Tag: North-East Current Affairs

Assam Current Affairs – September 01-07, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – September 01-07, 2020

( Covers all important Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of September 01-07, 2020)

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September 01, 2020

Indian Railways completes solar power installations at 960 stations

  • With the objective of 100 per cent self-sustainability for all power needs, the Indian Railways has completed installation of solar power plants at 960 stations and in the ordering process for 198 MW solar rooftop capacity for 550 additional railway stations.

  • The Indian Railways’ plans were part of its objective to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 as it has a landpool of more than 51,000 hectares.

  • Indian Railways plans plans to install solar plants of 20 GW capacity by utilising its vacant land by 2030. And to generate 33 billion units by 2030, 10 billion more than its present requirement.

  • For the first time in the world, Indian Railways sets up solar plant in Bina to directly power railway overhead line, in July, 2020.

Assam Govt plans to overhaul of State’s education sector

  • Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the Legislative Assembly that the government is planning an overhaul of the education sector with 15 new government colleges, including nine girls’ colleges, coming up in Assam.

  • 150 new high schools will be built in the tea garden areas of Assam and these will be ready to start from the next academic session.

  • Under the New Education Policy, the entire education system would undergo a sea change, where the difference between English medium and vernacular mediums would be reduced and people will gain confidence in the government education sector.

  • Assam is witnessing fast pace expansion in the government education sector with more than 40 lakh students enrolled in government academic institutions and more than 1.5 lakh appointments in this sector in the past eight years.

  • 5.5 lakh students have been given free admission under government scheme.

  • The Govt is ready do some modification in provincialisation rules to regularise the deserving venture institutions of the state.

Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee passes away

  • Former President of India Pranab Mukherjee died in Delhi at the age of 84.

  • The central government has announced seven days of state mourning for the former president.

BIOGRAPHY – Pranab Mukherjee

  • Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India, from 2012 to 2017.

  • Born in the village of Mirati in Birbhum district of West Bengal, Mukherjee pursued History, Political Science and Law courses from the Kolkata University before becoming a college teacher and then a journalist.

  • Before becoming finance minister for the first time as part of Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet in 1982, Mukherjee had served as a deputy minister for finance in 1973-74.

  • He was also appointed the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission in 1991 during the time of P V Narasimha Rao’s government at the Centre and held that position for five years.

UP Govt launches Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana

  • Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya launched the Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana under which 19 international players from the state will get road connectivity to their houses.

  • Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, former pacer Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Mohammad Kaif are among the 19 athletes who will be benefited from the scheme.

  • The initial list includes 19 players but later on, more players will be added to the scheme.

 

September 02, 2020

Assam’s Darrang ranked second in performance among aspirational districts in India

  • The NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in its fresh assessment based on the overall performance index has placed Assam’s Darrang district in the second rank among the 124 aspirational districts of the country.

  • The evaluation covered several subjects of development including health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resource, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure for the last two months of June and July 2020.

  • In the financial inclusion and skill development category, the Darrang district fared even better than the district that bagged the first rank.

Bhaben Baruah Award to Kulada Kumar Bhattacharya

  • The Nalbari district unit of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad conferred the coveted Bhaben Baruah Award for the year 2020 to renowned actor, playwright and the director of Jyoti Chitraban, Kulada Kumar Bhattacharya for his lifetime contributions towards the uplift of preforming arts in the State.

  • The award consists of a cash prize of Rs 10,000, a citation and a seleng sador, among others.

FACTFILE – Bhaben Baruah Award

  • The Nalbari district unit of AJYCP has been presenting the award since 2009. First edition of the award was given to play artist Dulal Roy.

Recipients of the award are

  • Guruji Adya Sarma (2010)

  • Biju Phukan (2011)

  • Nilu Chakravarty (2012)

  • Mahananda Sarma (2013)

  • Jibeswar Deka (2014)

  • Achyut Lahkar (2015)

  • Dharani Barman (2016)

  • Hemanta Dutta (2017)

  • Bidya Rao (2018)

  • Dara Ahmed (2019)

India launches pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity

  • Indian power market has gone green with the launch of pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity.

  • The introduction of GTAM platform would lessen the burden on Renewable Energy-rich States.

  • The GTAM platform will lead to an increase in the number of participants in the renewable energy sector. 

  • It will benefit buyers of renewable energy through competitive prices and transparent and flexible procurement. And it will also benefit renewable energy sellers by providing access to the pan-India market.

Key features of Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM)

  • Transactions through GTAM will be bilateral in nature with clear identification of corresponding buyers and sellers, there will not be any difficulty in accounting for RPO.

  • GTAM contracts will be segregated into Solar RPO & Non-Solar RPO as RPO targets are also segregated.

  • Further, within the two segments GTAM contracts will have Green Intraday, Day Ahead Contingency, Daily and Weekly Contracts

  • Price discovery will take place on a continuous basis i.e. price time priority basis. Subsequently, looking at the market conditions open auction can be introduced for daily & weekly contracts.

Google expands AI-driven flood forecast to all of India, Bangladesh

  • Google expanding its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered flood forecasting to all of India and Bangladesh that will provide greater details on timing and water depths in alerts in nine new local languages.

  • This forecasting model that will allow it to double the lead time of many of its alerts providing more notice to governments in India and Bangladesh and giving tens of millions of people an extra day or so to prepare.

  • For several years, the Google Flood Forecasting Initiative has been working with governments to develop systems that predict when and where flooding will occur and keep people safe and informed.

  • Google has been expanding its forecasting models and services in partnership with the Indian Central Water Commission. This partnership aims to build local networks that can get disaster alert information to people who wouldn’t otherwise receive smartphone alerts directly.

IUCAA Pune scientists find one of the farthest galaxies

  • A team of scientists from Pune’s Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA) have discovered one of the farthest galaxies in the universe, called AUDFs01

  • The discovery made by a team of astronomers led by IUCAA’s Kanak Saha.

  • The galaxy was discovered by India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory ‘AstroSat’, which detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located at an astronomical distance of 9.30 billion light-years from Earth.

FACTFILE – Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)

  • The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian universities.

  • IUCAA is located in the University of Pune campus.It’s campus designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.

  • IUCAA, along with Persistent Systems, Pune, operates the Virtual Observatory project. The observatory provides users access to raw observational data along with advanced processing software designed by engineers at Persitent.

  • IUCAA, along with the Raman Research Institute and Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, declared a proposal to take a ten percent stake in the Large Telescope Project, which would allow Indian astronomers access to major upcoming observatories such as the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (EELT).

IIT Bombay students launch AI-based scanning app “AIR Scanner”

  • AIR Scanner, a free-of-cost mobile application, has been developed Rohit Kumar Chaudhary and Kavin Agrawal, two B.Tech students of IIT Bombay.

  • This app has been launched on Independence Day and the AI (Artificial Intelligence) based Reading Assistant & Document Scanner app can scan documents and also read to users who have difficulty in reading English.

  • The document you scan using your mobile camera will be saved in PDF format and will be stored in the device only.

  • An added advantage of this app is its Artificial Intelligence feature that reads out the scanned pages and also provides the meaning of the selected word to the user in 40 different languages.

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September 03, 2020

Assam Municipal Bill passed bill to defer civic body polls by one year

  • In view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Assam assembly passed the Assam Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2020 allowing deferring of polls to municipal bodies by one year after expiry of their scheduled terms.

  • The bill also provides for appointment of a senior official as the in-charge of the council concerned after the end of its scheduled term.

  • The state government shall direct the Deputy Commissioner or the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), as the case may be, of the respective jurisdiction, to take over the charge of the Municipal Boards for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date of expiry of the term of the office of the Commissioners.

Read more about Assam Municipal system – Assamexam.com : Assam Municipal Note

India’s GDP contracted by 23.9% in 2020 1st Qrt

  • As per the recent National Statistical Office (NSO) data, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth contracted by 23.9% in the quarter 1 of 2020. It is the sharpest contraction since India started reporting quarterly data in 1996.

  • Construction, manufacturing, trade, hotels and other services and mining were the worst-hit sectors, due the severe suspension of economic activity in the quarter period due to the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.

  • Only sector that showed a positive growth is agriculture, which grew at 3.4%.

Effects on the Economy

  • Job loss since the sectors which have contracted (e.g. construction, manufacturing etc.) are the sectors that create the maximum new jobs in the country.

  • Small-scale sector and informal sector are more affected than the organised sector

  • Defaults in the banking sector after the moratorium ends will add to the banking sector woes, impacting bank’s lending.

  • Household debt will increase with incomes stagnating, salary cuts and job losses.

Real-Time Market of Indian Energy Exchange launched

  • A pan-India real-time market of electricity to enable the buyers and sellers pan-India to meet their energy requirement closer to real time of operation has been launched.

  • With shorter bidding time, faster scheduling, and defined processes enables the participants to access resources throughout the all India grid, the market will promote competition.

  • It is an organized market platform which will bring required flexibility to provide real-time balance while ensuring optimal utilization of the available surplus capacity in the system. The buyers and sellers would have the option of placing buy or sell bids for each 15-minute time block.

Advantages of Real-Time Market of Indian Energy Exchange

  • It would help to mitigate the challenges of grid management and integrate higher amounts of renewable energy resources into the grid.

  • It would provide an alternate mechanism for DISCOMS to access larger markets at competitive prices.

  • It serves the consumers with reliable supply as any last-minute requirement of power can easily be bought from the Real-Time market.

Rajasthan inks MoU worth Rs 4,000 crore in textiles, defence & aviation

  • Rajasthan Govt signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shri Vallabh Pittie (SVP) International Group for the development of facilities related to aviation, defence and textile sectors.

  • Investment of Rs 4,000 crore is estimated under the projects which would generate employment for more than 4,000 people.

  • The company proposed to develop a project for defence and aerospace, including aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, aviation academy and a project related to textile.

J&K Official Languages Bill 2020 gets Cabinet clearance

  • The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the introduction of the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 in the Parliament.

  • The Bill will include Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi as official languages in the newly-created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

  • Now, five languages Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English will be the official languages in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, as against only English and Urdu which were official languages in the former State.

Scheduled languages under the Eighth Schedule

  • Dogri along with Bodo, Maithili and Santhali was added to the scheduled languages under the Eighth Schedule by 92nd Amendment Act of 2003.

  • The Eighth Schedule consists of the following 22 languages:

  • Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.

  • Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution.

  • Sindhi language was added by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967.

  • Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were included by the 71st Amendment Act of 1992.

Union Cabinet approves Mission Karmayogi

  • Union Cabinet has given its nod to Mission Karmayogi – National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, a scheme to lay the foundation for capacity building for Civil Servants so that they remain entrenched in Indian culture while they learn global best practices.

  • The mission aims to make the Civil Servants more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled.

  • The institutional framework will consist of Prime Minister’s Public Human Resources (HR) Council, Capacity Building Commission, Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training, and Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

  • The Public Human Resources Council comprising select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders and Public Service functionaries will serve as the apex body for providing strategic direction to the task of Civil Services Reform and capacity building.

  • The Capacity Building Commission to ensure a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on collaborative and co-sharing basis.

UP government plans to set up toy city in UP

  • Uttar Pradesh government is planning to set up a ‘Toy City’ along the Yamuna Expressway in the state. And for that, 70 entrepreneurs have shown interest in setting up toy units in the state. 

  • The state government would provide subsidised land under the MSME provisions and also make arrangements for the raw material needed for the toy industry.

  • The toy industry in India is worth about Rs 10,000 crore and according to the International Market Analysis, Research and Consulting Group, Indian participation in the global toy industry is merely 0.5 per cent.

  • In the Indian market, the locally made toys account for merely 12 per cent. The majority of the toys are imported from China and other countries.

September 04, 2020

India ranks 48th in Global Innovation Index, 2020

  • India has moved up four places to the 48th rank in the global innovation index and keeps the top position among the nations in central and southern Asia.

  • For the first time, India entered in the top 50 countries in the global innovation index.

  • India has become the third most innovative lower middle-income economy in the world

  • India ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and R&D-intensive global companies.

  • India is the lower middle-income economy with the highest innovation quality.

FACTFILE – Global Innovation Index, 2020

  • The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation. It is released jointly by the Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

  • A total of 131 countries were analysed under the GII based on metrics include institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication and business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs.

  • Top countries are Switzerland, Sweden, the US, the UK and the Netherlands. The top 10 positions are dominated by high-income countries.

CSIR-CMERI develops World’s Largest Solar Tree

  • CSIR-CMERI has developed the World’s Largest Solar Tree, installed capacity of the Solar Tree is above 11.5 kWp, which is installed at CSIR-CMERI Residential Colony, Durgapur.

  • It has the annual capacity to generate 12,000-14,000 units of Clean and Green Power. The Solar Tree has been designed to ensure maximum exposure of each Solar PV Panel to Sunlight and also creation of the least amount of shadow area beneath.

  • Each Solar Tree has the potential to save 10-12 tons of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere as Greenhouse The surplus generated power can be fed into an Energy Grid.

  • The solar tree has the capability to incorporate IOT based features like round-the-clock CCTV surveillance in agricultural fields, real-time humidity, wind speed, rainfall prediction and soil analytics sensors.

  • This Solar Tree is a Quantum Leap towards making an Energy Reliant and Carbon Negative India in compliance with sustainable development goals.

