Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 March 2020

::NATIONAL::

Govt. claims no evidence of community transmission of COVID in the country

Union Government has said that there is no concrete evidence of community transmission of Corona virus in the country. It also said that the number of confirmed cases are increasing but the rate at which the numbers are increasing are stablizing now.
Briefing media in New Delhi, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare LavAgarwal said, stablization in increasing number is only the initial trend and collective effort of people to practice social distancing measures will continue this trend and the country will come out from the problem of COVID-19.
He said, social distancing is the only way that can break the chain of transmission. Mr Agarwal said, more than 64 thousand people are under surveillance and one or two cases does not prove that it has spread to the community level.
The Joint Secretary said, Cabinet Secretary held a meeting today with the Chief Secretaries of States to review the preparedness in terms of arrangements of hospitals to deal with the current situation. The Cabinet Secretary requested the Chief Secretaries to ensure the proper supply of essential items.
Mr.Agarwal said, 17 states have started work to build dedicated COVID hospitals and online training for the Doctors has been started with the help of AIIMS, Delhi to bring uniformity in the treatment.

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MHA issues SOP for supply of essential goods and services

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for maintaining supply of essential goods through retail and e-commerce platforms.
Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all the States and Union Territories to let e-commerce remain operational and encourage home delivery of essential goods as the 21-day lockdown was enforced to break the transmission chain of coronavirus.
According to the SOP, “all facilities in supply of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar or e-commerce companies, should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social-distancing.” It said warehouses should not be closed because they also stored non-essential items.
The persons engaged in the supply shall be allowed to commute on the basis of e-pass issued by the local authorities, and the employees shall carry a valid photo identification card.
In the case of the unorganised sector, the persons involved in supply chain may be allowed to commute based on approval or an authorisation letter issued by the local authorities. “These facilities should carry out regular health and sanitation checks of employees and will provide them with protective gear,” the SOP said.
It asked the States to open 24/7 control rooms to register complaints and grievances. The SOP covers suppliers of essential goods, including restaurants supplying cooked food items.

::ECONOMY::

CRISIL cuts down growth estimate further down

Rating agency Crisil has cut the country’s GDP growth forecast for the next financial year to 3.5% from 5.2% projected earlier, due to the spread of COVID-19.
“We have slashed our base-case gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for fiscal 2021 to 3.5% from the 5.2% expected earlier. This assumes two things: a normal monsoon, and the effect of the pandemic subsiding materially, if not wearing out, in the April-June quarter,” said Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist, Crisil.
According to the rating agency, COVID-19 is now the foremost risk for the world economy with multi-dimensional ramifications because, and unlike the global financial crisis of 2008, it has not only slammed the brakes on economic activity and jeopardised financial stability, but also brought with it enormous human suffering not seen in decades.
“Since our last forecast of 5.2% GDP growth for fiscal 2021, the scenario has worsened notably. S&P Global has marked global growth down significantly, predicting a likely recession in the U.S. and the Eurozone, and lowering China’s growth to 2.9% from 4.8% with dominant downside risks,” the rating agency said, adding the pandemic in India and the consequent lockdown for 21 days posed a material risk to India’s economic outlook.
The impact of social distancing and decline in discretionary spending will aggravate the downturn in the April-June quarter, and the sharp slowdown in key trading-partner economies will hit exports.
Services, which account for 41% of total exports, have been resilient so far, but a recession in the advanced economies would dampen the prospects for IT-ITeS, tourism and bring down services’ exports growth.

