Current Affairs Quiz - March, 2020

Notes:
India’s largest lender State Bank of India has recently unveiled an emergency credit line to meet liquidity mismatch for its borrowers, amid the coronavirus pandemic scare.
The additional liquidity facility called Covid-19 Emergency Credit Line (CECL) will provide credit up to 200 crore rupees. This loan facility will be available till June 30 where the loan will be offered at an interest rate of 7.25 per cent with a 12-month tenure.

Notes:
Invest India is India’s national Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, which comes under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
It was seen in news recently as Invest India has launched the ‘Invest India Business Immunity Platform’. This platform is hosted on the Invest India website and it provides real-time updates on the latest initiatives of the government of India to tackle Covid-19.

Notes:
Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital along with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated COVID-19 centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai.
The 100 bedded hospital will serve patients, who are checked positive for COVID-19. It is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and has been set up in 2 weeks. It also includes a negative pressure room which prevents cross-contamination and controls infection.

Notes:
The state government of Karnataka tabled the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Bill, 2020 in the Legislative Assembly. The Bill seeks to enable public participation in various levels of municipal governance.
The Bill also provides for an independent legislation and seeks to improve decentralisation, integration of public participation at various levels of municipal governance and also to ensure efficient decision making by the BBMP.

Notes:
Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik launched ‘Mo Jeeban’ programme and advised people to take a pledge for staying indoors to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
The Chief Minister asked people to take oaths of staying indoors and send him those videos. He also asked the people to paste a sticker on the gate of their houses to show their determination to follow this direction.

Notes:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced various relief measures amid lock-down of the country due to coronavirus scare.
As per the measures, the deadline for filing belated income tax return (ITR) for the financial year 2018-19 and for filing goods and services tax (GST) returns for March, April and May has been extended to June 30, 2020. She also announced waiver of minimum balance maintenance charge and ATM withdrawal charge for next 3 months. Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme has been extended from April 1 to June 30.

Notes:
The King of Saudi Arabia Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is set to chair an emergency virtual summit of G20 leaders, to accelerate the response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
At present, Saudi Arabia holds the G20 presidency and it called for the Virtual Leaders’ summit to be held on March 26. This is the first meeting of the G20 leaders after the world has been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus.

Notes:
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India recently made an announcement after the Monetary Policy committee (MPC) meeting, to tackle the crisis caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
RBI had advanced the MPC meeting due on March 31- April 3 to March 24-27. It has announced that the Cash Reserve Ratio has been decreased 100 bps to 3 per cent and the repo rate has been decreased to 4.4 per cent. Policy rate corridor has been widened from 50 to 65 bps. All commercial banks are permitted to allow a 3-month moratorium on repayment of term loan EMIs.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister has recently announced a relief package for the poor and vulnerable people amid the 21-day lockdown of the country announced by the Prime Minister.
Among the relief measures, women self-help groups (SHGs) will be provided collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier, under the Deen Dayal National Livelihood Mission. This step is expected to impact 7 crore members through 63 lakh SHGs.

Notes:
The G-20’s first ever virtual summit, chaired by Saudi Arabia, was recently held through video conferencing. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi also attended the virtual meeting.
Leaders of the G20 major economies pledged to restore global growth and infuse over $5 trillion into the global economy. The countries also vowed to take necessary steps to minimize the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.