Assam Current Affairs – July 15 – 21, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – July 15 - 21, 2020

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 15 – 21, 2020 )

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July 15, 2020

Assam’s  Poba Reserve Forest to be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced that the Poba Reserve Forest in Dhemaji district would be upgraded to a Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • Poba Reserve Forest, declared in 1924 with an area of 10,522 hectares, is home to large number of flora and fauna.

FACTFILE – Poba Reserved Forest

  • Poba Reserved Forest is situated in Jonai Subdivision of Dhemaji District of Assam.
  • Poba is one of the richest rain forests of North-East India in terms of the flora and fauna found in it.
  • Poba Reserved Forest is an important elephant corridor linking the foot hills of Arunachal Pradesh and Dibru Saikhowa National Park via the proposed Kobu Chapori Reserve Forest.

Wildlife Sanctuary

  • A natural area which is reserve by a governmental or private agency for the protection of particular species.
  • It came under the category called “Protected Areas”. The Protected Areas are declared under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has defined its Category IV type of protected areas

Reserved Forests

  • Land rights to forests declared to be Reserved forests or Protected forests are typically acquired and owned by the Government of India.
  • Unlike national parks of India or wildlife sanctuaries of India, reserved forests and protected forests are declared by the respective state governments.
  • Rights to all activities like hunting, grazing, etc. in reserved forests are banned unless specific orders are issued otherwise.
FIFA releases World Cup 2022 match schedule
  • The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) released the match schedule for the 2022 World Cup which will be hosted by Qatar.
  • The tournament will begin November 21 at Al Bayt Stadium in the northern city of Al Khor with the hosts Qatar in action while the final will be played on December 18 at Lusail Stadium in Doha.
  • The group stage will be spread over the course of 12 days and will feature four matches a day to give all teams “optimal rest” between their matches and promise fans a full and exciting schedule.

FACTFILE – The International Federation of Association Football (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), FIFA

  • FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
  • It has headquartered in Zürich
  • It has total membership of 211 national associations. These national associations must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations viz. Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania, and South America.

FACTFILE – 2022 FIFA World Cup

  • The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, scheduled to take place in Qatar in 2022.
  • This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country.
  • This will be the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
Union Govt asked states to expedite work in Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan
  • Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar has urged the states to expedite the work under the Central government’s “Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan” with a competitive approach.
  • He reviewed the progress of Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan through video-conference with the Rural Development Ministers and senior officials of six states and found it satisfactory.
  • The drive of employment for migrant labourers at their native places launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20, is being undertaken in 116 districts in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
  • The ‘Abhiyaan’ will continue for 125 days, and 25 projects coming under 11 different ministries have been identified for completion.
  • The Abhiyaan was found to be progressing well under various parameters which are being regularly monitored.
  • Union Minister Tomar emphasised on developing a competitive approach among the states to achieve maximum results along with minimising the hurdles being faced by various ministries in the implementation process so that the set targets are completed within the determined time period.
Gujarat to develop water aerodromes
  • Gujarat state government has decided to set up water aerodromes at four places in the state. For this project, a tripartite MoU is to be signed between the state government, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
  • Under Indian government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme, RCS UDAN-3 and 4, the Gujarat government has decided to set up 4 water aerodromes at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Sardar Sarovar Dam, Kevadia in Narmada, Shatrunjay Dam in Palitana near Bhavnagar and Dharoi dam in Mehsana.
  • The AAI will act as the implementing agency in the project and will develop the project at four places.
  • Water aerodromes are spaces in water bodies, where amphibious aircraft can take off and land.

July 16, 2020

First container ship from Kolkata to Agartala through Chattogram Port inaugurated
  • The first-ever container cargo from Kolkata via Bangladesh’s Chattogram port has reached Agartala, achieving a “historic milestone” in the Indo-Bangladesh connectivity and economic partnership.
  • An agreement was reached to use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of India’s transit cargo through Bangladesh.
  • Via this route, the distance and time taken in transportation of goods for India particularly the northeastern States will get reduced significantly.
  • It will enhance business services and revenue generation for Bangladesh while the logistical sector will also get a big boost in Northeast part of India.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates Covid Plasma Bank
  • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated a Covid Plasma Bank at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack through video conferencing to start the convalescent plasma therapy treatment of acute COVID-19 patients in the state. He also appealed to people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma for treatment of other critical patients in the state.
  • The therapy will be introduced in three dedicated COVID Hospitals, viz. SUM Hospital and KIIMS Hospital in Bhubaneswar and Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack.
  • He also expressed gratitude towards the Drug Controller General of India for allowing the state to use of convalescent plasma for treatment of acute COVID-19 patients.
PM Modi addresses a digital conclave on World Youth Skills Day on 15 July
  • Addressing a digital conclave on World Youth Skills Day, on July 15, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the “culture” along with the “nature of the job”.
  • He said the mantra to remain relevant is – skill, re-skill and up-skill. Skill – Learn a new skill and value add to things. Re-skill – Add to your skill every day by learning something new. Up-skill – Widening your skillset is upskilling yourself.

