TNPSC Current Affairs April 14, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs April 14, 2020 (14/04/2020)

 

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Topic: Economic Policies in India, Latest Diary of Events

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds.

About the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme:

The sovereign gold bond was introduced by the Government in 2015. Government introduced these bonds to help reduce India’s over dependence on gold imports. The move was also aimed at changing the habits of Indians from saving in physical form of gold to a paper form with Sovereign backing.

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Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration, Economic Policies in India

CollabCAD

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog & National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD in ATL schools.

What is CollabCAD?

It is a collaborative network, computer enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design. The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination. This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.

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Topic: Economic Policies in India, Latest Diary of Events

What is helicopter money?

Amid rising concerns over economic crisis that has been triggered by the COVID-19 lockdown; Helicopter Money is one concept that is being considered by authorities’ world over.

In fact, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has suggested RBI to adopt the concept of Helicopter Money to help state governments tide over the current crisis and kickstart economic activity in India.

What is helicopter money?

This is an unconventional monetary policy tool aimed at bringing a flagging economy back on track. It involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public. American economist Milton Friedman coined this term.

Why it is called so?

It basically denotes a helicopter dropping money from the sky. Friedman used the term to signify “unexpectedly dumping money onto a struggling economy with the intention to shock it out of a deep slump.” Under such a policy, a central bank “directly increase the money supply and, via the government, distribute the new cash to the population with the aim of boosting demand and inflation.”

Why is helicopter money in news now?

With the coronavirus-hit economy falling deeper and deeper into a chasm with each passing day, Telangana chief minister KC Rao has said helicopter money can help states comes out of this morass. He asked for the release of 5% funds from GDP by way of quantitative easing (QE).

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Topic: International Events, General Administration

First Ship load of Crude Oil reaches India

The first crude oil of 1 million barrels from UAE have reached India. The oil prices have declined by 60% since January, 2020. The prices are expected to rise with OPEC and Russia have come to terms to cut their production by 10%. Hence, this is the right time to fill in oil storages.

India has an emergency storage of 5.33 million tonnes. This would suffice the oil demands of the country for 9.5 days.

The oil reserves are stored in Mangalore, Padur and Vishkhapatnam. The Padur oil storage is the biggest of all the three storages. It can store 17 million barrels (2.5 million tonnes).

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Siachen Day Commemorated

On April 13, 2020, the Indian Army commemorated Siachen Day. The day is observed to commemorate the courage of Indian Army under “Operation Meghdoot”. The Day also honours Siachen Warriors serving motherland successfully from the enemy.

Every year, the Indian army commemorates by displaying the courage of Indian Army troops that are securing the coldest and highest battlefield in the world.

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Topic: Public awareness and General Administration, Latest Administration

PM Modi launches “Saptapadi” to fight against COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched “Saptapdi” to fight against COVID-19. Saptapadi is seven mantras to fight against the virus.

PM Modi extended the lock down till May 3, 2020. This has been done after demarcating the country into red, orange and green zones based on the spread of the virus. PM Modi has launched 7 mantras in order to deal with the spread of virus.

The 7 mantras are as follows:

The senior citizens and elderly have to be looked after with special care

Social distancing and lock down rules have to be followed strictly

The citizens should boost their immunity based on the guidelines issued by the Ministry of AYUSH.

He has suggested to download “Arogya Sethu” mobile application.

Provide shelter and food to the needy and the poor

Compassion towards colleagues and avoid payment cuts and job cuts

Showing respect to health professionals such as doctors, nurses and sanitation workers.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Ambedkar Jayanti

India celebrated the 129th birth anniversary of Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar. Amidst the lock down, his birth anniversary is being celebrated digitally by the whole of India. The Indian Constitution was prepared under the leadership of Ambedkar.

Ambedkar was born in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It was a small cantonment in Indore district. The town was later renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003. He was born as Hindu and later converted into a Buddhist. He was recognised as modern Buddha of his age.