Daily Current Affairs and GK | 28 April 2020

1. Reserve Bank announced a special liquidity facility of Rs 50 thousand crore for mutual funds

• Recently the central bank of India has announced a special liquidity facility (SLF-MF) of Rs 50 thousand crore for mutual funds.
• It aims to ease complexity on the flow of mutual funds.
• The slowdown in capital markets due to COVID-19 has led to a decline in the flow of mutual funds, which has led to the closure of some debt mutual funds and increased pressure on them.
• The funds available under SLF-MF by the Reserve Bank will be used to buy mutual funds, loans and certificates of deposit of company bonds, commercial papers, debentures and mutual funds.
• Under the special liquidity facility for mutual funds, the Reserve Bank will run a repo operation of 19 days at a fixed repo rate.
• The scheme will be available from April 27 to May 11 or till the use of the allocated funds, whichever is earlier.
• The Reserve Bank will then review the time frame and funds based on market conditions.
• A mutual fund is an open-ended professionally managed investment fund, which invests many investors to buy securities. These investors may be retail or institutional in nature.

2. People got employment during the lockdown under MNREGA

• According to the Home Ministry, construction work is going on under MNREGA across the country to provide employment to agriculture and migrant laborers during the lockdown.
• More than two crore people have got employment under MNREGA.
• MNREGA:
  • The Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act 2005, is an Indian labor law and social security measure aimed at guaranteeing the right to work to the job seekers of rural India.
  • The act was passed in September 2005.
  • It was started on 2 February 2006.

3. First government hospital in the country to start plasma therapy at King George Medical University, Lucknow

• King George Medical University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh has become the first government hospital in the country to start plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19.
• This therapy has been used on a 58-year-old man.
• Plasma therapy:
  • It is a technique used in the treatment of COVID-19.
  • In this therapy, the recent convalescent sera of a person recovering from infection is injected into another patient of COVID-19, as the patient recovering from the disease will have antibodies that will help other patients get rid of the coronavirus.

4. Manisha Singh named as the next envoy of US for the OECD

• Recently US President Donald Trump has named senior Indian-American diplomat Manisha Singh as the next US envoy to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
• Manisha Singh is currently the Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs in the US Department of State.
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD):
  • It is an inter-governmental economic organization with 36 member countries that encourages economic progress and world trade.
  • Its headquarters are located in Paris, France.
  • It was founded in 1961.

5. Saudi-led coalition urged southern separatists in Yemen to accept the terms of the Riyadh peace deal

• The Saudi-led coalition, which has been involved in years-long war in Yemen, urged Emirati-backed southern separatists to respect the terms of the Riyadh peace deal 2019.
• It also urged the separatists to return the port city of Aden to the country's internationally recognized government.
• The request comes after the Southern Transitional Council recently claimed control of the city of Aden again.
• A year-long planetary war in Yemen has brought this poorest country in the Arab world to the brink of famine, killing more than 1,00,000 people in recent times.
• Riyadh Peace Agreement 2019:
  • It was an agreement between the Yemen government and other separatist groups.
  • Under this, all parties will remove heavy military equipment from their occupied Yemen cities and form a unity government in which all will have equal representation, but this agreement has not yet been implemented.

6. Japan added 14 more countries to the entry ban list

• Recently, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has added 14 more countries to the entry ban list, including Russia, Peru and Saudi Arabia, due to Coronavirus infection in the country.
• Japan has already banned the entry of more than 70 other countries.
• Also, Japan has extended entry restrictions and visa restrictions, which expire on April 30, until the end of May.
• Japan:
  • Japan is an island country, located on the eastern coast of the Asian continent.
  • Its capital Tokyo and currency is the Japanese Yen.

7. Five of the eight states in the Northeast region are corona free

• Recently, five of the eight states of the Northeast region have been declared corona free.
• In the remaining three states, no new cases of infection have been reported in the past few days.
• North East Region Development Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has given this information in the review meeting of senior officials of the North-Eastern Council.
• North-Eastern Council:
  • It was established by the North Eastern Council Act 1971.
  • Its members are the eight states of Northeast India, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
  • Sikkim was added to the council in the year 2002.
  • Its headquarters are located in Shillong.

8. Maruti Suzuki will now produce low-cost ventilators in the country

• Maruti Suzuki, a leading automobile company, will now produce low-cost ventilators in the country.
• By this, the company will contribute to the ongoing nationwide campaign against COVID-19.
• This production work is being carried out by the Agva Healthcare Start-up Company in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
• This low-cost ventilator will be used to save the lives of patients suffering from COVID-19.

9. Chakma and Hajong tribes starve in Arunachal Pradesh

• According to the official body, the Chakma and Hajong tribes are suffering from hunger in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Their ration card was confiscated in 1991.
• To ensure food for these communities, it is being sought to include them in the government's economic package.
• These communities migrated from East Pakistan and settled in parts of Arunachal Pradesh after being disturbed by violence in the 1960s.
• Not getting food in this way is a violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

10. Umar Akmal was banned by PCB for three years

• Recently Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for three years.
• He has been accused of corruption in the country's premier T20 league (Pakistan Super League) this year.
• Omar Akmal, 29, made his international debut against Sri Lanka on 1 August 2009 and made his Test debut against New Zealand on 23 November 2009.

11. 28 April: World Day for Safety and Health at Work

• April 28 is celebrated every year as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
• This year's theme is "Stop the pandemic, safety and health at the work can save lives".
• The day promotes the prevention of accidents and diseases commercially for safety and health at the workplace.
• In 2003, the International Labor Organization (ILO) began celebrating the day to emphasize prevention of accidents and diseases at the workplace.