Current Affairs Today 27th May 2020-Download in PDF

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Current Affairs Today – 27th May 2020

NEWS AT A GLANCE

1. The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has joined hands with ICICI Bank to offer retail financing schemes to its customers.
2. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, which is a social security scheme for senior citizens.
3. The Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat campaign is a mantra that gives us motivation and inner strength towards binding our own people with friendship and integrity.
4. The government has for the second time extended the deadline for bidding for privatisation of India’s second-biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by over a month to July 31.
5. Ministry of Minority Affairs flagship programme ‘Hunar Haat’ will restart from September 2020 with the theme of “Local to Global”.
6. In West Bengal Inter-District Government bus services have begun today.
7. In Madhya Pradesh, to provide assured employment to the labourers, who have returned from other states, a survey is being conducted in the state
8. In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Annual Kheer Bhawani Mela on 30th May this year in Tulmulla village of Ganderbal district has been cancelled by the Dharmarth Trust of Jammu and Kashmir because of outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic.
9. Rehabilitation package for the “Cyclone Amphan” hit West Bengal & Odisha was announced by the Government of India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes aerial survey of the affected states.
10. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat presented the surplus annual budget of Rs 53,526.97 crore for FY20-21.
11. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that countries seeing a decline in COVID-19 infections could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak.
12. A Webinar under Know Your Scheme-Lecture Series on “Van Dhan Yojana : Learning For Post Covid-19” was organized today by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan in association with Trifed, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
13. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan announced that Aarogya Setu has become world’s largest contact tracing app reaching over 11 crore 40 lakh people in 40 days.
14. Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the central PSU under Ministry of Power has signed an MoU with Narmada Basin Projects Company Ltd. (NBPCL), a wholly-owned company of Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, to fund various power projects to be executed in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
15. As part of COVID-19 mitigation mission of Country, CSIR has strategized its R&D to develop, integrate, scale-up, and deploy necessary technological interventions for combating Coronavirus pandemic in the country
16. Indian Army officer Major Suman Gawani is going to be awarded the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019.
17. Indian-American IBM scientist, Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious NYIPLA “Inventor of the Year award” for the year 2020.
18. The government of India has announced the appointment of Prem K Nair as Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.
19. GE Power India (GEPIL) has appointed Mahesh Palashikar as its Chairman and Vijay Sharma, Chief Financial Officer as Whole-time Director of the Company.
20. Aston Martin confirmed on Tuesday that Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers would be appointed as its next chief executive on August 1^st.
21. The Army Commanders’ Conference, an apex level biannual event which was scheduled for April 2020 and postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, will now be organised in two phases.
22. The proto-type test samples of Personal protective equipment (PPE) Coveralls in India are tested and certified by 9 authorized laboratories as per the technical specifications prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
23. Researchers from Tsinghua University, China and the University of Connecticut in the US have jointly discovered two bacterial secreted proteins that can effectively inactivate a series of viruses, including the novel coronavirus, dengue, and the HIV.
24. Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) which functions under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will take up Research and Development initiatives in the areas of Health Care, like Manufacturing and Certifying PPE to deal with COVID-19 pandemic.
25. Researchers have identified a region in the genome of a rice, which seems to have the potential for improving productivity.
26. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that a total of 1,61,041 (approximately) COVID-19 samples are being tested in 24 hours.
27. Researchers from Tsinghua University, China and the University of Connecticut in the US have jointly discovered two bacterial secreted proteins that can effectively inactivate a series of viruses, including the novel coronavirus, dengue, and the HIV.
28. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is leading the fight against novel coronavirus.
29. The government has announced opening the source code of its coronavirus tracking app, Aarogya Setu, for scrutiny by the developer community to address privacy concerns and launching a bug bounty programme for finding security flaws.
30. British author J.K. Rowling released first two chapters of her new Children’s book “The lckabog”.
31. Classical musician Shyamala G. Bhave passed away. She was having an equal command over Hindustani as well as Carnatic music.
32. The National Gallery of Modern Art organised a virtual tour to commemorate the 115th Birth Anniversary of iconic artist Ramkinkar Baij.
33. A calling application named as “CatchUp” has been launched by the social media major Facebook.

