1. US Food and Drug Administration approves first rapid ‘point-of-care’ test for coronavirus

• The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a coronavirus diagnostic test that can be conducted entirely at the point-of-care and can deliver results in 45 minutes.
• US Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar said the test will be able to provide results within hours, rather than days like the existing tests. 
• The company will roll it out by March 30. Developed by California-based company Cephid, the test would help fast identification of infected people and quickly start treating them and their quarantine.
• Point-of-care testing means results are delivered to patients in the patient care settings, like hospitals, urgent care centers, and emergency rooms, instead of samples being sent to a laboratory.

2. India ranked 144 the World Happiness Report 2020 out of a total 156 nations 

• India was at a dismal 144 rank of a total of 156 nations surveyed on the World Happiness Report 2020. Finland was once again crowned as the world's happiest country, extending its lead over Denmark and Switzerland.
• The World Happiness Report is an annual survey by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations.
• The data used to compile this ranking was collected in the years 2018 and 2019 Afghanistan ranked lowest among 153 countries, with South Sudan and Zimbabwe just above it.

Foot Notes:  About the United Nations: 

The main objective of the United Nations is to maintain international peace & security, develop friendly relations among nations & to promote social progress, better living standards & human rights.
Headquarters– NewYork, United States
Secretary-General– António Guterres

3. Shivraj Singh Chauhan takes oath as CM of Madhya Pradesh

• In Madhya Pradesh, senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chauhan has become the Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. Governor Lalji Tandon administered him the oath of office and secrecy at a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhavan, a short while ago. 
• Mr. Shivraj Singh took oath alone due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Earlier, Mr. Chauhan was unanimously elected as the BJP Leader of the Legislative Party in a special meeting held this evening.  Mr. Gopal Bhargava proposed the name of Mr. Chauhan and was approved by several members

• On March 20, 2020, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd, a company specializes in providing health insurance at low-cost rates to its customers, has launched ‘Star Novel Coronavirus Insurance Policy’ that provides coverage for hospitalized patients who test positive for the current pandemic COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus).
• The company has set a premium of Rs 459 plus GST(Goods and Services Tax) for a sum insured of Rs. 21,000 and a premium of Rs 918 plus GST for a sum insured of Rs 42,000. Anyone aged 18-65 years can avail of this policy online at www.starhealth.in or through the company’s network of insurance agents.
• However, this coverage does not apply to those who have traveled overseas. No prior medical examinations are required for this policy & the company also confirmed that all regular health policies will cover Covid19 treatment.

Foot Notes: About Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd:
Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Managing Director(MD)- Anand Roy

5.TRIFED launches “Tech For Tribals” program to bring technology to tribal entrepreneurs

• A 30- days long capacity-building program called “Tech for Tribal” has been launched by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), which works under Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with IIT-Kanpur , IIT-Roorkee, IIM Indore, Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and SRIJAN, Jaipur (Rajasthan)  to provide entrepreneurship skills to the tribal people.
• More than 3 lakhs Tribal people will be benefitted by this program comprising 120 sessions.
• The program has been supported by the Ministry of MSME & it will be linked with Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK). One VDVK consists of 15 Self Help Groups (SHG), 20 Tribal gatherers. The person who enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) can participate and they will get to know how to market their products through all available distribution channels.

Foot Notes: About Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED):
Headquarters– New Delhi
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:
Headquarters- New Delhi
Union minister– Arjun Munda

6. NASA’s CNEOS detects 4 asteroids approaching the earth

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identifies 4 asteroids namely, 2020 FK, 2020 FS, 2020 DP4 & 2020 FF1 approaching the earth which follows Earth-intersecting orbits.
• The 2020 FK asteroid is the smallest of the four, with a diameter of 43 feet. The 2020 DP4 asteroid is the largest of the four, and is large enough to hit nearly 12 limousines with a diameter of 180 feet
• The 2020 FF1 asteroid is 48 feet in diameter. The 2020 FS asteroid is 56 feet in diameter.

Foot Notes: About NASA:
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Founded: 29 July 1958, United States
Administrator: James Frederick Bridenstine

7. Western Music icon & 3 times grammy winner Kenny Rogers passed away at 81

• Kenneth Ray Rogers, long time star of country music, passed away at the age of 81 in Colbert, Georgia, US (United States). He was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas, US.
• He was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, for his “distinctive & husky voice”.
• Kenneth Rogers was a six-times Country Music Awards (CMA) winner and 3 times Grammy award winner. He is well-known for his hits like ‘Lady’, ‘The Gambler’, ‘Islands in the Stream’, ‘Lucile’, ‘She Believes in Me’ and ‘Through the years’ and has 24 number-one hits, throughout his career.

8. UK Confirmed as 1st co-chair in India-Led Climate Change Initiative CDRI

• The United Kingdom (UK) was confirmed as the first co-chair of the governing council of India-led global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). 
• Governing Council of CDRI is the highest policy-making body of the society. The council is co-chaired by India and a representative of another national government nominated by rotation every two years.
• The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, represented the UK at the first council meeting. The minister is President of the 2020 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). He held a meeting with Pramod Kumar Mishra, the Indian Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, over videoconference. The UK will host COP26 in Glasgow in November 2020.

9. Trump cancels in-person G7, summit to be held via video-conference

• The US President Donald Trump has cancelled an in-person G7 Summit and is to conduct the summit through video conferencing. This is being done due to the increasing threat of Corona Virus.
• The G7 organization is made up of the largest economies of the world namely France, Canada, US, UK, Italy, Japan and Germany. They contribute to 45% of world’s GDP. Hence, decisions taken at G7 is highly essential and has great impacts over the global trade.
• The G7 Groupings believe that though China is the second largest economy in the world, it relatively has low level of wealth per head population. This means that China is not an advanced economy according to the G7 members.

Foot notes: About G-7:
Founded: 1975
Members: United States, Italy, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom

10. India-Turkey Kashmir Irritant: India proceeds with FSV Indian Navy Agreement with Turkey

India had put the Fleet Vessel Ship (FVS) Agreement on hold. The agreement was signed with Turkey to manufacture 45,000-tonne FSV at Vishakhapatnam.
India and Turkey signed the FSV agreement in 2016. FSVs are important for the Indian Navy to transport fuel and other supplies for warships at sea.
According to the 2.3 billion USD agreement, a Turkey company is to build five 45,000 tonnes Fleet Vessel Ship at HSL (Hindustan Shipyard Limited), Vishakhapatnam.
Foot notes: About turkey
Capital: Ankara
President: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Currency: Turkish lira

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Current Affairs 21 & 22 March 2020

Current Affairs 20 March 2020

Current Affairs 19 March 2020