• Government of Bangladesh has decided to suspend the sentence of the former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) with certain conditions on humanitarian grounds. 
• Khaleda Zia will be allowed to receive treatment at her home but she would not be allowed to go abroad. 
• BNP Chairperson is in jail since 2018 after the court sentenced her to five years imprisonment in 2017 in connection with the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. 
• Khaleda Zia is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006. 
• She was the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim majority countries to head a democratic government as prime minister.

Foot Notes: About Bangladesh
Capital: Dhaka 
President: Abdul Hamid 
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
2.PM Modi allocates Rs 15,000 Cr for Healthcare Infrastructure to combat Covid-19

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the entire country will go into complete lockdown for 21 days.
• The government has allocated 15,000 crore rupees to strengthen health infrastructure to the spread of coronavirus. 
• Testing facilities, Personal Protective Equipments, Isolation Beds, ICU beds, ventilators, and  the number of other necessary tools will be increased rapidly

• First Made in India Test Kit to diagnose COVID-19 has got commercial approval by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
• According to the developers, it would cost nearly one-fourth of the current procurement cost and is faster as it screens and detects the infection within 2.5 hours as compared with over 7 hours by others.
• The kit has been developed by Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd. The kit has been named as ‘Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit’.

Foot notes: About CDSCO
Headquarters : New Delhi
Minister responsible: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
4.38th district to be formed in Tamil Nadu

• In Tamil Nadu, a new district is going to be formed after bifurcating the Nagappattinam district. 
• The new district will be headquartered at Mayiladuthurai, in the heart of the Delta region. 
• Mayiladuthurai, located at a distance of 281 kilometres from Chennai, is home to several temples dating back to the medieval Chola era. 
• There are currently 37 districts in Tamil Nadu, of which five new districts were formed only last year. 
• The state Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy made the announcement saying it would be the 38th district in the state.

Foot Notes: About Tamil Nadu
Capital: Chennai 
Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
Chief Minister: Edappadi Palaniswamy

5.    IIT Madras to host India’s first “Global Hyperloop Pod Competition”

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras is organizing India’s first Global Hyperloop Pod Competition to increase awareness and enthusiasm about Hyperloop in India. 
• The competition is open globally and the final round will take place in the IIT Madras campus in July 2020.
• The objective of this competition is to encourage student teams in India and abroad to develop a Hyperloop Pod and compete to build the fastest, most innovative and efficient design and prototype of the relevant technologies in the field. 

Foot notes: About Hyperloop:
Hyperloop is the 5th mode of transportation, a high-speed train that travels in a near-vacuum tube. The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach speeds of more than 1000 km/h.

6.Centre waives ATM withdrawal charges for three months

• Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman waived minimum balance charges for savings bank accounts to help citizens deal with the lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis.
• Also, debit cardholders can now withdraw cash from ATMs of all banks free of charge for the next three months.
• Sitharaman further extended the deadline for filing GST (goods and services tax) returns for March-May to June 30.
• On late filing of GST returns, no late fee, penalty or interest will be charged for companies with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore.
• The minister also said 'Sab ka Vishwas' indirect tax dispute redressal scheme has also been extended to June 30 and no interest on payment made till June 30 will be charged.

7.Savita Chhabra authors her debut book 'Legacy of Learning'

• Award-winning businesswoman, Savita Chhabra, Chairperson, HRIPL has launched her debut book, called 'Legacy of Learning'.
• The book offers simplistic and relatable interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita in an attempt to connect the youth of India to the age-old, but relevant scriptures.
• Empathising with the stressful lives that today's generation of millennials and zillennials lead, the book offers fictional stories woven around chosen verses.
• The book introduces readers to the importance of performing good karma and nudges them to be conscious about the purpose of their lives in every decision they make.

Foot notes : About HRIPL(Hygienic Research Institute Pvt. Ltd.)
Founded: 1950
Chairperson: Savita Chabra
8.IRSDC is developing 1st of its kind “Form Based Codes”for Railway land

• The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC) with support from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation is developing a 1st of its kind “Form-Based Codes” for the development of railway land.
• The code is being designed & approved for layout plans, building plans for station areas that will ensure a compact, pedestrian-friendly, market-responsive, transit-oriented & sustainable development.
• It will enable the desired kind of development around station areas & includes Layout Regulating Plans, Sub Plot Property Development Card, Building Design Codes. Several stations across the country are being developed into world-class transit hubs; the first two being Habibganj in Madhya Pradesh and Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Foot notes: About IRSCD:
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Chairman & Member Engineering Railway Board– Vishwesh Chaube
9. ITU launches “Global Network Resiliency Platform” amid COVID-19 pandemic

• On March 24, 2020 The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) launched a “Global Network Resiliency Platform” to help global networks remain “safer, stronger and more connected” during the COVID-19 crisis.
• The platform will assist the government & private sector to ensure that networks are kept flexible and all telecommunication services are available to all.To ensure telecommunication services are available to the maximum, the platform will also share best practices & initiatives put in place during the COVID-19 crisis.
• The portal will gather relevant information and expertise on the activities that telecommunication policymakers and others in the regulatory community can use to ensure that their networks serve their country’s needs.
• The platform will also provide relevant and trustworthy information & expertise on how to deal with the pressures faced by the country’s infrastructure. It initially serves as an informative tool but will soon expand to provide an interactive and engaging platform for continuous sharing throughout the pandemic & beyond.

Foot Notes: About ITU
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
Secretary-General– Houlin Zhao 
Founded: 17 May 1865
10. Jana SFB along with NPCI launches UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility

• On March 24, 2020, Jana Small Finance Bank (SFB) , a leading digitized bank  in partnership with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), has launched a UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility to its existing 40 lakh plus customers & 5crore microfinance agencies.
• Now the bank’s customers can generate UPI (Unified Payments Interface) QR (Quick Response) code for their loan account and make instalment payments instantly using any of the UPI applications. The UPI QR-based payment mode is available for P2P (person to person) and P2M (person to merchant) payments.
• This move taken by the bank as it advises their customers to carry out banking operations from their home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic & advised them to make use of Net Banking / Mobile Banking Services 24×7 during emergency.

Foot Notes: About Jana Small Finance Bank
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
Managing Director and CEO– Ajay Kanwal
Tagline– ‘Paise ki Kadar’ (value for money)

Read More :

Current Affairs 25 March 2020

Current Affairs 24 March 2020

Current Affairs 23 March 2020