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Current Affairs 30 March 2020

Govt forms ministerial-level committee to resolve supply-chain issues; Head- Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah

• The government has formed a ministerial-level committee to mitigate supply chain problems as India during this lockdown period.
• The committee will be headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah.
• The committee has been tasked with ensuring an unhindered supply of essential items during the lockdown.
• Seven secretaries from the ministries of consumer affairs, road transport, civil aviation, shipping, textile, health and Chairman of the Railway Board are part of the committee which will meet daily at 11 AM through video conferencing.

Government Sets up special emergency fund ‘PM CARES Fund’ to Fight Against COVID-19

• The Government of India has set up a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund)’ on 28 March 2020.
• The primary objective of this dedicated national fund is to deal with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust while Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister are its other members.
• The fund has been set up to enable micro-donations, allowing a large number of people to be able to contribute with smallest of denominations.
• Donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G) of the IT Act.
• Citizens and organisations can go to the website pmindia.gov.in and donate to PM CARES Fund.
• The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) will be hold the account of the PM Cares Fund.

Govt approves Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19

• Government has approved Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19’ as announced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package. The following conditions exists:
• The scheme will provide an insurance cover of Rs. 50 lakh for ninety days (90) to a total of around 22.12 lakh public healthcare providers. It will also include accidental loss of life on account of contracting COVID-19.
• The insurance provided under this scheme would be over and above any other insurance cover being availed of by the beneficiary.

Pune-based Mylab Discovery develops first Made in India Covid-19 test kit

• Pune-based molecular diagnostics company, Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd, has developed the first Made in India Covid-19 testing kit called the Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 qualitative PCR (Polymerace chain reaction) kit.
• The discovery has been made by the team which was headed by virologists Minal Dakhave Bhosale, the research and development Chief of Mylab Discovery.
• She is now being known as ‘The woman behind India’s first COVID-19 testing kit’.
• Mylab Discovery is the first Indian firm to receive the commercial approval by the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) and the Central Drug Standard Control Authority (CDSCA) to manufacture the kit.
• The company shipped the first batch of 150 to diagnostic labs in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Bengaluru (Bangalore) on 26 March 2020.

Labour Ministry Notifies Amendment in EPF Scheme 1952 to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members amid COVID-19

• The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has issued notification to amend the Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) Scheme 1952 to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by the EPF members in the event of lockdown to fight COVID-19 pandemic.
• For this, the amended scheme Employees Provident Fund (Amendment) scheme, 2020, has come into force from March 28, 2020.
• The amendment will permit withdrawal, upto the amount of basic wages and dearness allowance for three months or upto 75% of the amount standing to member’s credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, in the event of outbreak of epidemic or pandemic.

Mega merger of 10 state-run banks into four lenders will come into force from April 1: RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India has announced that the schemes for the merger of ten state-run banks into four banks will take effect from 1 April 2020.
• The banking regulator has also announced that the branches of merging banks will operate as the branch of the banks in which these have been amalgamated, from the beginning of next fiscal year 2020-21.
• After the merger, the total number of PSBs will be reduced to 12 from 27 PSBs, including 7 large PSBs and 5 small PSBs.
• Also, the anchor bank Punjab National Bank will become the country’s second largest bank with asset size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore, after SBI (over Rs 52 lakh crore).
• The amalgamation is the part of RBI’s consolidation plan to create bigger size stronger banks in the public sector.
• The following amalgamation will take place:
  1. Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will merge with Punjab National Bank (PNB) branches
  2. Syndicate Bank will merge with Canara Bank
  3. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will merge into Union Bank of India
  4. Allahabad Bank will merge into Indian Bank.

SBI raises $100 million via green bonds

• State Bank of India has raised USD 100 million green bonds, the first such bond by any state-owned bank in this fiscal.
• The bonds were priced at 3M Libor + 80 basis points. This is the third set of green bond issue by SBI, aggregating USD 700 million.
• The proceeds will be used to fund the non-convention energy sector. These bonds will be issued through SBI’s London branch and shall be listed on Singapore Exchange (SGX).

Ranveer Singh Wins Best Actor Award at Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020

• The winners of the Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020 were announced digitally on 28 March 2020.
• The event was supposed to be held on March 14, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The awards is honoured across eight languages including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Kannada in the categories comprising of Best Film, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female), Best Director and Best Writing.
• Winners in Hindi Language 
  1. Best Actor (Male) – Ranveer Singh (Gully Boy)
  2. Best Actor (Female) – Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (Soni)
  3. Best Director – Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy)
  4. Best Film – Gully Boy
  5. Best Writing – Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki (Article 15)
  6. Complete List of Winners

Santanu Das, Mirza Waheed win The Hindu Prize 2019

• The winners of The Hindu Prize 2019 have been announced. The winners are:
• The Hindu Prize 2019 (Non-Fiction category)– Santanu Das For -India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs.
• The Hindu Prize 2019 (Fiction category)– Mirza Waheed For- Tell Her Everything

Earth Hour 2020: 28 March

• Every year, the Earth Hour is celebrated worldwide on the last Saturday of the March month to show support for fight against climate change and commitment towards better planet.
• Earth Hour 2020 is scheduled for March 28, 2020.
• The Day is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), encouraging individuals, communities, corporates, and households to turn off their lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 to raise awareness for energy consumption and effects on the environment.

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Quick Revision – Current Affairs 30 March 2020

1. Govt forms ministerial-level committee to resolve supply-chain issues; Head- Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah
2. Government Sets up special emergency fund ‘PM CARES Fund’ to Fight Against COVID-19
3. Govt approves Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19
4. Pune-based Mylab Discovery develops first Made in India Covid-19 test kit, led by virologists Minal Dakhave Bhosale
5. Labour Ministry Notifies Amendment in EPF Scheme 1952 to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members amid COVID-19
6. Mega merger of 10 state-run banks into four lenders will come into force from April 1: RBI
7. SBI raises $100 million via green bonds
8. Ranveer Singh Wins Best Actor Award at Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020
9. Santanu Das, Mirza Waheed win The Hindu Prize 2019
10. Earth Hour 2020: 28 March