NEWS IN DETAILS

BANKING & FINANCE

Maruti Suzuki partners ICICI Bank to offer retail financing schemes to customers

• The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has joined hands with ICICI Bank to offer retail financing schemes to its customers.
• As part of the tie up, ICICI Bank is offering flexi EMI scheme which enables customers to pay low EMI initially, in order to help them overcome the liquidity stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The EMI amount starts from Rs 899 on a loan of Rs 1 lakh for first three months.
• The bank is also offering similar other EMI plans for MSI customers.

Extra Shots:

Maruti Suzuki:

• Chairman: Ravindra Chandra Bhargava
• MD & CEO: Kenichi Ayukawa
• Head office: New Delhi

 ICICI Bank:

• Founded: 5 January 1994
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Managing Director & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
• Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

LIC launches “PM Vaya Vandana Yojana” for senior citizens

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, which is a social security scheme for senior citizens.
• This plan starts from May 26 for three financial years up to March 31, 2023.
• LIC is solely authorised to work this scheme, which works as a Non-Linked, Non-Participating, Pension Scheme subsidised by the Centre.
• The policy term is of 10 years and for policies sold during the first financial year up to March 31, 2021, the scheme will provide an assured rate of return of 7.40 per cent once a year payable monthly (which is like 7.66 per cent per annum) for the whole duration of 10 years.

Extra Shots:

LIC:

• Chairman:M R Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Owner: Government of India (100%)
• Founder: Government of India
• Founded: 1 September 1956

NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat campaign gives motivation towards binding people with friendship, integrity

• The Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat campaign is a mantra that gives us motivation and inner strength towards binding our own people with friendship and integrity.

Highlights:

• To this mission, various states are tied up with their neighbouring states to jointly do programs that help their people to know each other more and also pay respect each other in terms of culture, language, behaviour, cuisine and customs and good practices.
• People of neighbouring states visit each other and share experiences of unique culture, music, dance and tourist spots and thus they are partnered with each other to showcase the unique idea of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat.
• This cultural exchange is aimed at bolstering the mutual friendship and peace and to build a New India.
• Mizoram paired with Bihar in this campaign a good number of people from Mizoram frequently travel to places in Bihar for study and professional purposes. And, they come back with a bouquet of ideas of language, culture, heritage spots of Bihar.

Government extends BPCL privatisation bid deadline to July 31

• The government has for the second time extended the deadline for bidding for privatisation of India’s second-biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by over a month to July 31.

Highlights:

• While the Cabinet had in November last year approved the sale of government’s entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL, offers seeking expression of interest (EoI), or bids showing interest in buying its stake, were invited only on March 7.
• The EoI submission deadline was May 2, but on March 31 it was extended up to June 13 now this deadline is further being extended up to July 31.
• The government of India is proposing strategic disinvestment of its entire shareholding in BPCL comprising of 114.91 crore equity shares, which constitutes 52.98 per cent of BPCL’s equity share capital along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer (except BPCL’s equity shareholding of 61.65 per cent in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd).

Extra Shots:

BPCL:

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Owner: Government of India
• CEO: D. Rajkumar

‘Hunar Haat’ will restart with the theme “Local to Global” from Sept 2020

• Ministry of Minority Affairs flagship programme ‘Hunar Haat’ will restart from September 2020 with the theme of “Local to Global”.
• This Platform is for artisans and craftsmen from various parts of the country to showcase their art and craft.
• This platform has provided employment and employment opportunities to more than five lakh Indian artisans, craftsmen, culinary experts and other people associated with them in the last five years.
• Hunar Haat provides market and opportunity to master artisans and craftsmen from remote areas of the country, has become a credible brand of rare exquisite indigenous handmade products.
• There will be a special “Jaan Bhi, Jahaan Bhi” pavilion to create health awareness among the people with the theme of “Say no to panic, yes to precautions”.

