Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 19th and 20th April 2020. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.
Current Affairs Today – 19th and 20th April 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- World Liver day is observed on 19 April every year
- Chinese Language Day is observed on 20 April.
- Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESFB), a private sector, has launched Selfe Fixed Deposits (FD) and Selfe savings accounts to expand its digital banking services so as to help its customers to avoid visiting the branches as the lockdown is extended till May 3.
- Fitch Solutions has slashed India’s economic growth forecast to 1.8% for the financial year 2020-21.
- S&P Global Ratings has declined India’s growth forecast for the FY 20-21 to 1.8% from 3.5% estimated earlier due to an extended nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 spread.
- Government of India has created an online data pool on https://covidwarriors.gov.in of doctors including Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, volunteers from National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), ex-Servicemen, etc.
- A new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) report stated that India’s renewable energy subsidies fell 35% between 2016-17 and 2018-19.
- “Covid FYI” is a one-stop digital directory containing information of all COVID-19 related services and helplines released by official sources.
- Government has launched online data pool of critical human resource for combating and containing COVID-19.
- Central Government and the Government of Maharashtra have adequate food security for the poor people in the state.
- Uttar Pradesh became the first state in India to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts which produce 12 lakh food packets a day.
- In Madhya Pradesh, 15 lakh farmers of the state will receive total 2,990 crore rupees against crop insurance by next week.
- Rajasthan became the first state in the country to carry out Rapid Testing for Covid 19. State’s urban primary health centre of TopkhanaDesh (also known as Jaju Dispensary) in Jaipur started rapid tests at 5 p.m where 52 persons were tested and all were found COVID-19 negative.
- Social media platform, Facebook has announced to launch a third party fact checking system in Bangladesh.
- Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan participated in the video conference of the Health Ministers of G20 countries.
- Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has created a video to promote wearing masks in public places and help the country to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
- CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) with MAF Clothing, Bengaluru developed the protective coverall suit.
- Mysuru-based CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CRTRI) made available high-protein biscuits to the corona affected patients in the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi.
- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, have developed a magnetic Random Access Memory (RAM) which is faster, more energy-efficient and capable of storing more information in a smaller volume than existing data storage technologies.
- Researchers at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have developed ‘bug sniffer,’ a sensitive and low-cost sensor to rapidly detect bacteria.
- Oscar-winning animator, film director and producer, Gene Deitch passed away.
NEWS IN DETAILS
IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES
World Liver Day observed globally on 19 April
- World Liver day is observed on 19 April every year.
- The day is observed to spread awareness about the liver-related disease.
- The liver is the second largest and the most complex organ in the body, with the exception of the brain.
- Liver diseases can be caused by hepatitis A, B, C, alcohol and drugs. Viral Hepatitis occurs due to the consumption of contaminated food and water, unsafe sexual practices and drug abuse.
- As per World Health Organisation (WHO), liver diseases are 10th most common cause of death in India.
Chinese Language Day is observed on 20 April
- Chinese Language Day is observed on 20 April.
- The day highlights the contribution of Chinese literature, poetry, and language in world culture.
- The aim of the observation of the day is to educate people about the history of the Chinese language.
Chinese at the UN:
- The United Nations (UN) observes the Chinese Language Day to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity.
- The UN promotes all six of its official languages, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish throughout the Organization.
- The observation of the first UN Chinese Language Day was held on 12 November 2010. In 2011, the date was moved to 20 April.
Extra Shots:
China (Capital/Currency): Beijing/Renminbi
- President: Xi Jinping
UN: The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.
- Secretary General: António Guterres
- Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
- Founded: 24 October 1945, San Francisco, California, United States
- Official languages: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
BANKING AND FINANCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Equitas Small Finance Bank launches Selfe Fixed Deposits and Selfe savings accounts
- Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESFB), a private sector, has launched Selfe Fixed Deposits (FD) and Selfe savings accounts to expand its digital banking services so as to help its customers to avoid visiting the branches as the lockdown is extended till May 3.
Selfe FD
- With the Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) details customers can open an online account for value of Minimum investment of Rs 5,000 and invest up to Rs 90,000 under 3 minutes, for which the bank offers interest rate upto 7.75% per annum (p.a) for 1 year.
- It is a digital standalone FD scheme which envisages booking from their respective residences & transfer of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) funding from any Know Your Customer bank account.
