Important Current Affairs 12th April 2020

National

Delhi Government Launches “Operation SHIELD” for Containment of COVID-19

• On 9 April 2020, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced the launch of an initiative called “Operation SHIELD” in the capital city to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Here SHIELD stands for:

a) Sealing of the immediate area/surroundings after geographical marking

b) Home quarantine of all the people living in the area

c) Isolation and tracing of people who have been first and second contacts

d) Essential supply of commodities is ensured

e) Local sanitisation of the area by authorities

f) Door-to-door health checks of everyone living in the area

CSIR-NCL & BEL ink partnership to developed IR Thermometer and OEU

• CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) Pune, Maharashtra has designed and developed Digital IR Thermometer and Oxygen Enrichment Unit (OEU) to assist within the mitigation of the Coronavirus outbreak. To speed-up, the project NCL has partnered with Bharat Electronics Ltd, Pune (BEL).

• Digital Infra-Red (IR) thermometer is that the primary and important component that’s wont to measure Coronavirus infection.

• The Oxygen Enrichment Unit is that the other technology that’s in great demand within the treatment of COVID-19 patients. because the lungs of COVID-19 patients get badly affected, the OEU can do the function of a ventilator by increasing the oxygen concentration from 21-22% to 38-40% from the ambient air.

Bharat Biotech in tie-up with FluGen to develop ‘CoroFlu’ vaccine

• Bharat Biotech in tie-up with the US-based company FluGen and University of Wisconsin Madison to develop a vaccine named “Coro-Flu” to fight against COVID-19.

• CoroFlu will build on the backbone of FluGen’s flu vaccine candidate known as M2SR.

• The vaccine is being developed on the basis of FluGen’s flu vaccine candidate known as M2SR, a self-limited version of the influenza virus.

International

People’s Bank of China now owns 1.01% stake in HDFC
•    The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which is the Central Bank of China now owns 1.01% stake in the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).
•    As per the data submitted by PBOC to BSE, it held 1.75 crore shares of HDFC during the quarter that ended in March 2020. However, PBOC already owned 0.8 percent earlier.
•    As per norms, businesses are required to disclose shareholding of over 1 percent at the end of every quarter. The disclosure has been made now by PBOC because the ownership has hit the 1 percent regulatory threshold.

Banking and Economy

Jana Small Finance Bank launches “DigiGen” digital banking platform

• Jana Small Finance Bank has launched “DigiGen” a digital banking platform where customers can digitally open a savings account and fixed deposit instantly, any time, anywhere.

• DigiGen onboarding is a three-step process to open an account.

• Bank customers are eligible for 4.5 per cent interest rates on savings account with no minimum balance and up to 7.5 per cent interest on fixed deposits.

ACC approves extension of Bank Board Bureau members’ tenure by 2 years

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the extension of tenure of all members and the current part-time chairman of the Bank Board Bureau(BBB) by 2 years, which is coming to an end on April 11,2020.

• The former Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, Bhanu Pratap Sharma, will continue to hold the post of part-time member of the board.

Ranking

India ranks high on “Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker”.

• The “Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker” has identified India’s response to Covid-19 as one of the most stringent in the world. This data are based on tracking 73 countries.

• This tracker is created by researchers from Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. The tracker is designed to systematically record government responses worldwide and aggregate the scores into a common ‘Stringency Index’.

Days

International Day of Human Space Flight 2020: History of Human in Space, Background and Other Details

• International Day of Human Space Flight 2020: The International Day of Human Space Flight 2020 was observed on April 12, 2020. The day is to celebrate the beginning of the space era for mankind, the contribution of space science and technology and to ensure the realization to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.

• The United Nations General Assembly in its resolution on April 7, 2011, had declared April 12 to be celebrated as International Day of Human Space Flight.

• On April 12, 1961, the first human space flight was carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen, who became the first person to journey into outer space. The mission opened several pathways for space exploration, which benefited the next generations.