J&K govt to set up two CIIITs in Jammu, Baramulla

  • The J&K Government is establishing two Centers for Invention, Innovation, Incubation & Training (CIIIT) in Jammu & Kashmir in collaboration with Tata Technologies. This will strengthen industry-academia partnership and to bring quality improvement in technical education.

  • The two centers are being built at Government Polytechnic College, Jammu and Government Polytechnic College, Baramulla and shall be established at a cost of approximately Rs 360.00 crores.

  • The Project is aimed at bringing qualitative improvements in the field of technical education in J&K. They will facilitate to create a ready pool of skilled manpower like engineers; technicians which will augment the industrial growth and in turn employment avenues in the region.

NASA test-fires SLS rocket booster for future lunar missions

  • With overall objective of landing the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, NASA has completed a full-scale booster test for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

  • NASA, along with Northrop Grumman, will use data from the test, successfully conducted to evaluate the motor’s performance using potential new materials and processes that can be incorporated into future boosters.

  • The SLS flight support booster firing is a crucial part of sustaining missions to the Moon. The SLS boosters are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight.

  • The two boosters on the rocket provide more than 75 per cent of the thrust needed to launch NASA’s future deep space missions through Artemis lunar programme.

  • The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and human landing system are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.

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September 05, 2020

Assam government to give financial aid under SVAYEM Yojana to 2,00,000 youths

  • To encourage entrepreneurship in the state, the Assam government has decided to provide Rs 50,000 each to 2,00,000 youths of the state.

  • The Rs 50,000 to 2,00,000 youths would be given under the revamped “Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM)” Yojana.

  • State Govt has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for this scheme.

  • The financial assistance would be provided to the members of self-help groups or joint liability groups registered before September 1, 2020.

  • Youths below the age of 40 years and with a minimum qualification of matriculation would be considered eligible for this scheme.

 

Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM) Yojana

Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM) Yojana is a flagship program announced in the Budget 2017-18, to provide financial support to the youths of Assam to take up income generating activities in the manufacturing, trading and service sector.

Objectives of SVAYEM Yojana

  • To generate employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas through setting up of new ventures as well as growing existing ventures.
  • To provide financial assistance to micro and small business entities engaged in the manufacturing, trading and services sector.
  • To provide financial assistance for enhancement of income level of traditional artisans ensuring sustainable growth.

Coverage and targeted group under SVAYEM Yojana

  • About One lakh youth of Assam will be provided suitable credit support for taking up income generating enterprises.

Nature of activities eligible for SVAYEM Yojana

  • Manufacturing
  • Processing
  • Service Sector
  • Trading
  • Rural Transport Service (Auto Rickshaw, e-Rickshaw)
  • Tourism
  • Shops, repairing Centres, Handicraft, Cottage Industries etc.

Eligibility criteria for the beneficiary of SVAYEM Yojana

  • Residents of Assam above 18 years of age.
  • The beneficiary should possess educational qualification of at least Class VII.
  • The individual beneficiary should have skills, experiences, knowledge, etc., to undertake the income generating activities.
  • The beneficiary who has already completed Skill Development Training will be given preference.
  • The beneficiary must not be the defaulter of any loan.
  • PMEGP beneficiaries of the last 5 years will not be eligible under the scheme.
Indian Govt proposes mandatory FASTag for vehicles sold before Dec 1, 2017
  • The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed to make FASTags mandatory for vehicles sold before December 1, 2017.
  • The amended provision in Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), 1989 is proposed to be put in force with effect from January 1, 2021.
  • It is proposed to make having a valid FASTag mandatory while getting a new 3rd Party Insurance through an amendment in FORM 51 (Certificate of Insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID shall be captured.
  • As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, FASTag had been made mandatory since 2017 for registration of new four-wheeled vehicles, and is to be supplied by the vehicle manufacturer or their dealers.
Odisha proposes to set up a Bulk Drug Park at Gopalpur
  • The Odisha govt accorded in-principle approval to a proposal for setting up a Bulk Drug Park within the Tata Steel Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur in Ganjam district.
  • The proposed project is part of the state government’s aim of creating employment opportunities through industrialization in the non-mineral sector.
  • The cost of the infrastructure development in the park was estimated around Rs 1,500 crore. And the proposed park would create employment opportunities for around 5,000 people.

September 06, 2020

Assam Skill University Bill 2020 passed
  • The Assam Legislative Assembly passed the Assam Skill University Bill 2020 for setting up a state-of-the-art skill university at Mangaldoi in Darrang district.
  • The university will be set up with financial support of about Rs 1000 Crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
  • The Assam government has tied up with Singapore based ITE Education Service for setting up of the university.
  • Around 100 bigha land would be allotted for setting the university.
  • The university will open a new vista of opportunities and change the economic landscape of Assam.

FACTFILE – Assam Skill University

  • Assam to set up Skill University at Mangaldoi as a centre of excellence Skill University with an investment of Rs 900 crore.
  • It will be the first skill university in the country.
  • It will be set up with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank.
  • Assam Government has tied up ITE Education Service, Singapore for setting up of the Skill University.
  • It is to hold a capacity of 10,000 seats, of which, 80% of the seats are to be reserved for students of Assam and 20% for other North-Eastern states.
Andhra Pradesh tops in implementing Business Reforms, Assam among worst reformer states
  • Andra Pradesh is the best-performing state in terms of implementing business reforms, as the ranking of states on the basis of implementing the ‘State business reforms action plan’, released by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • The ‘State Business Reform Action Plan 2019’ is aimed at improving business environment by streamlining regulatory structures and simplifying procedures, digitisation of information and easing the compliance burden.
  • The Action plan aspires to create creating an investor-friendly business climate by cutting down red tape.
  • Uttar Pradesh stood second and Telangana was the third-best state in implementing business reforms in 2019.
  • States like Haryana, Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Goa, Assam and surprisingly even Gujarat has been worst-performing states in terms of reform initiatives in 2019 as compared to their performance in previous year.
India-Bangladesh new waterway route with Tripura made operational
  • The first consignment of goods from Bangladesh arrived in Tripura by waterway as part of a trial run for shipping of goods from other parts of India to the northeast region via Bangladesh formally making operational of new waterways between India and Bangladesh.
  • A Bangladeshi vessel tracking 93 km waterways carrying 10 tonnes of arrived western Tripura’s Sonamura. With the arrival of the vessel, the Sonamura-Daukandi 93-km-long new inland waterways protocol route between northeast India’s Tripura state and Bangladesh was formally made operational.
  • A temporary floating jetty was built at Sonamura in western Tripura to start the new waterway through the Gomati river between Tripura and Bangladesh.
  • Agartala via Guwahati is 1,650 km from Kolkata by road while the distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh is just 620 km.
  • India and Bangladesh had earlier signed a MoU to ferry various goods including foodgrains from different parts of India to the mountainous northeastern states using Bangladeshi ports and surface roads to save time and transportation costs.
  • There are six ‘ports of call’ each in India and Bangladesh. The five new “ports of call” on the Indian side are Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigopha and on the Bangladesh side Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad.
  • Two more extended “ports of call” Tribeli (Bandel) and Badarpur in India and Ghorasal and Muktarpur in Bangladesh have been added.

September 07, 2020

Assam passed bill to protect State’s Heritage Sites
  • Assam Legislative Assembly passed bills for creation of three autonomous councils which included Moran, Motok and Kamtapur Autonomous Council.
  • The bills are being termed as a ‘historic’ step towards implementing the Clause 6 of Assam Accord. The bill has been drafted by the Directorate of Archaeology, under the guidance of State Cultural Affairs (Archeology) Minister Keshab Mahanta.

Tangible Heritage Covered under the new Bill

  • This bill covers various museum objects like coins, sculptures, manuscripts, epigraphs or other work of art and craftsmanship and all cultural artefacts of indigenous people.
  • Heritage sites such as xatras, monasteries, stupas, naamghars, masjids, dargahs, and churches besides socio-cultural institutions and habitation structures having traditional architectures as well as monuments and their precincts will also be covered under the new law.
  • All the artefacts covered under tangible heritage that have been in existence for a minimum of 75 years and are not covered under the Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959, will be protected under the new law.

Clause 6 of Assam Accord

  • Under the clause, the state government is empowered to take necessary steps to ensure constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, that shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

UN’s International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies observed on September 7
  • For the first time, UN`s International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies is observed on September 7, 2020. The theme for this year’s observance day is “Clean Air for All”.
  • Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar will be chairing a webinar, will be joined by Principal Secretaries of the Urban Development Department and Environment Department of 28 states and 8 Union Territories.
  • He will also be reviewing the progress of the activities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) during the course of the webinar.
  • On December 19, 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on September 7 every year starting from 2020.
University of Hyderabad start-up bags Covid-19 challenge grant from USISTEF
  • A start-up company incubated at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has won a US-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) ignition grant for its “Novel therapeutic strategy to fight against Covid-19”.
  • The proposal by Novel Oncoseek Bio Pvt Ltd., was one of the eleven that were selected from 520 proposals that were received and evaluated.
  • The company is one of the start-up companies of ASPIRE-BioNEST at UoH had earlier received a grant from BIRAC, Government of India to develop a platform to screen the potential drug candidates for Covid-19.
  • Its present proposal, Oncoseek Bio is proposing to create a therapeutic by developing neutralizing novel antibodies directed against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and other epitopes of the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.
  • The antibodies are conjugated to drug/Zn nanoparticle (ADCs), which would release the drug of choice at the site of action.
IITs to help make ‘agarbatti’ sector self-reliant
  • In an effort to help the India’s embattled MSME sector, the Central govt has decided to rope in IITs to extend their support to the ‘agarbatti’ (incense sticks) industry as part of its ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign aimed at making India self-reliant.
  • The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Ministry has expanded its reach and support to artisans, involved in making agarbattis, as well as to the industry, by its new guidelines.
  • The ministry has looked at all aspects of the industry, beyond just supply of machines for making agarbattis. This includes ensuring supply of inputs and raw materials, the demand for which has increased hugely in the last one year, as per the Centre.
  • It has decided to continuously support the artisans through training, raw material, marketing and financial support.
  • It has also worked on all aspects of this product, like innovation in the fragrance and packaging, use of new or alternate raw materials like re-usable flowers, coir pith, and supply of bamboo sticks.
  • For this purpose, a ‘Centre of Excellence’ is also being set up in the Flavour and Fragrance Development Centre in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj, which is known to be India’s fragrance capital.
  • The Centre will also set up 10 clusters with proper marketing linkages under SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) scheme of the MSME Ministry at a total cost of about Rs 50 crore.

 

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Assam Current Affairs – August 01-07, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – August 01-07, 2020

( Covers all important Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of August 01-07, 2020)

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 01, 2020

Natasurya Phani Sarma Award to Aishwarya Kakati and Bhabesh Baruah
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal presented Natasurya Phani Sarma Award for the year 2020 to renowned theatre artistes Aishwarya Kakati and Bhabesh Baruah. The award comprises a sarai, commendation, man bastra and a cheque of Rs 2 lakh each.
  • A financial outlay of Rs 1.5 crore has been earmarked for the preservation of the samadhikshetra of Natasurya Phani Sarma.
  • The State government would set up a museum in memory of the cultural doyens like Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Natasurya Phani Sarma and Dr Bhupen Hazarika.

BIOGRAPHY – Phani Sarma (1910–1970)

  • Phani Sarma was an Indian theatre actor, playwright, film actor and director.
  • In 1933 Phani Sarma starred in the first Assamese film, Joymati, directed by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala.
  • He acted in Agarwalla’s second picture Indramalati. And acted and directed Siraj in 1948 and Pioli Phukan in 1955.
Rajesh Bhushan appointed as Union Health Secretary
  • IAS officer Rajesh Bhushan took charge as the Union health secretary. He will succeed Preeti Sudan.
  • A 1987 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, he was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Health in April 2020.

FACTFILE – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India and for all government programs relating to family planning in India.
  • The Minister of Health and Family Welfare holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers.
  • The Ministry publishes the Indian Pharmacopoeia through the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), an autonomous body for setting standards for drugs, pharmaceuticals and healthcare devices and technologies in India
Andhra Pradesh approves bills for trifurcation of state capital
  • Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020, passed by the State Legislature.
  • One bill is for abolition of Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) that was created during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime for building the capital in Amaravati, the other is aimed at decentralizing the administration by creating three state capitals.
  • The government plans to shift the executive capital to Visakhapatnam, judicial capital to Kurnool and retain Amaravati as the legislative capital.
  • The Governor had reportedly sought legal opinion on the procedure involved in the passage of the bills Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 and the Bill to repeal AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) signs agreement with KVIC for supplies
  • The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) an agreement with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), becoming the first among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to get supplies from the Commission.
  • A total of 1,200 quintal of mustard oil is being procured from the KVIC by the ITBP with a total financial implication of Rs 1.73 crore.
  • It was decided during a meeting held at the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Directors General of the CAPFs in October last year that the use of terry Khadi uniform and other items of swadeshi origin should be made available to the CAPFs.
  • The ITBP had suggested that dhurries, blankets, towels, mustard oil, yoga kit, hospital bed sheets, pickels can be purchased for the forces through KVIC.
DIAT develops ‘Aashray’ medical bed isolation to combat COVID-19
  • Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, (DIAT) has developed ‘Aashray’, a medical bed isolation system to combat COVID-19 by preventing or minimising the spread of the virus.
  • This medical bed isolation is a low cost, reusable solution to maintain proper isolation of COVID-19 patients by creating a suction or negative pressure near exhale.
  • The product is modular and portable in design and can be suitable for different requirements such as institutional, hospitals and home/individual quarantine.