- No premature withdrawal penalty for Senior Citizen Selfe FD & if Selfe FD has completed a tenure of more than 180 days.
Selfe savings accounts
- It is a digital bank account that can be opened with a web based interactive video form by registering using Aadhaar number, PAN and other basic details.
- Customers can set up a mobile banking PIN and start using their account instantly & can get an interest rate upto 7.5% p.a. with no minimum balance and virtual debit card.
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ESFB:
- Headquarters:Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- MD& CEO: Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Fitch slashes India’s GDP growth forecast to 1.8%
- Fitch Solutions has slashed India’s economic growth forecast to 1.8% for the financial year 2020-21.
- Fitch Solutions has lowered India’s economic growth forecast from 4.6% stating large-scale loss of income across the economy due to domestic outbreak of COVID-19, causing contracted private consumption.
- It has also predicted the contraction in fixed investments as capital expenditure has been reduced by businesses to conserve cash amid elevated economic uncertainty.
Extra Shots:
Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the “Big Three credit rating agencies”, the other two being Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975.
- Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
- CEO: Paul Taylor (2 Apr 2012–)
- Revenue: 170 crores USD
- Founder: John Knowles Fitch
- Founded: 1914, New York, New York, United States
S&P cuts India growth forecast to 1.8% from 3.5% for FY 20-21
- S&P Global Ratings has declined India’s growth forecast for the FY 20-21 to 1.8% from 3.5% estimated earlier due to an extended nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 spread.
- For FY 2021-2022, the rating agency has projected India’s growth to 7.5%.
- In March 2020, S&P cut India’s growth forecast to 3.5% for 2020-21 fiscal, from 5.2% projected earlier.
- On Asia-Pacific front, the growth is revised to 0.3%.
- As per S&P, the recovery from the pandemic will be flattish U-shape by 2023.
- It means the economy is gradually declining but will bounce back over time with positive impact.
- As per agency, if the unemployment rises, then there may be chances of L-shape, a recession that falls quickly but fails to recover.
Extra Shots:
S&P: S&P Global Ratings is an American credit rating agency and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is considered the largest of the Big Three credit-rating agencies, which also include Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
- Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
- Parent organization: S&P Global
- Founder: Henry Varnum Poor
- Founded: 1860
- Key person: John L. Berisford
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
Centre launched online data pool of critical human resource to combat COVID-19 pandemic
- Government of India has created an online data pool on https://covidwarriors.gov.in of doctors including Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, volunteers from National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), ex-Servicemen, etc.
- The data pool aims for use by the ground level administration at state, district or municipal levels.
Highlights:
- The Dashboard master database of details of Healthcare Professionals and Volunteers contains state wise and district wise availability of the large pool of human resources from various groups along with contact details of the nodal officers.
- The dashboard is available for use by various authorities to prepare Crisis Management/Contingency Plans based on the available manpower, in coordination with nodal officers for each group.
- This database can also be used to utilize the services of volunteers for enforcing social distancing at banks, ration shops, mandis and for providing help to elderly, divyang and orphanages.
- It will help States/UTs to move human resources from one location to the other for their utilization
Extra Shots:
AYUSH Ministry: The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy is purposed with developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine systems in India. The Ministry is headed by a Minister of State, which is currently held by Shripad Yesso Naik.
- Officeholder: Shripad Naik (MOS independent charge)
- Founded: 9 November 2014, India
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Jurisdiction: India
“Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2020” report
- A new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) report stated that India’s renewable energy subsidies fell 35% between 2016-17 and 2018-19.
Report Highlights:
- The report was titled “Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2020” which said that the support for renewable energy was to increase again. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made it critical to stay on track.
- Policy decisions such as the solar safeguard duty and tariff caps on auctions meant that there was a slowdown in new capacity addition and as a result of lower state subsidy outgo as well.
- Those resources post-COVID-19 will present a good opportunity for the government to rein in specific fossil fuel subsidies and create more fiscal room to promote renewables and other welfare schemes.
- It also said that the oil and gas subsidies, however, increased by 65% in the same period.
Extra Shots:
IISD: The International Institute for Sustainable Development is an independent think tank founded in 1990. The institute has offices in Winnipeg, Ottawa, New York City, and Geneva. It has over 100 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.
