Top Weekly Current Affairs – 2020 April 20 to 26

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 20 to April 26, 2020 which will help all aspirants to improve scores in their competitive examination like PSC, SSC, RRB and Banking.

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Top Weekly Current Affairs for all Competitive Exams 2020 April 20 to April 26

Here are the list of top current affairs of the week  April 20 to April 26, 2020 which will be helpful for all competitive examinations like PSC, SSC, RRB, Banking etc.

CSIR produces Protein Enriched Biscuits for COVID-19 patients

• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR-CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute) has made protein rich biscuits for COVID-19 patients.
• CFTRI supplied 500 kg of high-protein biscuits and 500 kg of high-protein rusks to the Dietetics department of AIIMS to supply to the patients. The biscuits contain 14% of protein while usual biscuits contain around 8-9% protein.
• The biscuits are manufactured in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, by Seven Seas Private Limited based on the formulation developed by CSIR-CFTRI.

GoI amends FDI policy

• On April 18, 2020, the Government of India amended the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy.
• This has been done to prevent opportunistic acquisitions of Indian companies due to COVID-19 economic crisis.The amendments have been made to the Consolidated FDI policy, 2017.
• Under the current rule, any non-resident entity from countries sharing borders with India are allowed to make investments in India.However, entities in Bangladesh and Pakistan are required to obtain government permission.
• Now, every investor from a neighbouring country is required to invest through the Government route.
• The step mainly targets the Chinese companies. With the world entering lock down and China returning to normalcy,China is now investing and acquiring companies all over the world.

India sets up high-level task force to develop vaccine for COVID-19 pandemic

• The Government of India formed a high-level task force to research on coronavirus and develop a vaccine.The task force will work along with the international community on the vaccine development process for coronavirus.
• The high-level task force will be co-chaired by Member, NITI Aayog, and Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Professor K Vijay Raghavan.
• The task force consists of members from NITI Aayog, DRDO (Defence Research Development Organization), ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).
• The main aim of the task force is to set up a vaccine development process. It will create a list of national and international organizations that work on vaccine development.

Scientists develop electrocatalysts for rechargeable metal-air battery from Fish gills

• Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, have developed an efficient, low-cost electro-catalyst from fish gills.
• The Catalyst used is made of fish gills. It is low cost and can be used in energy conversion devices.
• The catalyst invented will overcome the bottlenecks in storage technologies such as metal-air battery, fuel cell and biofuel.
• The Catalysts used in biofuel storage technologies are sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and sodium methanoxide. A biofuel cells are those cells that use living organisms to generate electricity.

UP became the first state in India to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens

• Uttar Pradesh became the first state in India to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts which produce 12 lakh food packets a day.
• The UP state government has partnered with Google to ‘Geo-map’ the locations of all these establishments on the Google Maps app for ease of beneficiaries.
• More than two crore food packets have been distributed in Uttar Pradesh since 25 March.Out of these 7,368 community kitchens in the state, 668 are being run by NGOs and religious institutions.

April 21: Civil Services Day

• Every year, India celebrates Civil Service Day on April 21. The main aim of celebrating the day is to motivate the efforts and works of civil servants.
• Every year April 21 is celebrated as Civil Services Day. It was on this day in 1947, Shri Sardar Vallabhai Patel addressed the first batch probationers of Administrative Services. However, the day was celebrated for the first time in 2006.
• According to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Civil Servants are the backbone of Indian economy. They work tirelessly towards smooth functioning of public administration.

April 22: World Earth Day

• Every year World Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. The day is celebrated to demonstrate environmental protection. It has been celebrated since 1970. This year the World Earth Day is celebrated under the Theme: Climate Action.
• On World Earth Day, 2016, the famous Paris Agreement was signed by more than 120 countries.
• The day was proposed by peace activist John McConnell in 1970. The day is celebrated by the World Earth Day Network. Around 193 countries join the celebrations.

World Press Freedom Index: India ranks 142nd

• On April 22, 2020, the Global Press freedom Index was launched. India ranked 142nd in the index and had dropped two places.
• The World Press Freedom Index says that with no murder of journalists in India in 2019 as compared to 2018, the security situation in the country has improved.
• According to the index, there were 6 murders of journalists in the country in 2018. According to the index, in India, there have been violations in press freedom.
• According to the index, Pakistan ranked 145 dropping three places. Bangladesh ranked 151.Norway ranked first, North Korea was at 180th and China ranked 177th.