GK Quiz for Aug 1-3, 2020 – see video

August 02, 2020

Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya second best in NITI Aayog’s Aspirational districts ranking
  • Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya has ranked second best in the list of aspirational districts ranked by NITI Aayog for the period of 2020 February-June. 
  • While Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts, Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh have been placed at the second and third positions respectively. And Nawada district in Bihar has been ranked fourth and Moga district in Punjab is at the fifth place.
  • Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure were the development areas that were taken into consideration for the ranking.
  • The aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.
Gujarat to set up Gujarat Skills Development Corporation (GSDC)
  • With the help of the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC), the Gujarat government will be setting up the Gujarat Skills Development Corporation (GSDC), with seed fund of Rs 100 crore.
  • the state government will have 25 per cent share in the corporation, while 24 per cent stakeholding will be that of NSDC. The remaining 51 per cent of the share will be held by 10 private companies in equal proportion.
  • Gujarat government has already provisioned Rs 30 crore in the budget 2020-21 for the purpose.
  • The GSDC will be supporting and creating high quality skills training institutes in the state and will carry out activities such as skills financing, CSR lead skilling, capacity building, industry connect, market analytics, international collaboration knowledge and advisory services and NSQF courses, which are presently undertaken by the NSDC.
Hamed Bakayoko is the new Prime Minister of Ivory Coast
  • Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara chose Hamed Bakayoko to be the Prime Minster of the country.

 FACTFILE – Ivory Coast

  • Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d’Ivoire, is a country located on the south coast of West Africa.
  • Ivory Coast’s capital is Yamoussoukro in the centre of the country, while its largest city is the port city of Abidjan.
Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs receives SKOCH Gold Award
  • Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has received SKOCH Gold Award for its Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes project of Scholarship Divison of the Ministry.
  • The 66thSKOCH 2020 Competition was entitled “INDIA RESPONDS TO COVID THROUGH DIGITAL GOVERNANCE”.
  • To assimilate with the larger vision of ‘Digital India’ and to realize the cherished goal of e-governance, MoTA has integrated all 5 Scholarship Schemes with DBT Portal under the guidance of DBT Mission. The portal provides facility to States for data sharing through Web services and States can up-load proposal, UCs and SOE online.
6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting held in Russia
  • Environment Ministers of the five BRICS countries i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated in the 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting which was conducted virtually.
  • Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar represented India and he expressed that the aspirations of the grouping are similar and best practices among the BRICS nations towards attainment of Sustainable Development Goals should be shared.
  • India will assume the BRICS Presidency in 2021.

 FACTFILE – BRICS

  • BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
  • Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits.
  • The Five BRICS countries represented over 3.1 billion people and four of five members are in the top 10 of the world by population.
  • These five nations had a combined GDP of US$18.6 trillion which is about 23.2% of the gross world product.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF    |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 03, 2020

UNICEF to engage more NCC volunteers in Northeast
  • The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Assam unit and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) Directorate for the Northeastern Region, signed an agreement to engage more NCC volunteers to deal with children’s’ issues in the North East.
  • These two organizations will involve young people in planning, designing initiatives and communications on critical children issues, and provide them with opportunities to share their stories.
  • The goal is to reach out to 1 million young people in the North East as change-makers and create spaces for developing their leadership.
Serum Institute gets DCGI nod for clinical trials of Oxford vaccine
  • The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to Pune’s Serum Institute of India to conduct clinical trials of Oxford University-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine in India.
  • The Serum Institute of India(SII) received approval after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19.
  • The Oxford University-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate is in the midst of Phase II and III clinical trials in the UK, Phase III trials in Brazil, and Phase I and II clinical trials in South Africa.
MSME Minister approves Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission
  • Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari has approved a scheme to raise production of ‘agarbatti’ to make India self-reliant on this product.
  • The Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission, proposed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), eyes employment generation as well as making India self-reliant in agarbatti production. It will aid the private incense sticks makers scale up production without any capital investment by them.
  • The KVIC will provide automatic incense sticks production and powder mixing machines to artisans by the private agarbatti manufacturers who will sign the agreement as business partners.
  • The KVIC will provide a 25 per cent subsidy and recover in easy instalments the rest cost of machine from artisans every month.
  • The business partner will provide raw material to artisans and will pay them wages on work basis. The cost of training of artisans will be shared by the KVIC and the private business partner on 75:25 per cent basis.
Hyderabad airport gets UNICEF-funded Mass Fever Screening System
  • Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has received a UNICEF-funded a mass fever screening system to further enhance the efficacy of screening of passengers in view of COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in coordination with the Asian Development Bank, has provided state-of-the-art thermal scanner funded by the UNICEF.
  • The system automatically adjusts and adapts to the surrounding ambient temperature without any human intervention. Thus provides easy identification of passengers with elevated temperature, while simplifying operations and minimizing handling.
  • The Hyderabad Airport continues to handle the international relief flights under the government of India’s largest offshore evacuation programme of Vande Bharat Mission (VBM).

GK Quiz for Aug 1-3, 2020 – see video

August 04, 2020

Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train to Tripura’s Jirania
  • The Indian Railways ran a special type of cargo service for transportation of cargo through the first “Vyapar Mala Express”. Traders book part of the goods carrying rake as per their requirement or supply order.
  • The first “Vyapar Mala Express” which started from Delhi’s Kishanganj station to reach Tripura’s Jirania station.
India’s first snow leopard conservation centre to be set up in Uttarakhand
  • Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced that India’s first conservation centre for snow leopards is to be set up in the forests of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.
  • The centre to be developed by the Uttarakhand forest department along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will work for conservation, restoration of Himalayan ecosystems, and creating livelihoods for local people.
  • The project also aims at the conservation of other endangered species along with the snow leopards.
  • Snow leopards are one of the most enigmatic wild cat species due to their reclusive nature. There are around 86 snow leopards in Uttarakhand right now.
  • In 2017, the central government had launched the six-year ‘SECURE Himalaya’ project, to support the conservation of the significant biodiversity of the mountain regions, including conservation projects of animals and forest resources spread over Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim.
Andhra Pradesh ties up with India’s FMCG majors to empower women
  • Andhra Pradesh government signed a pact with three FMCG major – Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), ITC and Procter and Gamble (P&G), for marketing and technology support for economic empowerment of women under two new schemes of the state.
  • An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the virtual presence of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, HUL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta, ITC Executive Director Sanjiv Puri and P&G India CEO Madhusudan Gopalan.
  • The FMCG companies will give handholding to women under the YSR Cheyutha scheme, to be launched shortly, that aims to provide annual financial assistance of Rs 18,750 for next four years to women of 45-60 years age group belonging to SC/ST and backward class and minorities communities.
  • They will also help in providing marketing opportunities and technology support to women under this proposed scheme.
  • The AP government also plans to launch YSR Asara Scheme in September 2020 under which Rs 6,700 crore will be spent annually on 90 lakh women and 9 lakh self-help groups in the state.
Andhra launches virtual campaign ‘E-RakshaBandhan’ on cybercrimes against women
  • Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched ‘E-RakshaBandhan’ campaign aimed at creating public awareness on cybercrimes against women and children.
  • The virtual cybercrime awareness programme jointly developed by Andhra Pradesh Police and Crime Investigation Department (CID), will focus on ensuring the safety of women and children in cyber space.
  • The campaign aims at creating awareness among the public on the sharp rise in cybercrimes, would be conducted through online sessions in the form of webinars, workshops, competition, covering different topics related to cybercrimes.
IIT Madras and Helyxon deploy remote monitoring device for Covid-19 patients
  • IITMadras’ Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) and Helyxon, a healthcare startup, have developed an AI-backed remote patient monitoring system ‘OXY2 ‘ for Covid-19 to keep tabs on critical parameters like temperature, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and heart rate.
  • Equipped with geo-fencing tracking alerts, the OXY2 can keep a tab on the patient’s vital parameters and inform the medical staff about any aberration.
  • The device is completely self-contained, portable, wireless and can be clipped on to patient’s finger and data is streamed to a central monitoring system or any smart phone.
UAE becomes 1st Arab Nation to open a Nuclear Power Plant
  • The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun start-up operations in the initial unit of its first nuclear power plant at the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi. 
  • The $22.4 billion Barakah nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast west of Abu Dhabi is being developed by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).
  • When fully operational, the four reactors will generate 5,600 megawatts (MW).
  • To diversify its energy economy, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and project its image as a regional leader in science and technology, the UAE has started this project.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 05, 2020

Prakash Javadekar launches 24×7 Doordarshan Assam channel
  • A 24-hour channel Doordarshan Assam dedicated was launched by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar.
  • The Doordarshan channel in Assam is part of a new-found focus on northeast region.
  • Doordarshan Assam would also be contributing in a major way to the educational development of the state like other regional channels and it will be another milestone in the government’s effort to provide online education in regional languages across states.
  • Doordarshan Assam which will include serials, music programmes, travelogues, reality shows, feature films etc and will have ethnic touch highlighting cuisine, folk culture and tribal life of the state and region.
Nokia Centre of Excellence to set up robotics lab at IISc Bengaluru
  • Finnish firm Nokia announced collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru to establish a network robotics laboratory for research on socially relevant use cases based on 5G and emerging technologies.
  • The Nokia Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Networked Robotics will promote interdisciplinary research involving robotics, advanced communication technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop use cases across areas like emergency management, agriculture and industrial automation, engagement and cooperation between academia, start-ups and industry ecosystem partners in research.
  • The tie-up would to help IISc in capacity building and human resources development in cutting-edge technology of robotics, 5G and autonomous systems.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu launches E-GyanMitra mobile app for online education
  • Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu has launched E-GyanMitra mobile app for online education.
  • Through this app, the students from primary till the higher secondary can take online classes and give there tests/exams.
  • The teachers will post the lectures and quiz for the students and the student can access those lectures, the teacher can monitor the progress of the students learning.

FACTFILE – Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in western India.
  • It was created through the merger of the former union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu on 26 January 2020.
  • The UT is made up of four separate geographical entities Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and the island of Diu, which were part of Portuguese India.
Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
  • Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, a national programme for popularizing science among school students.
  • This is a platform to indentify the talented minds with a scientific aptitude in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students.

GK Quiz for Aug 4-6, 2020 – see video

August 06, 2020

Manoj Sinha appointed as new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
  • Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha has been appointed the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, after the resignation of Girish Chandra Murmu who is appointed as the new CAG of India.
  • Manoj Sinha was born on July 1, 1959 in Mohanpura of Ghazipur district of eastern UP.
  • He has served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways in the Government of India.

FACTFILE – Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

  • The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir is the head of state of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • The office of lieutenant governor was established after an Act was passed in August 2019 in the Parliament of India, reorganising the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories; Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on 31 October 2019.
  • Provisions contained within the act created the positions of Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
India contributes over USD 15 million to India-UN Development Partnership Fund
  • India has contributed around USD 15.5 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, as per its commitment to supporting developing nations in their developmental priorities across all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti handed over a cheque of USD 15.46 million to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Director Jorge Chediek.
  • The tranche of USD 15.46 million includes USD 6 million to the overall fund, in which all the developing countries are eligible for partnership, and USD 9.46 million dedicated to the Commonwealth countries.

FACTFILE – India-UN Development Partnership Fund

  • The India-UN Development Partnership Fund was started in 2017
  • It is managed by the UNOSSC and implemented under the leadership of partner developing countries leveraging the strengths of United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programmes.
  • Till now as many as 55 projects and proposals have been approved to date with a total contribution of USD 41.8 million towards a USD 150 million multi-year pledge.
Union Agriculture Minister launches Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel
  • Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the SahakarCooptube NCDC Channel, a new initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation.
  • The Minister also launched guidance videos produced by NCDC on ‘Formation and Registration of a Cooperative’ for eighteen different states in Hindi and regional languages.
  • Union Government under AtmaNirbhar Bharat has recently announced a series of transformative measures and sector specific financial packages to help agriculture.
  • The initiatives are steps taken with the objective for India to become food factory of the world.
Punjab to distributing smartphones to HS students
  • The Punjab Cabinet approved for distribution of 1,73,823 smartphones to students of government schools, who are preparing to take their Class XII board exams with the help of online education amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The phones will be equipped with various smart features such as touch screen, camera and pre-loaded government applications like the ‘e-Sewa App’ with e-content related to Class XI and Class XII, as approved by the Department of School Education.
  • The Cabinet noted that four months of the academic year 2020-21 had already elapsed without regular on campus classes, and while private schools are conducting online classes, the students of government schools are facing a competitive disadvantage, especially those studying in Class XII.

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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August 07, 2020

Union Cabinet approved National Education Policy 2020
  • The Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy 2020, with proposal for large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors.
  • This education policy replaces the thirty-four year old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
  • Based on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability, this policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to transform India into a knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making education more flexible, multidisciplinary and pragmatic.