FACTFILE – World Youth Skills Day

  • World Youth Skills Day is celebrated each year on July 15.
  • Its aim is to recognise the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, and to highlight the crucial role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges.
Scientists discover key element of strong antibody response to COVID-19
  • A team of scientists at the Scripps Research has discovered a common molecular feature found in many of the human antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
  • The team reviewed data on nearly 300 anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and noted that a subset of these antibodies is particularly powerful at neutralizing the virus and these potent antibodies are all encoded by the same antibody gene, IGHV3-53.
  • The research was a collaboration chiefly involving the Wilson and Burton labs, and the Scripps Research-based Neutralizing Antibody Center of IAVI, a prominent non-profit vaccine research organization.
  • Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins made in immune cells called B-cells. Each B-cell makes a specific antibody type, which is encoded by a unique combination of antibody genes in the cell.
  • The scientists found that an antibody gene called IGHV3-53 was the most common of the genes for the 294 antibodies.
Tamil Nadu allows the use of BCG vaccine for 60-95 aged Covid patients
  • Tamil Nadu government has allowed a pilot project to study if the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which is actually used for the treatment of Tuberculosis, will help reduce the mortality rate among elderly Covid-19 patients.
  • The National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis will start the pilot programme and BCG vaccine will be administered on a trial basis to people in the 60-95 age group.
  • The BCG vaccine was found to boost innate immunity, which could lower morbidity and mortality rates. The vaccine could reduce the severity of Covid-19, avoid hospitalisation and mortality rate.
Odisha partners with online learning platform ‘Coursera’ to upskill 50,000 Youths
  • The Odisha Skills Development Authority (OSDA) has partnered with leading online learning platform ‘Coursera’ to train 50,000 unemployed youths during the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The partnership is part of Coursera’s global roll-out of the ‘Workforce Recovery Initiative’ where any state and country can provide unemployed workers with free access to online learning.
  • The programme aims to build in-demand skills like data science, cloud computing and Internet of Things while also offering professional certificates like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate.
  • The ‘Workforce Recovery Initiative’ initiative is part of the Coursera- for-the-government offering launched in 2017 to equip government employees and citizens with in-demand skills.

