• The government-run DRDO has developed a SpO2-based supplemental oxygen delivery system for soldiers serving in extremely high altitude areas and COVID-19 patients. "This automatic system delivers supplemental oxygen based on the SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) levels and prevents the person from sinking into a state of hypoxia ", which is fatal in most cases.
• Hypoxia is a condition in which the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues is inadequate to fulfill all the energy requirements of the body.
• If a COVID-19 patient's SpO2 level goes below 94 percent, he or she is generally advised to contact the doctor immediately as hospitalisation may be necessary.

• UN Chinese Language Day is observed annually on April 20. The event was established by the UN Department of Public Information in 2010, seeking "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization".
• April 20 has also been chosen to pay tribute to Cangjie, a mythical figure who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago.

• In a remarkable achievement, the 40th Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (40-ISEA) hosted by the Ministry of Earth Sciences successfully returned to Cape Town on April 10, 2021, after completing a journey of 12 thousand nautical miles in 94 days, including stopovers.
• With this achievement, India has successfully completed four decades of scientific endeavour in Antartica.
• The 40-ISEA comprised of Indian scientists, engineers, doctors, and technicians.
• The journey began from the Mormugao Port of Goa to Antarctica on January 07, 2021 onboard the MV Vasiliy Golovnin, a chartered ice-class vessel.
• The team reached its destination station Bharati on February 27, 2021, and Maitri on March 08, 2021.
• Bharati and Maitri are India’s permanent research base stations in Antarctica.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a committee to evaluate the role of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in stressed debt resolution and review their business model.
• The panel has to submit its report within three months after its first meeting.
• Headed by former RBI executive director Sudarshan Sen, the six-member panel comprises Vishakha Mulye, executive director, ICICI Bank, P.N. Prasad, former deputy managing director of State Bank of India, Rohit Prasad, professor of economics, Management Development Institute, Gurugram, Abizer Diwanji, partner, Ernst and Young, and chartered accountant R. Anand.

• With the resurgence of COVID-19 cases posing risks to economic recovery, leading brokerages have downgraded India's GDP growth projections for the current fiscal year to as low as 10 percent on local lockdowns threatening fragile recovery.
• While Nomura has downgraded projections of economic growth for the fiscal year ending March 2022 to 12.6 percent from 13.5 percent earlier, JP Morgan now projects GDP growth at 11 percent from 13 percent earlier. UBS sees 10 percent GDP growth, down from 11.5 percent earlier and Citi has downgraded growth to 12 percent.

• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal on 19^th April launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS). The Fund aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.
• An amount of 945 crore rupees corpus will be divided over the next 4 years for providing seed funding to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India.The scheme is expected to support an estimated 3,600 startups through 300 incubators.
• The SISFS will Secure seed funding, Inspire innovation, Support transformative ideas, Facilitate implementation, and Start startup revolution.

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), India and German Federal Ministry of Environment signed an agreement on Technical Cooperation titled as ‘Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment’.
• It is in line with Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban focusing on sustainable solid waste management by 2022.
• It will be undertaken at national level (at MoHUA), states (UP, Kerala and A&N Islands) and cities of Kanpur, Kochi and Port Blair for 3.5 years.

• Max Verstappen clinched victory in a race that saw changing weather conditions add to the excitement. The reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton recovered from a rare mid-race mistake to claim second while Mclaren’s Lando Norris scored the team’s first podium of the 2021 Formula 1 season.
• The biggest surprise of the top-5 finishers were the Ferrari drivers - Charles Leclerc scoring a fine fourth place followed closely by Carlos Sainz Jr in fifth. After Verstappen’s mighty 22 second lead at the front, P2 to P5 were separated by only five seconds at the finish line. Daniel Ricciardo scored sixth and positions from seventh to tenth (Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso) changed after post-race penalties to Kimi Raikkonen and Stroll.

• The 2021 Senior Asian Wrestling Championships was held from April 13 to 18, 2021 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
• The event was the 34th edition of the Asian Wrestling Championships.
• India won 14 medals to stand at third spot in the medal table. The medals include 5 Gold, 3 Silver & 6 Bronze Medals.
• Iran and Kazakhstan topped the medal tally with 17 medals each.

• Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Bachi Singh Rawat died at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here on 18^th April. He was 71. Rawat was admitted to the hospital after he complained of difficulty in breathing.
• Medical Superintendent of AIIMS, BS Bastia, confirmed his death.
• Rawat was brought in an air ambulance from Haldwani and was admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital.

Download Daily GK PDF of 20 April 2021