Some of the important proposals under the new policy are

  • New Policy aims for Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030, by bringing 2 crore children, who are out of school children, back into the main stream.
  • Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035. For this purpose an additional 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education
  • New 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/ Pre-schooling
  • Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools. Vocational Education to start  from Class 6 with Internships
  • Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes.
  • Higher Education curriculum to have Flexibility of Subjects and Multiple Entry / Exit to be allowed with appropriate certification.
  • Teaching upto at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language. Promotes Multilingualism in both schools and Higher Education.
  • Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits
  • National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture.
  • National Educational Technology Forum to be created to facilitate and promote use of technology with equity.
  • To set up a Gender Inclusion Fund,Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.
  • National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.
Odisha becomes first state to get ‘Tsunami Ready’ tag
  • Odisha has become the first state to get two coastal villages ‘tsunami ready’, this also makes the India to become the first in the Indian Ocean region to achieve the honour.
  • Venkatraipur village of Ganjam district and Noliasahi village of Jagatsinghpur district have been acknowledged by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO for greater preparedness to face the tsunami disaster.
  • In a virtual event to be organised by Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) Secretariat in Perth, Australia and the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC) in Jakarta, Indonesia, ‘Certificate of Recognition’ will be handed over to the communities of Venkatraipur and Noliasahi as Tsunami Ready villages.
  • The Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready Programme of IOC-UNESCO is a community performance-based programme that facilitates tsunami preparedness as an active collaboration of the community, community leaders, and national and local emergency management agencies. It aims to improve coastal community preparedness for tsunami emergencies, to minimise the loss of life and property and to ensure structural and systematic approach in building community preparedness.
  • Regular tsunami mock drills are being conducted in the tsunami-prone villages as a part of International Tsunami Drills and National Tsunami drills. The Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) for last-mile connectivity has been set up in the tsunami-prone villages.
Pradeep Kumar Joshi appointed as new Chairman of UPSC
  • Professor Pradeep Kumar Joshi is appointed as the new chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that conducts the civil services and other class job selection examinations.
  • Joshi, currently a member in the Commission, will succeed Arvind Saxena who completes his term as UPSC chairman.
  • Earlier he was the chairman of both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commissions. He joined the UPSC as member in May 2015.
  • Other members of UPSC are Bhim Sain Bassi, Air Marshal A S Bhonsle (retired), Sujata Mehta, Manoj Soni, Smita Nagaraj, M Sathiyavathy Bharat Bhushan Vyas, T C A Anant and Rajiv Nayan Choubey.

FACTFILE – Union Public Service Commission

  • The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is India’s premier central recruiting agency, responsible for appointments to and examinations for All India services and group A & group B of Central services.
  • The agency’s charter is granted by Part XIV of the Constitution of India, titled as Services Under the Union and the States.
  • It is also required to be consulted by the Government in matters relating to the appointment, transfer, promotion and disciplinary matters. The commission reports directly to the President and can advise the Government through him.
  • It was originally established on 1 October 1926 as Public Service Commission, it was later reconstituted as Federal Public Service Commission by the Government of India Act 1935.
  • UPSC is one of the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom.
India’s first Kisan Special Parcel Train flagged off from Devlali Railway Station
  • Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar flagged off the India’s first Kisan Special Parcel Train ‘ Kisan Rail’ which will transport material between Maharashtra’s Devlali and Bihar’s Danapur Railway station.
  • The Kisan Rail will carry fruits and vegetables and will make stoppages at several stations and pick-up and deliver them. It will halt at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, ltarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, PrayagrajChheoki, PanditDeendayalUpadhyay Nagar and Buxar.
  • This initiative will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time. The Kisan Rail train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of fish, meat and milk.
Maharashtra & Google tie-up to deploy learning tools for schools
  • The Maharashtra govt announced a partnership with Google that will enable 2.3 crore students and teachers to access the technology giant’s blended learning programmes that combine classroom approach with online learning.
  • Google will deploy free tools like G Suite for Education, Google Classroom and Google Meet to facilitate remote learning.
  • The School Education Department will provide individual educators and students with their own G Suite ID to ensure every student – irrespective of their location – experiences continuity in learning.
Andrzej Duda sworn in President of Poland for 2nd term
  • Andrzej Duda was sworn in as the President of Poland for his second five-year term in office after he was re-elected.
  • He is the second president in post-communist Poland to win a second five-year term, after Aleksander Kwasniewski from 1995 to 2005.
  • Duda won the run-off elections with with 51.03 per cent of the votes, while his rival, Warsaw Mayor RafalTrzaskowski received 48.97 per cent.

 FACTFILE – Poland

  • Poland is a country located in Central Europe.
  • It has an area of 312,696 square kilometres and has a largely temperate seasonal climate.
  • With a population of nearly 38.5 million people, Poland is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union.
  • Poland’s capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw.

 

August 2020 Current Affairs Monthly PDF  |  Assam 2020 Yearbook  | July 2020 Quiz Monthly PDF

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GK Quiz for Aug 7-9, 2020 – see video

Assam Current Affairs – July 29 – 31, 2020

Posted on by admin 
Assam Current Affairs & GK – July 29 - 31, 2020

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 29 – 31, 2020 )

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July 29, 2020

HRD Minister launches ‘India Report on Digital Education 2020’
  • Union Minister for HRD Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually launched India Report on Digital Education, 2020, which elaborates on the innovative methods adopted by Ministry of HRD, Education Departments of States and Union Territories for ensuring accessible and inclusive education to children at home and reducing learning gaps.
  • Ministry of Human Resource Development has initiated many projects like DIKSHA platform, Swayam Prabha TV Channel, Online MOOC courses, On Air – Shiksha Vani,   DAISY by NIOS for differently-abled, e-PathShala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources to develop e-content and energized books, telecast through TV channels, E-learning portals , webinars and other digital initiatives along with State/ UT Governments.
  • The report has been prepared by Digital Education Division of MHRD in consultation with Education Departments of States and UTs.
  • School Education is envisaged as a comprehensive and convergent programme committed to universalize digital education across the wide spectrum of schools from pre-nursery to higher secondary classes.
  • Various State and Union Territories Governments have also managed the critical task of providing digital education at the doorstep of the students, social media tools like WhatsApp Group, Online classes through YouTube channel and Google meet.
  • States and UTs have also distributed textbooks at children’s doorsteps.
India can be major agro products exporter with effective policy
  • A study conducted by MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai shows that India can emerge as top five exporters of agro commodities in the world, if governments take effective measures to handhold farmers.
  • Through focused intervention in capacity building, India can enhance its agro export to surpass Thailand and Indonesia and become the fifth largest exporter in the world.
  • The government should re-orient the role of its extension centres, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), to handhold farmers in growing those varieties of crops that are demanded in the global market.
  • KVKs should guide farmers on prudential use of pesticides and other agro chemicals so that they conform to the global quality standards, so that India’s export consignments are rejected because of presence of higher level of pesticides.
  • India has made remarkable progress in export of niche products such as capsicum chilly, castor oil, tobacco extracts; and also made considerable progress in export of basmati rice, meat and marine products.
  • As per latest WTO data, India ranks eighth with annual agro exports of $39 billion, after EU, USA, Brazil, China, Canada, Indonesia and Thailand.
  • As per FAO data, India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world but its share in world exports is 1.7-1.8 per cent.
IRCTC, SBI Card launch new Co-branded contactless Credit Card
  • IRCTC and SBI Card together launched their new Co-branded Contactless Credit Card on RuPay Platform.
  • The new RuPay credit card is equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC), with which, users can expedite their transactions at the POS machines by just tapping the card on the machines.
Hetero launches generic Covid-19 drug Favivir
  • Drug firm Hetero has launched genericoral antiviral drug Favipiravir used for treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19, in India under the brand name ‘Favivir’ at Rs 59 per tablet.
  • The company has been granted the manufacturing and marketing approval for Favipiravir from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
  • Favivir is the second drug developed by Hetero after Covifor (Remdesivir) used in the treatment of Covid-19.
  • This medication has demonstrated positive clinical outcomes, it improves treatment accessibility to a significant amount of Covid-19 patient population, which have mild to moderate symptoms.

July 30, 2020

Union Cabinet approves National Education Policy 2020
  • The Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy 2020, with large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors in the country.
  • This education policy will replace the thirty-four year old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
  • Built on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability, this policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary, suited to present needs.
  • New Education Policy aims for Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in school education by 2030, by bringing 2 crore out of school children back into the main stream.
  • It proposes new 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/ Pre-schooling. It also emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools. And teaching upto at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language.
  • GER in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035 ;  and additional 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education. Higher Education curriculum is also to have more flexibility of Subjects, with multiple entry / exit to be allowed with appropriate certification.
  • Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
  • National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture
  • Light but Tight Regulation of Higher Education, single regulator with four separate verticals for different functions
  • Affiliation System to be phased out with graded autonomy to colleges.
  • The new policy also advocates increased use of technology with equity; and for these purpose a National Educational Technology Forum to be created.
  • NEP 2020 promotes Multilingualism in both schools and HEs; National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.
Earth Sciences Ministry announces National Awards for excellence in Earth System Science
  • Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) announced National Awards for excellence in Earth System Science. The Life Time Excellence Award is being awarded to Professor Ashok Sahni for his significant contribution in the field of Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology and Biostratigraphy.
  • The National Award for Ocean Science and technology is being awarded to Dr. V. V. S. S. Sarma, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Vishakapatnam and Dr. M. Ravichandran, Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa. Dr. S. Suresh Babu will be awarded the National Award for Atmospheric Science and Technology.
  • The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) provides the nation with the best possible services for weather, climate, ocean, coastal and natural hazards, for the Public Safety and socio-economic benefits. It also deals with exploration and sustainable harnessing of ocean resources – living and non-living.
MoES-Knowledge Resource Centre Network launched
  • Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has launched the “MoES-Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet)” under the Digital India initiative of Government of India.
  • The Ministry aims to develop a World-Class Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet). The traditional libraries of the MoES system will be upgraded into a top-notch Knowledge Resource Centres (KRC).
  • KRCs will be interconnected and integrated into the KRCNet portal. It will be a single point entry to the intellectual assets of the ministry.

 Salient objectives of the MoES-Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet)

  • Establish a Total Quality Management (TQM) system by securing ISO certification for documenting MoESknowledge resources, its maintenance, easy retrieval and dissemination.
  • Collect, collate, analyze, index, store and disseminate the intellectual resources, products and project outputs available in MoES headquarter and its institutes.
  • Develop and maintain an up-to-date meta-data of the print & digital resources available in MoES headquarter and MoES institutes, including MoES services.
  • Provide 24X7 access to the subscribed knowledge contents through the KRCNet portal.
  • Application of information analytical tools & techniques like bibliometrics, scientometrics, big-data analytics, social media analytics etc., for policy formulation, report preparation and information dissemination.
  • Periodically organize training workshops to popularize usage of electronic journals, databases, digital products, data analytics etc.
Haryana engages Garuda Aerospace for drone-based anti-locust spraying
  • Drone-as-a-Service (DAAS) provider Garuda Aerospace has bagged a contract from the Haryana government for spraying anti-locust pesticide in the state.
  • Haryana is the third state after Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to have contracted Garuda Aerospace for drone-based anti-locust operations.
  • The Ministry of Civil Aviation gave conditional exemption to the Haryana government for use of remotely piloted systems for anti-locust operations.
  • Garuda Aerospace has been carrying out drone-based anti-coronavirus sanitation orders from several municipal corporations and smart cities like Varanasi, Rourkela, Raipur, Chennai and Hyderabad.

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July 31, 2020

‘BANDICOOT’ robot to clean manholes in Guwahati
  • Guwahati Development Department (GDD) Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya inaugurated the first-ever manhole cleaning robot to end manual scavenging.
  • The robot named ‘BANDICOOT’ has been procured by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) along with six Skid Steer Loaders from JCB and six Backhoe Loaders from CASE and BOBCAT companies each.
  • The BANDICOOT robot is also the first of its kind in the world that was developed by a Start-up India company called Genrobotics under the Make in India initiative, funded by CSR of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).
  • Guwahati is the third city in the entire country to procure this innovative technology to clean manholes after Gurugram and Coimbatore.
Hardik Satishchandra Shah appointed Private Secretary to PM Modi
  • IAS officer Hardik Satishchandra Shah has been appointed the Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah is a 2010-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as a Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

FACTFILE – Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)

  • The Prime Minister’s Office consists of the immediate staff of the Prime Minister of India, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Prime Minister.
  • The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary, currently PK Misra.
  • It was originally called the Prime Minister’s Secretariat until 1977, when it was renamed during the Prime Ministership of Morarji Desai ministry.
PM Modi inaugurated the Supreme Court building of Mauritius
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Supreme Court building of Mauritius with his counterpart Pravind K. Jugnauth via video conference, in presence of senior members of judiciary from Mauritius and other dignitaries from both the countries.
  • Prime Minister Modi said India and Mauritius jointly celebrated yet another landmark as a symbol of special friendship between the two countries.
  • The Supreme Court building of Mauritius has been constructed with Indian grant assistance and will be the first India-assisted infrastructure project within the capital city of Port Louis after Covid-19.
  • This project is one of the five projects being implemented under the ‘Special Economic Package’ of $353 million extended by the Government of India to Mauritius in 2016.
Union cabinet approval for remaining HRD Ministry as Ministry of Education
  • The Union Cabinet has approved the change of name of the Ministry of Human Resource Development as Ministry of Education.
  • The name change was done as per the recommendation of the draft New Education Policy 2020. The HRD ministry name was adopted in 1985, during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, before that it was the Ministry of Education.