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July 17, 2020

India ranks 3rd in Global Manufacturing locations suitability
  • As per property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, India ranks third in the list of most-suitable locations for global manufacturing among 48 countries in terms of cost competitiveness and operating conditions.
  • China and the US retain the top two positions, while India has moved one place higher to rank third.
  • In cost scenario also India is at 3rd position after China and Vietnam. But India ranks 30th in risk scenario, due political and economic risks.
IIT Madras-incubated start-up develops ‘MediCAB’ portable hospital for Covid cases
  • Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras-incubated start-up, Modulus Housing, has developed a portable hospital unit Called ‘MediCAB’ that can be installed by four people anywhere within two hours.
  • ‘MediCAB’ it is a decentralised approach to detecting, screening, identifying, isolating and treat Covid-19 patients in their local communities at these portable microstructures.
  • Recently it was launched recently in Kerala’s Wayanad District, where the units are being deployed to treat Covid-19 patients.
  • The start-up firm Modulus Housing is developing micro hospitals that can be deployed rapidly across the nation.
  • The Medicab unit is composed of four zones – a doctor’s room, an isolation room, a medical room/ward and a twin-bed ICU, maintained at negative pressure.
Ved Parkash Dudeja, RLDA Vice-Chairman is awarded ‘Infra Business Leader of the Year’
  • The Vice-Chairman, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) Ved Parkash Dudeja, was recently awarded the coveted ‘Infra Business Leader of the Year’ award for 2020 by the Rail Infra and Mobility Business Digital Awards (RIMBDA).
  • RLDA is a statutory authority under the Ministry of Railways, responsible for the development of vacant railway land for commercial use for the purpose of generating revenue by non-tariff measures and creating assets for Indian Railways.
  • Dudeja has initiated several commercial projects, multifunctional complex, colony redevelopment and station redevelopment projects and shattered all previous records of earnings as well as those of awarding of lease contracts in 2019-20.
Union Govt launches IIT Delhi’s COVID-19 test kit ‘Corosure’ for commercial use
  • Indian Government announced the commercial launch of a COVID-19 test kit which was developed by the IIT Delhi at a base price of ₹399, the cheapest in the market.
  • Approved by the Indian Medical Council of India with the highest score and Drug Control General of India with very high sensitivity and specificity, the commercial product named ‘Corosure’ was commercially developed by a company named NewTech Medical Devises after obtaining license from the IIT Delhi.
  • HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, who e-launched the affordable RT-PCR based covid-19 diagnostic kit, said “the country requires affordable and reliable testing for the country which can help to control the pandemic. The Corosure has been developed indigenously and is much cheaper than other kits.
Hyderabad Airport gets India’s 1st contactless car parking
  • GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) that operates the Hyderabad International Airport is offering fully contact-less airport car parking service.
  • Apart from offering an end-to-end contact-less boarding experience for safe travel, GHIAL has also scaled up its NETC (National Electronic Toll Collection) FASTag Car Parking in collaboration with NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).
  • With this, the Hyderabad international airport now offers the country’s first and only fully contact-less airport car parking experience for passengers and visitors.

July 18, 2020

 6 Agricultural scientists from Northeast get ICAR awards
  • Six agricultural scientists of three northeastern states Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh were awarded ICAR’s National Award for their outstanding innovation in farming and boosting agricultural economy in the region.
  • Additionally, two Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur and three farmers of Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya also received the ICAR awards for their exceptional feats in agricultural and farming sectors of the region.
  • Lopamudra Sahoo, Gulab Singh Yadav, Chandan Debnath and Basant Kumar Kandpal of ICAR research complex in Tripura received the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award and Swami Sahajan and Saraswati Award.
  • Scientist Amit Kumar, associated with the ICAR research complex in Meghalaya and Nangsol Dolma Bhutia, Assistant Professor of Central Agricultural University at Pasighat have received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for P.G. Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Agricultural and Allied Sciences.

FACTFILE – The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

  • The Indian Council of Agricultural Research is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India
  • It is the largest network of agricultural research and education institutes in the world.
 Clinical trials for Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine begins
  • India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin got a nod from the AIIMS Ethics Committee to start human trials. AIIMS Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting phase I and II human trials of Covaxin.
  • In phase I, the Covaxin vaccine would be tested on 375 volunteers and a maximum of 100 of them would be from AIIMS.
  • Moreover, human dosing of the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech India (BBIL) in collaboration with ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) also started with the vaccine being given to participants at AIIMS, Patna and PGIMS Rohtak.
  • Drug firm Zydus Cadila also started human clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D. The company will be enrolling over 1,000 subjects across multiple clinical study sites in India.
  • Earlier, DCGI has permitted two vaccines – Covaxin developed by the Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with the ICMR and ZyCoV-D by Zydas Cadila Healthcare Ltd to go in for phase I and II human clinical trials.
Rose Raponda becomes Gabon’s first woman Prime Minister
  • The President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, appointed the country’s first woman prime minister, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda.
  • After serving as budget minister eight years ago, she became the first woman to be elected mayor of the capital Libreville in 2014. Raponda had served as defence minister since February 2019.

FACTFILE – Gabon

  • Gabon is a country on the west coast of Central Africa, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west.
  • Its capital and largest city is Libreville and the official language is French.
  • Abundant petroleum and foreign private investment have helped make it one of the most prosperous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the 7th highest HDI and the fourth-highest GDP per capita (PPP) in the region.
Uttarakhand govt to start ‘Waste to Energy’ initiative
  • Uttarakhand government has decided to convert waste generated in the state to electricity under an initiative ‘Waste to Energy’. The electricity will be generated from the waste coming out in the municipal corporation and municipality area.
  • The initiative was taken into consideration keeping in view the present issues faced by most municipalities and corporations of land scarcity in depositing solid waste at one place.
  • According to the assessment by Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB), the waste can generate up to 5 MegaWatt of electricity and curb the pollution.
  • Govt aims to make use of the 24 MW of biomass power generation capacity available in the state.

