TNPSC Current Affairs March 25, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs March 25, 2020 (25/03/2020)

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Topic: International Events

Kurzarbeit scheme

Amid the all-round disruption caused to the economy by the novel coronavirus outbreak, a concern across the world is the possibility of loss of jobs.

Germany’s Kurzabeit is being mentioned time and again in this context. Also, the German cabinet is planning to extend the benefit of short-time work allowance by the first half of April through legislation.

About Kurzarbeit:

Kurzarbeit is German for “short-work”. The policy provides for a short-time work allowance, called kurzarbeitgeld, which partially compensates for lost earnings during uncertain economic situations.

The policy was rolled out during the 2008 economic crisis while its origins date back as far as the early 20th century, before and after World War I.

How it works?

The scheme aims to address workers who are impacted by loss of income due to shortened work hours during such times.

They can apply for short-term work benefits under the scheme, with the government stepping in to pay employees a part of their lost income.

This helps the companies retain their employees instead of laying them off, and allows the latter to sustain themselves for a period of up to 12 months.

Quantum of payment:

Payment under Kurzarbeit is calculated on the basis of net loss of earnings. As per Germany’s Federal Agency for Work, short-time employees generally receive about 60 per cent of the flat-rate net wage.

In case there is at least one child in the house of the short-time worker, he/she receives 67 per cent of the flat-rate net wage.

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Topic: Geographical Landmarks, Places in News

Earth quake at Pacific

On March 25, 2020, 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit northern Pacific. The quake was 37 miles deep and stuck the eastern Kuril Islands of Russia. The Kuril Islands are a volcanic Archipelago that separates Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean.

The islands are currently under Russian Administration. However, claims of Japan over 4 southern most islands of the Archipelago have led to the ongoing Kuril Islands Dispute.

The Islands are located at the tectonically instable region called the “Ring of Fire”. The Ring of Fire is the areas of Pacific Ocean where several volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

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Topic: Awards and Honours, Latest Diary of Events

Abel Prize

The Norwegian Academy of Science is to award the Abel Prize for the year 2020 to the two great mathematicians Hillel Frustenberg and Gregory Margulis.

They are being honoured for their work towards probability and dynamics in number theory, combinatorics and Group Theory.

The Abel Prize is a Norwegian prize that is being presented annually by the King of Norway.

Hillel Frustenberg:

He is an American-Israeli mathematician at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was born in Germany. His family escaped to the US before the outbreak of Second World War.

An additive number theory has been named after him as Frustenberg-Sarkozy theorem. He has also won the Wolf Prize in Mathematics.

Gregory Margulis:

He is a Russian-American mathematician. He is known for his works on lattices. He has received the Fields medal, wolf prize and the Able prize becoming the fifth person to receive all the three prizes.

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Topic: General Administration, Latest Diary of Events

New Biofortified high protein wheat crops

The scientists of Agharkar Research Institute (Pune), operating under Departmnt of Science and Technology (DST) have developed biofortified high quality wheat. The new variety is MACS 4028.

Key facts:

The new wheat variety has 14.7% better nutritional quality, 40.3 ppm of iron content and high milling quality.

It is a semi-dwarf variety. It has shown the superior and stable yielding ability. It is resistant to stem rust, leaf rust, foliar aphids, root aphids, and brown wheat mite.

What is biofortification?

Biofortification is the process of increasing nutritional value of food crops by increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through either conventional plant breeding; agronomic practices or biotechnology. Examples of these vitamins and minerals that can be increased through biofortification include provitamin A Carotenoids, zinc and iron.