A M O N T H L Y C U R R E N T - A F F A I R S U P D A T E April 2020 DOWNL FREEOAD What’s PM Narendra Modi announces Whatnational lockdown Thousands of Shivraj Singh Chouhan returns as deaths from chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Militants kill 26 devotees at a Sikh CORONAVIRUS Gurudwara complex in Kabul Discover amazing knowledge at whatswhatgk.com magazine A monthly current-affairs update April 2020 1 March into a 70-ft-deep quarry in another incident. Eight others suffer grievous injuries in the accidents. Two trains of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) collide, resulting in the death This Day, That Year of three people in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. One of the trains was carrying coal from NCL 1872: The Yellowstone National Park was established mines to an NTPC plant in Uttar Pradesh when by the U.S. Congress and is located partly in it collided with a train coming from the opposite Montana, Wyoming and Idaho states. It is the direction. first national park in the U.S. and is also widely considered to be the first national park in the world. The death toll in the clashes between tribal and non- tribal people in Meghalaya rises to three. The curfew World Civil Defence Day is celebrated every in Shillong and in the East Khasi Hills district area is year on March 1. It was incorporated by the extended until further notice. International Civil Defence Organisation Tribal organisations in Meghalaya have been (ICDO) in 1990. The day marks the entry into demanding the inner-line permit (ILP) system force of the ICDO Constitution as an inter- which restricts the entry of outsiders into the state. governmental organisation in 1972. The ILP is already applicable in four other north- The ICDO’s main objectives are the eastern states. awareness in prevention and self-protection measures in the event of accidents and disasters. Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdraws his 2 March candidacy for the post after being Israel goes to the polls for the third appointed by President Barham Salih time in less than a year. Prime a month ago. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Allawi accused political parties of obstructing seeking re-election. The two elections him, thus deepening a domestic crisis as Iraq in the last year were inconclusive. attempts to recover from years of war. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Ten people are killed in two separate road accidents Rajapaksa dissolves the Parliament in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. ahead of schedule and sets new A car carrying six persons fell 30 feet into elections for April. Kondaveeti Vaagu while a lorry laden with chilli fell Discover amazing knowledge at whatswhatgk.com 1 He aims to win the elections with a strong Kabul and the insurgents and casting a shadow on majority in the hopes of bringing about the ongoing peace talks between the two parties. constitutional changes to increase presidential powers. Tornadoes hit Tennessee in the United States killing at least 24 people and destroying over 140 buildings A Delhi court defers the hanging of the Nirbhaya across the state. case convicts for the third time. The four condemned men were to be hanged on 3rd March. A man and his daughter are arrested from Hakripora in Pulwama for allegedly sheltering the local suicide Two more cases of COVID-19 are reported in the bomber who attacked a CRPF convoy last year in country taking the final toll in the nation to five. Pulwama. A case each – in Delhi and Telangana – has been 40 CRPF jawans had lost their lives in the attack. confirmed. As panic surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak The Delhi Police arrests 40 people after the force continues to build, Indian Premier League receives over 2,000 distress calls in connection with Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel rules out rumours that riots has broken out again in different any threats to the IPL series which is set to begin parts of the city. from March 29. The rumours spread like wildfire and were fuelled Meanwhile Japan’s Olympic minister raises by news of certain metro stations being shut down. concerns that the Tokyo 2020 Games – scheduled to start in July – may be postponed due to the This Day, That Year coronavirus outbreak. 1978: Czech national Vladimir Remek This Day, That Year became the first astronaut from a country other than the erstwhile 1986: The Australia Act formally Soviet Union’ or the United States to comes into force, separating all legal enter space. ties between Australia and the United With Czech Republic’s entry into the European Kingdom and declaring Australia ‘a sovereign, Union, Remek is considered to be the first astronaut independent and federal nation’. from the European Union. World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each 3 March year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and Two private schools in Noida are shut down after a hearing care across the world. The theme for student’s parent tests positive for the COVID-19. World Hearing Day 2020 is ‘Hearing for Life, Information that the infected man hosted Don’t Let Hearing Loss Limit You. a birthday party for the child last week has also triggered fears that others, including several young children, could be at risk now. 4 March With fifteen Italian tourists testing positive for The Taliban carries out dozens of attacks on Afghan COVID-19, the total number of cases in the country Army bases thus ending a partial truce between climbs to 29. 2 Discover amazing knowledge at whatswhatgk.com As a measure to curb the spread of the Soon he retired from medicine and authored two coronavirus the Rashtrapati Bhawan announces a more novels A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) and suspension of the traditional Holi gatherings which And the Mountains Echoed (2013). were scheduled to be held on March 10th. National Safety Day is observed every year on President Ram Nath Kovind rejects March 4 to highlight the importance of safety the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, in all spheres of life so as to prevent mishaps one of the four convicts in the and accidents resulting out of neglect or lack of December 16 Nirbhaya rape and awareness. murder case who are facing the death penalty. The day is specifically observed to The mercy petitions of the other three were commemorate the establishment of National rejected earlier. Safety Council on 4th March 1966. The theme of National Safety Day 2020 is ‘Enhance Health In a dramatic series of events the Congress ‘rescues’ & Safety Performance by Use of Advanced a group of Madhya Pradesh MLAs from a hotel in Technology’. Manesar. They were allegedly being held captive by the 5 March BJP in a bid to topple the Kamal Nath government. Private sector lender Yes Bank is placed under moratorium Following the January 25th government order till April 3 by the government restoring 2G internet connectivity in the Kashmir owing to the severe deterioration of its financial Valley, users are once again able to access social position. media platforms nearly seven months after the The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) supersedes the privilege was revoked. board of the bank and appoints Prashant Kumar – chief financial officer of the State Bank of India (SBI) The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill is passed by the – as the administrator. Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to expedite the resolution of pending tax disputes. The death toll due to COVID-19 in Iran rises to 107 Normal proceedings in both Houses of the after fifteen new deaths are reported. The country Parliament remains paralysed as the Opposition has announced that its schools and universities will continues its demand for an immediate discussion remain closed until early April. on the Delhi riots. Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor This Day, That Year Tahir Hussain is arrested by the police in connection 1965: Afghan-American novelist with the murder of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Khaled Hosseini was born. Hosseini Sharma during the recent Delhi riots. worked in California initially as a doctor. His debut novel The Kite The Calcutta High Court intervenes and stays a Runner (2003) brought him much success and ‘leave India’ notice issued to a Polish student by the critical acclaim. Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Kolkata. Discover amazing knowledge at whatswhatgk.com 3 The student was asked to leave last month after proceedings for offences committed by previous he allegedly participated in a protest against the promoters of the concerned companies. Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The MLL Bill opens up the coal sector fully for commercial mining by national and global This Day, That Year companies. 1953: Georgian revolutionary and This Day, That Year a Soviet politician Joseph Stalin passed away. He served as the general 1927: Colombian novelist, short-story secretary of the Communist Party of writer and journalist Gabriel Garcia the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s and grew to Marquez was born. He is considered become a de facto dictator by the 1930s. one of the most significant authors of His tyrannical government was criticised for the 20th century and one of the best in the Spanish carrying out mass repressions, ethnic cleansing, language. deportations which killed millions. Some of his notable works are One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), Love in the Time of Cholera 6 March (1985) and The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975). He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announces a draft Literature in 1972 and the Nobel Prize in Literature reconstruction scheme for the beleaguered Yes Bank.