Extra Shots:

The Ministry of Minority Affairs is a ministry of the Government of India which was carved out of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006.

• Officeholder: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (MOS independent charge)
• Founded: 29 January 2006
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Jurisdiction: India
• Child agency: National Commission for Minorities

STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS

Inter-District Government bus services begins in West Bengal

• In West Bengal Inter-District Government bus services have begun today.
• Altogether 20 passengers are being taken into each bus maintaining the norms of social distancing.
• Uses of Face mask and Hand-sanitizers have been made compulsory.
• Buses running under the State Transport Corporation are also plying in the City of Kolkata and adjourning areas.
• Auto-rickshaws are also running with a maximum two passengers.
• Meanwhile, domestic flight operations from Kolkata, Bagdogra and Andal Airport will resume from tomorrow.

Extra Shots:

West Bengal:

• Established on: 26 January 1950
• Capital: Kolkata
• Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
• Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee

Madhya Pradesh govt to provide employment to migrant labourers

• In Madhya Pradesh, to provide assured employment to the labourers, who have returned from other states, a survey is being conducted in the state.
• The objective of this survey is to connect the labourers with the Sambal Yojana of the state along with employmentthe labour department has sent an action plan related to this survey to all the collectors.
• Work of survey of labourers will be done by Panchayat Sachiv and Rozgar Sahayak in Gram Panchayats and ward in-charge in urban areas through mobile application.
• After the survey, migrant labourers will get the benefits of various government schemes like MGNREGA and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

Extra Shots:

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

J&K: Dharmarth Trust cancels annual “Kheer Bhawani Mela”

• In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Annual Kheer Bhawani Mela on 30th May this year in Tulmulla village of Ganderbal district has been cancelled by the Dharmarth Trust of Jammu and Kashmir because of outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic.
• The devotees have been asked to cooperate with the authorities and perform the worship of the Goddess at their homes only.
• The holy rituals and Aarti of the Deity will be conducted as per the tradition which will be shared with the devotees via social media.
• Kheer Bhawani Mela is one of the biggest religious functions of Kashmiri Pandit Community.
• It is believed and rather has been seen that the colour of the water in the spring around the Kheer Bhawani Temple changes its colour with the change in the circumstances of the Kashmir valley.

Extra Shots:

Jammu & Kashmir:

• Capitals- Jammu (Winter), Srinagar (Summer)
• Lt Governor- Girish Chandra Murmu
• National Parks: City Forest (Salim Ali) National Park, Dachigam National Park, Hemis National Park, Kishtwar National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Baltal-Thajwas WLS, Changthang Cold Desert WLS, Gulmarg WLS, Jasrota WLS, Karakoram (Nubra Shyok) WLS etc

Rehabilitation package for Amphan hit West Bengal & Odisha

• Rehabilitation package for the “Cyclone Amphan” hit West Bengal & Odisha was announced by the Government of India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes aerial survey of the affected states.
• As part of rehabilitation package, financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for cyclone hit West Bengal, and Rs 500 crore for Odisha was announced for immediate relief activities in the two states.
• Hence, union government has given assurance of possible assistance for restoration and rebuilding of infrastructure in the areas affected by the cyclone.
• Along with financial assistance, an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the dead, and Rs 50,000 for the injured was also announced.

Extra Shots:

West Bengal:

• Established on: 26 January 1950
• Capital: Kolkata
• Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
• Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee

Odisha:

• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
• Governor: Ganeshi Lal
• National Park: Bhitarkanika NP, Simlipal NP

Uttarakhand CM Rawat presented Rs 53,527-cr budget for FY20-21

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat presented the surplus annual budget of Rs 53,526.97 crore for FY20-21.
• The budget is described as the document reflecting the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state.

