Current Affairs Assam – March 29 - 31, 2020
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of March 29 – 31, 2020 )
March 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF | Assam 2020 Yearbook | March 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF
Go To Assam Current Affairs Go To Assam Current Affairs Quiz
MARCH 29, 2020
Meghalaya forms medical expert team for COVID-19 handling
- The Meghalaya government constituted a state-level medical expert committee for providing advice and guidance to deal with the coronavirus outbrea.
- The committee which will be headed by Health and Family Welfare Department Commissioner and Secretary, Sampath Kumar.
- The members of the committee include doctors of state-run hospitals and specialists in rehabilitation and community empowerment.
- The committee shall provide advice and guidance to the government and other medical practitioners working in various hospitals to handle and treat COVID-19 patients and to assess and examine various lines of treatment used and recommended by affected states and countries.
- The committee will recommend key insights to the state government and also advice on any matter related to COVID-19
Odisha govt to train MBBS students for treatment of COVID-19
- The Odisha government has decided to give training to MBBS students so that they can be deployed in hospitals meant for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
- In the first phase, MBBS students of government establishments would be trained. Private medical colleges will also be required to train doctors and students simultaneously.
- Considering the dearth of doctors, it has been decided that seventh, eighth and ninth semester MBBS students of all medical colleges will be trained who could be deployed in case a need arises, an order issued by state Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.
- It is also necessary to train the medical community, doctors, paramedics and others who will be involved in the direct management of patients in COVID-19 hospitals and isolation wards of various health facilities.
- Considering the nature of the disease, extreme care and caution, as well as a professional approach, need to be adopted. Therefore, it is decided that intensive training of the personnel with available protocols will be conducted.
ISRO to design ventilators, oxygen canisters, make hand sanitisers
- ISRO is doing to meet the emergency needs of the people and owing to lockdown, Designing simple to operate ventilators, manufacturing of sanitisers, oxygen canisters and masks while putting on hold manufacture of rockets.
- The VSSC part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) makes the rockets that launches the Indian and foreign satellites
- Designing ventilators that are different from what is already there. And designing ventilators that can be operated in a simple manner and when power supply is not there.
Centre sets up PM-CARES fund to deal with COVID-19 pandemic
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of the PM’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) fund.
- This will be a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.
- Citizens and organisations can go to the website pmindia.gov.in and donate to PM CARES Fund.
- This fund will enable micro-donations allowing a large number of people will be able to contribute with smallest of denominations.
- Donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G).
-
People can also donate to the fund on pmindia.gov.in using UPI, Net Banking, RTGS, NEFT and debit and credit cards.
MARCH 30, 2020
Rs 25 crore to northeastern states from DoNER Ministry
- The Ministry of DoNER has decided to sanction Rs 25 crore to the northeastern states for gap funding to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in the region effectively.
- In the nature of untied fund, it can be utilised on any activity relating to COVID-19 pandemic, and not covered under existing Central packages.
- The flexibility of untied funds will enable the states to respond quickly. This fund would be in addition to the funds otherwise allocated by the Ministry of DoNER to the northeastern states under existing schemes.
China develops nanomaterial to combat coronavirus
- A team of Chinese scientists has reportedly developed a novel way to combat the new coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease which has killed over 32,000 people globally.
- The new weapon is not a drug or a compound but some nanomaterial that can absorb and deactivate the virus with 96.5-99.9 per cent efficiency.
- Nanomaterials are used in a variety of manufacturing processes, products and healthcare including paints, filters, insulation and lubricant additives.
- Nanotechnology can be used to design pharmaceuticals that can target specific organs or cells in the body such as cancer cells, and enhance the effectiveness of therapy.
- However, while engineered nanomaterials provide great benefits, very little about the potential effects on human health and the environment is known.
DRDO body suit to protect doctors from Covid-19
- A body suit developed by India’s premier research and development organisation DRDO can protect doctors and other health workers attending on Covid-19 patients.
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the body suit can shield doctors, medical staff, sanitation workers and others.
- The body suit developed earlier for medical and paramedical staff to manage and evacuate the causalities in the event of radiological emergencies has now been converted into a full body suit to stop contamination.
- The suit is washable and has passed the ASTM International standards. The suit is widely tested by DRDO and other agencies and found suitable for the cause.
-
Each suit costs Rs 7,000. Frontier Protective Wear Pvt Ltd, Kolkata and Medikit Pvt Ltd, Mumbai are producing 10,000 suits per day.
March 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF | Assam 2020 Yearbook | March 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF
Go To Assam Current Affairs Go To Assam Current Affairs Quiz
MARCH 31, 2020
Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July 23-August 8 in 2021
- The Games were scheduled for July 24-August 9, but a historic joint decision was taken for the first postponement of an Olympics in peacetime.
- Tokyo organisers said the opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021 almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year. Last week, the IOC and Japanese organisers postponed the Olympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- After holding out for weeks, local organisers and the IOC last week postponed the Tokyo Games under pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations.
- It’s the first postponement in Olympic history, though there were several cancellations during wartime.
- Both Tokyo organising committee president Yoshiro Mori and CEO Toshiro Muto have said the cost of rescheduling will be massive. Billions of dollars with most of the expenses borne by Japanese taxpayers.
- Miyamoto, an emeritus professor of sports economics at Kansai University, puts the costs as high as $4 billion. That would cover the price of maintaining stadiums, refitting them, paying rentals, penalties and other expenses.
- Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organise the Olympics. However, an audit bureau of the Japanese government says the costs are twice that much.
- The Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee is contributing $1.3 billion, according to organising committee documents. The IOC’s contribution goes into the operating budget.
- The Olympics planned for 1940 in Tokyo were cancelled because of World War II.
G20 countries to inject $5 trillion into global economy
- The Group of 20 global leaders decided to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
- All the members at the G20 virtual summit were cooperative and focused on the resolution of the crisis, the goal that had been set by this year”s chair King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.
- The leaders of the 20 most powerful countries in the world unanimously agreed to collectively protect lives, provide help to all countries in need of assistance, coordinate on public health and financial measures, safeguard people”s jobs and incomes, restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger.
- All the members also extended full support to the WHO mandate even as the organisation has drawn enormous flak for not alerting the world in time about the nature of the pandemic.
- It was for the first time that the G20 members came together to address a humanitarian crisis that erupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected over 490,000 people around the globe besides claiming more than 22,000 lives.
New India Assurance initiates risk coverage for health workers
- Public sector insurance company New India Assurance announced the commencement of the risk coverage of Rs 50 lakh per healthcare personnel in treating coronavirus positive patients
- It is a tailor-made comprehensive personal accident which includes accidental loss of life due to novel coronavirus infection.
- The premium payment process has been initiated and the risk coverage therein has commenced with immediate effect.
Anna University team develops washable, reusable mask
- A team of researchers from Anna University said that it has developed a reusable and hence cost-effective mask made of polyester pile fabric.
- The mask can be washed up to 20 times and reused. It costs about Rs 30 a piece,” S. Subramanian, said the team leader from the Department of Textiles, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University.
- The team had earlier worked on developing mask for pollution protection.
- After checking out several materials, the team zeroed in on polyester pile fabric which is breathable and washable and also offers good filteration capabilities.
- A cotton-based mask will retain the moisture and be wet whereas the polyester pile fabric will remain dry.
- Pointing out that the mask developed the team is thicker, it does not however block air flow, is breathable and washable with any soap.
-
The Anna University has supplied a sample batch to the Health Department and production on a larger scale has to be done by an outside unit.
March 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF | Assam 2020 Yearbook | March 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF
Go To Assam Current Affairs Go To Assam Current Affairs Quiz