sachin Nag (Swimming)
• Nandan P Bal (Tennis)
• Netarpal Hooda (Wrestling)

TENZING NORGAY NATIONAL ADVENTURE AWARDS 2019 Winners

• Anita Devi (Land Adventure)
• Col. Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure)
• Taka Tamut (Land Adventure)
• Narender Singh (Land Adventure)
• Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure)
• Satendra Singh (Water Adventure)
• Gajanand Yadava (Air Adventure)
• Late Magan Bissa (Life Time Achievement)

MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD (MAKA) TROPHY

• Panjab University, Chandigarh

RASHTRIYA KHEL PROTSAHAN PURUSKAR 2020

• Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent
• Lakshya Institute
• Army Sports Institute
• Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd
• Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures
• Air Force Sports Control Board
• Sports for Development 
• International Institute of Sports Management (IISM)

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Highlights of Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011

Hi I am Sarath Chandra. Here I am sharing highlights of Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011, which is very important for competitive exams. The Socio Economic and Cast Census 2011 or simply SECC 2011 is a study of socio economic status of rural and urban households and allows ranking of households based on predefined parameters. The SECC 2011 has 3 census components which were conducted by three separate authorities but under the overall coordination of Department of Rural Development in the Government of India. 

• The Census in Rural Areas has been conducted by the Department of Rural Development (DoRD). 
• The Census in Urban areas is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA). 
• The Caste Census is under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs: Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner of India.

The Ministry of Rural Development commenced the Socio-Economic Caste Census-2011 on 29th June 2011 through a comprehensive door to door enumeration across the country. Here are the major highlights of SECC 2011 in competitive exam point of view. Happy Reading :)

Important Highlights of Socio-Economic and Caste census (SECC) 2011:

• SECC 2011 is unique paperless census
• This is the first caste census done in independent India
• The last caste that happen in India is 1932
• Total households in the country - 24.39 crore
• The total households in villages - 17.91 crore
• How many crore households are considered as deprived in rural area - 10.69 crore
• How many families living in villages belong to SC/ST categories - 21.53% or 3.86 crore
• Highest number of SC population  - panjab(36.74%)
• Highest number of ST population - Mizoram(98.79)
• Highest mobile penetration state in rural areas - UttaraPradesh
• Lowest mobile Penetration state in rural areas - Chattisgarh
• How many rural household earn below 5000 rupees month - 13.34 cr
• How many rural household earn 10000 and more - 1.48 cr
• Which state has highest number of manual scavenger  - Tripura
• Which state has zero manual scavenger  - Delhi
• How much percent of rural households in the country pay income tax  - 4.58%
• How many households in rural areas are landless - 5.37 crore or 29.97%
• In which state landness household is higher - Kerala
• Which states with the lowest rates of landlessness  - J &K and Himachal Pradesh
• How many families in villages that live in houses of one room with ‘kaccha’ walls and roof - 2.37 crore or 13.25%
• How many house holds in rural areas has land line phone - 17.85 lak or 1%
• How many household having mobile phone in villages - 12.24 cr or 68.35%
• How many illiterate number of people in rural areas - 3.1 cr or 17.31%
• How many rural household having refrigerator  - 1.97 cr or 11.04%
• How many rural household paying income tax in India - 6%
• How many rural people have considered deprived or poor - 8.96 cr
• No adult member in household between age 18 and 59 in rural areas  - 65.15 lac or 3.64%
• Female headed household with no adult male member between 16 and 59 in rural areas  - 68.96 lac or 3.85%
• Member with no other able bodied adult member  - 7.16 lac or 040%
• Households with no literate adult above age 25 years in areas  - 4.21 cr or 23.52%
• How many rural household with one salaried member - 2.50 cr
• Average size of a rural Indian household  - 4.93
• Highest size of a rural Indian household  - 6.28 ---------Uttara Pradesh
• Lowest size of a rural Indian household  - 3.86 ----Andhra pradesh
• How many percent of trans gender in rural population  - 0.1%
• Highest rural illiterate  - Rajasthan
• Lowest rural illiterate  - Kerala
• The percentage of Scheduled Caste (SC) households paying income tax  - 3.49%
• Scheduled Tribe (ST) tax-paying rural households   - 3.34%
• Manual casual labour in rural areas - 9.16 cr
• Cultivation in rural areas - 5.39cr

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Govt launches PM SVANIDHI scheme to provide affordable loan to Street Vendors

To provide affordable loan to street vendors, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry of Indian Government today announced a new Micro-Credit Facility Scheme titled PM SVANIDHI. It is an acronym for Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi. The scheme is aimed at enabling the street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to COVID-19 lockdown. The scheme has been launched in pursuance of the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month. Street vendors play significant role in ensuring availability of the goods and services at affordable rates at the door-step of the city dwellers.

The scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh street vendors, who had been vending on or before 24th March this year, in urban areas. The duration of the scheme is till March 2022. The street vendors belonging to the surrounding peri-urban or rural areas are being included as beneficiaries under the urban livelihoods programme for the first time.

With PM SVANIDHI, the vendors can avail a working capital loan of upto 10,000 rupees, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. On timely and early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy at the rate of seven per cent per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on six monthly basis.

If the vendor will repays the instalments in time or earlier, they will develop his credible credit score that makes him eligible for higher amount of term loan to 20 thousand rupees and so on. Urban Local Bodies will play pivotal role in the implementation of the scheme. The lending institutions under the Scheme include Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, NBFCs, Micro Finance institutions and Self Help Group banks.

In order to ensure fast implementation of the scheme with transparency, a digital platform with web portal and mobile app is being developed to administer the scheme with end-to-end solution. The IT platform will also help in integrating the vendors into the formal financial system.

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RBI cuts Repo Rate by 40 basis points to 4% : Highlights

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das has cut the Repo rate by 40 basis points to 4% from 4.40%.  Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI. RBI last reduced the repo rate by 75 bps on 22nd March 2020 as the lockdown started. The Reverse repo rate is now at 3.35% and the Bank rate stands reduced to 4.25%. The MPC was forced to meet ahead of its 3-5 June scheduled meeting as liquidity continued to be tight in the money market, despite the central banks' previous steps of cutting interest rates and various policy measures. Here are the major highlights of Today's RBI Governor Press Conference.

• Repo rate cut by 40 basis points
• Reverse Repo gets adjusted to 3.35 percent.
• Loan moratorium extended for 3 months
  
• Headline inflation could stay firm in first half of 2020, but soften thereafter. If inflation trajectory evolves as expected, space will open up for more rate cuts.
• India GDP growth in 2020-21 is estimated to remain in negative territory.
• Regulatory measures to support exports, imports, states.
• Term loan moratorium extension for another three months till August 31.
• Accumulated interest for moratorium period can be converted into a term loan. It does not have to be repaid immediately after moratorium ends
• Group exposure limit for lenders increased to 30 percent from 25 percent
• Note : 1 bps is one hundredth of a percentage point.

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Atmanirbhar Bharat : Indian Govt's measures to support Indian Economy against COVID-19 with Rs 20 lakh crore package

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday announced a Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crores - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP amid the coronavirus pandemic. He gave a clarion call for आत्मनिर्भर भारत अभियान or Self-Reliant India Movement.  He also outlined 5 pillars of Aatmanirbhar Bharat :

1. Economy
2. Infrastructure
3. System
4. Vibrant Demography 
5. Demand

During the press conference today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the definition of MSMEs has been revised. Investment limit has been revised upwards and additional criteria of turnover has been introduced. Further, the distinction between manufacturing and service sector has been eliminated.

The investment limit of ₹25 lakh for micro units has been increased to ₹1 crore. To provide more funds at the disposal of taxpayers, the Government has also reduced TDS rates for non-salaried payments and TCS rates by 25% till March 31, 2021.  Due date of all income tax returns for the Financial Year 2019-20 will be extended from July 31, 2020 and October 31, 2020 to November 30, 2020. Furthermore, tax audit getting barred on September 30, 2020 has been extended to October 31, 2020. Date of those assessments getting barred on March 31, 2021 will be extended to September 30, 2021. 

Sitharaman announced a Special Liquidity Scheme worth ₹30,000 crore for NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs as they have been struggling to raise capital amid COVID-19. Here are some important measures taken by government for relief and credit support related to businesses, especially MSMEs to support Indian Economy’s fight against COVID-19. 