FACTFILE – Ministry of Education (MoE)

  • The Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for the implementation and formulation of the National Policy on Education approved by Union cabinet of India and to ensure that it is implemented in letter and spirit.
  • Planned development, including expanding access and improving quality of the educational institutions throughout the country, including in the regions where people do not have easy access to education.
  • The Ministry is divided into two departments – (1) Department of School Education and Literacy, which deals with primary, secondary and higher secondary education, adult education and literacy, and (2) Department of Higher Education, which deals with a university education, technical education, scholarship, etc.
Power Finance Corporation signs agreement with IIT- Kanpur
  • Power Finance Corporation (PFC), a PSU under Ministry of Power and country’s leading NBFC, signed a MoA with Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) for Training, Research, and Entrepreneurship Development in Smart Grid Technology.
  • As per the MoA, PFC will provide financial assistance of Rs. 2.38 Crore to IIT-K under its CSR initiative.
  • PFD will provide support to IIT-K in developing infrastructure for research and development on smart grid technology. And IIT-K will provide training on smart grid technology to 90 participants and provide fellowship to 9 selected candidates for development of ideas on Smart Grid Technology. The fellows will be assisted by Start-up Innovation and Incubation Centre (SIIC) of IIT-K and encouraged to take up entrepreneurial activities.
Punjab launches immunity boosting milk ‘Verka haldi’
  • Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched a nutritional drink ‘Verka haldi’ or turmeric milk, produced by Milkfed to boost people’s immunity amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with the hope that this milk would soon emerge as a popular drink among consumers, to stay healthy and boost their immunity in the fight against coronavirus.
  • The Verka milk had been prepared by using a unique ‘haldi’ formulation, that had been developed and patented by Department of Biotechnology of Punjabi University in Patiala.
  • Verka Haldi Dudh has been launched, as part of Mission Fateh, at a price of Rs 25 for 200 ml which is within the reach of all sections of society and will be beneficial for health of young and old alike.

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Assam Current Affairs – July 22 – 28, 2020

Posted on by admin 
Assam Current Affairs & GK – July 22 - 28, 2020

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 22 – 28, 2020 )

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July 22, 2020

Centre to Provide Rs 346 crore to Assam to tackle flood fury
  • Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat has announced to provide the first instalment of Rs 346 crore under the Flood Management Programme (FMP) in Assam.
  • The massive devastation caused by over a month long flood along with erosion in the state. The monsoon flood in Assam has killed at least 89 people, while around 26.32 lakh people in 26 of the 33 districts were affected.
  • The flood also badly damaged 115,515 hectares of crop area and infrastructures across the state.
  • The central minister requested the Chief Minister to send proposals for sanctioning money under Disaster Risk Management Fund which would facilitate the state government to get more funds from the Central Government for flood management, relief, erosion and other mitigation.
  • The Chief Minister also urged for funds to strengthen 5,000 km of embankments built since 1951 in the state, which also turned into road cum embankments.
Junior Administrative Assistant (Assam Secretariat) Test Series 2020 – Mock & Sectional Tests

 

Andhra Pradesh inks MoU with AMUL for dairy development
  • Andhra Pradesh government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with cooperative giant Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL).
  • The MoU is expected to give a boost to the empowerment of women self-help groups by encouraging the milk cooperatives in the government sector.
  • Joining hands with AMUL will help the women groups and dairy farming in the cooperative sector with an opportunity and exposure to world class infrastructure, technology and marketing opportunities which would improve their standard of living and self reliance of women.
  • Though the Andhra Pradesh stands fourth in milk production, only 24 per cent was going to the organised sector. The partnership with AMUL will help farmers to get good price and women groups.
Punjab signs pacts with IIT Ropar for skill development
  • Punjab state government has signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the IIT Ropar to boost skill development.
  • The MoUs provide for IIT’s Technical Education Department to become academic mentor for engineering colleges in Gurdaspur and Ferozepur, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Skill Institute at Shri Chamkaur Sahib, five government polytechnics and 10 government ITIs.
  • IIT Ropar would help the state in developing one model ITI and one model polytechnic.

FACTFILE – Indian Institute of Technology Ropar

  • Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) is an engineering, science and technology higher education institute located in Rupnagar, Punjab.
  • It is one of the eight newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India under The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011.
India’s first public Electric Vehicle charging plaza inaugurated at New Delhi
  • Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, inaugurated India’s first public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging plaza at Chelmsford Club in New Delhi.
  • The charging plaza has been set up with a focus on enhancing energy efficiency and promoting e-mobility. This plaza will host 5 EV chargers of different specifications.
  • The minister also launched retrofit of air-conditioning to improve indoor air quality for safety and efficiency (RAISE) – a joint initiative of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
  • This is a part of the initiative to “Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor air quality for Safety and Efficiency” developed for healthy and energy-efficient buildings, in partnership with USAID’s MAITREE programme.
Ministry of Youth Affairs partners with UNICEF to promote volunteerism among youth
  • Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has partnered with UNICEF to strengthen the resolve to mobilise 1 crore youth volunteers to achieve goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat
  • MYAS signed a memorandum of intent was signed with YuWaah (a multi-stakeholder platform formed by the UNICEF) to work in partnership to promote volunteerism among India’s youth.
  • The partnership will leverage both Indian ministry and UN efforts to work with young people to co-create and implement solutions at scale tackling education, skilling and unemployment challenges for the youth in India.

July 23, 2020

NITI Aayog recommends mandatory use of 25% recycled material in infra projects
  • Niti Aayog will recommend to the government to mandate the use of recycled materials up to 25 per cent in large infrastructure projects, in line with the global move to promote the use of secondary products.
  • Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer of Niti Aayog, said that Govt should make 25 per cent use of recycled products (metals, plastics and paper) in large infrastructure projects to promote secondary products across India
  • Using recycled products by up to 25 per cent may reduce the raw material cost of the project by at least 10-15 per cent.
PM Modi at India Ideas Summit
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the India Ideas Summit, the Summit is being hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC). The theme for this year’s Summit is ‘Building a Better Future’.
  • PM Modi said India has what is needed to power the global economic recovery and there has never been a better time to invest in the country. 
  • India’s rise means a rise in global integration with increasing openness, a rise in competitiveness with access to a market which offers scale, and a rise in returns on investment with the availability of skilled human resources. 
  • USA and India partnership can play an important role in helping the world bounce back faster after the pandemic.
NSDC and Airtel Payments Bank joins hands to skill rural youth
  • Airtel Payments Bank and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) announced a partnership to skill the youth in rural India and enable them to find employment opportunities in the financial services sector.
  • The partnership will leverage NSDC’s experience, training infrastructure and wide network with Airtel Payment Bank’s industry insights, to design and conduct targeted skill development programmes for rural youth.
  • The skill development programme will be tailored for imparting knowledge and skills for entry-level jobs, such as business correspondent and field sales executive, in the financial services sector.
  • The programme will focus on the adoption of digital tools to drive online banking and digital financial services, given the growing penetration of affordable smartphones and 4G networks in the country.
  • This collaboration will also extend to e-Skill India, NSDC’s digital skilling initiative.

FACTFILE – Airtel Payments Bank

  • Airtel Payments Bank is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.
  • It is the first company in India to receive a payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and it became the first live payments bank in the country.
  • It is a joint venture between Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (holds 19.9% stake).
China launches first Mars mission Tianwen 1
  • China successfully launched its first Mars probe aiming to complete orbiting, landing and roving in a single mission.
  • A Long March-5 rocket, China’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle, carrying the spacecraft with a mass of about five tonnes, soared into the sky from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan province.
  • The Chinese Mars probe named Tianwen 1 or Quest for Heavenly Truth 1, will fulfil three scientific objectives (i) orbiting the red planet for comprehensive observation, (ii) landing on Martian soil and (iii) sending a rover to roam the landing site.
  • It will conduct scientific investigations into the planet’s soil, geological structure, environment, atmosphere and water.
  • The probe consists of three parts — the orbiter, the lander and the rover — and they will separate in Mars orbit. The orbiter will remain in the orbit for scientific operations and relay signals while the lander-rover combination makes an autonomous descent and landing.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019 comes into force from 20 July
  • The Consumer Protection Act,2019 comes in to force from 20 July, with its salient features including the establishment of central authority to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.
  • This new Act will empower consumers and help them in protecting their rights through its various notified rules and provisions like Consumer Protection Councils, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, Mediation, Product Liability and punishment for manufacture or sale of products containing adulterant / spurious goods.
  • Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) will be empowered to conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints/prosecution, order recalls of unsafe goods and services, order discontinuance of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements, impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements.
  • The rules for the prevention of unfair trade practice by e-commerce platforms will also be covered under this Act. Every e-commerce entity is required to provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, security of payment methods, charge-back options, etc. including country of origin.
  • E-Commerce platforms have to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redress the complaint within one month.
India, Maldives sign agreement for establishment of ‘Emergency Medical Services’ in Malé
  • India and Maldives have signed an agreement for the establishment of ‘Emergency Medical Services’ in capital Male.
  • It is one of the several small and medium projects that are being financed by India under a grant assistance of around 20 million US dollars for the neighbouring country.
  • Maldives foreign minister Abdulla Shaheed thanked the Indian government and said that the emergency medical service unit will enhance timely access to quality emergency care and will increase collaboration between healthcare facilities and disaster response agencies.

 FACTIFLE – The Maldives

  • The Republic of Maldives is a small island nation in South Asia, situated in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean.
  • It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 700 kilometres from the Asian continent’s mainland.
  • The Maldives is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sovereign states as well as the smallest Asian country by land area and population, with around 515,696 inhabitants.
  • It is the world’s lowest-lying country, with an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 metres above sea level.
  • Malé is the capital and the most populated city
  • The Maldives archipelago is located on the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge; this also forms a terrestrial ecoregion, together with the Chagos Archipelago and Lakshadweep.
  • The Maldives is a founding member of SAARC and also a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

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July 24, 2020

Tripura NGO’s scheme for well-off to help underprivileged people
  • An NGO from Tripura, Purvaudaya launched “Heart of Humanity”, a project to assist the poor and the needy people by connecting the well-off section of society with underprivileged people.
  • Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, along with other ministers inaugurated three outlets of Purvaudaya in Agartala and outskirts areas in which clothes and food would be distributed to the poor free of cost.
  • At these outlets, the well-off citizens will donate unused and discarded items like clothes, mattresses, quilts, blankets, shoes, toys, books, artefacts, bags, etc which are still in good condition so that the needy people can take them for their use.
Funding of over Rs 8,700 crore approved for 81 stressed housing projects under SWAMIH scheme
  • Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH initiative Rs 8,767 crore has been approved for 81 projects, enabling the completion of almost 60,000 homes across India.
  • While reviewing the performance of the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH), Finance Minister underlined the need for speedy efforts to complete construction of projects for which last-mile funding has been sanctioned.
  • She also suggested that both private and public sector banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) should see the special window as a stakeholder and increase support for early completion of stressed projects.
  • Sitharaman asked the Department of Economic Affairs to closely monitor the performance of SWAMIH to ensure that the capital raised is used for resolving stressed projects on urgent basis.
Greta Thunberg awarded €1-million Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity
  • Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was awarded the 2020 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, worth €1-million (or $1.15 million) in prize money
  • Established in 2020, the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity aims to recognize individuals, groups or organizations whose contributions toward mitigating climate change stand out for “novelty, innovation and impact.”

FACTFILE – Gulbenkian Prize

  • Gulbenkian Prize is a series of prizes awarded annually by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
  • The main Gulbenkian Prize was established in 1976 as the Gulbenkian Science Prize awarded to Portuguese individuals and organizations.
  • The Gulbenkian Science Prize has now been restructured and is known as Gulbenkian Prizes on Cohesion, Knowledge and Sustainability and three prizes are awarded in each of the fields.
India successfully test-fires Dhruvastra
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducts flight trials of the anti-tank guided Nag Missile (HELINA), which has been named now as Dhruvastra.
  • The trials were carried out in direct and top attack mode, at Interim Test Range, Balasore, Odisha.
  • This is a third-generation, fire-and-forget, anti-tank guided missile. It will support both the airborne forces of the Indian Army as well as the Mechanised Infantry.
  • The land version of this missile is already available for integration the Nag missile carrier (NAMICA). The missile in the helicopter-launched configuration has been designated as Helicopter-launched NAG (HELINA).
  • After the completion of a successful trial, this can be fired from the indigenous `Dhruv’ Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), as well as Rudra (ALH WSI) attack helicopter.

