Top Weekly Current Affairs – 2020 April 06 to 12

Current affairs is one of the inevitable and compulsive topic in almost every competitive examinations. It is inevitable for an aspirant to get updated on daily current affairs happening around the world. Daily newspaper reading and follow-ups are necessary for mastering these current affairs section. In this article, we have provided the top weekly current affairs from April 06 to April 12, 2020 which will help all aspirants to improve scores in their competitive examination like PSC, SSC, RRB and Banking.

Get free Mock Test for Competitive Exam Preparation!

Top Weekly Current Affairs for all Competitive Exams 2020 April 06 to April 12

Here are the list of top current affairs of the week  April 06 to April 12, 2020 which will be helpful for all competitive examinations like PSC, SSC, RRB, Banking etc.

Ayushman Bharat: 50 Crore poor eligible for testing and treatment

• On April 5, 2020, Union Health Minister Harsha Vardhan announced that over 50 crore vulnerable and poor citizens are eligible under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat).
• Under Ayushman Bharat, the testing for the poor and vulnerable, (that is the citizens eligible to claim benefits under the scheme) has been made free.
• The testing of COVID-19 in public facilities are already free. The hospitals empaneled under the scheme shall tie up with an authorized testing facility to test for COVID-19.
• The tests are to be carried out according to the norms of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup postponed to November

• The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) or the International Federation of Association Football has postponed the Under-17 Women’s world cup to November 2020.
• The FIFA Federations decided that the Under-17 and Under-20 Women’s World Cup be postponed.
• The Under-20 women’s FIFA world cup was planned to be conducted in Panama Costa Rica.The Under-17 Women’s FIFA world cup was scheduled to be conducted in Indian cities such as Guwahati, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.
• FIFA is an international governing body that conducts football, beach soccer and football tournaments. It was founded in 1904. The headquarters of the association is located in Zurich, Switzerland.

April 7: World Health Day

• Every year, April 7 is marked as the World Health Day. The day is marked to celebrate the work of midwives and nurses for their role in keeping the world safety and healthy.
• This year, 2020, has added significance to marking the World Health Day for the year being celebrated as International Year of Nurse and Midwife. Highlights.
• The World Health Day is marked by the World Health Organization along with several other organizations. On the world health day, the State of World Nursing Report, 2020 is to be released.
• Every year, the theme of the World Health Day is selected by WHO. This year the day is to be marked under the theme.’Theme: Support Nurses and Midwives’.

Japan declares Emergency

• On April 7, 2020, the world’s third largest economy, Japan declared an emergency to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.The State of Emergency is to last till May 6, 2020.
• Initially, the emergency is to be applied in six prefectures namely Kanagwa, Chiba, Saitama, Osaka, Fukuoka and Hyogo. Today there are more than 3,906 cases of COVID-19 in Japan.
• Though Japan is known for its higher old age population, most of the Japanese infected by COVID-19 were in the age group of 20s and 30s.
• This was because the Government failed to curb social movements in major cities in the earlier stages of the pandemic. Most of the cases had their sources on weekends.

Kerala’s first disinfectant tunnels set up in Thrissur

• Kerala’s first automatic disinfectant tunnel has been set up in thrissur. In the first phase, two tunnels have been installed at Sakthan Thampuran market and Government General Hospital.
• The tunnel has the mechanism to spray people with hypochlorite solution while passing through them.
• District administration is planning to set up more sanitizer tunnels at Chavakkad,Chalakudy and Irinjalakuda Taluk Hospitals and the Thrissur Government Medical College.

Cabinet approved ordinance to take 30 percent pay cut for one year

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to amend the Salary, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament (MP) Act through an ordinance.
• As per the amendment, there will be a salary cut of all ministers, including Prime Minister, for a year by 30%. The information was passed by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.
• The move is to provide financial assistance to the COVID-19 crisis. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-president Venkiah Naidu and governors will also take a salary cut of 30% for a year. The savings from the salaries will go to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
• CFI is the revenues collected by the Centre through direct taxes and indirect taxes, license fees, money received by the government in loan repayment, profits from public sector undertakings. CFI is used for all the expenses of the government.

