1) World Intellectual Property Day observed globally on April 26
•World Intellectual Property Day is observed globally on April 26 every year. It was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the world”.
•The theme of World Intellectual Property Day 2020 is “Innovate for a Green Future”.
2) World Immunization Week 2020 observed globally
•World Immunization Week 2020 will be observed from 24th April to 30th April 2020. World Immunization Week is observed every year in the last week of April to encourage the use of vaccines in order to protect the people of all ages against disease. Immunization is being recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions but still there are around 20 million children in the world today who are not getting the vaccines as per their needs.
•The theme of World Immunization Week 2020 is #VaccinesWork for All. The theme for year 2020 emphasizes on how vaccines as well as the people who develop, deliver and receive them, are heroes by working to protect the health of everyone, everywhere.
3) Assam govt starts ‘Dhanwantari’ scheme for home delivery of medicines
•Assam government has launched a new scheme called “Dhanwantari” for home delivery of medicines. The patients can send their prescriptions over the telephone or inform the health workers and the health department will ensure that it is delivered to them even if it is not in the list of available free medicines. This is the largest outreach programme taken up by any state government at this point of time.
Important facts of the Dhanwantari scheme:
•Under the scheme, locally unavailable medicines due to the lockdown shall be delivered to patients at home.
•The patients will not be charged if it is less than Rs 200 but if it is more than that, it will be charged.
•Health workers will deliver medicines for patients.
4) Madhya Pradesh govt launches “Jivan Shakti Yojana” for women
•Madhya Pradesh government has launched the “Jivan Shakti Yojana” for women. Under this scheme, women in urban areas can earn by making masks at home. The government will pay them Rs 11 per mask.
•The masks manufactured by women will be purchased at the district level at the rate fixed by the Madhya Pradesh government. A process to make payment will be initiated as soon as they deliver the masks and they will receive the payment in their account on the same day or the next day.
5) NASA’s Hubble Telescope marks 30 years in space
•The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Hubble Space Telescope, has completed 30th year in orbit on 25 April 2020. This telescope was built by the United States space agency NASA with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA).
•The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed on 25 April 1990. This space telescope was named after American astronomer Edwin P Hubble, who confirmed that our universe was constantly expanding. Hubble has been placed in space to observe the most distant stars and galaxies, as well as planets in our solar system.
6) RBI announces Rs 50,000 crore Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds
•The Reserve Bank of India has announced a Special Liquidity Facility of Rs 50,000 crore for Mutual Funds. This has been done by the central bank in order to ease liquidity pressures on the Mutual Funds. This is a measure taken by the RBI to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 and preserve financial stability.
•Under the Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds (SLF-MF), repo operations 90 days tenor would be conducted by the RBI at the fixed repo rate. The SLF-MF is on-tap and open-ended.
7) RBI permits Transcorp to issue co-branded prepaid cards
•The Reserve Bank of India has given its approval to Transcorp International Ltd to issue co-branded prepaid cards. With the approval, the RBI has allowed Transcorp to enter into co-branding arrangements for Prepaid Instruments that can be utilized in over 35 lakh stores and online gateways. After receiving approval from the RBI, the Transcorp International Ltd has become one of the first non-bank companies to receive approval to enter into co-branding arrangements for Prepaid Instruments.
•Now, Transcorp International Ltd will be rolling out API based co-branded partnerships for Physical, Digital and Contactless cards with select marquee clients on its own BINs. Financial institutions, corporate houses and partners can use these cards to facilitate their core business activities. It will also allow them to facilitate safe transactions to serve their existing and new customers even if they do not have a bank account.
8) Banking Industry declared as Public Utility Service for 6 months
•Under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, the Banking Industry has been declared by the Government of India as a “Public Utility Service”. This step has been taken by the government in purview of the coronavirus pandemic which has deeply impacted the economic activities. As per the notification issued by the Labour Ministry, the Banking Industry has been declared as a “Public Utility Service” for a period of 6 months i.e. till 21st October 2020.
•Inclusion of the Banking Industry under the provision of the Industrial Disputes Act prohibits the banking sector employees to go on strike. It indicates that during the operation of the law that commenced from April 21, 2020, the banking sector would not see any strikes by the employees or officers.
