Daily Current Affairs, 02nd April 2020

1) World Autism Awareness Day observed globally on 2 April

•World Autism Awareness Day observed globally on 2 April every year. This year is the 13th annual World Autism Awareness Day. This day is observed to highlight the need to improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. The very first World Autism Day was observed in the year 2008 on April 2. 

•This year the World Autism Awareness Day 2020 Theme is ‘The Transition to Adulthood’. This theme draws attention to the adulthood of people with autism.

What is Autism?

•Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and nonverbal communication. Autism is a development disorder. The disorder is characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication which may also include restricted and repetitive behaviour. The signs of Autism are often noticed by the parents of the child during the first three years. These signs develop gradually.

2) “National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances” launched

•The “National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances” of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has been launched. With the help of the dashboard, all grievances related to COVID-19 are received and monitored on priority basis by a technical team of DARPG. The portal will be updated and monitored at senior levels in Government on a daily basis.

•The National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances has been developed by DARPG to ensure timely implementation of COVID 19 Response Activities. The nature of grievances received and monitored by the dashboard are related to quarantine facilities, lockdown not being adhered to complaints, examination related complaints, rescheduling of interest repayments on loans, essential supplies related complaints, evacuation requests from foreign countries and many more.

3) Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 extended for one year

The Government of India has granted the extension to the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) by another one year i.e. up to 31st March, 2021. The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) was implemented on 1st April, 2015 for 5 years and was valid upto 31st March, 2020. The decision to extend the validity of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) was taken in view of the unprecedented current situation arising out of the pandemic Novel COVID-19.

Along with extension, the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry has also announced some changes in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). Some key changes made in the FTP are as follows:

•Benefit under all the Export Promotion Schemes except SEIS, available as on date, will remain available for another 12 months i.e. upto 31st March, 2021.




•Validity period of the Status Holder Certificates is also extended.

•Exemption from payment of IGST and Compensation Cess on the imports made under Advance/EPCG Authorisations and by EOUs etc. has been extended till 31st March, 2021.

•The scheme for providing “Transport Marketing Assistance on the specified Agricultural Products” has been extended for one year.

•Extension in time has been allowed for filing various Reports/Returns etc. under various provisions of the FTP.

•Last dates for applying for various duty credit Scrips (MEIS/SEIS/ROSCTL) and other Authorisations have been extended.

3) World Bank offers $1 billion for proposed India COVID-19 emergency

•The World Bank has offered $1 billion to the Indian government for a proposed India COVID-19 emergency response and health systems preparedness project. This four-year project aims to develop the preparedness of India’s health care systems in the time of the pandemic.

•The idea of the project will be to respond and mitigate the COVID-19 threat and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness in India, as per the project document. The World Bank funding is from its COVID-19 fast-track facility where both the entities (World Bank and the government of India) will work on following the best international practice.

4) UN COP26 climate change summit postponed to 2021

•The United Nation’s COP26 climate change conference set to take place in Glasgow in November has been postponed till next year due to COVID-19. This decision has been taken by the COP Bureau of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the UK and its Italian partners.

•Dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021, hosted in Glasgow by the UK in partnership with Italy, will be set out in due course following further discussion with parties. Some 30,000 people, including 200 world leaders, had been due to attend the 10-day conference for crucial talks to halt rising global temperatures.

5) NASA SunRISE Mission to study Giant Solar Particle Storms

•National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected the new mission, called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE). The SunRISE will look into how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms (known as solar particle storms) into planetary space.

•The study will help to protect the astronauts that travel to the moon & mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment in which they travel. The mission is led by Justin Kasper at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor & also managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA has awarded USD 62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE before July 1, 2023.

What is SunRISE?

•SunRISE is an array of 6 CubeSats, where each is about the size of a toaster oven, observes radio images of low-frequency emission from solar activity and shares them through NASA’s Deep Space Network.

•The constellation of CubeSats will fly within 6 miles(9.6kms) of each other above the earth’s atmosphere so as not to block the SunRISE’s observed radio signals.

•The 6 CubeSats together form a 3D map; it shows where the giant particle erupts in the sun form and how they evolve when expanded outward into space.

•It will help decide what initiatives & accelerates these giant jets of radiation.

•For the 1st time, 6 individual spacecraft will also work together to pattern the magnetic field lines reaching from the Sun out into interplanetary space.

6) World Athletics championship shifted to 2022

•The 2021 world athletics championships will be shifted to 2022. The championship was originally scheduled to held in Eugene, Oregon from August 6-15, 2021. The announcement came immediately after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic will now take place on July 23-August 8, 2021.

•The athletics federation also talking to the organisers of the 2022 European Athletics Championships, which are due to take place in Munich on August 11-21. The World Athletics also in discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation and the European Championships, as both of the events are due to be held in 2022.

7) Wimbledon 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus

•The tennis Grand Slam tournament Wimbledon 2020 has been cancelled for the first time since World War II due to coronavirus pandemic. The tournament organizer, All England Club (AELTC) after an emergency meeting announced that the Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

•The tournament was due to be played between 29 June and 12 July. The entire grass-court season has been abandoned, and there will be no professional tennis anywhere in the world until at least 13 July. Wimbledon is the latest major summer sporting event to be called off, with Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics postponed for 12 months. It follows the postponement of the French Open, which was due to begin in May but has been rescheduled to 20 September-4 October.