Top Best Current Affairs 24 April 2020

World Book Day is observed on 23 April. The day is celebrated by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and other related organizations. The global celebration of books and reading material is observed in more than 100 countries. This day is also known as World Copyright day.

The National Shipping Board (NSB) has been reconstituted by the Central government and Malini Shankar has been appointed as the head of the board. Malini is the former Director General of Shipping. The National Shipping Board is the premier advisory body for the Indian shipping. The board comprises sixteen members.

Remittances sent home by migrants from low and middle-income countries to drop by 20% in 2020: World Bank

Union HRD Minister launches VidyaDaan 2.0 for inviting e-learning Content contributions in both school and higher education.

National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF) developed ten varieties of Anthurium, a flower with high market value, by cross-pollination. It was developed by D Vasini Bai, a women innovator from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

According to the satellite data published by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) stated that the air pollution over northern India has dropped to a 20-year-low for this time of the year. The data were retrieved by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.As per the analysis, an optical depth or thickness of less than 0.1 over the entire atmospheric vertical column shows a "clean" condition. If aerosols are concentrated near the surface, an optical depth of 1 or above indicates very "hazy" conditions.

The Karnataka State government launched the "Apthamitra" helpline on 22 April. It was aimed to empower people in the state's fight against coronavirus. It was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. The system and website are owned by Health and Family Welfare Department and State Disaster Management Authority. The system functions under the aegis of NASSCOM, Bengaluru. Also, the Digital Mobile app was developed by Infosys BPM.

As per a recent study published in medRxiv, anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine is not effective for the Coronavirus treatment. The drug has been defined as game changer in the ongoing crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study now raises concern on the widespread use of Hydroxychloroquine drug by several countries including India.