Daily Current Affairs, 17th April 2020

1) World Hemophilia Day observed globally on 17 April

•World Hemophilia Day observed globally on 17 April every year. This day is observed to raise awareness for hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. The date was chosen in honour of the World Federation of Hemophilia founder Frank Schnabel birthday. This year is the 30th edition of World Haemophilia Day.

•The theme of World Haemophilia Day 2020: “Get + Involved”. The theme encourages to extend the notice of inherited bleeding disorders and therefore the got to make access to adequate care possible everywhere within the world.

2) MHA issues new activities exempted from lockdown restrictions

•The Ministry of Home Affairs has released a list of new activities that have been exempted from lockdown restrictions to fight COVID-19. The guidelines were aimed toward restarting the country’s economic engine and lessen the pain of millions suffering from the continued lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The order exempts from lockdown restrictions certain activities as below:

•The government has allowed the Collection, harvesting and processing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP)/ Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFP) by Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers in forest areas.

•The government has allowed the activities regarding Bamboo, Coconut, Arecanut, Cocoa, Spices plantations and their harvesting, processing, packaging, sale and marketing.

•The government has allowed several construction activities in rural areas and has permitted non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and Cooperative Credit Societies to function.

3) Chhattisgarh govt launches ‘Cghaat’ website for home delivery

•Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, has recently launched a website ‘Cghaat’ to provide home delivery of fruits and vegetables during the lockdown. The website has been designed and developed by Chhattisgarh government’s agency Chips.

•The vendors of fruits and vegetables, who have an interest in providing services through this portal can register online. Cghaat service is out there free from charge to vendors. Other essential items like milk, groceries, forest-produce, etc are set to be delivered soon through the portal.

4) CeNS develops sensor for heavy metal detection in water

•A compact and portable solid-state sensor has been developed by the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) to detect the heavy metal ions in water. The solid-state sensor is a portable device which can help in onsite detection of heavy metal ions in water in remote areas. This compact solid-state sensor detects the presence of heavy metal ions such as lead, mercury and cadmium, which can pose severe potential threats to living beings.




•Lead, mercury and cadmium can easily be accumulated in the body and cannot be detoxified by any chemical or biological processes, and hence it poses severe potential threats to living beings.

5) BSNL CMD P K Purwar takes additional charge of MTNL

•The chairman and managing director of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), P. K. Purwar have been given the additional charge as CMD of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

•This is the 3rd time Purwar has been given charge of MTNL CMD in the last six years. He has taken over the charge of CMD MTNL from April 15, 2020. He took charge as BSNL chairman in July 2019.

6) RBI announces measures to mitigate impact of COVID-19

•The Reserve Bank of India has announced a set of measures to mitigate the effect of COVID-19. Among the major announcements, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to reduce the reverse repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 4% to 3.75% with immediate effect. While the policy repo rate, MSF rate and the Bank rate will remain same as per decision taken in RBI’s 7th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20.

7) Viswanathan Anand joins WWF India as ambassador

•WWF (World Wide Fund) India has appointed World chess champion Viswanathan Anand as its ambassador for the environmental education programme. Anand lends his support to the conservation and protection of the environment.

•This year WWF India is celebrating its 50th year of conservation in India. WWF India was found in November 1969. WWF India’s environmental education programme is as old as the organisation itself, starting way back in 1976 with the Nature Clubs of India (NCI) initiative. The environmental education programme currently reaches out to over 5,00,000 children across 2000 schools in the country.

8) “Feifei” to be the mascot for Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games

•“Feifei” to be the mascot for Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, China. The 4th Asian Para Games are going to be held from October 9-15, 2022, featuring 22 sports with Taekwondo and Para-Canoe to form their Games debuts. The mascot helps to bring the Games to life for everybody, from the athletes to the spectators.