Dr Harsh Vardhan launches COVID INDIA SEVA to provide solutions to coronavirus queries

1.Earth Day: 22 April

Earth Day is observed every year on 22 April.The day is celebrated worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

The day was proposed at the UNESCO conference in 1969 and the first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970.

World Earth Day 2020 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the day since it started being observed in 1970.

The theme of Earth Day 2020: ‘Climate Action’.

2.Spain’s bull running festival cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

Spain’s best-known bull running festival in the northern town of Pamplona has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.Hundreds of thousands of people typically attend the centuries-old San Fermin celebration, which sees half-a tonne fighting bulls chase hundreds of daredevils, many wearing traditional white shirts and scarves, through the narrow streets of the city each morning.

Pamplona’s municipal council decided to call off the event, held each year between July 6 and 14, because of the fight against COVID-19.

3.Donald Trump to temporarily suspend immigration to US

President Donald Trump said he will suspend all immigration into the United States temporarily through an executive order.He has said his forthcoming executive order barring new immigration will apply only to people seeking green cards, will last 60 days.

It won’t affect workers entering the country on a temporary basis.

Instead, President Trump said the provision would amount to a 60-day pause only on people seeking permanent resident status in the United States.

He would review the executive order at the end of that period and decide if it should be renewed.

4.Britain’s Parliament prepares for virtual debates amid COVID-19 lockdown

Britain’s Parliament is preparing for MPs to return to the House of Commons to hold virtual debates and pave the way for a historic hybrid parliamentary setting amid the coronavirus lockdown.Unprecedented changes to the main House of Commons chamber will be rolled out to let politicians tune into statements and question sessions via video link.

Screens have been installed in the chamber to allow MPs to speak remotely while the limited number attending in person will be signposted where to sit.

The new practices will initially operate until May 12, although could remain in place for longer.

5.Israel’s Netanyahu and rival Gantz agree to form ‘emergency’ coalition government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival signed an agreement to form an “emergency” coalition government.The deal between Netanyahu’s Likud Party and former military chief Benny Gantz’s Blue and White ends months of political paralysis and averts what would have been a fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

After the last vote on March 2 ended in a stalemate, Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz agreed late last month to try to form a unity government because of the burgeoning coronavirus crisis.

The power-sharing agreement means that Netanyahu will almost certainly remain in office for the duration of his upcoming trial on corruption charges.

6.Agriculture minister joins G-20 meet over Covid-19 impact on food safety

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar participated in a virtual meeting of G-20 Agriculture Ministers to address the issue of Covid-19 impacts on food security, safety and nutrition.The G-20 Agriculture Ministers virtual meeting was organized through video conferencing by the Saudi Presidency to deliberate on the ways and means of ensuring continuity of the food supply value chain including livelihood of farmers.

Agriculture Ministers of all G-20 members and the representatives of some guest countries and International organizations attended the meeting.

The G-20 nations resolved to have international cooperation in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, to avoid food wastage and losses, and maintain the continuity of the food supply value chain across borders.

7.Dr Harsh Vardhan launches COVID INDIA SEVA to provide solutions to coronavirus queries

The Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched an interactive platform, ‘COVID INDIA SEVA’ aimed at providing real time solutions to Covid-19 related queries.People can post their queries to the COVID INDIA SEVA twitter handle for getting swift replies from the team of trained experts.

This initiative is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery at large scales especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The responses by the experts will be available for everyone and users will not be required to share any personal details or health records on this account.

8.Third edition of Gujarat’s ”Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan” begins

Amid the lockdown for the coronavirus outbreak, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani gave the green signal for the third edition of his government”s ”Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan”.This is a conservation plan to deepen water bodies in the state before monsoon.

The scheme, which will continue till June 10, will see the deepening of lakes, check dams and rivers by removing silt, and it will be done with people”s participation as well as under MGNREGA.

Apart from maintaining social distancing, local authorities need to provide masks and sanitizers to the workers.

The scheme was started in 2018 after a weak monsoon, and till date, the state”s water storage capacity has increased by 23,000 lakh cubic feet due to deepening of lakes, check-dams, rivers and reservoirs.

9.Manipur becomes second state after Goa to be Corona free

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has declared the state now has no COVID-19 active case as the second coronavirus patient was discharged from hospital after he tested negative for the deadly virus.Though the State has no COVID-19 active case now but people should keep vigil all the time.

Manipur had two confirmed COVID-19 cases but both the patients, a 23-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man have recovered and have been discharged from hospital.

Goa was declared a Corona free State a few days back.

10.Pune’s mobile App ‘Saiyam’ tracks home quarantined citizens

A mobile application named Saiyam has been developed by the Pune Municipal Corporation under Smart Cities Mission to effectively track the home-quarantined citizens and ensure that they are staying in the home.The city administration has appointed dedicated teams for five zones to conduct a follow-up with people under home quarantine on a daily basis.

The teams will also check if those under home quarantine have downloaded the Saiyam Mobile Application.

The Mobile Application has GPS tracking so that whenever quarantined citizens leave their homes, City Administration gets ed and the local ward or the local police station gets informed.

All the Home Quarantined citizens are given the mandate to download the app and install it.

11.Huawei India appoints David Li as CEO

Huawei Telecommunications India has appointed David Li as its Chief Executive Officer.He replaces Jay Chen who has been promoted to handle Asia Pacific level business roles.

Li joined Huawei in 2002 and has experience of working in the India market, including in roles like vice president sales and vice president HR during different phases of his career.

He was serving as CEO of Huawei Cambodia before returning to India to take on his new role.

12.RBI gives nod to Kamakodi’s reappointment as MD & CEO of City Union Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has given its approval for the re-appointment of N Kamakodi as MD & CEO of City Union Bank (CUB).He has been appointed for three years with effect from May 1.

Kamakodi has been associated with the Kumbakonam (Tamil Nadu)-headquartered CUB since 2003. He was elevated as MD and CEO in 2011.

13.Adam Higginbotham wins William E. Colby Award

Adam Higginbotham’s “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster” has won a $5,000 prize.Higginbotham has received the William E. Colby Award, given for an outstanding book on military or intelligence history.

The award is named for the late CIA director.

The Colby award was established in 1999. Previous winners include Karl Marlantes’ novel “Matterhorn” and Dexter Filkins’ “The Forever War.” Colby was CIA director during the Nixon and Ford administrations.