Highlights:

• It aims to achieve 25 public welfare goals under the state government’s Vision 2020.
• Total expenditure for the financial year 2020 is estimated at Rs 53,526.97 crore, out of which a provision of Rs 42,389.6 crore has been made under revenue expenditure and Rs 11,137.30 crore under capital expenditure.
• A revenue surplus of Rs 49.66 crore is expected, while the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 7,549.74 crore.
• The ratio of fiscal deficit to gross state domestic product (GSDP) is 2.57%, which is within the 3% prescribed limit of fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) act.

Extra Shots:

Uttarkhand

• Capital- Dehradun
• Governor- Baby Rani maurya
• CM-Trivendra Singh Rawat
• National Park -Jim Corbett NP, Gangotri NP, Nanda Devi NP, Rajaji NP

INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS

WHO warns of ‘second peak’ in countries where Covid-19 declining

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that countries seeing a decline in COVID-19 infections could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak.
• There is also a chance that infection rates could rise once again more quickly if measures to halt the first wave were lifted too soon.
• A second peak or wave could come during the normal influenza season, “which will greatly complicate things for disease control.

Extra Shots:

WHO: World Health Organization

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Director-General: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
• Founded: 7 April 1948
• Parent organization: United Nations Economic and Social Council

SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES

Webinar on “Van Dhan Scheme: learnings for post COVID-19”

• A Webinar under Know Your Scheme-Lecture Series on “Van Dhan Yojana : Learning For Post Covid-19” was organized today by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan in association with Trifed, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

Highlights:

• Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs was the Key Note Speaker detailing the learnings for post Covid-19 and the Webinar was moderated by Ms. Mugdha Sinha, Secretary, Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan.
• Under this initiative tribals will be provided with relevant information regarding COVID-19 along with several guidelines, nationwide and state-specific webinars and instructions on safety measures to be followed.
• The Minimum Support Prices of Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) items has also been revised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to provide much needed relief to forest gatherers in these trying times.

RANKS AND INDICES

Aarogya Setu becomes world’s largest contact tracing app

• Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan announced that Aarogya Setu has become world’s largest contact tracing app reaching over 11 crore 40 lakh people in 40 days.
• The app is a classic example of coordination between government, industry and citizens.
• The iOS version of the open source app will be released in the next two weeks.
• The use of the app is continuously increasing and people are benefiting from it.

AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED

PFC signs MoU with NBPCL to fund various projects in Madhya Pradesh

• Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the central PSU under Ministry of Power has signed an MoU with Narmada Basin Projects Company Ltd. (NBPCL), a wholly-owned company of Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, to fund various power projects to be executed in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Highlights:

• The funds of worth Rs 22,000 crore will be deployed by NBPCL for setting up hydroelectric projects of 225 MW along with power components of 12 other major multipurpose projects to be executed in Madhya Pradesh.
• Some of the major multipurpose projects for which PFC has signed MoU with NBPCL includes Chinki Boras Multipurpose Project Narsinghpur Raisen Hoshangabad, Dudhi Project Chhindwara Hoshangabad, Basaniya Multipurpose Project Dindori, Sakkar Pench Link Narsinghpur Chhindwara etc.

Extra Shots:

PFC: Power Finance Corporation

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Owner: Government of India

CSIR-IIIM & Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to develop RT-LAMP based test for Coronavirus

• As part of COVID-19 mitigation mission of Country, CSIR has strategized its R&D to develop, integrate, scale-up, and deploy necessary technological interventions for combating Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Highlights:

• Considering the multifarious problems created by coronavirus, which require interventions, the CSIR under the guidance of its Director General, Dr. Shekhar Mande has formed five verticals to coordinate various research activities into Digital and Molecular Surveillance, Drugs & Vaccines, Rapid and Economical Diagnostics, Hospital Assistive Devices & PPEs, and Supply Chain and Logistics.
• Since testing is vital component in COIVD-19 mitigation, CSIR-IIIM, Jammu a constituent laboratory of CSIR has partnered with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to develop and scale-up a new Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) based COVID-19 diagnostic kit for which a formal MOU has also been signed between CSIR-IIIM, Jammu and RIL.
• COVID-19 RT-LAMP test is a nucleic acid based test carried out from nasal/throat swab sample from patients. The test recipe has been developed and successfully demonstrated using synthetic templates.
• The advantage of this test is that the RT-LAMP based COVID-19 kit components are easily available and these can be completely manufactured in India.

