Top Best Current Affairs 26 April 2020 (2)

The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XVFC) had online meetings with its Advisory Council on 23-24 April 2020. The meeting was chaired by N. K. Singh, Chairman XVFC, and was attended by all members and senior officials of the Commission. The Members of the Advisory Council discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown on the Indian economy. Deputy Minister responsible for finance ministry is Anurag Thakur.

Iran launched its first military satellite called "Noor" into orbit. This launch has raised tensions with the US at a time the two countries are already facing off in the Persian Gulf.

Under the Smart Cities Mission PCMC has set up a COVID-19 War Room at Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to track and monitor the COVID-19 situation in the city. The technology solutions have been adopted in the war room for collecting, collating, and analyzing data to generate actionable insights and aid in prompt decision making. Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune is the extended city limits of Pune, and part of the Pune Metropolitan Region.

An e-office application called 'e-karyalay' launched in CISF to enable movement of files and documents without physical touch.

China announces additional USD 30 million grant for WHO to fight against COVID-19.

Astronomers found 19 asteroids that once belonged to a distant star system have been found orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune. The asteroids have been circling the sun for more than 4.5 billion years, since the very inception of the solar system.

The home ministry has set up four more inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) for making an on-spot assessment of Covid-19 in Surat, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad, while the team deputed for Mumbai and Pune has been asked to visit Thane. The IMCTs will focus on a range of issues including compliance and implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act 2005.

The US space agency NASA engineers have developed "VITAL", a new high-pressure ventilator tailored specifically to treat COVID-19 patients. The ventilator can be easily built.VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) ventilator has passed a critical test at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. VITAL has been designed to treat COVID-19 patients with milder symptoms. It will keep the country's limited supply of traditional ventilators available for patients with more severe COVID-19 symptoms.