Daily Current Affairs, 30th March 2020

1) Neiphiu Rio launches Self Declaration COVID-19 Nagaland App

•Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio launched the Self Declaration COVID19 Nagaland App at Kohima. The app will be mandatory for any person who entered Nagaland after March 6. The app is crucial for tracking and surveillance of high-risk cases. The app can be downloaded from the website nagalandhealthproject.org. User will be directed to click the menu button and select the nCOVID-19 App.

2) National Book Trust to launch “Corona Studies Series”

•National Book Trust will launch a publishing series titled ‘Corona Studies Series’ to document and to provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for the post-Corona readership needs.

•The ‘Corona Studies Series’ seeks to be our long-term contribution to prepare and engage readers with the various aspects of the Corona times by bringing out affordable books in various Indian languages in the identified subject areas. It will also provide a suitable platform for authors and researchers willing to contribute to this genre.

Books for the following segments will be prepared by the Study Group:

1. Corona Virus (Covid 19) Affected Families
2. Elderly People
3. Parents with Special Focus on Mothers/Women
4. Children and Adolescents
5. Professionals and Workers
6. Corona Warriors: Medical and Essential Services Providers
7. Differently-abled, Special Needs and Mentally Challenged Population

3) Harsh Vardhan launches 24×7 National Teleconsultation Centre

•Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan launched the 24×7 National Teleconsultation Centre to answer COVID-19 related queries. The Centre is a telemedicine hub, through which, expert doctors from various clinical domains will be available 24×7 to answer questions related to COVID-19 all.

•This is a multi-modal telecommunication hub through which two-way audio-video and text communications can be exchanged from any part of the country as well as the from the world. The modes of communication will include simple mobile telephony as well as two-way video communications using WhatsApp, Skype and Google Duo.

•This centre is also integrated with the National Medical College Network. 1 National Medical College Network (NMCN) terminal has also been established for two way video conferencing with all the 50 Medical Colleges on the network. Presently, there are four workstations, 1 NMCN terminal and 6 phone lines. COVID 19 National Teleconsultation Centre is reachable from anywhere in the world.

4) CM Yogi Adityanath constitutes ‘Team-11’ to beat corona

•UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up “Team-11” comprising of as many inter-departmental committees to fight the coronavirus spread. He has formed 11 inter-departmental committees with over two dozen senior government officials working at crucial levels under the CM’s supervision. Each of the committees will be headed by a senior bureaucrat of the state while the CM will be the head of the Team-11.




Here are some important facts about “Team-11” Committees:

1.1st Committee: The committee, headed by the state’s chief secretary, to coordinate union & various state governments on various crucial issues.

2.2nd Committee: The committee, headed by the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner and provides solutions to various problems related to the government and district levels.

3.3rd Committee: The committee headed by the Agricultural Production Commissioner will coordinate the districts to provide essential commodities at a reasonable price. It also resolves the problems encountered in interdistrict & intra-district transport.

4.4th Committee: The Committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home, Information and Public Relations) will review actions of lockdown & provide accurate information to the media.

5.5th Committee: The Committee will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) will work to set up control rooms at state and district levels.

6.6th Committee: The Committee headed by Principal Secretary (Health), will coordinate with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It also ensures the provision of drinking water, sanitation and sanitization in all urban & rural areas of the state.

7.Besides, there will be a committee headed by Principal Secretary (Animal Husbandry) to ensure the arrangement of animal fodder & supply of essential medicines.

8.The other committee will be headed by the director-general of police to ensure cleanliness in all the jails, training centres and PAC (Pradeshik Armed Constabulary) battalions of UP.

9.There will also be a committee to study the impact on the economy due to the epidemic & to prepare a future strategy to help farmers.

5) GoI sets up 11 empowered groups to deal with COVID-19

•The Government of India has set up 11 empowered groups to deal with COVID-19. These 11 empowered groups have been tasked to ensure a comprehensive and integrated response to COVID-19. The 11 empowered groups have been set up by the GoI under the Disaster Management Act.

About 11 empowered groups:

•The 11 empowered groups aims to give measures to recover the Indian economy as well as the healthcare and to reduce the misery of people as quickly as possible after the 21-day lockdown imposed to contain the Coronavirus pandemic. These groups which are set up under the Disaster Management Act will constitute a senior representative from PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure smooth coordination. These groups have been tasked to prepare plans and to take all necessary measures for their time-bound execution.

6) Northern Railways makes 1st prototype of hospital isolation coach

•The first prototype of hospital isolation coach have been created successfully by the Northern Railways. The hospital isolation coach have been created in order to fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. There are 10 isolation wards in each coach.

Prototype of Hospital Isolation Coach:

•The Northern Railways has removed the middle berth from one side of the coach while all three berths have been removed in front of the patient berth to build an isolation cabin prototype. These Isolation Coaches are being sanitized properly before and after the completion of work.

7) ICICI Bank rolls out banking services on WhatsApp

•ICICI Bank has rolled out the banking services on WhatsApp. The facility will enable the banks’ retail customers to undertake a slew of banking requirements from their home. This facility is expected to provide a relief for the banks customers as they can reap the benefit of various banking services from their home amid lockdown in the country due to COVID-19 pandemic. To avail the services on Whatsapp, customers can message ‘Hi’ from their registered mobile number to the Bank’s verified profile number in order to start instantly.

8) Mega Merger of 10 PSBs to be effective from 1st April 2020

•Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a big consolidation of public sector banks in 2019. As per the scheme of amalgamation, 10 public sector banks are to be merged into 4 banks. Now, the Reserve Bank of India has notified with a circular that the mega merger of 10 PSBs will be effective from the start of new financial year i.e. 1st April 2020.

As per the recent RBI circular, 10 PSBs will be merged into 4 in the following manner:

•From 1st April, 2020, all branches of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will operate as branches of Punjab National Bank. Also the customers, including depositors of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India, will be treated as customers of Punjab National Bank with effect from April 1, 2020.

•From 1st April, 2020, all branches of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will operate as branches of Union Bank of India. Also, the customers, including depositors of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, will be treated as customers of Union Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2020.

•From 1st April, 2020, all branches of Allahabad Bank will operate as branches of Indian Bank. Also the customers, including depositors of Allahabad Bank, will be treated as customers of Indian Bank with effect from April 1, 2020.

•From 1st April, 2020, all branches of Syndicate Bank will operate as branches of Canara Bank. Also the customers, including depositors of Syndicate Bank, will be treated as customers of Canara Bank with effect from April 1, 2020.

After the amalgamation, the total number of Public Sector Banks in the country will come down to 12 banks.