Extra Shots:

Reliance Industries Limited

• CEO: Mukesh Ambani
• Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani
• Founded: 8 May 1973, Maharashtra
• Owner: Mukesh Ambani (47.35%)
• Subsidiaries: Jio, Radisys, Reliance Petroleum, Reliance Retail, etc

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL  AWARDS

Major Suman Gawani to be honoured with UN Military Gender Advocate Award

• Indian Army officer Major Suman Gawani is going to be awarded the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019.

Highlights:

• This will be the first time that an Indian Peace Guard will be awarded this award.
• Major Suman was stationed in South Sudan under the United Nations Mission. Recently she has completed her mission.
• Gawani joined the Indian Army in 2011 where she graduated from the Officers Training Academy, then joined the Army Signal Corps.
• She hails from Pokhar village in Tehri Garwhal, Uttarakhand.
• The award is going to be presented to Major Suman Gawani and Brazilian military officer Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo during a web ceremony chaired by UN Secretary-General Guterres on May 29, the International Day of the United Nations Peacekeepers.
• These two women peacekeepers were described as “powerful role models” by the UN Chief Antonio Guterres.

IBM scientist Rajiv Joshi wins NYIPLA Inventor of the year Award 2020

• Indian-American IBM scientist, Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious NYIPLA “Inventor of the Year award” for the year 2020.
• This award is given for his contribution to advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
• Dr Joshi works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York.
• This award is presented by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA).
• The inventor of the year is awarded every year to honour the contribution of an inventor towards society and the winner will be awarded $5,000.

Extra Shots:

NYIPLA:

• President: Colman B. Ragan
• President:Elect- Robert M.Isackson
• Established: March 7,1922

APPOINTMENT IN NEWS

PK Nair becomes new Indian Ambassador to Niger

• The government of India has announced the appointment of Prem K Nair as Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.
• He is currently posted as Consul General of India to Hambantota.
• He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He will replace Rajesh Agarwal.

Extra Shots:

Niger (Capital/Currency): Niamey/West African CFA franc.

• President of Niger: Mahamadou Issoufou

GE Power India appoints Mahesh Palashikar as chairman

• GE Power India (GEPIL) has appointed Mahesh Palashikar as its Chairman and Vijay Sharma, Chief Financial Officer as Whole-time Director of the Company.
• Palashikar assumed the role of Chairman and succeeded Vishal K Wanchoo,
• Palashikar is currently the President and CEO of GE South Asia. As a 20-year GE veteran, Palashikar has handled assignments in manufacturing operations, global supply chain, quality, lean six sigma, sales, projects and services within GE’s Healthcare, Power and Renewable Energy businesses.
• The GEPIL also appointed Vijay Sharma, Chief Financial Officer as Whole-time Director of the Company from May 30, 2020 in place of Sanjeev Agarwal, Whole-time Director.

Extra Shots:

GE Power India

• Headquarters: Noida
• Founded: 1992
• Subsidiaries: Alstom Services Sdn. Bhd., Alstom Bergeron etc
• Parent organization: ALSTOM India Tracking B.V.

Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers would be appointed as its next chief executive

• Aston Martin confirmed on Tuesday that Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers would be appointed as its next chief executive on August 1^st.
• He will replace Andy Palmer who left the company’s board

DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS

Army Commanders’ Conference to be organised in two phases

• The Army Commanders’ Conference, an apex level biannual event which was scheduled for April 2020 and postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, will now be organised in two phases.

