Current Affairs - Update of 21.04.2020

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1. SAP co-CEO Jennifer Morgan stepped down

  • SAP SE co-CEO Jennifer Morgan, appointed in October 2019 to the top executive post alongside Christian Klein, will abruptly leave the company at the end of April 2020
  • Klein will remain in the CEO role
  • He joined the company as a student in 1999 and had been COO since April 2016
  • Klein has been a member of SAP's executive board since 2018.

2. Kapil Dev Tripathi: New Secretary to President

  • Former IAS Officer Kapil Dev Tripathi has been appointed as the Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind
  • The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment on contract basis, for a term co-terminus with the tenure of the President
  • Mr. Tripathi, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, us at present the Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).

3. Sudarsanam Babu appointed to science board: US

  • US President Donald Trump has appointed Indian-American Sudasanam Babu to country's top science board
  • Babu has been appointed as a member of the National Science Board for a six-years term. He would be the third Indian-American in the prestigious board
  • The other two being Sethuraman Panchanathan from the Arizona State University and Suresh V Garimella from University of Vermont.

4. Bombay, Meghalaya, Orissa HCs to get net CJs

  • The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the appointment of new Chief Justices for 3 High Courts - Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya
  • Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Dipankar Datta was recommended for the elevation as Chief Justice of  Bombay High Court
  • Justice Datta will take over from the current Chief Justice of Bombay, Justice BP Dharmadhikari who will retire from office on April 27, 2020.

5. ICICI Bank launched voice banking services

  • ICICI Bank has launched voice assistance-based banking services for its customers
  • They can check balance, seek credit card details as well and ask other queries among others through this application
  • It has integrated it AI-powered multi-channel chatbot iPal with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistance through which its customer can undertake host of banking services through voice commands.

6. FCI to use surplus rice to make sanitizers

  • Surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) would be converted to ethanol to ensure adequate availability of alcohol-based sanitizers in the country
  • The ethanol produced from surplus rice would also be used in production of Ethanol Blended Petrol
  • The National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, allows such conversions of surplus of food grains.

7. Odisha CM inaugurates five COVID Hospitals

  • In Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated five standalone COVID Hospitals through video conferencing on 20 April, 2020
  • These hospitals will provide specialised treatment to COVID-19 patients
  • CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates five COVID-19 hospitals in the district of Sundargarh, Bargarh, Anugul, Jagatsinghpur, and Nabragnpur with a combined capacity of 825 beds.

8. BRO constructed a bridge over Subansiri river

  • Border Roads Organisation (BRO) constructed a bridge over Subansiri river in Arunachal Pradesh in a record span of just 27 days
  • CM Khandu inaugurates the bridge on 20 April, 200 over video conferencing and opened for public use
  • The bridge is of utmost importance in strategic connectivity as it links roads lending upto LAC between India and China.

9. Charles Leclerc won Chinese Virtual Grand Prix

  • Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed a second victory in the Formula One Esports Virtual Grand Prix championship
  • Charles Leclerc started on pope and finished ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon and Guanyu Zhou, who raced in Formula 2
  • Leclerc also has two wins in the real F1 World Championship. The F1 World Championship has yet to get underway this season due to the spread of the coronavirus.

10. BMW India CEO Rudratej Singh passed away

  • BMW Group President and CEO Rudratej Singh passed away in April 2020
  • He had joined BMW Group in August 2019
  • He had more than 25 years of experience and held multiple leadership positions both in the automotive and non-automotive industries
  • In his last assignment, he was the Global President at Royal Enfield and before that he worked with Unilever in India.