- Headquarters location: Winnipeg, Canada
- Purpose: Sustainable development
- Motto: The Knowledge to Act
- Founded: 1990
- Chair of the Board: Alan Young
- President & CEO: Scott Vaughan
Digital directory titled “Covid FYI” launched
- “Covid FYI” is a one-stop digital directory containing information of all COVID-19 related services and helplines released by official sources.
- This platform has been made by an international team of 16 members led by Simran Soni, a student of Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
- Covid FYI a one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services from official government sources.
- Covid FYI platform has been developed to bring the right information to the right people, ensuring authenticity and credibility of the information by providing only official information from Government organisations.
Govt launches online data pool of critical human resource for combating and containing COVID-19
- Government has launched online data pool of critical human resource for combating and containing COVID-19.
- It has created an online data pool on www.covidwarriors.gov.in of doctors including nurses and other health care professionals, volunteers from National Yuva Kendras, NCC, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and ex-Servicemen for use by the ground level administration at state, district or municipal levels.
- It contains state wise and district wise availability of the large pool of human resources from various groups along with contact details of the nodal officers.
- Dashboard is available for use by various authorities to prepare Crisis Management and Contingency Plans based on the available manpower, in coordination with nodal officers for each group.
- This database can also be used to utilise the services of volunteers for enforcing social distancing at banks, ration shops, mandis and for providing help to elderly, divyang and orphanages.
- This will also help States and Union Territories to move human resources from one location to the other for their utilisation.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Around 43 lakh quintals of food grains distributed to the poor in Maharashtra
- Central Government and the Government of Maharashtra have adequate food security for the poor people in the state.
- Around 52,000 fair price shops spread across the country.
- Around 43.51 lakh quintals of food grains distributed within the first fortnight of April amidst the lockdown period.
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, 5kg of food grain rice in the case of Maharashtra – is being provided free of cost for three months for every beneficiary covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Extra Shots:
Maharashtra:
- Capital: Mumbai
- Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
- Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
- National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
- Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc.
UP became the first state in India to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens
- Uttar Pradesh became the first state in India to geotag its 7,368 community kitchens and community shelters across 75 districts which produce 12 lakh food packets a day.
Highlights:
- The UP state government has partnered with Google to ‘Geo-map’ the locations of all these establishments on the Google Maps app for ease of beneficiaries.
- The state government has established community kitchens in adequate numbers in each of the 75 districts.
- More than two crore food packets have been distributed in Uttar Pradesh since 25 March.
- Out of these 7,368 community kitchens in the state, 668 are being run by NGOs and religious institutions.
- The government faced a challenge during the lockdown about passing the information among the general populace regarding the location of shelter homes and community kitchens. To solve this issue, the IT Department and the Remote Sensing Applications Centre (RSAC), Lucknow, are developing for a solution.
Extra Shots:
Uttar Pradesh:
- Capital: Lucknow
- Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
- Governor: Anandiben Patel
- State formed in: 24 January 1950
- Literacy Rate: 67.68%
- Nation Park: Dudhwa National Park
15 lakh farmers to receive Rs 2,990 cr against crop insurance by next week in MP
- In Madhya Pradesh, 15 lakh farmers of the state will receive total 2,990 crore rupees against crop insurance by next week.
- Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that the amount will be deposited directly in their bank accounts.
- As per the official information, the premium amount of around 2,200 crore rupees payable by the government for Kharif and Rabi crops was not paid by the previous Congress Government.
- Due to this, farmers were not getting the benefit of the crop insurance.
- Chief Minister informed that as soon as the government was formed, this amount was released to the insurance companies in March and now the farmers will be able receive crop insurance.
- Principal Secretary Agriculture, Ajit Kesri informed that the crops were insured by 35 lakh farmers in the state under the Kharif Season-2018, out of which 8 lakh 40 thousand farmers will get insurance amount of one thousand 930 crore rupees.
- Similarly, Crops were insured by 25 lakh farmers in the state during the Rabi Season 2018-19. Out of these, six lakh 60 thousand farmers will get insurance amount of one thousand 60 crore rupees.
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Madhya Pradesh:
- Capital: Bhopal
- Chief Minister: Kamal Nath
- Governor: Lalji Tandon
- National Park: Bandhavgarh NP, Fossil NP, Kanha NP, Madhav NP, Panna NP, Pench NP, Sanjay NP, Satpura NP
Rajasthan: First Indian State to carry out Rapid Testing for Covid-19
- Rajasthan became the first state in the country to carry out Rapid Testing for Covid 19. State’s urban primary health centre of TopkhanaDesh (also known as Jaju Dispensary) in Jaipur started rapid tests at 5 p.m where 52 persons were tested and all were found COVID-19 negative.