Highlights:

• The first phase of the conference will commence from tomorrow which will continue till 29th of this month.
• The apex level leadership of Indian Army will brainstorm on current emerging security and administrative challenges and chart the future course for Indian Army.
• To ensure due diligence, decisions are taken through collegiate system comprising Army commanders and senior officers.
• During the first phase of conference, various aspects pertaining to operational and administrative issues including studies pertaining to logistics and human resources will be discussed.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Proto-type test samples of PPE Coveralls tested and certified by Nine authorized laboratories

• The proto-type test samples of Personal protective equipment (PPE) Coveralls in India are tested and certified by 9 authorized laboratories as per the technical specifications prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• The test standards are in conformity with the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for COVID-19.
• The PPEs are tested in accordance with ISO 16603 Class 3 and above for the ‘Synthetic Blood Penetration Resistance Test’.

PPE Highlights:

• The PPE Coveralls in India are manufactured keeping in view the safety of the health professionals as the most important criteria.
• The PPE is designed to be resistant to the passage of any fluid or aerosol particle for the complete protection of its user.
• Procurement agencies advised to periodically collect random samples from the supplied PPE Coverall and got tested from the approved laboratories
• All government procurement agencies and private hospitals have been advised to procure the materials from Certified Agencies having Unique Certified Codes printed on the inside of the Coveralls.
• The users and procurement agencies are requested to procure materials from the Certified Manufacturers after verification of the Certificates on the web link provided on the Ministry of Textiles website www.texmin.nic.in.
• Also, the procurement agencies are advised to periodically collect random samples from the PPE Coverall and test them.

Extra Shots:

WHO: World Health Organization

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Director-General: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
• Founded: 7 April 1948
• Parent organization: United Nations Economic and Social Council

Scientists identify 2 bacterial secreted proteins effective in inactivating coronavirus

• Researchers from Tsinghua University, China and the University of Connecticut in the US have jointly discovered two bacterial secreted proteins that can effectively inactivate a series of viruses, including the novel coronavirus, dengue, and the HIV.

Highlights:

• Initially, the researchers identified a soil bacterium from the gut of Aedes aegymosquitoes.
• The whole bacterial genome was sequenced to characterize the bacterium and the scientists identified two proteins that can effectively impair a series of viruses, including dengue virus, HIV, and the novel coronavirus.
• The two proteins contain a lipase domain.
• The study indicated that certain lipases present a potent antiviral activity.
• Previous studies showed either lipoprotein lipase or hepatic triglyceride lipase can impair (Hepatitis C) virus infection.
• This invention will lead to the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs that might reduce the clinical burden caused by emerging viral diseases.

CIPET to take up R&D initiatives in healthcare areas to deal with COVID-19

• Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) which functions under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will take up Research and Development initiatives in the areas of Health Care, like Manufacturing and Certifying PPE  to deal with COVID-19 pandemic.
• Testing Facilities for PPE and allied products as per the WHO guidelines at the three CIPET institute of plastic Technology (IPT) centres, namely, IPTs Bhubaneswar, Chennai, and Lucknow will be ready shortly.
• CIPET Centres at Murthal, Jaipur, Madurai and Lucknow have also developed face shields as a protective equipment to fight against ‘Coronavirus’. The institute has also expanded its capacity to test food grain packaging in order to support the essential service.

Researchers discovered a new possibility to improve rice productivity

• Researchers have identified a region in the genome of a rice, which seems to have the potential for improving productivity.
• The study was conducted jointly by the Department of Biotechnology’s National Institute of Plant Genome Research (DBT-NIPGR), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (ICAR-NRRI), Cuttack and University of Delhi South Campus (UDSC).

Highlights:

• Rice, being main staple foods across the world, suffers from a problem of low productivity.
• To meet the demand of the growing population of India and the world, the production of rice needs to increase significantly by about 50% of current productivity.
• The study included sequencing the genomes of four Indian genotypes namely LGR, PB 1121, Sonasal, and Bindli.
• The study showed contrasting phenotypes in seed size/weight. The results revealed that the Indian rice germplasms had much more genomic diversity than the estimated so far.
• They identified one long (~6 Mb) genomic region, which had an unusually suppressed nucleotide diversity region across the centromere of chromosome 5. They named it a `”low diversity region” or LDR in short.
• The region revealed that it had played an important role during the domestication of rice varieties as it was present in most of the cultivated rice genotypes and absent in wild varieties.
• It was observed that LDR had played an important role during the domestication of rice varieties as it was present in most of the cultivated rice genotypes and absent in wild varieties.

