Daily Current Affairs, 22nd April 2020

1) Earth Day observed globally on 22 April

•Earth Day or International Mother Earth Day is observed globally on 22 April every year. Earth Day 2020 will be celebrated all over the world to spread awareness for Earth’s wellbeing and to encourage people to support environmental protection. World Earth Day 2020 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the day since it started being observed in 1970. Earth Day was renamed officially by the UN in 2009 as International Mother Earth Day. 

•The theme of Earth Day 2020: Climate Action. The organisers stated that the unified action on climate change has distinguished this issue making it the most pressing topic to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

2) Saudi Arabia organizes G-20 Extraordinary Agriculture Ministers Meet

•The G-20 Extraordinary Agriculture Ministers Meeting was held through Video Conferencing. The meeting was held on the issue of COVID-19 as well as its impact on food security, safety and nutrition. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar participated in the Extraordinary virtual meeting of G-20 Agriculture Ministers organised under the presidency of Saudi Arabia.

•The Extraordinary virtual meeting of G-20 Agriculture Ministers was organized to deliberate on the measures in order to ensure continuity of food supply value chain including livelihood of farmers. During the virtual meet, G-20 agriculture ministers declaration was accepted and resolution was taken by the countries to have international cooperation in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic. They also agreed to avoid food wastages and losses as well as maintain the continuity of food supply value chain across borders.





3) Health Ministry starts ‘COVID India Seva’ to address citizens queries

•Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan starts an interactive platform ‘COVID India Seva’ to address citizens queries on coronavirus. This main objective of this initiative is to enable transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and answering citizen queries. This platform trained experts will be able to share authoritative public health information swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens.

4) Ministry of Home Affairs issues SOPs for seafarers

•The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a set of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) as well as graded relaxations for seafarers. As per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Home Ministry, the Indian seafarers on the vessel are required to undergo the COVID-19 test prior to their return at their home. While, in its measure of graded relaxations for seafarers, the Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed the movement of Indian seafarers at Indian ports. Hence the relaxations will facilitate the disembarking of seafarers stranded on the cruise ship Marella Discovery in Mumbai.

•The Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) states that the ship owners have to ensure that the safety precautions are followed as per the protocol while seafarers’ disembarkation as well as before reaching the testing facility within the port premises. It has also directed the Port State Health Authorities to keep the seafarer in the quarantine facility till the time test report is received.

5) Rajasthan govt launches “Aayu & Sehat Sathi” app

•The state government of Rajasthan has partnered with healthcare startup MedCords to launch ‘Aayu & Sehat Sathi app to fight against COVID-19. This app helps state people to consult doctors online and place orders for their medicine requirement in the wake of a lockdown due to COVID-19.

•Indian startup “MedCord” is fully adopted 7 districts of Rajasthan (Kota, Udaipur, Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Ajmer, Pali and Jaipur). The app also contains a built-in comprehensive coronavirus guide for the users. The service is provided through the app and the helpline number – 7816811111 supports Hindi and English language. The helpline number helps the feature phone users to consult doctors from anywhere in India.

6) Gujarat govt gives approval to “Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan”

•The government of Gujarat has given the approval of the third edition of his government’s ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan’ amid Coronavirus lockdown. The scheme will see the deepening of lakes, check dams and rivers by removing silt. This will be done till June 10, 2020, with people’s participation also as under MNREGA. The scheme was started in 2018 after a weak monsoon. It is a conservation plan to deepen water bodies in the state before the monsoon.

7) N Kamakodi reappointed as MD & CEO of City Union Bank

•N Kamakodi will be reappointed as the MD & CEO of City Union Bank Ltd. City Union Bank has received approval for this reappointment from the Reserve Bank of India. His reappointment is for a further period of three years. The reappointments will be effective from 1 May 2020. He has been associated with the City Union Bank since 2003. He was raised as MD and CEO in 2011.

8) David Li becomes new CEO of Huawei India

•David Li has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Telecommunications India. He has replaced Jay Chen who has been promoted to handle Asia Pacific level business role.

•David Li was serving as CEO of Huawei Cambodia before returning to India to take on his new role. He joined Huawei in 2002 and has working experience in the Indian market, including in roles like vice president sales and vice president HR during different phases of his career.

9) Paytm Payments Bank inks partnership with Mastercard

•Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) inks partnership with Mastercard to issue virtual and physical debit cards. These cards enable its customers to perform secure online transactions, make payment in stores as well as withdraw cash from ATMs.

•The main objective of PPBL is to issue over 10 million digital debit cards in FY 2020-21. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd cases to have 5.7 crore account holders and 30 crore computerized wallets. Mastercard offers its fully-integrated global payment platform to Paytm Payments Bank to enable cardholders to have access to the safest way of making electronic payments.

10) Adam Higginbotham’s bags William E. Colby Award

•Adam Higginbotham’s book “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster” wins the William E. Colby Award. The award is given for an outstanding book on military or intelligence history.

•The award is named for the late CIA director William E. Colby. The Colby award was established in 1999. Previous winners of the award include Karl Marlantes’ novel Matterhorn and Dexter Filkins’ The Forever War.