• Due Dates for various tax relatedcompliances extended
• EPF Contribution to be reduced for Employers and Employees for 3 months to 10% from 12% for all establishments covered by EPFO for next 3 months
• Extending the Employees Provident Fund Support for business and organised workers for another 3 months for salary months of June, July and August 2020
• New Definition of MSME and other Measures for MSME
• No Global tenders for Government tenders of uptoRs 200 crore
• Reduction in Rates of ‘Tax Deduction at Source’ and ‘Tax Collected at Source” by 25% for the remaining period of FY 20-21
• Relief to Contractors given by extension of up to six months for completion of contractual obligations, including in respect of EPC and concession agreements
• Relief to Real Estate Projects the registration and completion date for all registered projects will be extended up to six months.
• Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for Stressed MSMEs
• Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Working Capital Facility for Businesses, including MSMEs
• Rs 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds
• Rs 90,000 crore Liquidity Injection for DISCOMs
• Rs. 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFC/HFC/MFIs
• Rs. 45,000 crore Partial credit guarantee Scheme 2.0 for Liabilities of NBFCs/MFIs
• Tax relief to business as pending income tax refunds to charitable trusts and non-corporate businesses and professions to be issued immediately

Download the Presentation made by Finance Minister under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19 from HERE

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Indian Navy launches Operation “Samudra Setu” : Important Details you should know

To repatriate citizens who have stuck overseas due to Covid 19 outbreak, the Indian Navy today launched a new operation titled "Operation Samudra Setu" (meaning 'Sea Bridge'). As part of this operation (Phase I), the navy already sent Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa and Magar to the port of Malè, Republic of Maldives. These ships will start evacuation operations from 8th May 2020.

The Indian Mission in Republic of Maldives is preparing a list of Indian nationals to be evacuated by Naval ships and will facilitate their embarkation after requisite medical screening. A total of 1000 persons are planned to be evacuated during the first trip, catering for COVID- related social distancing norms vis-a-vis the carrying capacity and medical facilities available onboard.

The ships have been suitably provisioned for the evacuation operation. The evacuated personnel would be provided the basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea-passage. In view of the unique challenges associated with COVID-19 stringent protocols have also been stipulated.The evacuated personnel will be disembarked at Kochi, Kerala and entrusted to the care of State authorities. 

The name 'Operation Samudra Setu' comes from the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana where lord Rama and his Vanara army construct Setu (Bridge) to reach Lanka and rescue Sita. The Operation Samudra Setu is being progressed in close coordination with Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.

About INS Jalashwa :

• Meaning 'Hippopotamus', INS Jalashwa is Indian Navy's amphibious transport dock.
• INS  Jalashwa is the only Indian naval ship to be acquired from the United States.
• It is based in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) under the Eastern Naval Command.
• Acquired on : 17th January 2007
• Commissioned on : 22nd June 2007

About INS Magar

• Meaning 'Crocodile', INS Magar is Indian Navy's amphibious warfare ship.
• It was built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata.
• It is based in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) under the Eastern Naval Command.
• Commissioned on : 15th July 1987

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To fight Covid 19 pandemic DRDO develops UV Disinfection Tower

To fight Covid 19 pandemic, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an equipment titled UV Blaster. This is an Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower used for rapid and chemical free disinfection of high infection prone areas. 

The UV Blaster is useful for high tech surfaces like electronic equipment, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods. The product is also effective for areas with large flow of people such as airports, shopping malls, metros, hotels, factories, offices, etc.

This UV based area sanitiser has been designed and developed by the Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC), one of the cluster laboratories of DRDO with the help of M/s New Age Instruments and Materials Private Limited, Gurugram.

The UV based area sanitiser may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using wifi link. The equipment has six lamps each with 43 watts of UV-C power at 254 nm wavelength for 360 degree illumination. For a room of about 12 x 12 feet dimension, the disinfection time is about 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 400 square feet area by positioning the equipment at different places within the room.

This sanitiser switches off on accidental opening of room or human intervention. One more salient safety feature of the product is the key to arm operation.

About DRDO :

• Full Form : Defence Research and Development Organisation
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• Formation Year : 1958
• Motto : Strength's Origin is in Science
• Chairman : G. Satheesh Reddy
• Responsible Minister : Rajnath Singh (Defence)

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Important Details you should know about Lifeline Udan initiative

After PM Modi announced the Nationwide Lockdown on 24th March 2020 the Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S. Puri has launched an initiative titled 'Lifeline Udan'. The main aim of Lifeline Udan is to ensure the steady supply of essentials, even in the most remote locations.

Under Lifeline Udan initiative, 430 flights have been operated by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers. 252 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 795.86 tons.  Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 4,21,790 km.‘Lifeline Udan’ flights are being operated by MoCA to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19.

Helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in remote locations like J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients. Till date it has carried 2.27 tons of cargo covering a distance of 7,729 kms.  Special focus has been on the North East Region, island territories and the hill states.  