July 25, 2020 

Assam CM launches Drone for surveillance of forests
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal unveiled a surveillance quadcopter (drone) and an anti-depredation quick response vehicle, which will help intensify vigil and curb man-animal conflict.
  • An intensified 24X7 surveillance would become possible over the forest cover and check incidents of man-animal conflict.
  • The drone will narrow-cast any purported movement of poachers in the national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and other reserve forests.
Odisha approves investment proposals worth Rs. 2,172.92 crore
  • The Odisha government has approved four investment proposals worth Rs 2,172.92 crore. The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) approved the projects in metal and metal downstream sector, which will likely generate employment for 1,122 people.
  • Rungta Mines Limited proposed to set up 34 MTPA beneficiation plant in two phases with an investment of Rs 975 crore.
  • It also proposed to set up 20 MTPA underground slurry pipeline with an investment of Rs 951 crore.
  • Shyam Metalics and Energy Limited would expand its Pellet Plant from 0.3 MTPA to 1.2 MTPA capacity with a total investment of Rs 76.92 crore.
Rajesh Bhushan appointed as Health Secretary and Ajay Tirkey as Secretary of Department of Land Resources
  • Rajesh Bhushan, IAS officer of 1987 Batch, Bihar Cadre has been appointed as the new Health Secretary in the Union Health Ministry. He will succeed Preeti Sudan upon completion of her tenure.
  • Ajay Tirkey has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development.
  • Ram Mohan Mishra is appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  • Anil Kumar Jain has been given additional charge as Secretary, Mines along with his post of Secretary in the Coal Ministry.
IIT Kharagpur’s portable device to test Covid-19
  • Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have developed a portable diagnostic device that can detect Covid-19 infection in 60 minutes at an estimated cost of Rs 400.
  • This entire non-invasive saliva-based test can be conducted in a very low-cost portable enclosure. The technology essentially uses a disposable simple paper-strip for chemical analysis and visualisation of results.
  • The device has been designed to be usable at locations with extremely poor resources. It can be operated by minimally trained personnel, precluding the needs for skilled technicians.
  • It is ready for commercialisation of the product and any corporate or start-up can approach the institute for technology licensing and commercial scale of production.
Turkmenistan granted observer status in the World Trade Organization (WTO)
  • Turkmenistan has been granted Observer status by the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council. Turkmenistan has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body.
  • Neighbouring Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Afghanistan — have acceded to the WTO, while Uzbekistan has been in on-and-off negotiations on WTO accession since 1994.

 FACTFILE –World Trade Organization (WTO)

  • The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations and is the largest international economic organization.
  • Commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
  • The WTO has 164 members and 25 observer governments
Nicaragua to join International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement
  • Nicaragua has become the 87th country to join the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement, an initiative led by India to promote sustainable energy.
  • Nicaragua’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Jaime Hermida Castillo signed the agreement at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.

FACTFILE – International Solar Alliance

  • The International Solar Alliance is an alliance of 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
  • It was jointly launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Hollande at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.
  • It is a major global initiative for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, envisioning rapid deployment of solar energy units. Last year the ISA amended its Framework Agreement to enable membership for all member countries of the United Nations.
  • Inclusion of UN member countries to the alliance will put solar energy in global agenda and the expanding membership will lead to the initiative benefitting the world at large.
  • The ISA Framework Agreement was opened for signature during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Morocco in November 2016 and the ISA became a treaty-based intergovernmental body in December 2017.
  • The ISA’s first assembly was held in New Delhi in October 2018.

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July 26, 2020 

Assam-origin scientist Dr Hifzur R Siddique makes major discovery in liver cancer
  • Dr Hifzur R Siddique, Assam-origin scientist now working as an assistant professor with Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), has made a path-breaking discovery in determining a major cause of liver cancer.
  • The discovery has the potential to serve as a therapeutic target for drug design by providing direction to the management strategy for this terminal disease.
  • Together with Prof Keigo Machida of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and other collaborators, Dr Hifzur R Siddique has discovered that the central regulatory pathway of liver cancer is caused by alcohol and hepatitis infection.
  • The team found that the cancer cells and cancer stem cells accumulate TBC1D15, which promotes cancer in two ways– initially by interfering with the normal asymmetric cell division and then enhancing the cancer-causing NOTCH protein.
TRIFED signs MoU with IIT Delhi for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
  • The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT Delhi for the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), a flagship national programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. 
  • A tripartite MOU was signed between TRIFED, IIT Delhi, on behalf of the UBA, as the National Coordinating Institute, and Vijnana Bharati, a Swadeshi Science Movement at IIT Delhi .
  • Tribal entrepreneurs under TRIFED’s Van Dhan programme will now be able to get access to the expertise of the entire network of 2600 + academic and research institutions under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).
  • Together with IIT Delhi, the “National Coordinating Institute (NCI)” for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA)” ,TRIFED envisages promoting Tribal Livelihoods and Income generating programmes through synergistic collaboration among the concerned Ministries, District Administration, local Panchayat Raj Institutes (PRIs), Voluntary Organisations, other stakeholders, as well as the other participating institutions.
  • TRIFED is implementing the Van Dhan Yojana a programme for value addition, branding and marketing of MFPs by establishing Van Dhan Kendras of around 300 tribal members each across the country to facilitate the creation of sustainable livelihoods for the forest-based tribal gatherers.
  • The partnership will benefit the tribal people and many more upcoming initiatives in the pipeline and will accelerate the transformation of tribal lives and livelihoods by reinvigorating their flagging economic condition.
Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches state-of-the-art honey testing lab at Anand
  • Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated a ‘World Class State-of-the-Art Honey Testing Laboratory’ established by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Anand (Gujarat) with support of National Bee Board (NBB).
  • Based on the parameters notified by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI), NDDB has set-up this lab with all the facilities and developed the test methods and protocols, accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
  • The ministry has taken up several activities to promote beekeeping under Mission on Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). The National Mission for Beekeeping being implemented through the National Bee Board and the states.
  • The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare has approved the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission(NBHM) for a period of two years.
India ranked 3rd in gaining forest area in the world
  • As per the latest Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), India has ranked third among the top 10 countries that have gained in forest areas in the last decade. India makes up for two per cent of total global forest area.
  • FAO brings this comprehensive assessment every five years since 1990. This report assesses the state of forests, their conditions and management for all member countries.
  • The top 10 countries that have recorded the maximum average annual net gains in forest area during 2010-2020 are China, Australia, India, Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, France, Italy and Romania.
  • The Asian continent reported the highest net gain in forest area in 2010-2020, it recorded 1.17 million hectares (ha) per year net increase in forests in the last decade.
  • India has been taking up massive afforestation and plantation schemes. During 2010-20, the rate of increase in naturally regenerating forest was just 0.38 per cent according to the FRA 2020.
  • India reported maximum employment in the forestry sector in the world. India accounted for 6.23 million, or nearly 50 per cent of 12.5 million people who are employed in the forestry sector globally.

July 27, 2020                    

PM Modi praises skilled artisans of Assam, Tripura and Manipur for value addition to bamboo products
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised skilled artisans of Assam, Tripura and Manipur for value addition to bamboo products including water bottles, tiffin boxes etc with the aim of making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’.
  • During his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’, PM said these indigenous products boost the income of the people and the business during the festivities and various other occasions.
  • The government has set up a new National Bamboo Mission (NBM) to focus on the development of the bamboo sector in the country. Now the North Eastern Council Cane & Bamboo Development Council (NECBDC) act as a coordinating and facilitating agency for the North-Eastern region.
  • The North-Eastern region has now slowly become bamboo industry hubs as more youths and entrepreneurs are engaging in this craft with the support from the government. Various value-added bamboo products including bamboo tiffin boxes manufactured at a small town- Churachandpur of Manipur State have become popular.
  • Zogam Bamboo Works of Churachandpur now could provide jobs to a number of young craftsmen of the district and its products have international buyers from Singapore, Dubai, Oklahoma etc. 
Delhi govt launches ‘Rozgar Bazar’ web portal to generate more jobs
  • The Delhi government launched a web portal to make job opportunities available to those who lost employment due to the COVID-induced lockdown, a move aimed at reviving the capital’s economy.
  • The web portal http://jobs.delhi.gov.in can be used by those looking for jobs and also for employers looking to recruit people.
  • Recruiters can go to the website and update their requirement. Job seekers can also go there and update their qualification, experience and requirement.
Kannan C S Warrier receives 2019 National Award of Excellence for Outstanding Research in Forestry
  • Coimbatore-based scientist, Kannan CS Warrier, has received the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education’s National Award of Excellence for exceptional research in forestry, including conservation of endangered sacred groves in the Alappuzha district of Kerala.
  • Sacred groves, also called kavu in Malayalam, are remains of natural forests, which are seen on the premises of Hindu ancestral homes (tharavaad). The breakdown of the joint family system spelt doom for Kerala’s sacred groves.
India builds World’s first-ever electrified Rail Tunnel for running Double Stack Container Trains
  • Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) has completed caving work for the one-kilometre long tunnel of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) through Aravalli mountain range in Haryana.
  • The tunnel connects Mewat and Gurugram district of Haryana and negotiates a steep gradient on the uphill and downhill slope of the Aravalli range.
  • The D-shaped tunnel with a cross-sectional area of 150 square metres, can accommodate double line with higher OHE (Over Head Equipment) to enable double-stack container movement on WDFC, making it world’s first electrified rail tunnel fit to run double-stack containers.

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July 28, 2020

Assam CM Sonowal launches 2nd phase of PMAY(U) in State
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal centrally laid the foundation stone of the second phase of the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) at a residence of Nagaon Choukitoop.
  • During the inaugural ceremony, CM distributed cheques of the first instalment of Rs 80,000 among three beneficiaries and also distributed cheques of last instalment among three beneficiaries of the town.
  • He also transferred the first and last instalments of Rs 80,000 and 30,000 respectively among 4000 and 2000 beneficiaries of the State through an electronic device.
India sends 10 diesel locomotives to Bangladesh Railways
  • India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off 10 broad gauge diesel locomotives to Bangladesh Railways under its “neighbourhood first” policy.
  • The 10 diesel locomotives were handed over from the Gede station of Sealdah Division of Indian Railways to Darshana station of Bangladesh Railways.
  • The handing over of these locomotives, under grant assistance from the Indian government, fulfils an important commitment made during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in October, 2019.
  • Both the countries have stepped up their rail cooperation in mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as trade via land border faced disruptions. There was the highest ever exchange of freight trains in the month of June 2020.
RBI to extend $400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka
  • The Reserve Bank of India has signed necessary documents for extending a USD 400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka to boost the island nation’s draining foreign exchange reserves due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Haryana to host the Khelo India Youth Games in 2021
  • Haryana will host the fourth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games in 2021.
  • Star Sports will be the Official Broadcast Partner of the Khelo India Youth Games.
  • KIYG is a part of the revamped national programme for development of sports ‘Khelo India’ which was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2017.
  • The 2020 edition of KIYG was held in Guwahati.
  • The Khelo India Scheme aims to encourage sports all over the country.
Junior Administrative Assistant (Assam Secretariat) Test Series 2020 – Mock & Sectional Tests

 

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Assam Current Affairs – July 15 – 21, 2020

Posted on by admin 
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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Assam Current Affairs – July 08 – 14, 2020

Posted on by admin 
Assam Current Affairs & GK – July 8 - 14, 2020

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 8 – 14, 2020 )

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July 08, 2020

Karnataka launches 6 locally developed products to fight Covid-19
  • Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan launched six Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved products made by startups to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The six products are Shieldex 24, Florescence probes and PCR mix, Daksh, VTM, Cov-Astra and Anti-microbial face wash.
  • Developed by Ravi Kumar at Biofi, Shieldex 24 is a UV-ROS box for Covid sterilisation. It can help eliminate viruses located on objects and is useful in the transportation industry.
  • Govindarajan and Meher Prakash from VNIR have developed the Florescence probes and PCR mix for RTPCR detection. These probes are part of Covid testing kits which are currently being imported.
  • Arun Agrawal from Janitri has developed Daksh, a remote foetal monitoring device which is used in treating Covid positive pregnant women.
  • Manjunath and Dinesh from Deno Bio labs at IBAB have developed the VTM which helps in safely transporting live virus samples from a sample collection centre to a testing lab.
  • Cov-Astra is an Artificial Intelligence based device which can detect Covid virus through x-ray, relegating the conventional throat swab for testing people for the virus.
  • Developed by Adarsh Nararajan from Aindra A, Cov-Astra can help detect the virus at a significantly lower price of Rs 150 to Rs 250 per person.
  • Latha Damle and team from Atrimed have developed an anti-microbial face wash containing herbal anti-microbials, which can kill viruses on the face in a fraction of seconds.
India, Sweden agree to cooperate in fight against Covid-19
  • Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his Swedish counterpart Lena Hallengren discussed via video link the status and plans to handle coronavirus and decided to co-operate in the field of health and medicine.
  • The two countries and agreed to hold the Joint Working Group”s (JWG) next meeting by autumn and stay in touch digitally till the end of crisis.
  • Vardhan spoke about the decade of vibrant Indo-Swedish partnership that oversaw 10 JWG level bilateral meetings and mentioned recent achievements of India, like the Ayushman Bharat Yojana that covered 550 million people.
World Bank provides $400 million to enhance support for Namami Gange
  • Indian government and the World Bank(WB) signed a loan agreement of $400 million, to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga.
  • The Second National Ganga River Basin Project will help stem pollution in the iconic river and strengthen the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people.
  • The agreement comprises a loan of $381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to $19 million. The $381 million variable spread loan has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years.
  • The World Bank has been supporting the government’s efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.
  • To ensure that these infrastructure assets function effectively and are well maintained, the project will build on the innovative Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) of public private partnership introduced under the ongoing NGRBP, and which has become the solution of choice for sewage treatment investments in the Ganga Basin.
  • Government pays a private operator 40 per cent of the capital cost to build a sewage treatment plant during the construction period; the remaining 60 per cent is paid as performance-linked payments over 15 years to ensure that the operator runs and maintains the plant efficiently.
India’s First NPNT Compliant Drone Flight Successfully Completed
  • Quidich Innovation Labs announced the successful completion of India’s First No-Permission No-Takeoff (NPNT) compliant drone flight on the A200 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).
  • The flight was carried out in a green zone identified by the DGCA in Karnataka and marks a critical breakthrough in online testing and permission systems. This will go a long way in opening up the skies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
  • MoCA& DGCA released a comprehensive policy on use of UAVs, which came into effect in 2018. Under the new policy, only UAVs which complied to stringent manufacturing standards laid down by the government could be used. 
  • The UAV also had to be compliant with the newly formulated NPNT architecture. A Unique Identification Number (UIN) and an Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP), along with Online permission artifacts (OPA) for every flight, are mandatory.
Himachal Pradesh becomes the first state where everyone possesses LPG connection
  • Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country in which every household has an LPG gas connection.
  • HP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that as many as 2,76,243 families were provided free gas connections under the Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana.
  • This scheme was launched for those households which were left out of the Central Govt’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana under which connections were provided free to poor women of rural areas.
CBDT, SEBI sign MoU for exchange of data
  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for data exchange between the two organisations.
  • The MoU will facilitate the regular sharing of data and information between the SEBI and the CBDT on an automatic and regular basis.
  • SEBI and the CBDT will also exchange with each other, on request and suo moto basis, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out their functions under various laws.

