Daily GK Update: 4th April 2020

 Important Dates

1. International Mine Awareness Day being observed today

• International Mine Awareness Day is commemorated every year on 4 April to spread awareness about the threat caused by landmines to the safety, health and lives of civilian populations and encourages state Governments to develop mine clearing programmes.
• It was first observed in 2006 and was declared by UN General Assembly in 2005.
• Daniel Craig is the first UN Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards.

 Science & Technology

2. MeitY and HRD launched ‘Hack the Crisis-India’

• Online Hackathon ‘Hack A Cause-India’ to find solutions for overcoming COVID 19 pandemic has been launched.
• This hackathon is part of a global initiative and is being organised by ‘Hack A Cause – India’ and ‘Ficci Ladies Organization Pune’ and supported by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India (MEITY).
• Over 2000 teams and over 15000 participants will be participated in 48 hour hackathon with expert from India, Estonia and Finland.

 Sports

3. FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup postponed

• The FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup scheduled to be played in India in November (2nd to 21^st) has been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic by FIFA-Confederations working group.
• FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup has also been postponed which was about to be held in Panama and Costa Rica.
• Under-17 Women's World Cup was scheduled to be played in India across five host cities - Navi Mumbai, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.

 National Affairs

4. Civil services associations form ''Caruna'' intiative to fight coronavirus

• Associations representing officers of Central Civil Services, including IAS and IPS have formed an initiative called 'Caruna' to support and supplement the government's efforts in fighting coronavirus.
• 'Caruna' stands for Civil Services Associations Reach to Support in Natural Disasters.
• It represents a collaborative platform on which civil servants, industry leaders, NGO professionals and IT professionals have come together to contribute their time and abilities.

 National Affairs

5. AICTE launched MHRD AICTE COVID-19 student helpline portal

• All India Council for Technical Education has come out with a unique MHRD AICTE COVID-19 Student Helpline Portal to address the students facing difficulties due to the lockdown.
• The portal has been developed within a day and will provide help students regarding the issue of Accommodation, Food, online Classes, Attendance, Examinations, Scholarships, Health, Transport, Harassment etc.
• The portal link is given here: https://helpline.aicte-india.org

 Sports

6. Official mascots of 19th Asian Games unveiled

• The official mascots of the 19th Asian Games were unveiled at a digital launch ceremony in Hangzhou, China due to COVID-19.
• The three robots mascots- Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games representing the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Hangzhou in eastern China are collectively known as the smart triplets.
• The Olympic Council of Asia's 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou from September 10 to 25, 2022.

 National Affairs

7. DST sets up CAWACH program to address COVID-19 challenge

• Department of Science & Technology approved setting up of a Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) to scout, evaluate and support the innovations and start-ups that address COVID-19 challenges.
• The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), at IIT Bombay is the Implementing Agency of the CAWACH.
• It will provide access to pan India networks for testing, trial and market deployment of instruments to tackle COVID-19.

 Obituaries

8. Renowned virologist Geeta Ramji passes away

• Renowned Indian origin South African virologist Geeta Ramji (64 years) passes away due to coronavirus pandemic.
• She was the principal investigator and unit director of the Clinical Trial Unit of the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) in Durban.
• Ramji was awarded the Outstanding Female Scientist Award in Lisbon by EDCTP.

 National & International Organizations

9. ADB outlook 2020 released cutting India’s FY21 GDP to 4%

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) outlook 2020 has been released amid COVID-19
• It revised India’s FY21 GDP forecasts to 4% from 6%.
• Growth in the Asian region is expected to slow sharply to 2.2% in 2020 under the effects of the current health emergency and then rebound to 6.2% in 2021.

 Agreement

10. NHA inks pact with Uber for transportation service for public healthcare wo

• The National Health Authority (NHA) has inked a pact with ride hailing app Uber to provide transport services for frontline healthcare workers involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients.
• Uber will initially facilitate the provision of 150 cars free of cost to support medical facilities in certain cities including New Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Patna through its UberMedic service.