Daily News

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Uttar Pradesh-First State to Geo Tag Community Kitchens

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts which produce 12 lakh food packets a day. The state government has also tied up with Google to Geo-map the locations.

Did you Know

Establishment on the Google Map is for the ease of recipients.

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Rajasthan: First Indian to carry out Rapid Testing for Covid-19

Rajasthan has started rapid antibody tests, among the first states to do so, as the state capital Jaipur and Jodhpur have emerged as hotspots, reporting more than half the confirmed Covid-19 cases and accounting for 70% of deaths in the state.

Did you Know

PCR tests or laboratory tests will continue to be done.

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Procurement operations of Pulses and Oilseeds directly from Farmers at MSP

Government through Central Nodal Agencies like NAFED & FCI has been striving to assure better returns for the farmers. Procurement of notified commodities at Minimum Support Price from the farmers in several States in the Rabi 2020-21 season has started.

Did you Know

It is done under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) scheme.

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Government increases loss coverage for micro loan defaults under CGFMU scheme to 75% from 50% earlier

Finance ministry has increased coverage of a lender’s loss in case of loan default under the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units scheme to 75%, from 50% earlier. CGFMU covers micro loans up to Rs 10 lakh extended under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.

Did you Know

CGFMU scheme was announced in April 2016.

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Business sentiment worsened in Q4 FY20: NCAER

NCAER’s Business Confidence Index- an indicator of business sentiments across Indian industry, stood at 77.3 in Q4 of 2019-20. This was the lowest level of BCI recorded since the 25th Round of the BES in 1998, coinciding with the Asian Financial Crisis.

Did you Know

N-BCI in the third quarter of 2019-20 was 111.2.

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Covid-19 impact: S&P slashes India growth forecast to 1.8% for FY21

Standard & Poor’s slashed FY21 growth estimate for India to 1.8% from 3.5% projected last month on concern that the covid-19 peak in India will come ‘somewhat later’ than most other countries. For the Asia-Pacific region, 2020 growth projection is 0.3%.

Did you Know

Forecast: Loss in household & corporate income of $2.2 tn.

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Eros International & Hollywood’s STX Entertainment to merge all share- 1st of its kind

In a first of its kind deal, Indian movie producer and distributor Eros International announced an all-share merger with Hollywood's six-year-old, privately-held STX Entertainment to create an equally-held global entertainment company.

Did you Know

Existing shareholders will hold about 42% of the merged entity.

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DRDO innovates automatic sanitiser and ultraviolet devices to fight coronavirus

From an automatic mist-based sanitiser for use while entering offices to ultraviolet devices that can destroy the genetic material of COVID-19, the DRDO introduced these two new technologies that are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Did you Know

CFEES developed the Sanitiser Dispensing Unit.

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Gujarat’s GBRC: 2nd Indian institute to decode COVID-19 genome sequence

Researchers at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) have succeeded in decoding the entire genome sequence of the novel coronavirus after the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and identified its three new mutations.

Did you Know

6 of the mutations were already found by other institutes.

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Over Rs 36,659 Cr transferred by using DBT in bank accounts of 16.01 Cr beneficiaries during lockdown

More than Rs 36,659 Cr has been transferred by using Direct Benefit Transfer in the bank accounts of 16.01 crore beneficiaries during COVID 2019 lockdown. Total Direct Benefit Transfer amount disbursed has increased from 22% in 2018-19 to 45% in 2019-20.

Did you Know

DBT eliminates leakage and improves efficiency.

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IIM-Kozhikode team develops one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services

International team led by an IIM Kozhikode student has developed a one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services from official government sources. The website - covidfyi.in - is a one-stop digital directory for all COVID-19 related services.

Did you Know

The core team of 16 is led by IIM Kozhikode student Simran Soni.

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Microsoft adds five new Indian languages to its Microsoft Translator service

Microsoft India announced that it will be adding five new Indian languages to its Microsoft Translator. The Microsoft translator now supports ten Indian languages with the addition of Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi.

Did you Know

Translator service is part of Azure Cognitive Services API.

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Cricket: IPL 2020 Suspended Indefinitely

BCCI has suspended the Indian Premier League 2020 indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the IPL 2020, was suspended until April 15 after the country went on a 21-day lockdown in a bid to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Did you Know

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Secretary- Jay Shah.

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UN Chinese Language Day celebrates around 20 April

The UN observes the UN Chinese Language Day every year on or around April 20. The contribution of Chinese literature, poetry and language in world culture is highlighted on this day. Chinese was established as an official language of the UN in 1946.

Did you Know

General Assembly included Chinese as a working language in 1973.

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Legendary ‘Tom & Jerry’ and ‘Popeye’ animator Gene Deitch has died, aged 95

Oscar-winning illustrator and legendary Tom & Jerry director Gene Deitch has died aged 95. He went on to work with Rembrandt Films through the 1960s to produce a number of Popeye cartoons, as well as a dozen Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Did you Know

In 1958, Deitch was nominated for an Academy Award.

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Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga qualify for Tokyo Olympics, confirms Indian weightlifting federation

Indian weightlifting federation president Sahdev Yadav confirmed that Mirabai Chanu and Jeremy Lalrinnunga have made the cut for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Top-8 athletes from IWF rankings list are eligible to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.

Did you Know

Mirabai & Jeremy ranked 8th & 2ndrespectively in the IWF list.

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Marion Hollins elected to 2021 class of Golf Hall of Fame

Marion Hollins has elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame through the contributor's category, joining a 2021 class that so far includes Tiger Woods. Marion Hollins developed a golf course for women in New York and two fabled golf courses in California.

Did you Know

Hollins, who died in 1944 was 51.