Current Affairs Daily Digest – March 13 2020
1. India Post launched free digital parcel locker service
The Department of Posts has introduced a free digital parcel locker service in the city from 11 March for the first time in India. The Chief Post Master General, West Bengal Circle, Gautam Bhattacharya, inaugurated the service from the Nabadiganta IT Post Office.
Free digital parcel locker facility will be available in two post offices in Kolkata, one in the Nabadiganta IT Post Office in Sector 5 of Salt Lake City and two another in New Town. The locker will enable customers to collect their consignment from specified post offices at their convenience.
aThe facility is popular in European countries. It will be limited to consignments received through registered post or speed post. This facility will be given for the working people who cannot receive parcels because they have no one at home to receive consignments during office hours
2. Eric Horvitz appointed as CSO of Microsoft
Microsoft has appointed Eric Horvitz as its first-ever Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). He will provide cross-company leadership on advances and trends on scientific matters and on issues and opportunities arising at the intersection of technology people and society.
The team under Horvitz will advise the company on its scientific directions and capabilities, including standing up new initiatives, providing guidance on company priorities, and assessing important areas for investment in science and technology.
3. Google launched a tool to help developers make websites more color blind friendly
Google launched a new Chrome tool that will allow developers to tune their websites for visual impairments like color blindness to help them fix accessibility issues on their sites.
The developers can use this feature by launching Google Chrome. The developers can head to the browser’s Developer tools. Choose More tools, then select Rendering and Emulate visual deficiencies. The emulate vision deficiencies features a drop-down menu of vision limitations. The developer should select one from the menu, such as tritanopia (a condition where a person cannot distinguish the colors blue and yellow).
4. Maharashtra approved renaming Mumbai Central Terminus station as Nana Shankarseth Terminus Station
The Maharashtra state cabinet government approved the renaming Mumbai Central Terminus station as Nana Shankarseth Terminus Station or Jagannath Sunkersett. The proposal will be sent to the Ministry of Railways for its approval.
The proposal was initiated by the transport ministry headed by Anil Parab.Jagannath Sunkersett was born on 10 February 1803 in Mumbai. He was a very reliable businessman. He was one of the first directors of India’s first railway company. Along with Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, Sunkersett founded the Indian Railway Association in 1845.
5. Animal Protection Index: India ranks second
Global Animal Protection Index 2020 was released by World Animal Protection, an international animal welfare charity. India was ranked second in the index. The Animal Protection Index ranks countries from A to G. India was ranked along with Spain, Mexico, France and New Zealand. In other words, these countries were ranked equally to India.
6. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (amendment) bill passed in the Parliament
Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Amendment) bill, 2020 has been passed in the parliament. It was earlier passed by Lok Sabha and is now being passed by Rajya sabha. The amendments were earlier introduced as ordinances. Now after the Parliament session begun the ordinance was introduced as bill. And the bill has now been passed as an act in the parliament.
7. Dearness Allowance hiked from 17% to 21% for central govt employees
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved an increase in the Dearness Allowance to central government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners from 17% to 21% with effect from January 1, 2020. The move will benefit at least 50 lakh government employees and 65 lakh pensioners. The impact on the exchequer over the DA hike will be ₹14,500 crore per annum.
8. India shares second position with China as most promising source of disruptive technologies: KPMG
India surged back to tie the second position with China in KPMG’s 2020 global technology industry innovation survey which includes responses from more than 800 global leaders in the technology industry.
With the potential innovation headwinds China is now facing and US policies encouraging more tech professionals to return to or remain in India, the future bodes well for Indian innovation.
9. Tamil Nadu hosts Divya Kala Shakti for the first time
Tamil Nadu State government is to host the first-ever regional event “Divya Kala Shakti: Witnessing the abilities in disabilities a unique cultural” event at Kalaivanar Arangam, Chennai on 12 March 2020. The event will be witnessed by Governor of Tamil Nadu Shri Banwarilal Purohit.
Around 1000 invitees including Persons with Disabilities, Parents of Persons with Differently Abled, teachers, care-givers and NGOs, etc. are participating in the event. A large number of women are taking part in the event.
10. Hola Mohalla is celebrated in Punjab
Holi gets this joyful name in the state of Punjab. The festival is celebrated in an entirely different manner, it’s meaning and significance also shifts a little here.
Hola Mohalla is actually an annual fair that is organised in a large scale at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab on the day following the festival of Holi. Practise of holding a fair of this kind was initiated by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru. Purpose of the fair was to physically strengthen the Sikh community by holding military exercises and mock battles.
11. ADB to give $200 mn to companies manufacturing products to combat coronavirus
The funds will be made available through ADB’s Supply Chain Finance Program and provided to selected companies within weeks, the Manila-headquartered multilateral funding agency said in a release.
Companies manufacturing and distributing products, including medicines and personal protective equipment, are increasingly strained as production and distribution ramp up to address COVID-19, it said
12. Mr. Rajesh Chaplot honoured with the Highest Civilian Award of Uganda
Distinguished Non-Resident Indian (NRI) businessman, Mr. Rajesh Chaplot was honoured with the Highest Civilian Award (Golden Jubilee Medal-Civilians) of Uganda. The award was presented by none other than His Excellency Hon’ble President of Uganda, Mr Yoweri Museveni in a ceremony in Kampala recently.
