કોમન પ્રવેશ પરીક્ષા (CET) 2024-25 માટેની પરીક્ષા માટેનું જાહેરનામું જાહેર

Current Affairs 2^nd APRIL 2020

Corona Virus Patient Zero (index patient) identified in Wuhan city of China

• Wei Guixian, a 57 years old female shrimp seller in Wuhan city identified as the Patient Zero.
• Patient Zero or Index Patient means one of first documented case of any pandemic. The originating point of corona virus pandemic, has been identified as one of the first victims of COVID-19.
• Wuhan Municipal Health Commission confirmed Wei Guixian was among the first 27 patients to test positive fir corona virus and one of 24 cases directly related to market.
• Through identified as ‘patient zero’, Wei Guixian may not be the first person to have contracted corona virus.

China:

Capitals: Beijing
Largest City: Shanghai

Official Language: Standard Chinese

Party General Secretary and President: Xi Jinping

United Nations sated COVID-19 is worst crisis since World War 2

• The United Nations warned that the world countries face the most challenging crisis since World War II. The pandemic is expected to cause a recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past. The announcement was made by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the launch of the "Report on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19" on 31 March.
• The report also highlighted that International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates for the year 2020 which stated 5-25 million jobs will be lost, with a corresponding loss of between $860 million and $3.4 trillion in labor income.

United Nations:
Un Charter signed: 26 June 1945; 74 years ago

Headquarters: New York City

Membership: 193 member state, 2 observer states

Secretary General: Antonio Guterres

1^st April – Utkal Diwas

• Utkal Diwas, meaning Odisha day, is observed on 1 April in Odisha every year. The day marks the formation of the state in the year 1936. The day remembers the contributions and sacrifices made by the people of Odisha. Utkal Diwas is celebrated in many cities, towns in India and abroad where people from Odisha reside.
• The state was formed as a politically separate state under British rule on a linguistic basis on1 April 1936. The newly formed Orissa State consisted of six districts namely Puri, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Koraput, Ganjam, and Cuttack. The capital of Odisha was Cuttack. The first Governor of Odisha Province was John Austin Hubback.
• In 1950, the State became a constituent state of India. In 2011, the name of the state was changed to Odisha from Orrisa and the name of its language was changed to Odia from Oria. Later, with an increased population, the state was divided into 30 districts.

Odisha:

Formed: 1 April 1936
Capital: Bhubaneswar

Official Language: Odia

Districts: 30
Governor: Ganeshi Lal

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik

Bird: Indian Roller
Flower Ashoka

Dance: Odissi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participates in the 2^nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor Minister

• Nirmala Sitharaman participates in the 2nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) virtual meeting to discuss the impact of COVID-19 in the global economy & coordinate efforts to respond to this global challenge.

G20: Group of Twenty

Formation: 26 September 1999; 20 years ago
Membership: 20 Member; Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico,  ​Republic of Korea​,​ Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, ​​​Turkey, United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), and European Union (EU)​. Spain is a permanent guest invitee to the G20.
Chairman: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Current Presidency: Saudi Arabia

Government notifies regulation of 24 medical devices

• The government has regulated 24 classes of medical devices notified under Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
• Out of 24, for 4 scheduled  medical devices- Cardiac Stents, Drug Eluting Stents, Condoms and, Intra Uterine Device (Cu-T)the ceiling prices is been fixed.
• The remaining non-scheduled medical devices which are notified and regulated as drugs, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is currently monitoring Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) to ensure that no manufacturer or importer can increase the price by more than 10% in the preceding 12 months.
• NPPA states that all medical devices will be  governed under the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013(with effect from 1st April 2020) by which all medical devices will be regulated by the Government as Drugs for quality control and price monitoring.
• According to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the manufacturer or importer shall be liable to charge a higher fee along with the interest from the date of increase in price in addition to the penalty.

Saudi Arabia provides uninterrupted LPG supply to India

• The Union Minister of Oil Dharmendra Pradhan said that Saudi Arabia has announced to provide uninterrupted liquid petroleum gas (LPG) supplies to India. On 29 March, he discussed global oil market developments with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Salman and Aramco's Chief Executive Amin Nasser.

Saudi Arabia:
Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal (SR)
Official language: Arabic
King: Salman
Crown Prince: Mohammad bin Salman

Navaratnalu Pedalandariki Illu Programme: Andhra Prdesh

• The Government of Andhra Pradesh modified the guidelines of Navatatnalu-Pedalandariki Illu programme. The scheme is called “Houses for all the poor”. The guidelines were changed based on the directions of the High Court.
  
• Under the scheme, house sites are to be allotted to the poor at Rs. 1 to the poor with white ration cards. The State Government is to collect Rs. 20 from the people (Rs. 10 for stamp paper charges and Rs 10 for lamination charges).
• The beneficiaries have to compulsorily construct houses only. They cannot sell the sites. However, they can sell the houses after occupying them for a minimum of five years.

Andhra Pradesh:
Formed: 1 November 1956

Capital: Amaravati

Largest City: Visakhapatnam
Official Language: Odia

Districts: 30

Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan

Chief Minister: Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy
Bird: Rose-ringed parakeet

Flower Jasmin

Dance: Kuchipudi

NASA to launch new mission ‘SunRISE’ to study the Giant Solar Particle Storms

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) to launch its new mission called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), a very large radio telescope to study how the sun generates & releases the giant space weather storms(solar particle storms) into planetary space.
• The study will help to protect the astronauts that travel to the moon & mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment in which they travel.
• The mission is led by Justin Kasper at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor & also managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
• NASA has awarded USD 62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE before July 1, 2023.

Sun RISE:

• It is an array of 6 CubeSats, where each is about the size of a toaster oven, observes radio images of low-frequency emission from solar activity and shares them through NASA’s Deep Space Network.
• The constellation of CubeSats will fly within 6 miles (9.6kms) of each other above the earth’s atmosphere so as not to block the SunRISE’s observed radio signals.
• The 6 cubeSats together form a 3D map; it shows where the giant particle erupts in the sun form and how they evolve when expanded outward into space.
• It will help decide what initiatives & accelerates these giant jets of radiation.
• For the 1st time 6 individual spacecraft will also work together to pattern the magnetic field lines reaching from the Sun out into interplanetary space.

Short Notes

• Assam State Disaster Management Authority launched COVID-19 Control Room in Guwahati.
• Haryana designated 3 private labs in Gurugram for COVID-19 testing.
• Andhra Pradesh government appointed Dr.Srinath Reddy as an advisor to the state Government
• World will go into recession except India and China due to COVID-19, USD 2.5 trillion rescue package needed: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
• World Banks offers USD 1 billion for proposed COVID-19 Indian project.