Top Best Current Affairs 16 April 2020

Smart cities in India including Vadodara, Bengaluru, Kalyan Dombivali, Agra, Kakinada, Chandigarh, are using the latest technology to create awareness about COVID-19 and the safety of people in the society.The Vadodara district administration has installed a helium balloon attached with two cameras for surveillance on lockdown violators. The balloon has a public address system attached to it. Model COVID-19 War Room at the Bengaluru-COVID-19 data dashboard of Karnataka acts as the single source of all COVID-related data.

Donation platform GiveIndia launches 'India COVID Response Fund' (ICRF) with initial donations worth Rs 75 crore.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to allow more digital kiosks to function in rural areas during the nationwide lockdown. Digital kiosks are commonly known as the Common Service Centres (CSCs) across the country. The information was passed by the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad. The MeitY suggested that the strong network of the CSCs can be helpful in times of difficulty, like the COVID-19 lockdown, especially in rural areas.

Researchers of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found the presence of a different kind of coronavirus, bat coronavirus (BtCoV), in two bat species from Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu. It claimed that there is no evidence or research to claim that these bat coronaviruses can cause disease in humans. BtCoV was found positive in 25 bats of Rousettus and Pteropus species from Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.

:Fit India, the Government of India's flagship fitness movement, has launched the Fit India Active Day program. The new series of fitness sessions will be organized in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for school children from across the country. Live sessions of the program will commence from 15 April 2020 at 9:30 am. The students can get access to these live sessions on Facebook and Instagram handles of Fit India Movement and CBSE.

Government of India has decided to exempt Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) for the imported personal protection equipment (PPE), ventilators, sanitizers, masks, and other medical equipment. Currently, GoI levies 12% IGST on most of these products. Upon considering COVID-19 pandemic, the input tax credit can be availed for the PPEs, sanitizers

Poila Boishakh (Naba Barsha) is the Bengali New Year. This year it falls on 14th of April 2020. It usually falls in the 2nd week of April, historically signifying the time of harvest

:Researchers from IIT-Guwahati have developed an affordable antimicrobial spray-based coating for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and 3D printed Ear Guard for comfortable use of face masks by healthcare workers. The antimicrobial spray-based coating for PPE kits can kill and prevent the spread of microbes once they come in contact with the coated PPE surface.