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July 19, 2020

India ranks 34th in the Global Skills Index 2020 Report
  • India has surged ahead of China in business and technology skills due to its growing younger population, reported by the world’s largest online learning platform Coursera.
  • In its latest Global Skills Index 2020, India is placed at 34th position within the business domain as compared to China’s rank of 45.
  • Within the technology domain, India ranks 40th while China ranks 50th
  • Within the data science domain, India ranks 51th and within the data management competency, India ranks 58th.
Govt nod for contributions by individuals, institutions to NDRF
  • Central government has laid out the modalities for contributions and grants from any person or institution to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
  • Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the contributions to the NDRF have been allowed through any of the modes like physical instruments, RTGS/NEFT/UPI and https://bharatkosh.gov.in
  • The NDRF, constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, supplements the State Disaster Response Fund of the states in case of natural calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst and pest attack considered to be of severe nature by the government.

FACTFILE – National Disaster Response Fund

  • The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) defines “disaster” to mean ‘a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.’
  • The financial assistance from SDRF/NDRF is for providing immediate relief and is not compensation for loss/damage to properties /crops.
  • The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Disaster Management Authority takes decisions on the expenses from National Disaster Response Fund
Ashok Lavasa appointed Vice-President of Asian Development Bank
  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed election commissioner Ashok Lavasa as its Vice-President on the recommendation of the Indian government.
  • Ashok Lavasa will succeed current vice president at ADB Diwakar Gupta and will look after private sector operations and public private partnerships.

FACTFILE – Asian Development Bank (ADB)

  • The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines.
  • The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social and economic development in Asia.
  • The ADB was modelled closely on the World Bank and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
  • ADB is an official United Nations Observer.
  • Shareholding pattern – Japan holds the largest proportion of shares at 15.677%, the United States with 15.567%, China holds 6.473%, India holds 6.359%, and Australia holds 5.812%.

BIOGRAPHY – Ashok Lavasa

  • A 1980 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, Ashok Lavasa took over as Election Commissioner on 23 January 2018.
  • He held a range of senior posts in the government, including finance secretary, environment secretary, civil aviation secretary among others.
UNICEF ties up with SAP India to provide career counselling to young people
  • UNICEF India partnered with a software major SAP India to provide career counselling to young people in order to improve their employability skills in the present and post-COVID-19 era.
  • UNICEF will also collaborate with ”YuWaah” – (Generation Unlimited), an initiative supported by the UN body, to provide digital education and occupational skill-set to the under-served young people of the country.
  • Generation Unlimited brings young people together with the private sector, governments, international and local organisations to tackle the challenge of investing in their learning and training.
Australia’s Monash University develops new blood test to trace coronavirus in 20 minutes
  • Researchers at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new blood test that detects positive coronavirus cases in just about 20 minutes, a finding that could assist the world to mitigate the coronavirus spread through robust contact-tracing.
  • Researchers at the university developed the simple agglutination assay, an analysis to determine the presence and amount of a substance in blood to detect the presence of antibodies raised in response to the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  • The team of researchers were able to identify recent COVID-19 cases using 25 microlitres of plasma from blood samples.
  • Positive COVID-19 cases caused an agglutination or a clustering of red blood cells, which was easily identifiable to the naked eye.
  • The findings could help high-risk countries with population screening, case identification, contact-tracing, confirming vaccine efficacy during clinical trials and vaccine distribution.
Delhi Police launches plasma donation campaign
  • On the initiative of Delhi Police, a ‘Plasma Donation Campaign’ has been launched at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
  • The objective of the campaign is to encourage people to come forward to donate plasma to be used for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