- This test will be done at a large scale to assess the prevalence of Covid 19 in hotspots or red zones.
- Apart from this, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests or laboratory tests will continue to be done in acceleration in the containment zones all over Rajasthan.
About Rapid Testing:
- This test requires a drop of blood just like diabetes a test and gives instant results. Though this is not a confirmatory test but helps in quick isolation of person tested COVID-19 positive to prevent spread.
Extra Shots:
Rajasthan
- Capital:Jaipur
- Chief Minister:Ashok Ghelot
- Governor: Kalraj Mishra
INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
Facebook launches 3rd party fact check system in Bangladesh
- Social media platform, Facebook has announced to launch a third party fact checking system in Bangladesh.
- Facebook has partnered with an Indian fact checking website “Boom” for a third party fact checking system in Bangladesh.
- The fact checking system will focus on discouraging the spread of fake news in the country by reviewing and rating the stories, including photos and videos.
Objective:
- The third party fact-Checking system targets the misinformation on topics from health and medicine to current affairs and make Facebook users in Bangladesh in identifying factual information and news online.
How it work:
- When the third party fact-Checking system rates a post as false or fake, the post will appear less or at the bottom of the news feed and hence reduces the spread of the post.
- When a post is found lacking authenticity, the third party fact checking system will write articles about the content which will reflect in the related articles section immediately below the story.
- The fact checking system also sends the notification to the person who shared a news or item with false information, about its lack of authenticity.
Extra Shots:
Facebook, Inc. is an American social media and technology company based in Menlo Park, California.
- Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes
- Founded: February 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States
Bangladesh (Capital/Currency): Dhaka/Taka
- Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
G20 Health Ministers Meeting deliberated on steps to control COVID-19 pandemic
- Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan participated in the video conference of the Health Ministers of G20 countries.
- During that conference, Forge cooperation and mutually respectful and useful collaborations to deal with COVID-19 disease.
Member Countries:
- The 19-member countries apart from European Union (EU) of G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America and India.
Highlights Of the Meeting:
- The global community has tackled threats to the health of the people, by a collective sense of purpose, support and collaboration with each other.
- The meeting called for cooperation between nations to attain normalcy.
- In the meeting, the Minister highlighted India’s fivefold approach to combat COVID-19 namely: (i) Maintaining a continuous situation awareness, (ii) Pre-emptive and proactive approach, (iii) Graded response as per continuously evolving scenario, (iv) Inter-sectoral coordination at all levels, and lastly, but most importantly (v) Creating a people’s movement to combat the coronavirus disease.
- He also stated that India has decided to focus on building exclusive infrastructure for the management of COVID-19 patients so that there is no intermingling of COVID-19 patients.
- In India, all the people who are tested positive are treated in one of three types of dedicated COVID management Centres: COVID Care Centres (CCCs) for mild symptomatic cases, COVID Health Centres (CHCs) for moderate cases and COVID Hospitals (CHs) for severe cases.
- These dedicated COVID facilities are mapped to each other in the design of a referral network architecture for dynamic movement of patients as symptoms evolve so that optimal clinical care can be provided timely, commensurate to symptoms.
SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS
BCCI creates ‘Team Mask Force’ to spread awareness against COVID-19
- Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has created a video to promote wearing masks in public places and help the country to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
- The ‘Team Mask Force’ has been formed to spread awareness about wearing masks in public places.
- The ‘Team Mask Force’ has shot a video message and featured Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Smriti Mandhana, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Harmanpreet Kaur, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Mithali Raj, all of them speaking about the importance of wearing masks.
Extra Shots:
BCCI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the national governing body for cricket in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act.
- Secretary: Jay Shah
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Vice president(s): Mahim Verma
- Founded: December 1928
- Women’s coach: W. V. Raman
- Presidents: C.K. Khanna, Sourav Ganguly
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
CSIR and NAL develop personal protective coverall suit for health workers
- CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) with MAF Clothing, Bengaluru developed the protective coverall suit.
About the Suit:
- This suit can be used by doctors to protect from COVID 19.
- It is a polypropylene spun laminated multi-layered non-woven fabric-based coverall suit.
- That suit can be used to ensure the safety of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and healthcare workers.