Government to sanction Rs.15,000 crore to strengthen India’s fight against COVID-19 outbreak

• The Government of India sanctioned Rs.15,000 crore package to strengthen India’s fight against the novel coronavirus. The amount will be used for COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package.
• Out of the Rs.15,000 crore fund allocated by the Central government, Rs.7,774 crore will be used for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response. The rest of the amount will be used for medium-term support of 1-4 years.
• The COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package will be implemented in three phases.The first phase will be from January 2020 to June 2020, the second phase from July 2020 to March 2021 and the third phase from April 2021 to March 2024.
• The main objectives of the package include mounting emergency response to slow and limit COVID-19 in India through the development of diagnostics and COVID-19 dedicated treatment facilities.

Delhi govt. launched Operation SHIELD to combat COVID-19 pandemic

• The Delhi government launched ‘Operation SHIELD’ in 21 containment zones in the state. The announcement was made by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
• Operation SHIELD aims to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. People who are living in containment areas have been directed to cooperate in implementing Operation SHIELD.
• Students and teachers are the main target audience of the campaign.It aims to improve existing online education methods.
• The teachers and students can suggest their ideas and queries about what is lacking in the existing online platforms and how can it be made more engaging.

Amazon to set up corona virus testing lab for its employees

• Amazon is building a lab that will enable it to test employees for the COVID-19 virus.
• The move by the online retailer is to protect its delivery employees and delivery drivers who are getting essential products to customers sheltering at home. For this, the company has assigned a team of scientists, software engineers and procurement specialists to build a lab that will test the small numbers of front line employees soon.
• Amazon remained open through the pandemic. It has announced plans to hire more employees as the people order online to get essentials without leaving their homes.
• The company is trying to get government permits to set up the lab. The company plans to test only the employees of the company. The company aims to set up regular testing of its employees to help keep people safe.

SCTIMST to explore convalescent plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients

• Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is to explore convalescent-plasma therapy for COVID-19.Indian council for medical research (ICMR) has approved to carry out the novel treatment.
• Plasma is a component of blood. It is the fluid that carries the blood components throughout the body. It is the largest part of blood. It makes around 55% of its overall content.
• The liquid is light yellow in colour. It carries water, salts, and enzymes. Plasma also contains important components like antibodies, clotting factors, and the proteins albumin and fibrinogen.

OFB develops cost-effective solution for isolation wards

• Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has developed a cost-effective solution for isolation wards, Fumigation Chamber, Hand sanitizers and face masks as a measure to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
• The two-bed tents are fitted with medical equipment for screening, isolation, and quarantine. These special tents can be used for a medical emergency, medical screening, hospital triage, and quarantine purposes. These tents has a floor area of 9.55 square metre.
• The fumigation chamber was developed by Ordnance Factory Ambajhari (OFAJ) Nagpur. The chamber is created for the purpose of sanitization. It is fully portable and can be shifted with ease. It is installed at the main entrance of OFAJ Hospital.
• Opto Electronics Factory Dehradun of OFB has donated 2,500 bottles (100 ml each) of hand sanitizers and 1,000 face masks to the Governor, Uttarakhand.

World homeopathy day is celebrated on 10 April

• The World homeopathy day is celebrated on 10 April. The day is celebrated to honor the birth of the father of the Homoeopathic system of medicines Dr. Samuel Hahnemann.
• The year 2020, commemorates the 265th birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy. The theme of the 2020 World homeopathy day is “Enhancing the scope of Homoeopathy in Public Health”.
• Samuel Hahnemann was born on 10 April 1755 in Paris, France. He was a German physician, a great scholar, a linguist, and an acclaimed scientist.
• He was famously known as the Father of Homeopathy, Father of Human Pharmacology, Father of NanoMedicine and the Father of Infinite Dilution concept in Chemistry.

National Pet Day is celebrated on 11 April

• National Pet Day is celebrated on 11 April every year. The day encourages people to help reduce the number of animals in shelters.
• On this day, the pet owners celebrate their animal companion. A survey by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) determined that the animals contribute to the physical and mental benefits to overall cardiovascular health by lowering cortisol, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels.
• Colleen Paige founded National Pet Day was established in 2006 with an aim to celebrate the joy pets can bring to the people. Paige is an animal welfare advocate and pet and family lifestyle expert.
• She wanted to bring attention to the ongoing needs of many pets of all kinds waiting in shelters to be adopted. She encouraged people who want purebred dogs and cats to contact rescue organizations instead of going to a breeder.

Download Entri App and Start using Discussion Forum

Hope you have benefited from this article. To practice daily current affairs quiz, try Entri Daily Rank Booster which will provide free GK current affairs quiz on a daily basis. Also, visit our YouTube channel Entri TV. Ace your preparation for Kerala PSC Examination with Entri.