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Current Affairs 04 April 2020

Government Launches Mobile App ‘AarogyaSetu’ To Help People Track Spread Of Coronavirus

• In an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has launched a mobile app called ‘AarogyaSetu’ which will enable people in identifying the risk of their getting affected by the CoronaVirus infection.
• AarogyaSetu is a Sanskrit term which translates to ‘A bridge of health’.
• This app, developed in public-private partnership, is a coronavirus tracker based on mobile location.
• Once installed in a smartphone, the app detects other devices with AarogyaSetu installed that come in the proximity of that phone.
• Using your phone location data and Bluetooth to assess if you’ve been near a person who was infected by COVID-19, the app will calculate the risk, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
• The app is available in 11 languages and has been launched on both Andriod and ioS.

DST sets up rapid response centre CAWACH to combat COVID-19

• The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, has approved setting up of a Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH), to support startups that address COVID-19 challenges.
• CAWACH will be set up at a total cost of Rs 56 Crore.
• The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), a technology business incubator at IIT Bombay, supported by DST, has been identified as the Implementing Agency of the CAWACH.

CAWACH

• The CAWACH programme of DST will scout, evaluate and support the innovations and start-ups that are in the area of novel, low cost, safe and effective ventilators, respiratory aids, protective gears, novel solutions for sanitizers, disinfectants, diagnostics, therapeutics, informatics and any effective interventions to control COVID-19.
• It will leverage the youthful energy, intelligence and extraordinary innovative potential of our technology incubators and startups and empower them for scale-up to speedily address the multi-dimensional challenges of COVID-19.
• Requisite financial assistance and fund deployment will be made available for innovations that are deployable in the market within next 6 months.
• They will be provided access to pan-India networks for testing, trial and market deployment of these products and solutions in the identified areas of priority COVID-19 solutions.

Indian Railways’ Chittaranjan Locomotive creates world record of producing highest number of locos in FY’20

• The Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) of Indian Railways’ has sets new world record of making the highest number of locomotives in the financial year 2019-20.
• The Asansol, West Bengal based CLW locomotive factory produced a total of 431 locomotives in the financial year 2019-20, to be recognized by Limca Book of Records as World Record.
• It surpassed its own record of manufacturing a number of 402 locomotives in the financial year 2018-19, which itself was a world record.
• The production of locomotives by CLW has witnessed a jump of 75 percent over the last six years from 250 locomotives in 2014-15 to 431 locomotives in 2019-20, under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam Develops Oxygen Cylinder MOM for COVID-19 patients

• The Personnel of the Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam (NDV), Andhra Pradesh has designed an innovative device called ‘Portable Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold’ (MOM).
• MOM is an oxygen cylinder that could be used to supply oxygen to six patients simultaneously, using a 6-way radial header fitted to a single cylinder.
• The device will enable critical care management to a larger number of Covid-19 patients with the existing limited resources.
• After successful trials, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam has commenced manufacture of 10 portable MOM with two 6-way radial headers catering for 120 patients at makeshift locations.

World Bank Rolls out USD 160 billion emergency aid over 15 months to deal with global coronavirus pandemic

• The Washington-based development lender World Bank has approved USD 160 billion in emergency aid over 15 months to help countries deal with the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
• In the first set of fast-track crisis funding, World Bank on 2nd April 2020, approved USD 1.9 billion for projects in 25 countries.
• The initiative will gradually move forward in another 40 nations in coming 15 months.
• The largest amount of assistance approved in first set was USD 1 billion for India.
• This was followed by USD 200 million for Pakistan, USD 129 million for Sri Lanka, USD 100 million for Afghanistan and USD 83 million for Ethiopia.

IBM Launches ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ to Quickly Address Covid-19 Queries

• IBM is offering its AI platform ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ free of cost for at least 90 days globally, which will provide reliable information on covid-19 related queries.
• Watson Assistant for Citizens is available in English and Spanish and 11 other languages.
• In India, Watson Assistant will respond to answer queries in English and Hindi.
• Watson Assistant for Citizens will leverage currently available data from external sources such as Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other government sources for prevention & treatment related guidance, citizen welfare schemes in India, as well as global resources such as World Health Organization (WHO) and US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
• According to IBM, due to huge information requests from citizens, the waiting times for COVID-19 related queries are exceeding two hours.
• This AI-powered virtual agent will help governments to deliver accurate information to their citizens.

ADB Estimates India’s GDP for FY’21 at 4 Percent; 6.2% for FY’22

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 for financial year 2020-21 on 3rd April 2020.
• As per ADB, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in India is likely to slow down to 4 percent in FY21 (2020-21) on the back of the current global health emergency.
• However, ADB expects the Indian economy to further strengthen to 6.2 percent in the FY22 fiscal (2021-22).

Fitch Ratings cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 2% for FY21

• Fitch Ratings has cut its GDP growth forecast for India to 2% for the fiscal year 2021.
• This will be the slowest growth in India over the past 30 years.

Government Extends Tenure of Acting President of NCLT, BSV Prakash Kumar, for 3 Months

• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has extended the tenure of BSV Prakash Kumar as the Acting President of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for another three months with effect from 5 April 2020, or till the joining of new President, whichever is earlier.
• Kumar was appointed as acting President for a period of three months on January 5 after the retirement of Justice MM Kumar as the NCLT President.

Former Arunachal minister Passang Wangchuk Sona passes away

• Former Arunachal Pradesh minister Passang Wangchuk Sona passes away at the age of 69 years.
• Passang Wangchuk Sona served in the state cabinet in the capacity of minister of mines & minerals and cooperation, besides food & civil supplies from 1995 to 1999.

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Current Affairs in Shorts – 04 April 2020

1. Government Launches Mobile App ‘AarogyaSetu’ To Help People Track Spread Of Coronavirus
2. DST sets up rapid response centre CAWACH to combat COVID-19
3. Indian Railways’ Chittaranjan Locomotive creates world record of producing highest number of locos in FY’20
4. Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam Develops Oxygen Cylinder MOM for COVID-19 patients
5. World Bank Rolls out USD 160 billion emergency aid over 15 months to deal with global coronavirus pandemic
6. IBM Launches ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ to Quickly Address Covid-19 Queries
7. ADB Estimates India’s GDP for FY’21 at 4 Percent; 6.2% for FY’22
8. Fitch Ratings cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 2% for FY21
9. Government Extends Tenure of Acting President of NCLT, BSV Prakash Kumar, for 3 Months
10. Former Arunachal minister Passang Wangchuk Sona passes away