Domestic Cargo Operators SpiceJet, Blue Dart, Indigo and Vistara are operating cargo flights on a commercial basis.

Under Lifeline Udan, a cargo air-bridge was also established with East Asia for transportation of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and Covid-19 relief material. 899 tons of medical cargo was brought in by Air India from East Asia. 

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Versatile Bollywood Actor Irrfan Khan passed away

Versatile Bollywood Actor Irrfan Khan passed away today. The actor was 53 years old, and was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai yesterday due to health complications.

Irrfan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018 and sought treatment in the UK for a year. The actor returned to India in February 2019 and shortly resumed shooting for his film, Angrezi Medium. Khan’s mother, Saeeda Begum, died on Saturday (25 April) at the age of 95, with Khan attending her funeral via video chat.

The Padma Shri (2011) Awardee made his Bollywood debut with Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay in 1988, and has worked in numerous films since then. In his illustrious career spanning for over two decades, Irrfan Khan portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles in films of all genres.

In Hindi, his most famous films include his debut, the Academy Award nominated Salaam Bombay!, Maqbool (2004), Paan Singh Tomar (2011), The Lunchbox (2013), Haider (2014), Gunday (2014), Piku (2015) and Talvar (2015) and Hindi Medium (2017). 

He has made his presence in only one South Indian film, titled 'Sainikudu' (2006) directed by Gunasekhar.

He earned significant international acclaim after crossing over into Western projects, including Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Life of Pi (2012) and Jurassic World (2015). He was active in TV, films and theatre and had a career spanning almost 25 years.

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What is Plasma Therapy treatment for the COVID-19

For the past few days you might be reading in news papers or watching in TV channels about Plasma therapy is showing positive results on Covid 19 patients. After China and the US, recently India has given a go ahead for framing a protocol to conduct a clinical trial for convalescent plasma therapy. Recently 4 COVID-19 patients had plasma therapy treatment in Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in the last few weeks. The initial results are positive and encouraging. The therapy has been used experimentally in the past and so has become a ray of hope in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic. Now let's see what's this Plasma Therapy is, along with the pros and cons of this therapy as it is going to be one of the most important topics to be covered in our upcoming competitive exams.

About Plasma Therapy

The Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for COVID-19 patients. For plasma therapy, doctors need plasma from COVID-19 patients who have already recovered. The blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 develops antibodies to battle against the virus. This therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a cured coronavirus patient to treat another critical patient. The idea behind this therapy is that immunity can be transferred from a healthy person to a sick patient using convalescent plasma. Once the blood plasma of the recovered patient is infused with that of the second patient, the antibodies start fighting against coronavirus in the second person's body. The process of donating plasma is similar to that of donating blood and takes about an hour.

Recent Developments on Plasma Therapy in India

• The King George Medical University, Uttar Pradesh has become the 1st government hospital in India to successfully launch the plasma therapy treatment for the COVID-19 patients. A 58-year-old doctor became the first coronavirus patient at the King George Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow to receive plasma therapy as an experimental treatment for the disease.
• The Centre permitted few states to perform plasma therapy on limited number of COVID-19 patients. Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab also started using plasma therapy to cure COVID-19 patients.
• Delhi government is planning to ask Centre to allow plasma treatment on all critical patients in the state.

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List of newly appointed Secretaries in different Ministries & Departments 2020

The Indian Government today (26th April 2020) appointed new Secretaries, Special Secretaries and Additional Secretaries in different Ministries and Departments. A rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India, the Secretary of GOI is generally a career civil servant, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and government official of high seniority. Here is the list of newly appointed secretaries today. There are around 23 IAS officers of the rank from Additional Secretary, Special Secretary and Secretary today appointed in various central government departments as part of the bureaucratic reshuffle. Here are some important names :

Newly Appointed Secretaries by Government of India 2020

• A.K. Sharma - Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (currently working as Additional Secretary in the PMO)
• Amit Khare - Information and Broadcasting Secretary (Additional Charge) [He is working as Higher Education Secretary]
  
• Anand Kumar - Secretary, Culture (currently working as Secretary, New and Renewable Energy)
• Anita Karwal - Secretary School Education and Literacy (she is currently working as CBSE Chairperson]
• Pradeep Kumar Tripathi - new Steel Secretary
• Preeti Sudan - Health Secretary (She was to retire this month, has been given three month extension)
• Rajesh Bhushan - Officer on Special Duty, Department of Health and Family Welfare
• Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi - Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals
• Ravi Kant - Secretary, Ex-Servicemen (currently working as Secretary, Food and Public Distribution)
• Ravi Mittal - new Sports Secretary (He is currently working as the Information and Broadcasting Secretary)
• Sudhanshu Pandey - new Union Food Secretary
• Tarun Bajaj - Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in Ministry of Finance (currently working as Additional Secretary in PMO)
• Tarun Kapoor - Secretary in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (currently working as Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority)