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July 20, 2020

Covid-19 related death rates of NE states among the country’s lowest
  • Central Govt informed that India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. Four northeastern states viz. Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim have zero case fatality rate (CFR) till now.
  • As per the Health Ministry data, the northeastern states have less than one per cent CFR.
  • Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura have a CFR of 0.23 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.48 per cent and 0.19 per cent respectively.
Himachal Pradesh promotes fruit cultivation through ADB funding
  • To make Himachal Pradesh a horticulture hub, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)funded HP Shiva Pilot Project is undergoing with an outlay of Rs 100 crore in four districts of the state.
  • The project would be implemented in Bilaspur, Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur districts. Fruit-bearing sapling would be planted on 170 hectares. And a target of planting 2.50 lakh fruit-bearing saplings of orange, litchi, pomegranate, guava, etc., has been identified under the project in July and August.
  • The state has initiated several steps like 12.50 lakh hectare meter anti-hail net is made available for protecting the crops from natural calamities.
  • About 225 metric tonnes insecticide has been made available at subsidized rates. Special training is being given for packaging of apple, cherry and stone fruits. About 3.5 crore boxes were made available for packaging of fruits.
United Arab Emirates launches its first mission to Mars
  • The United Arab Emirates launched its first mission to Mars as it strives to develop its scientific and technological capabilities.
  • The Hope Probe blasted off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center for a seven-month journey to the red planet, where it will orbit and send back data.
  • The Emirates Mars Mission with a cost of $200 million, it aims to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere for the first time, studying daily and seasonal changes.
  • To develop and build the Hope Probe, Emiratis and Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Dubai, worked with U.S. universities.
HRD Ministry announced guidelines on digital education
  • Union Human Resource and Development Ministry has announced guidelines for online classes operationalised by schools amid the COVID pandemic.
  • Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually released the PRAGYATA guidelines on digital education, which has many recommendations including restriction on the screen time for students.
  • Online classes for pre-primary students should not be for more than 30 minutes a day. For Classes 1st to 8th, it has suggested that not more than two online sessions of up to 45 minutes each should be conducted in a day.
  • For the senior students, from class 9th to 12th, the suggested limit of the online classes is to a maximum of four sessions of up to 45 minutes each.
  • These guidelines on Digital Education provide a roadmap for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education. It also stresses upon the use of an alternative academic calendar of NCERT.
  • The Guidelines also emphasize the need to unify all efforts related to digital, online education, benefitting school-going children across the country.
Indian Railways’ first cable-stayed rail bridge in Jammu
  • The Anji Khad Bridge, India’s first cable-stayed Indian Railways bridge will soon connect Katra and Reasi in of Jammu–Baramulla rail line.
  • The ambitious project of Indian Railways has a single pylon, standing at a height of 331 metres above the river bed, is being developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited.
  • The cable-stayed railway bridge is a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
  • The total length of the bridge is 473.25 metres. The length of the viaduct is 120 metres and the central embankment has a length of 94.25 metres.
Indian-origin Chan Santokhi elected as the President of Suriname
  • Suriname, a small country in South America elected Indian-origin Chan Santokhi as the new President.
  • 61-year-old Chan Santokhi, former police chief, won a landslide victory in the general elections.
  • Suriname is a former Dutch colony but the country’s relations with the Netherlands, which was once its primary trade partner, deteriorated under the previous regime.

FACTFILE – Suriname

  • Suriname is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America.
  • At just under 165,000 square kilometres, it is the smallest country in South America.
  • It’s capital and largest city is Paramaribo.
  • It is the first country to reach carbon neutrality.
  • Suriname is the only sovereign nation outside Europe where Dutch is spoken by a majority of the population.

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July 21, 2020

Zoram Mega food park launched in Mizoram
  • Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the Zoram Mega Food Park Ltd at Kolasib in Mizoram through virtual conference.
  • The Zoram Food Park built at a cost of Rs 75 crore will directly benefit over 25,000 farmers and will create employment for over 5,000 local people.
  • It is the first mega food park operationalized in Mizoram. It will benefit about 25,000 farmers in the core processing centre and primary processing Centre catchment areas.
  • The 55-acre Zoram food park, promoted by Zoram Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd, is located at Khamrang village in Kolasib District, Mizoram.
  • A total of 88 ministry-supported food processing projects have been sanctioned in the entire North Eastern Region.
Oxford Covid-19 vaccine produces positive immune response
  • The human trial of COVID-19 vaccinecandidate developed by the University of Oxford and backed by AstraZeneca Plc has shown a positive result. The vaccine has generated a protective immune response in the vaccinated sample population.
  • This Covid-19 vaccine is a chimpanzee adenovirus viral vector (ChAdOx1) vaccine that expresses the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. It uses a common cold virus i.e. adenovirus, that infects chimpanzees, which has been weakened so that it can’t cause any disease in humans, and is genetically modified to code for the spike protein of the human SARS-CoV-2 virus.
  • When the adenovirus enters vaccinated people’s cells it also delivers the spike protein genetic code. This causes these people’s cells to produce the spike protein, and helps teach the immune system to recognise the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
CBDT, MSME Ministry sign pact for sharing tax related data
  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises signed a MoU for facilitating seamless sharing of Income Tax Return (ITR) related information concerning SMEs.
  • This data will enable the ministry to check and classify enterprises in Micro, Small and Medium categories as per the new criteria notified by the government.