- CSIR-NAL and MAF have plans to augment the production capacity to about 30,000 units per day within four weeks’ time.
- The efforts of the NAL, MAF Clothing and SITRA team who have worked round the clock for this national cause by accelerating the development and certification process.
CSIR and CFTRIs protein-enriched biscuits for COVID-19 patients
- Mysuru-based CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CRTRI) made available high-protein biscuits to the corona affected patients in the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi.
Highlights:
- CFTRI supplied 500 kg of high-protein biscuits and 500 kg of high-protein rusks to the Dietetics department of AIIMS to supply to the patients.
- The biscuits contain 14% of protein while usual biscuits contain around 8-9% protein.
- The biscuits being manufactured in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, by Seven Seas Private Limited based on the formulation developed by CSIR-CFTRI.
Ingredients:
- The ingredients made available of the biscuits: whole wheat flour (Atta), wheat flour (Maida), sugar, hydrogenated fat, soya flour, whey protein, soy protein, milk solids, glucose, INS 500II and INS 503II agents, salt and flavours. A 100-g packet of biscuits clearly pack a punch with its energy quotient of 400 kcal and its nutritional value: carbohydrate (63.2 g), protein (14 g), fat (17.1 g) and minerals (1.2 g).
Extra Shots:
CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, is one of the constituent laboratory under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. It was opened on 21 October 1950 in Mysore, Karnataka.
- Founded: 1950
- Operating agency: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
IIT-Mandi develops magnetic RAM to enable higher data storage, faster computation
- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, have developed a magnetic Random Access Memory (RAM) which is faster, more energy-efficient and capable of storing more information in a smaller volume than existing data storage technologies.
Highlights:
- The Spin-transfer torque (STT) based nano spintronic device is expected to put an end to computer data loss due to interruptions of power supply.
- It will have the capability to transform next-generation computers, smartphones, and other gadgets.
- In magnetic RAMs, data are represented as the spin of electrons. It promises better storage capabilities than conventional charge-based RAM.
- The device uses spintronic technology and utilizes the spin of the electrons to transmit and process information, unlike normal electronic devices that are driven by electron charges.
- It harnesses the spin of electrons and manipulates the magnetic state leads to what is known as Spin-Transfer Torque-Magnetic Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM).
- The existing semiconductor RAM cannot meet these massive demands of data storage. Indeed, experts in data science predict that the demand for memory capacity will outpace production by the end of 2020.
ARI researchers develop bug sniffer to rapidly detect bacteria
- Researchers at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have developed ‘bug sniffer,’ a sensitive and low-cost sensor to rapidly detect bacteria.
- The portable device can detect as low as ten bacterial cells from a sample size of 1 mm in just 30 minutes.
- The team is currently working on a method for simultaneous separation and detection of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium.
Highlights:
- The bug sniffer is a biosensor that uses synthetic peptides, magnetic nanoparticles, and quantum dots to detect the presence of bacteria.
- It will provide a cost and time-effective way of screening water and foodborne pathogens.
- The most common disease-causing bacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. They can be detected individually and simultaneously using the in-house developed synthetic peptides, which act as a recognition element and provide the specificity to the detection. These peptides are highly specific to the bacteria to be detected and have extremely low cross-reactivity.
- When the external magnetic field is applied, the bacteria attached to the peptide will be isolated and immobilized. Finally, the peptide tagged with quantum dots will be passed through the microchannels to complete the sandwiched peptide assay.
- After capturing the bacteria, microchannels will exhibit strong and stable fluorescence due to the quantum-dot-tagged peptides.
- The bug sniffer is affordable, and the raw materials required for making it are readily available.
- The researchers also developed a chip consisting of microchannels made from copper wires and poly (dimethylsiloxane). The device can detect pathogens with a limit of detection of 10 cells per 1 mL within 30 minutes.
Extra Shots:
Agharkar Research Institute:
- Established on: 1946
- Location on: Pune, Maharashtra
- Founder Director: Shankar Purushottam Agharkar
- Director: Dr. Kishore M Paknikar
OBITUARIES
Oscar-winning animator and filmmaker Gene Deitch passes away
- Oscar-winning animator, film director and producer, Gene Deitch passed away.
- His movie “Munro” won the Oscar award in the animated short film category in 1960.
- He directed some episodes of “Tom and Jerry” and also some episodes of “Popeye the Sailor” series.
- He received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation in 2004.