Apart from above names, a total of 10 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers have been given in-situ upgradation to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary of Central government, as a measure personal to the them, by temporarily upgrading the posts held by them. They are are Jyoti Arora, B. Anand, Neel Kamal Darbari, Bidyut Bihari Swain, Apurva Chandra, Rajiv Bansal, Ali Raza Rizvi, Praveen Kr. Srivastava, Arvind Singh and Indevar Pandey.

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Govt declares Banking Industry as Public Utility Service : What does this mean ?

Amid the Covid 19 pandemic which has significantly impacted economic activities, the Indian Government today declared the Banking Industry as a Public Utility Service for 6 months till 21st October 2020. The government made this move under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act.

What is Industrial Disputes Act ?

The Industrial Disputes Act, which was enacted on 11th March 1947 and came into force on 1st April 1947 has made provision for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes and for certain other purposes. It regulates Indian Labour Law so far as that concerns trade unions as well as Individual workman employed in any Industry within the territory of Indian mainland.

What does this mean ?

Bringing banking services under the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act means that the banking sector would not see any strikes by employees or officers during the operation of the law starting from April 21. There are over a dozen employees and officers unions in the banking sector. These unions enjoy a considerable say in wage negotiations, which the IBA deals with every 5 years. There are several issues on which the bank unions don’t agree with the decisions of the government. The latest is the merger of several banks.  

The notification was issued by the labour ministry and the circular has been addressed to the RBI Governor, SBI Chairman, Managing Directors and CEOs of nationalized banks, and the CEO of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

• Download January 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download February 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download March 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE
• Download April 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE   

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April 2020 Monthly Current Affairs Quick Review - Pdf Download

Dear Gr8Ambitionists, on popular demand, we are giving you the Quick Review of April 2020 Current Affairs pdf file. This file covers all the important current affairs updates of April month till today (i.e., 1st to 20th April 2020). Try to make optimum use of this lockdown period. We've already provided the PDF Capsules of January, February and March 2020 Current Affairs. We'll try to arrange remaining months' current affairs quick reviews soon. Full version of this current affairs capsule (1st to 30th) will be available for download on 3rd May 2020. Stay home, Stay safe and  happy Reading :)

Download PDF Version of April 2020 Month's Current Affairs from here

Download Remaining Month's Current Affairs PDF Files of 2020 from below links ↓

• Download January 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download February 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download March 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 

 

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March 2020 Monthly Current Affairs Quick Review - Pdf Download

Friends, here we are giving you the Pdf File of March 2020 Current Affairs Quick Review Capsule. This pdf file consists of all important major current affairs of March 2020, including important Awards and Honors, New Appointments, Obituaries along with our very special online liner National, International, Business and Sports updates. You can download the pdf capsule from below link. Happy Reading :)

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February 2020 Monthly Current Affairs Quick Review - Pdf Download

Friends, here is the Pdf File of February 2020 Current Affairs Quick Review Capsule. This pdf file consists of all important major news events of February 2020, including Major Appointments, Awards & Honors, Deaths, Economic Survey 2019 and Union Budget 2020 along with our special One-Liner current affairs of February 2020. You can download it from below link. We will try to arrange the March 2020 Current Affairs by tomorrow.  Happy Reading :)

Download PDF Version of February 2020 Month's Current Affairs from here

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January 2020 Monthly Current Affairs Quick Review - Pdf Download

Friends, we are presenting you the the Pdf File of January 2020 Current Affairs Quick Review Capsule. This pdf file consists of all important major news events of January 2020, including Padma Awards 2020, Economic Survey 2019, Important Dates and Themes, Awards and Honors, Obituaries, New Appointments in National and International organizations, Books and Authors, various Indexes and Reports released in January 2020 by government and private organizations along with India's rank with Top 10 and our special one liner current affairs updates of January 2020.  Happy Reading :)

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Download Remaining Month's Current Affairs PDF Files of 2020 from below links ↓

• Download February 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download March 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE 
• Download April 2020 Month's Current Affairs PDF File from HERE

 

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