Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to address the concerns of the mentally ill on the streets during the lockdown to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The NHRC took cognisance of a complaint about the alleged violation of the human rights of such people and asked the Ministry to inform it, within two weeks, of the arrangements made for them.
The NHRC said that while the Central and State governments were trying to provide food and health services during the crisis, some sections, like those suffering from mental illness, should be provided food, shelter and social security by the state.
It said the complaints highlighted the issue of mentally ill persons dependent for food and shelter on charities, temples and gurdwaras.
“But the administration has not issued any specific guidelines for these people, and no arrangements for their survival during this period of crisis have been made,” the NHRC said.

Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank today launched a week long Bharat Padhe Online campaign for crowd sourcing of ideas in New Delhi for improving online education ecosystem of India.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Nishank said, the campaign aims to invite all the best brains in India to share suggestions or solutions directly with HRD Ministry to overcome constraints of online education while promoting the available digital education platforms.
Mr Nishank said that students and teachers are the main target audience in it and hoped that they will participate in this campaign wholeheartedly to improve the existing online education methods.
He said that students who are currently studying in schools or higher educational institutions are the ones engaging with the existing digital platforms offering various courses etc. on a daily basis.

President of Asian Development Bank, MasatsuguAsakawa, today, assured Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman of 2.2 billion dollars or about 16,500 crore rupees, support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asakawa said, ADB is committed to supporting India's emergency needs. We are now preparing 2.2 billion dollar in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector.
He added, ADB assistance for India will be further increased if needed. All financing options available with ADB will considered to meet India's needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of funds, he said.

Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan has said that India was and will continue to be the global energy demand centre and it is sourcing crude for the strategic petroleum reserves. Speaking at the first-ever Extraordinary G20 Energy Ministers’ virtual summit today, Mr Pradhan said, the 21-day nation-wide lockdown in India has substantially reduced the demand for petroleum products, except that for LPG.
He said, providing free LPG to more than 80 million poor families under PradhanMantriUjjwalaYojana as a part of Prime Minister NarendraModi’s relief package to support the vulnerable, has boosted LPG demand.
The Minister said, during the just-convened Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit in the last week of March, Prime Minister NarendraModi had emphasised the need for human-centric approach as we fight to overcome challenging hardships, especially for the vulnerable.

IMF chief KristalinaGeorgieva has said that the global coronavirus pandemic has inflicted an economic crisis unlike any in the past century and will require a massive response to ensure recovery.
IMF Chief said the warnings about the damage inflicted by the virus already were stark, the world should brace for the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression.
Ms.Georgieva said International Monetary Fund expects 'global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020,' with 170 of the fund's 180 members experiencing a decline in per capita income.
The IMF will release its latest World Economic Outlook next week , with grim forecasts for its members this year and next. Earlier, the IMF projected global growth of 3.3 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2021.
Meanwhile, the IMF board approved a doubling of emergency lending facilities that will provide about 100 billion dollars, and is moving ahead with debt relief for the poorest countries and also help for countries with unsustainable debt levels.

The outbreak has disrupted global political calendars, but the country’s early parliamentary voting so far has been smooth — and heavily regulated.
In South Korea, the parliamentary election is proceeding relatively seamlessly so far — albeit with a lot of preparation and protocols in place to protect voters.
The government is trying to assure its 44 million eligible voters that it is safe to leave their homes to go to the polls, even as it is urging the public to avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing.
To make the voting run smoothly, South Korea has mobilized armies of public servants, including young men doing civic duty in lieu of mandatory military service, to prepare for the election.

On April 9, 2020, the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) tied up with Bharat Electronics Limited to develop mass manufacturing technologies (hardware and software).
The technologies are to focus on production of medical devices. These technologies after creation are to be transferred to companies free of cost.
On the lines of mass manufacturing, the tie up has helped mitigate COVID-19 through its two recent innovations. They are Digital IR Thermometers and Oygen Enrichment Unit.
The Digital Infra-Red Thermometer developed is now available as open source. The design of the thermometer,its mass manufacturing ready software and hardware have been made available for free all over India.
The critical need of COVID-19 patients are their oxygen requirements as their lungs are compromised. The Tie-up has developed oxygen enrichment units that will increase the concentration of oxygen in the air to 38% to 40%.
The technologies use to build these units are also available for free for the manufacturers to launch mass production.

After the suspension of matches in the Europe leg of the Pro League, the Indian men’s hockey team’s home games against New Zealand have also been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Zealand men were scheduled to play back-to-back games on May 23 and 24 in Bhubaneswar.
While expressing disappointment, Hockey India accepted that the situation was not conducive. “It is disappointing that the matches need to be cancelled, but these are unavoidable circumstances and we support Hockey New Zealand’s decision. Safety of players and their support staff is a top priority.