July 09, 2020

UP govt approves new start-up policy 2020
  • UP state government has approved the UP-Start-up Policy 2020 to promote fledgling units in various areas including agriculture, health, power, education, tourism and transport.
  • Objective of the policy is to ensure that UP is ranked within the first three states in the Centre’s start-up rankings, create 100 incubators with, at least, one in each district, create an ecosystem to promote at least 10,000 start-ups, set up state of the art excellence centres and create India’s largest incubator in Lucknow.
  • The policy will be valid for five years and will provide direct employment to 50,000 people and indirect employment to 1 lakh.
  • There are more than 1,800 start-up units registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Centre and since there is no holistic policy for start-ups, it was decided to create an ecosystem for promotion of start-ups which would require a new policy.
  • The state government is already providing start-ups with a subsidy and has started a Rs 1,000 crore fund to promote new entrants in the field.
Punjab okays Rs 3,200 crore for Industrial park and manufacturing cluster
  • Punjab govt approved development of a modern Industrial Park and Integrated Manufacturing Cluster near Ludhiana and Rajpura, respectively, at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore each.
  • The two projects, be set up in 1,000 acres each, the projects will help prospective entrepreneurs and industrialists set up ventures, will help accelerate industrialisation and create jobs.
  • The And Integrated Manufacturing Cluster near Rajpura in the Patiala district will be developed with the help of the National Industrial Corridor Development Corp.
  • To mobilise additional revenue, the cabinet gave the go-ahead to raise the mutation fee from Rs 300 to Rs 600. Accordingly the State Govt asked the Revenue Department to launch a campaign for clearing all pending mutations in the interest of landowners.
Union Cabinet approves Rs 12,450 crore recapitalisation of 3 Govt general insurance companies
  • The Union Cabinet approved capital infusion of Rs 12,450 crore for three state run insurance companies, viz. Oriental Insurance Company, National Insurance Company and the United India Insurance Company.
  • The approved amount also includes Rs 2,500 crore infused in FY 2019-20.
  • In the Union Financial Budget 2020-21, central government had set aside Rs 6,950 crore for recapitalisation of the three public sector general insurance companies.
  • The government aims to improve the solvency ratio of these companies before merging theses three state-run general insurance entities to create a general insurance giant.
NSDC, Microsoft partnership to impart digital skills to Indian youths
  • The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Software major Microsoft announced a partnership aimed at providing digital skills to over 1 lakh youth in the country over the next 12 months.
  • Microsoft will collaborate with NSDC’s eSkill India portal to provide free access to learning resources and conduct digital skilling awareness drives, equipping the next generation of learners with the skills they need to find employment opportunities in the digital economy.
  • Microsoft’s this partnership is an extension of it’s global skilling initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the future economy.
  • Microsoft’s learning resource centre, Microsoft Learn will be integrated with the eSkill India digital platform to provide access to personalised learning paths and resources that are recently in demand and expected to continue to grow in the time to come.
  • Learnings will cover a broad range of skills, from entry-level digital literacy to advanced product-based skilling in critical technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud computing, providing numerous opportunities for people to reskill and upskill.

FACTFILE – National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

  • NSDC is a not-for-profit public limited company incorporated on July 31, 2008 under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. It was set up by Ministry of Finance as Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
  • Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) holds 49% of the share capital of NSDC, while the private sector has the balance 51% of the share capital.
  • NSDC aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large, quality and for-profit vocational institutions. It also provides funding to build scalable and profitable vocational training initiatives. Its mandate is also to enable support system which focuses on quality assurance, information systems and train the trainer academies either directly or through partnerships.
  • NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. It also develops appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives.
  • NSDC’s eSkill India portal catalogues more than 490 e-learning courses in multiple Indian languages through leading knowledge providers.
Chhattisgarh becomes India’s first state to start e-Lok Adalats
  • The Chhattisgarh High Court and the Chhattisgarh State Legal Services Authority organized the India’s first ever E-Lok Adalat amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
  • About 195 benches were constituted at different places of the state, including remote areas like Sarguja, Kanker, Bastar, Surajpur etc., via video conferencing and 3,135 cases were identified for compromise.
  • 2,270 cases were settled in a single day via e-Lok Adalat.

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July 10, 2020

Himalayan Butterfly ’Golden Birdwing’ is India’s largest butterfly
  • A Himalayan butterfly named Golden Birdwing is India’s largest, a record an unknown specimen had held for 88 years.
  • With a wingspan of 194 mm, the female of the species is marginally larger than the Southern Birdwing (190 mm) that Brigadier William Harry Evans, a British military officer and lepidopterist, had recorded in 1932.
  • The hitherto largest Indian butterfly that Brigadier Evans recorded in 1932 was an individual of the Southern Birdwing (Troidesminos), which was then treated as a subspecies of the Common Birdwing.
  • While the female Golden Birdwing was recorded from Didihat in Uttarakhand, the largest male was from the Wankhar Butterfly Museum in Meghalaya capital Shillong.
India good example in solar auctions amidst pandemic, say UN Secretary General
  • UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that as the world designs and implements Covid-19 recovery plans, it should invest in a better, more sustainable future.
  • Citing the case of India, he said at the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Clean Energy Transition Summit that solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the pandemic.
  • A growing number of coalitions of investors and real economy stakeholders are advocating for a recovery aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Bailout support to sectors such as industry, aviation and shipping should be conditioned on alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
  • Praising India, Antonio Guterres said that Solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the pandemic. India serves as a good example.
IIT Hyderabad and Nvidia team up for AI research centre
  • Nvidia unveiled ‘The Nvidia AI Technology Centre ‘, a technology centre at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad that will accelerate research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its commercial adoption.
  • The collaboration between IIT Hyderabad and Nvidia will focus on advancing AI research in the areas of agriculture and smart cities, besides language understanding.
  • The projects in the area of increasing crop yield using AI algorithms, applying AI-based solutions to support safer transportation systems and better ways of managing traffic, will be taken up.

FACTFILE – Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

  • The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is a public technical and research university located in Sangareddy district of Telangana, India.
  • It is known for its academic strength, research, publications and proximity to IT and industrial hubs.
  • IITH was founded in 2008, among the eight young Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
  • It was ranked 201st in Asia by the QS World University Rankings in 2020 and 94 among BRICS nations in 2019. Ranks in the range of 601-650 in the World.
  • In India, IIT Hyderabad was ranked 8 among engineering institutes by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2020 and 17 overall.
AIIB released $50 million loan to L&T Infra Finance for Renewable Energy
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has released $50 million in the first tranche of assistance to L&T Infrastructure Finance Ltd for funding Renewable Energy projects in India.
  • AIIB invests in sustainable infrastructure, has sanctioned total $100 million loan to unit of L&T Finance Holdings. This is it’s first loan to an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC).
  • AIIB provide loans for operational infrastructure projects of which majority are backed by tripartite agreements, government guarantee and support from government.

FACTFILE – Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

  • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • It has 82 members as well as 20 prospective members from around the world.
  • AIIB started operation after the agreement entered into force on 25 December 2015, with initial capital base of $100 billion, which is ​2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.
  • The bank received the highest credit ratings from the three biggest rating agencies in the world, and is perceived as a potential rival to the World Bank, ADB and IMF.

July 11, 2020

Central Govt to set up Bamboo Industrial Park in Dima Hasao
  • The Central government has decided to set up the first Bamboo Industrial Park in the Northeast in Dima Hasao district of Assam for tapping the immense potential of bamboo sector of the locality.
  • The park on completion will cover an area of 75 hectares, would contribute to the overall economic development of the State apart from developing the bamboo-based industries.
  • The Bamboo Industrial Park would immensely benefit the bamboo growers of the State which has come close on the heels of Assam Govt’s Bamboo and Cane Policy.
  • DoNER ministry has taken at the initiative for setting up this Bamboo Industrial Park.
T-Hub partners MeitY to mentor hardware startups in India
  • Hyderabad-based global start-up catalyst T-Hub announced a partnership with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to lead Digital India’s Scale Up programme for hardware and Internet of Things (IoT) startups.
  • As many as 15 startups with leading-edge solutions in mobility, energy, agriculture, aerospace, manufacturing, consumer, healthtech, medtech, smart cities and logistics and supply chain sectors will be shortlisted for the programme.
  • The startups will go through regular interventions through bootcamps and dedicated mentoring organised by T-Hub. The startups will get exposure to design/enhance their hardware.
  • They will receive mentorship in areas such as pricing, go-to-market strategies, fund raising, and will also receive equity-free grants.
BDL signs contract for licence & Technology Transfer of Akash Missile with DRDO
  • Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has signed a licence agreement and transfer of technology of Akash Missile Weapon System with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).  

FACTFILE – Akash Missile Weapon System (AKASH)

  • Akash is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defense system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for Missile Systems, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division and L&T for other radars, control centers, launcher systems in India.
  • It can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at altitudes up to 18,000 m and has the capability to neutralize aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles as well as ballistic missiles.

FACTFILE – Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

  • Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) was founded in 1970 to be a manufacturing base for guided weapon systems.
  • It is one of India’s manufacturers of ammunitions and missile systems. It in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
  • BDL began by producing a first generation anti-tank guided missile – the French SS11B1. This product was a culmination of a licence agreement the Government of India entered into with Aerospatiale.
Injeti Srinivas appointed as Chairman of International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA)
  • IAS officer Injeti Srinivas has been appointed as the first chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) for the Gandhinagar-based Financial Special Economic Zone, popularly known as Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City.
  • Injeti Srinivas is a 1983 batch IAS officer from the Odisha cadre and served at the corporate affairs ministry for nearly three years. He has also served as secretary, department of sports, and as Director General of SAI.
  • The main function of the IFSCA is to regulate financial products such as securities, deposits or contracts of insurance, financial services, and financial institutions that have been previously approved by any appropriate regulator in an IFSC.

FACTFILE – International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA)

  • Indian government has established International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to regulate all financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) with headquarters in Gandhinagar.
  • IFSCA will regulate financial products such as securities, deposits or contracts of insurance, financial services, and financial institutions which have been previously approved by any appropriate regulator such as RBI, the SEBI etc., in an IFSC.
  • It will also regulate any other financial products/services/institutions in an IFSC.
  • It will consist of nine members, appointed by the central government, including the Chairperson of IFSCA, a member each from the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, and PFRDA; and two members from the Ministry of Finance and two other members will be appointed on the recommendation of a Selection Committee.
  • Unification of regulatory activities under one authority will be of immense benefit and would accelerate the development of India’s first IFSC at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
Odisha Govt launches Bhubaneshwar Land Use Intelligence System
  • Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launched BLUIS (Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System), the flagship development of General Administration and Public Grievances Departments.
  • Under the initiative, a web and mobile-based solution has been developed to monitor changes in all government lands in Bhubaneswar by leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery.
  • BLUIS is a geo-tagged repository of all the government lands in Bhubaneswar, created through high-resolution satellite imagery to detect all changes taking place on government lands.
  • Odisha became the first state in the country to tap space technology and artificial intelligence for safeguarding government lands.
  • The mobile app also enables crowdsourcing cases of unauthorised land use and can also be used by citizens to report any unauthorised development taking place over geo-tagged government lands. This will check the menace of encroachments of public lands.

