TNPSC Current Affairs April 21, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs April 21, 2020 (21/04/2020)

 

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Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration, Profile of States

How Kerala’s Kasaragod has fought coronavirus?

Recently, the Centre showcased the contact tracing and containment model of Kerala’s Kasaragod, one of the earliest spots on India’s COVID-19 map, as one of the success stories of the containment exercise.

Why showcase Kasaragod?

Kasaragod reported the third case of COVID-19 in the country — a student airlifted from Wuhan on February 3. The district administration mounted a massive exercise to trace the 150-odd contacts of that one student.

According to figures uploaded by the Kerala government, Kasaragod has had 169 cases and zero deaths until April 19, a unique achievement in itself, given the fact that a large proportion of the district’s population have settled abroad.

Of those infected, 123 people have recovered so far, leaving only 46 active cases among the original 169.

What is the Kasaragod model?

It involves aggressive testing, technology, foolproof contact tracing, and an effective public awareness campaign.

A special officer was appointed to coordinate functioning of the district administration and for effective coordination between line departments at field and secretariat levels.

Section 144was imposed in the entire district, with seven drones employed for surveillance.

Under the Care for Kasaragod initiative, a detailed action plan — common coordinated action plan — was drawn up for combating COVID-19 so that all stakeholders could turn to it when the situation arose.

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Topic: India and its Foreign Policies

New Development Bank

Finance Minister of India recently attended the 5th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank through video-conference.

About the New Development Bank:

It is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa in 2013.

It was established in 2014, at the 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza, Brazil.

The bank is set up to foster greater financial and development cooperation among the five emerging markets.

In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development.

The bank will be headquartered in Shanghai, China.

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Topic: Economic Policies in India

What Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)?

The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting five times in FY21, against seven in FY20.

Usually, the MPC meets six times a year. But, in FY20, it had an extra meeting in view of the pandemic and the urgent need to assess the current and evolving macroeconomic situation.

About MPC:

The RBI has a government-constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which is tasked with framing monetary policy using tools like the repo rate, reverse repo rate, bank rate, cash reserve ratio (CRR).

It has been instituted by the Central Government of India under Section 45ZB of the RBI Act that was amended in 1934.

The MPC is entrusted with the responsibility of deciding the different policy rates including MSF, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, and Liquidity Adjustment Facility.

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Topic: International Diary of Events

What is “milk tea alliance”?

It is a pro-democratic front formed by thousands of internet users from Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong in social networks against the authoritarianism of the Chinese Government and its supporters.

The informal movement began by defending itself against the insults of pro- Chinese twitter users against Thailand. It has now ended up forming a social network group to combat Chinese “propaganda”.

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Topic: International Diary of Events

West Texas Intermediate (WTI)

West Texas intermediate (WTI), also known as Texas light sweet, is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing.

This grade is described as light crude oil because of its relatively low density, and sweet because of its low sulfur content. It is the underlying commodity of New York Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contracts.

Why in News?

US oil markets created history when prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the best quality of crude oil in the world, fell to “minus” $40.32 a barrel in New York. This is the lowest crude oil price ever known.

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Topic: International Diary of Events

Matterhorn

Indian Tricolour of more than 1,000 meters in size was projected on Matterhorn Mountain, Zermatt, Switzerland to express solidarity to all Indians in the fight against COVID-19.

Key facts:

Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps. It is situated in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.

The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes.

Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains, the Matterhorn has become an iconic emblem of the Alps in general.

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

COVID-19 free; Manipur-Second

After Goa, Manipur becomes COVID-19 free. There were total of seven positive cases in the state of Goa. Since April 3, 2020, the state had not reported a single case. However, risks looms around Goa as 7,000 seamen are to return to the state. Following Goa, Manipur became COVID-19 free.

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

BRO: Daporijo Bridge across Subansiri river in Arunachal Pradesh inaugurated

The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu inaugurated a bridge across the Subansiri river. The bridge was constructed by the BRO (Border Roads Organization).

The developmental work of the Daporijo bridge was undertaken by the BRO amidst lock down. The bridge is of great importance as its links roads leading to India-Arunachal Pradesh border. The bridge was constructed in record time of less than a month sticking to the safety precautions.

The bridge had developed crack and caused accident in 1992. A bus fell off the bridge and none of the passengers survived the accident. The new bridge constructed can withstand 40 tonnes of weight.