 

MSME Criteria

Composite Criteria: Investment in Plant & Machinery/equipment and Annual Turnover

Classification

Micro

Small

Medium

Manufacturing Enterprises and Enterprises rendering Services

Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment:
Not more than Rs.1 crore and Annual Turnover ; not more than Rs. 5 crore

Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment:
Not more than Rs.10 crore and Annual Turnover ; not more than Rs. 50 crore

Investment in Plant and Machinery or Equipment:
Not more than Rs.50 crore and Annual Turnover ; not more than Rs. 250 crore

 

TN signs eight investment MoUs for Rs 10,339 crore
  • Tamil Nadu government signed eight Memorandums of Understanding involving an industrial investment of about Rs 10,339 crore with an employment potential for 13,507 persons.
  • The proposed projects include production of solar cells and modules, air compressors, ductile iron foundry, industrial parks, cashew nut processing, data centre and a foundry expansion project.
  • Some of the important projects are
    • Vikram Solar to invest Rs 5,423 crore in a facility to produce solar cells and modules in Orgadam in Kancheepuram district.
    • Hiranandani group’s Yotta to set up a data centre in Chengalpattu district at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.
    • Elgi Equipments will invest Rs 250 crore in setting up an air compressor unit.
    • Aquasub to invest Rs 200 crore to set up a ductile iron foundry in Coimbatore.
    • GI Agro Tech to set up a cashew nut processing unit at Villupuram investing Rs 36 crore.
    • JS Auto Cast to expand its foundry facility at Erode district at an outlay of Rs 40 crore.
    • CGD Satharai Pvt Ltd to set up an Industrial park projects with outlay Rs 250 crore at Kancheepuram district and NDR Infrastructure to set up another industrial park with an outlay of Rs 200 crore at Ranipet.
UP launches ‘Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana’ for SCs
  • Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched ”Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana” for an all-round development of the Scheduled Castes communities.
  • Economic equality becomes the basis of social equality. The society with one of its sections becoming strong while another remaining weak will not be able to become self-reliant. It is necessary that there is a balance in the society and this balance should also be at the economic level.
Marianna Vardinoyannis & Morissana Kouyate win UN 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize
  • Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece and Morissana Kouyate of Guinea are selected for this year’s United Nations 2020 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize. 
  • Marianna Vardinoyannis is a Greek philanthropist known for fighting childhood cancer and for a world without borders in health for about 30 years. He is also the world advocate for human rights and the protection of children’s health and welfare.
  • Morissana Kouyate is also a Human rights activist known for her contribution towards curbing violence against women and girls in Africa. She is a leading advocate in the fight against harmful traditional practices against women, particularly female genital mutilation.
  • The prize was established in 2014 by the General Assembly to recognise the achievements of those who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity by promoting the purposes and principles of the United Nations while honouring and paying homage to Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition, and social transformation.

FACTFILE – The United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize

  • The United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize aims to recognize the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity as guided by the purposes and principles of the UN while honouring and paying homage to Mandela’s extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation.
  • The prize is awarded every five years. It was first awarded in 2015.
PM SVANidhi mobile app for street vendors launched
  • A mobile application of PM Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi, PM SVANidhi was launched in New Delhi to bring micro-credit facility for street vendors at their doorsteps.
  • PM SVANidhi Mobile App aims to provide a user-friendly digital interface for lending institutions and their field functionaries for sourcing and processing loan applications of street vendors under the scheme.
  • The app is a step towards boosting the use of digital technology and will enable field functionaries to ensure maximum coverage of the scheme.
  • The Mobile App will give impetus to the implementation strategy of the scheme besides promoting paper-less digital accessing of micro-credit facilities by the street vendors.
  • More than one lakh 54 thousand street vendors have applied for working capital loan across States and Union Territories. Out of which, loan to over 48 thousand street vendors have already been sanctioned. 
  • PM SVANidhi scheme was launched for providing affordable working capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to COVID-19 crisis.
  • Under the scheme, the vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to ten thousand rupees, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. There will be no penalty on early repayment of the loan.

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