ICMR has approved 624 laboratories across India, so far, to conduct COVID-19 tests

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that a total of 1,61,041 (approximately) COVID-19 samples are being tested in 24 hours.
• With this, the figure for the total number of tests reached 32,42,160 in the country.

Approval:

• ICMR is continuously scaling up its testing facilities for the COVID-19 by approving government and private laboratories.
• So far, ICMR has approved a total of 624 laboratories across India to conduct the tests for COVID-19 including 435 government laboratories and 189 private laboratories’ chains.

Extra Shots:

ICMR:

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Secretary & Director General: Dr. Balram Bhargava
• Founder: Government of India
• Founded: 1911
• Leader: Balram Bhargava
• Formation: 1911 (as IRFA); 1949 (renamed to ICMR)

IIT Guwahati continues developing affordable and innovative products to fight COVID-19

• Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is leading the fight against novel coronavirus.

Highlights:

• The Institute’s community, including faculty, staff, students and alumni are working tirelessly to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
• They are developing innovative solutions to address sanitation and precaution concerns amid the pandemic with a set of affordable and innovative products.
• The Institute is continuously pushing the limits and thriving hard to serve the nation by developing innovative and affordable products to fight COVID-19
• The Institute community and its alumni are taking up the challenge to convert this time of crisis into an opportunity to serve society and will continuously work to contribute to the masses in this time of pandemic so that vital products that are necessary for hospitals, offices, schools and colleges, private establishments to keep the population safe and secure are readily available at a reasonable cost

The Institute has developed:

 Low-cost heat-based Sanitizer Trunk

• The team has developed designs of low-cost sanitizer trunk of different sizes. A small sized sanitizer trunk has been developed for sanitizing the masks, wallets, currency notes etc. The cost for making this trunk is only about Rs. 50/-. A 90 cm×45 cm×36 cm trunk may cost around Rs. 300/-.
• These sanitizer trunks work on the principle of thermal heating along with some amount of ultraviolet rays. The procedure is to place the objects to be sanitized for about 15 minutes in the sanitizer trunk. The temperature of the trunk is about 85°C.

 Injection Mould for mass manufacturing of Face Shield

• The injection moulded face shield is lightweight, approximately 25 gm. It is recyclable or reusable and autoclavable. The face shield is not porous. Many of the products available are made of sponge or foam sheet. Objects made up of these materials are highly porous, there are gaps between layers and those areas are perfect hiding spots for germs.

 Disinfectant Tunnel

• Disinfectant tunnel is a full-body disinfection chamber meant to decontaminate the personnel at a time. High-pressure nozzles spray the disinfectant fluid in fine mist occupying the whole chamber; this fluid disrupts the protein structure of microorganisms on the surface, thus killing them eventually. The spraying continues for a set time of 7 seconds.
• The operation cost is less, about Rs 2 per person and the volume of fluid sprayed in one cycle is 25 ml. The footprint of the disinfectant tunnel is 3 feet x 6 feet and can be easily installed at confined spaces. Height of the tunnel is maintained at 8 feet.

 Universal Foot Operated Hand Sanitization System

• It is a hands-free foot-operated hand cleaning and sanitization system. The system is low-cost, easy to use, energy-efficient, zero electrical energy use and electronic freehand sanitization system that can be operated by foot. This mechanism uses the actuator in the press system of a hand sanitization bottle to piping out the sanitizer liquid towards palms.
• This foot operable hands-free sanitization system is universal as because any size of hand sanitizer bottle from 4 inch to 9 inch height (100 ml to 1000 ml capacity) can be fit into the system. The low-cost system is constructed with readily available construction materials and no complex mechanism has been used.