GoI brings in ordinance making attack on doctors punishable up to 7 years

• On April 22, 2020, the Government of India brought in an ordinance to end violence against doctors and health care workers.According to the ordinance, persons attacking health personnel are to be sentenced to jail for 6 months to 7 years.
• In non-serious cases, the workers are liable to pay a penalty of Rs 50,000 and in serious cases between Rs 2 lakhs and 5 lakhs.
• In order to achieve this the ordinance will make amendment to the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897.
• Also, the GoI has made the Epidemic Act a concurrent act. This allows the state governments to take actions as well.

World Book Day is observed on 23 April

• World Book Day is observed on 23 April. The day is celebrated by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and other related organizations.
• The World Book is celebrated to recognize the scope of books as a link between the past and the future.
• The observation of the World Book Day was first initiated by Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andres. The aim was to honour the renowned author, Miguel de Cervantes.
• The day was first celebrated on 7 October, Miguel de Cervantes’ birth anniversary. The observation of the day was finalized to be observed on April 23, his death anniversary.

English Language Day is celebrated on 23 April

• English Language Day is celebrated on 23 April. The day aims to create awareness to people about the culture, history, and achievements associated with the language.
• The first English Language Day was observed as a result of work by the United Nations. The UN announced English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic as its official language.
• The Day is celebrated as English Language Day to observe both the birth and death anniversary of William Shakespeare.
• The day is an initiative by the Department of Global Communications. Language Days are observed for each of the six official languages of the UN.

National Panchayati Raj Day is observed on 24 April

• The National Panchayati Raj Day is observed on 24 April in India. The day is observed every year in the country.
• On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed village Panchayats across the country to mark the National Panchayati Raj Day.
• On this day, the Constitution of India recognized Panchayats as ‘Institutions of self-government’. It marks the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 with effect from 24 April 1993.
• In the year 2020, on the eve of National Panchayati Raj Day, PM Modi launched the E-Gram Swaraj application and portal. Also, he launched the Swamitva scheme to integrate lands and reduce land disputes.

Tianwen 1: China’s first Mars Exploration Mission

• On April 24, 2020, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) named its first Mars Exploration mission as Tianwen 1.The CNSA also announced that henceforth all the planetary missions are to be named as Tianwen series.
• The announcement comes on April 24 as China has been celebrating its National Space Day on April 24 since 2016. The Chinese Mars mission includes orbiting, landing and roving on the planet mars.
• So far countries such as India, Russia, European Union and the United States have succeeded in sending missions to Mars.
• India’s mars mission was named “Mangalyaan”. It was launched in 2013 by ISRO.India was the fourth country in the world to reach Mars after Russia, USA and European Union.

Minister of HRD launched the #MyBookMyFriendcampaign

• Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the #MyBookMyFriendcampaign on social media on 23 April on the occasion of World Book Day. World Book Day was celebrated amid the lockdown in India.
• The campaign aims to support the students at the time of lock down.The students must read some books of interest in addition to course books so that they will be given the opportunity to learn something new.
• Various Union Ministers and prominent personalities from various parts of India were suggested to join the campaign. MyBookMyFriend campaign will run for the next 7 days.People across India can join the campaign and gain benefits.

Kerala makes face mask compulsory in schools from next academic year

• The state health department has made face masks mandatory for students and teachers from next academic year.
• Issuing the new order, the government assigned Samagra Shiksha Kerala to produce over half crore face masks and supplies in all public schools in the state.
• A student will get two face masks under the scheme. The face masks made of cloth will be distributed for free of cost like uniforms.
• It is reported that the face mask will be produced from cloth with good quality as per the international standard guidelines.

Iran launched Noor, its first military satellite

• Iran launched its first military satellite called “Noor” into orbit. This launch has raised tensions with the US at a time the two countries are already facing off in the Persian Gulf.
• The satellite took off on top of a relatively unknown rocket called “Ghased” or “Messenger,” from Iran’s Central Desert and reached an altitude of 425 kilometers (265 miles), above the Earth.
• The Noor satellite was launched by a three-stage rocket that was powered by a combination of solid and liquid fuels.

April 25: World Malaria Day

• World Malaria Day is an international event observed on 25 April every year.
• The day aims to spread awareness about malaria disease globally. It will also promote efforts to prevent malaria around the world.
• The theme of World Malaria Day 2020 is “Zero Malaria Starts with Me.” The movement aims to drive action and make change using the resources available.
• The World Malaria Day was established by the World Health Organization at its 60th session in 2007.It was established to provide understanding and education of the disease.

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