Daily Current Affairs, 15th April 2020

1) World Art day celebrated on 15 April

•World Art Day is celebrated globally on 15 April every year to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art. This day is being celebrated all over the world to emphasize the importance of art that nurtures creativity, innovation and cultural diversity for all peoples across the globe. Promoting the development of art is also stated as a mean to achieve a free and peaceful world as it encourages greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and also highlights the role play of artists towards sustainable development.

•On the occasion of World Art Day, UNESCO encourages everyone to join in and participate in various activities like workshops, conferences, debates, cultural events and presentations or exhibitions.

2) Manipur Govt launches Electronic format of comic textbooks

•Government of Manipur has launched Electronic format of comic textbooks. The Department of Education (schools) has initiated the electronic format comic textbooks for Class III, IV and V as steps and measures to make up the gaps for the academic situation, especially for the schools.

•The electronic format comic textbook for each class comprises three subjects namely Mathematics, Environmental Studies and English Language in a single electronic comic textbook format. The comic textbooks can be availed from the website www.manipureducation.gov.in. Manipur had topped the list of the best performing smaller states in NITI Aayog’s school education quality Index.

3) Jharkhand hospitals employ ‘COBOT-Robotics’ to serve COVID-19 patients

•Jharkhand hospitals employ ‘COBOT-Robotics’ Robots to serve food, medicine to COVID-19 patients without human intervention. The remote-controlled robot dubbed as ‘COBOT-Robotics’ has been developed by District Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) Aditya Ranjan and his team of engineers.

•The 20-bed ‘high-tech isolation wards’ are going to be inaugurated at the ANM Skill Centre, Chaibasa Sadar Hospital. The 30-bed ‘high-tech isolation wards’ are going to be inaugurated at COVID-19 Railway Hospital, Chakradharpur. Each bed has been designed sort of a room where medicine and food are going to be provided to patients through COBOT-Robotics.

4) Goa becomes the 1st state to use Ayurveda to COVID-19 patients

•Goa becomes the first state to integrate allopathy and Ayurveda to boost the immunity of COVID-19 patients and those who have been quarantined. The treatment will be administered in consultation with doctors who are dealing with COVID-19 patients, who is also an Ayurvedic practitioner.

5) UP became 1st state to start “Pool Testing” of Covid-19 samples

•Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given permission to Uttar Pradesh to start “Pool Testing” of COVID-19 samples in the state. With this, Uttar Pradesh will be the first state to start pool testing. At present 558 COVID-19 cases have been found in the state.

6) Tourism Ministry launches #DekhoApnaDesh” webinar series

•A webinar series titled “#DekhoApnaDesh” has been launched by the Indian Tourism Ministry. This unique series has been launched by the tourism ministry to provide information on many destinations and culture & heritage of Incredible India.

•The first such seminar of the #DekhoApnaDesh webinar series was held with the title “City of Cities: Delhi’s Personal Diary”. The seminar touched upon Delhi’s long history with its unique character. The upcoming seminars of the #DekhoApnaDesh webinar series will showcase the remarkable history and culture of India and feature the monuments, dance forms, natural landscapes, cuisine, arts, festivals and many other dimensions of the rich Indian civilization.

7) ADB increases its COVID-19 Response Package to $20 Billion

•The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has increased the size of its COVID-19 Response Package to $20 Billion. The amount in the COVID-19 Response Package was initially $6.5 billion as per announcement in March 2020 as ADB’s response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. ADB has also approved ways and means to streamline its actions for quicker and more flexible delivery of assistance.

8) DRDO develops kiosk “COVSACK” for COVID-19 sample collection

•The “COVSACK” is a kiosk developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the COVID-19 sample collections. This newly made kiosk can make the process of collecting samples free of infection spread and will help in combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

9) India will host Asian Boxing Championship in November

•The National Sports Federation of India has announced that it will host the Asian Boxing Championships for men and women in November-December this year. The host city of the competition is not yet decided.

•The host city will be decided by the Boxing Federation of India. India hosted men’s Asia boxing championship in Mumbai in 1980. It hosted the women’s event in Hisar in 2003. Around five men and four women have been qualified for the Tokyo Olympics from India so far.