High-grade quality of Face Shields

• These face shields are better, faster and cheaper in production. So far, they have successfully manufactured and distributed around 12,000 Face Protection Shields to about 650 Doctors/Hospitals/Nursing staff and individuals throughout Assam. They have also donated 2000 Face Shields to Government officials/NGOs/GMCH-Guwahati for COVID-19 response.

WEBPORTALS & APPS IN NEWS

Government opens up Aarogya Setu program code, announces reward for finding security flaws

• The government has announced opening the source code of its coronavirus tracking app, Aarogya Setu, for scrutiny by the developer community to address privacy concerns and launching a bug bounty programme for finding security flaws.

Highlights:

• The government has opened the source code to address concerns around privacy of data being collected by the contact tracing app.
• Transparency, privacy and security have been the core design principle of Aarogya Setu.
• Opening the source code to developer community signifies Government of India continuing principal to these commitments. No other government anywhere in the world has been open source at this scale
• The e-commerce and other companies are using this app as a precaution and get alerted about exposure to coronavirus.
• There are three categories of securities vulnerability for which Rs 1 lakh be given in each of the categories. Then there is Rs 1 lakh prize for code improvement bounty
• The app was launched on April 2 and has around 11.5 crore users at present.
• The source code of Aarogya Setu will be available at Github after 12 am-midnight

BOOKS & AUTHORS

J.K. Rowling announces “The Ickabog”

• British author J.K. Rowling released first two chapters of her new Children’s book “The lckabog”.
• The story is to be published in installments on The Ickabog website for free before its official publication in November 2020.
• The Ickabog is her first children’s book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007.
• K. Rowling (original name Joanne Rowling) is a British author, film & TV producer, screenwriter and philanthropist, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series.
• The Harry Potter book series is bestselling book series in the history and have served has basis of Harry Potter film series. She published her first book for adults, The Casual Vacancy, in 2012. In 2013 she also released a crime novel under the pen name “Robert Galbraith”.

OBITUARY

Classical musician Shyamala Bhave passes away

• Classical musician Shyamala G. Bhave passed away. She was having an equal command over Hindustani as well as Carnatic music.
• She had also composed music in India’s first Sanskrit serial titled “Kadambari”.
• She had also served at the Karnataka Sangeeta Nrithya Academy from 1997 to 2001.
• The renowned vocalist was honoured with title of “Ubhaya Gaana Vidushi (expert in both styles)” and also composed music for some films, including the first Sanskrit film “Adi Shankaracharya”.
• She was also the recipient of Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.

MISCELLANEOUS

NGMA commemorates 115th Birth Anniversary of Ramkinkar Baij

• The National Gallery of Modern Art organised a virtual tour to commemorate the 115th Birth Anniversary of iconic artist Ramkinkar Baij.
• The virtual tour was titled as “Ramkinkar Baij | Journey through silent transformation and expressions”.
• The virtual tour was conducted in five different themes namely:

1. Portrait
2. Life Study
3. Abstract & Structural Composition
4. Nature Study & Landscape
5. Sculptures

• The virtual tour “Ramkinkar Baij | Journey through silent transformation and expressions” depicted works of art from the prominent 639 artworks of Ramkinkar Baij from reserve collection of NGMA.
• Ramkinkar Baij was the one of the most seminal artists of modern India. He was an iconic sculptor, painter and graphic artist, who was born in Bankura, West Bengal. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan Award by the Government of India in 1970, for his irrefutable contribution to Indian art.

Facebook launches calling application “CatchUp”

• A calling application named as “CatchUp” has been launched by the social media major Facebook.
• The calling application aims to coordinate call timings with friends and family members, and will enable users to check availability of time with a group of up to eight people. New Product Experimentation team of Facebook has developed this new calling application.
• With the help of calling application “CatchUp”, the user will be able to indicate the availability to talk and call other users, and will enable other users to do the same and chose a common time for the call.
• The services of new platform will work with existing contact lists, and the users will be able to avail the services of this calling application with their existing Facebook account.

Extra Shots:

Facebook:

• Founded: February 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
• CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
• Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States
• CFO: David Wehner
• Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.

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