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FinMin asks banks to ensure smooth transfer of funds to JanDhan accounts

The Finance Ministry has asked all the banks to ensure smooth transfer of ₹500 per month to Jan Dhan accounts of all women account holders, announced by Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Thursday to support families due to the nation-wide lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19.
“You are requested to ensure that the said amount is transferred smoothly, to the targeted accounts, so that the beneficiaries can get access to the funds during the difficult time to carry on their livelihood without facing hardships,” the Finance Ministry said in a communication to chief executives of public and private sector banks. The government has decided to transfer ₹500 per month for three months in such accounts.
The Ministry has asked the lenders to draw up a list of beneficiaries and share it with the Ministry. “After receiving this data, the date of transfer will be intimated,” the letter said.
The Finance Ministry also asked the banks to ensure adequate liquidity with the bank branches and also with business correspondents.
Banks have been asked to regularly replenish automated teller machines, and arrange mobile ATMs with sufficient cash, where required.The Ministry also asked the banks to inform beneficiaries regarding the time schedule of the withdrawal via SMS.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

G20 pledges $5trilllion into global economy

The world needs to “redefine” its conversations on globalisation to include social and humanitarian issues such as terrorism, climate change and pandemics along with financial and economic discussions, said Prime Minister NarendraModi, speaking at a video-conference of leaders of the world’s top 20 economies, the G20, hosted by the Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to discuss the novel coronavirus pandemic.
According to a release, the G20 countries committed on Thursday to inject more than $5 trillion into the global economy, and contribute to the COVID-19 solidarity response fund led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The leaders agreed to have more interactions of G20 Foreign Ministers, health officials and the respective Sherpas before the Riyadh Summit of the G20 nations in November 2020.
In his opening remarks, King Salman spoke of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global growth and financial markets. He said that the G20 must send a “strong signal to restore confidence in the global economy by resuming, as soon as possible, the normal flow of goods and services, especially vital medical supplies.”
Prime Minister Modi, who had first suggested the video-conference, also called for a bigger mandate and more funding for the World Health Organisation, which he said had failed to “adapt itself to deal with the new challenges the international community has faced.”
Many countries have been critical of WHO’s failure to alert the world quickly enough of the potential threat from the pandemic, even after it had been informed of its spread in Wuhan by China on December 31 last year.

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U.S indicts Venezuelan president for narco terrorism

The US Justice Department announced the indictment on Thursday of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The Justice Department called Mr.Maduro the head of a cocaine trafficking group called “The Cartel of the Suns” that exported hundreds of tonnes of drugs working hand in hand with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. has officially labelled a “terrorist organization.”
Also indicted were more than a dozen other officials of the Maduro regime, including members of the Venezuelan military and judiciary, including the country’s Chief Justice.
“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities,” said Attorney General Bill Barr. “It’s time to call out this regime for what it is,” he said.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Study finds warm,humid climate might slowdown COVID transmission

A warm and humid weather is linked to slower spread of the novel coronavirus, according to a study which suggests that Asian countries experiencing monsoon may experience lesser transmission of the virus.
The scientists, including QasimBukhari from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, assessed data on the number of COVID-19 infections in different parts of the world and compared it with two parameters of weather from all the regions - temperature and humidity.
The findings, described in SSRN repository, show that 90 per cent of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, transmissions until March 22, 2020 have occurred in regions with temperature between 3 and 17 degrees Celsius.
They added that these regions also had between 4 to 9 gram per cubic metre (g/m3) of absolute humidity - a measure of the amount of water vapour per cubic metre of atmosphere.
According to the MIT scientists, the total number of cases in countries with mean temperature greater than 18 degree Celsius and absolute humidity more than 9 g/m3 in January-February-early March is less than 6 per cent.
Based on their analysis, the scientists noted that Asian countries experiencing monsoon may see a slowdown in transmission as absolute humidity is generally above 10g/m3 during monsoon.

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::SPORTS::

Former Indian footballer Abdul Latif passes away

Former India midfielder Abdul Latif, who was also a key member of bronze medal winning team at the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games died in Guwahati on Monday.
He was also represented India in Asia Cup Qualifier in 1968 in Myanmar and Merdeka Cup in 1969 in Kuala Lumpur.Latif represented Mohammedan Sporting from 1963-1967 and later took over as coach.

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