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July 12, 2020

Central grant of Rs 631 crore released to Assam
  • The Centre has released the fourth tranche of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant equated monthly instalment amounting Rs 6,195 crore Assam and other 13 states.
  • The Centre released advance payments of over Rs 631 crore to Assam.
  • Other states which received the grant were Kerala (Rs 1,276 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 952 crore), Punjab (Rs 638 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 491 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 423 crore) and West Bengal (Rs 417 crore).
  • As per the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, equal instalments of the grant have been issued by the Centre to the states since April 2020.
  • The grant will assist the states to take preventive and mitigation measures for containment of the COVID-19 and these funds can be used to cover the cost of consumables, and purchase of personal protection equipment (PPE) for healthcare, municipal, police and fire authorities, besides purchase of medical equipments.
Biosafety level two lab unveiled in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka
  • Karnataka Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar inaugurated a biosafety level two dedicated Covid and Virology lab in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka. The state-of-the-art lab is temperature controlled and complete clean air lab with fully automated machine for autolysis with RNA extraction.
  • It has contamination free passage for samples through ultra violet pass boxes without the need for human movement.
  • Bio-medical waste disposal from the lab is also carried through contamination free ISO – 8 classification process.
Flipkart signs MoU with Karnataka to promote local art and craft
  • Flipkart has signed an MoU with Karnataka Govt’s MSME and Mines Department to promote the states arts, crafts and handloom sectors by bringing them on to e-commerce and providing market access, under it’s Samarth programme.
  • The partnership will enable Karnataka’s local artisans, weavers and craftsmen to showcase their hallmark products to a pan-India customer base.
  • Both the parties will focus on creating avenues to increase business and trade inclusion opportunities for these underserved segments of the society.
Manipur’s  Gyanendro Ningombam elected as new President of Hockey India
  • Gyanendra Ningombam has been elected unanimously as Hony President of Hockey India. Gyanendra is a resident of Imphal East district, the septuagenarian Hockey lover has long been associated with Hockey promotion in Manipur for the last four decades.
  • He is instrumental in producing eminent international class hockey players from the state. He also served as General secretary of the earstwhile Manipur Hockey Association, and presently Senior Vice president of Manipur Hockey and also of Hockey India.
Indian battalion wins UNIFIL environment award
  • An Indian battalion stationed with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has won an environment award for a project that aims to decrease waste generation, reuse plastic and build green houses.
  • UNIFIL’s Indian Battalion was adjudged first for a project that seeks to increase awareness and decrease waste generation by planting seedlings in their positions and areas of responsibility and reducing wastage.
  • Other UNIFIL units that received awards and recognitions included French-led Force Commander’s Reserve, Indonesian Battalion, Republic of Korea Battalion and Italian Battalion.
  • The awards commend individuals, UN positions, contingents, sections and units that have demonstrated leadership, innovation or exceptional activities in protecting the environment.

July 13, 2020

‘Ypthimawatsoni’ butterfly discovered in Tripura
  • A team of wildlife researchers has rediscovered ‘Ypthimawatsoni’ butterfly commonly known as ‘Looped three-ring’ after 61 years near a village in Jampui Hills under the North Tripura district of Tripura.
  • Researchers constantly survey the butterflies in North-East India to document current populations, distributions, and status of butterflies for the past five years.
  • Looped Three-ring Ypthimawatsoni, 1893 belonging to subfamily Styrene and family Nymphalidae of insect order Lepidoptera has not been recorded for approximately 61 years since it was last seen in the year 1958 in Manipur. 
  • This rediscovery is also important in the context of updating the status and distribution of the butterfly fauna for Tripura.
United States remains India’s top trading partner in 2019-20
  • The US remained India’s top trading partner for the second consecutive fiscal in 2019-20, which shows increasing economic ties between the two countries.
  • In 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at $88.75 billion as against $87.96 billion in 2018-19.
  • The trade gap between the countries has increased to $17.42 billion in 2019-20 from $16.86 billion in 2018-19.
  • China was India’s top trading partner from 2013-14 to 2017-18. But in 2018-19, the US first surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner.
  • The bilateral trade between India and China has dipped to $81.87 billion in 2019-20 from $87.08 billion in 2018-19 and the trade deficit between the two has declined to $48.66 billion in 2019-20 from $53.57 billion in the 2018-19.
IIIT Delhi develops AI model to repurpose existing drugs to treat Covid cases
  • The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Delhi) has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for drug repositioning in the treatment of Covid-19.
  • Instead of manually going through available drug and checking its effectiveness against Covid-19 one, using AI to speed things up and find the drugs which have the highest probability of success against the disease.
  • The AI model computes the similarity between the chemical structures of the drugs and the similarity between the genomic structures of existing viruses and the novel Coronavirus.
  • The model analyse the historical information about the efficacy of the drugs on different viruses; it selects chemical structurally similar drugs that have been successful in treating viruses that have a genomic structure close to that of the novel Coronavirus.
Russia 1st nation to finish human trials for Covid-19 vaccine
  • Russia became the first nation to complete clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine on humans, and the results have proven the medication’s effectiveness.
  • Russia had allowed clinical trials of two forms of a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
  • The first vaccine, in the form of a solution for intramuscular administration, was carried out at the Burdenko Military Hospital and other vaccine, in the form of a powder for the preparation of a solution for intramuscular administration, was carried out at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.
Microsoft joins Google to create new generation of web apps
  • Microsoft’s PWABuilder and Google’sBubblewrap have joined hands to help web developers get their Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) into the Play Store.
  • Progressive web apps use emerging web browser APIs and features, along with traditional progressive enhancement strategy, to bring a native app-like user experience to cross-platform web applications.
  • com is Microsoft’s open source developer tool that helps build high-quality PWAs and publish them in app stores.
  • Google’s Bubblewrap is command line utility and library to generate and sign Google Play Store packages from Progressive Web Apps.

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July 14, 2020

Arunachal Pradesh filmmaker Kezang D Thongdok bagged the Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2020
  • Kezang D Thongdok, an independent filmmaker, documented the process of honey hunting has bagged the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2020.
  • Thongdok’s short documentary ‘Chi Lupo’ artfully sketches the custom of honey hunting practised in the Shertukpen community wherein ‘Chi’ means honey and ‘Lupo’ means hunters
  • Thongdok’s attempt to depict and preserve the age-old tradition of honey hunting amongst the Shertukpens bagged him the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award this year.
Govt to curb import dependence of APIs/medical devices
  • As part of efforts to make India self-sufficient in manufacturing bulk drugs or APIs, the Govt of India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals is finalising guidelines for selecting locations of three bulk drug parks and four medical devices parks.
  • Currently, India imports more than 70 per cent of its API or bulk drug needs, largely from countries such as China.
  • The guideline will become the basis for selection of developers for this prestigious project which is part of government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission.
  • The guidelines which will form basis for objectively selecting locations of upcoming three bulk drugs parks and four medical devices parks in the country.
  • In order to encourage domestic production of critical APIs and medical devices, the Union Cabinet had recenlty approved a scheme for development of three bulk drugs and four medical devices parks in which the Centre will extend Grants-in-Aid to states with a maximum limit of Rs 1,000 crore per bulk drug park and Rs 100 crore per medical device parks.
  • Govt has also announced a production linked incentive scheme for promoting domestic manufacturing of key critical starting materials/drug intermediates & APIs and medical devices.
Google’s Rs 75,000 crore boost for digitisation in India
  • Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, announced a Google for India digitisation fund through which, the company will invest Rs 75,000 crore or approximately $10 billion over the next five to seven years to help India go digital.
  • The investment will focus on four areas important to India’s digitisation:
    • By enabling affordable access to information to every Indian in their own language.
    • By building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s specific needs.
    • By empowering businesses to continue or embark on digital transformation.
    • By leveraging technology and Artificial Intelligence for social good in areas like health, agriculture and education.
India becomes second-largest foreign investor in the UK
  • India invested in 120 projects and created more than 5000 new jobs in the UK to become the second-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) after the US in 2019.
  • The US remains the number one source of FDI for the UK, delivering 462 projects, followed by India, Germany, France and China and Hong Kong.
  • The Department for International Trade inward investment statistics for 2019-2020 found India moving up from its previous third-largest spot, representing an overall 4 per cent FDI increase for the UK on 2018-2019 with 1,852 new inward investment projects in the 2019/2020 financial year.
DRDO develops software tool for tracking Covid patients in quarantine
  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a software tool for enforcement of quarantine, which will be implemented in partnership with the Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA), an industry body of software professionals.
  • Both the organisations signed an agreement to implement the automated management of the software. The pilot for the implementation is likely to begin soon.
  • The DRDO has devised Smart Automated Management of Patients and Risks for Covid-19 (SAMPARC), an intelligent software for enforcement of quarantine or isolation.
  • The software tool will be a handy tool for law enforcement and health officials, as it would enable intelligent automated tracking of those in quarantine or isolation.
  • It will also generate alerts if there are violations or wilful suppression of movement details. This is expected to reduce the tracking workload of law enforcement or health officials.
  • The online pact was signed by Dr Rituraj Kumar, Scientist G, Centre for AI & Robotics (CAIR) of the DRDO and Sundeep Kumar Makthala, Global President, TITA.
  • The SAMPARC solution can be deployed as a national service by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), or can be distributed as a state-wise or region-wise service.
  • Relying on the information provided by the police and health officials, it allows geofencing, face recognition, display of data on map.
  • The rollout of the solution involves no cost to the patient and local authority needs to position only a suitable computer and the software is based on a combination of open-source software.
  • Details of the patient including name, cell phone number, IMEI of the phone, coordinates of the quarantine location, duration of quarantine, email id and optionally photographs of the patient for AI-based face detection.
  • The app has to be installed on the patient”s smartphone which would automatically send a protected message to the Covid server every 10 minutes. The app would run as a background service that would automatically restart even if the phone reboots.
  • Based on the requirements of the authorities, the patient will be able to send selfies taken through the SAMPARC app to the server for automated AI based face recognition.
Lee Hsien Loong won fourth term as Prime Minister of Singapore
  • Lee Hsien Loong has become the Prime Minister of Singapore after the People’s Action Party won the recently held General Elections. With this, Lee Hsien Loong has won a fourth term as the PM of Singapore.
  • The People’s Action Party (PAP) have won 83 seats out of the total 93 seats contested in the Election by securing 61.24 per cent of the total valid votes.

BIOGRAPHY – Lee Hsien Loong

  • Lee Hsien Loong is a Singaporean politician who has served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore since August 2004. Lee is the eldest son of the 1st Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
  • He led the People’s Action Party to victory in the 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020 general elections.
  • Lee graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge University and later earned a Master of Public Administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
NTPC Limited wins CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019
  • National Thermal Power Corporation has won the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019, under Outstanding Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence Category. It has also received Commendation for Significant Achievement in the category of CSR.
  • NTPCs flagship CSR program Girl Empowerment Mission, a four weeks residential program has been institutionalized in the vicinity of its power stations for the benefit of school going girls to support in their overall development.
India’s 2018 Tiger census sets new Guinness World Record
  • The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018 has entered the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey. 
  • The country now has an estimated 2967 tigers as per the latest census, which makes India home to nearly 75 percent of the global tiger population and has already fulfilled its resolve of doubling tiger numbers, well ahead of the target year of 2022.
  • The fourth iteration of the survey – conducted in 2018-19 – was the most comprehensive to date, in terms of both resource and data amassed. Camera traps were placed in 26,838 locations across 141 different sites and surveyed an effective area of 1 lakh 21 thousand 337 square kilometres.
Atal Innovation Mission launches app development module for school students
  • NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission has launched the ATL App Development Module for school children across the country.
  • Through six project-based learning modules and online mentoring sessions, young innovators can learn to build mobile apps in various Indian languages.
  • To build capacities and acumen for app development within school teachers, periodic Teacher Training sessions will be conducted on the AIM App Development course.
  • NITI Aayog is now bringing the skills of app development to the young tinkerers of Atal Tinkering Labs across the country so that they can integrate their Tinkering Lab innovations with mobile apps enhancing the usability and reach of their innovations.

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Assam Current Affairs – July 01-07, 2020

Posted on by admin 
Assam Current Affairs & GK – July 1 - 7, 2020

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of July 1 – 7, 2020 )

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July 01, 2020

Assam government prohibits use of spiked bits on horses
  • The Assam government has banned the use of spiked bits or yokes with spikes on horses, by enforcing a prohibition under the cruelty provisions to the Drought and Pack Animals Rules, 1965.
  • This order was issued recently by Assam’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department Secretary Devajyoti Hazarika following a complaint by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA-India).
  • PETA India had launched a nationwide campaign in 2019 based on the outcome of a multi-state survey of government efforts to impose a ban on using spiked bits on horses.
  • Other states like Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have already issued orders enforcing these prohibitions.
India ranked 117th in SDG Index 2020
  • India is ranked at 117th position with a score of 92and is also facing major challenges in 10 of the 17 SDGs including zero hunger, good health, gender inequality among others.
  • The index has been topped by Sweden with score of 84.72, Denmark scored 84.56, Finland scored 83.77.
  • The 2020 report has reviewed the performance of 193 UN Member States out of which 166 were ranked under SDG index 2020.
  • The report identifies five key measures that global cooperation should include:
    1. Disseminate best practices rapidly;
    2. strengthen financing mechanisms for developing countries;
    3. Address hunger hotspots;
    4. Ensure social protection;
    5. Promote new drugs and vaccines.
  • Since its launch in 2016, the report provides the most up-to-date data to track and review the performance of all 193 UN member states on the 17 SDGs.
HDFC Bank launches ”e-KisaanDhan” app for farmers
  • HDFC Bank launched ”e-KisaanDhan” mobile app for farmers across India to access various agricultural and banking services.
  • The Mobile App, which serves as a repository of knowledge and information for any individual engaged in farming, helps meet needs of the rural ecosystem.
  • This will also provide value-added services, like mandi prices, latest farming news, weather forecast, information on seed varieties, SMS advisory, e-pashuhaat, multiple banking services, like procuring loans, opening bank accounts, insurance facilities, online calculation of KCC loan eligibility.
  • This app is a part of the bank’s ”HarGaonHamara” initiative to reach out to customers in the rural and under-served areas.
World Bank offers $750 million loan for India’s MSMEs
  • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $750 million MSME Emergency Response program to support increased flow of finance into the hands of India’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
  • The MSME Emergency Response program will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of 15 lakh MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect jobs.
  • The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan of $750 million has a maturity of 19 years including a 5-year grace period.
  • This program will support the government’s efforts to channel liquidity to the MSME sector by de-risking lending from banks and NBFCs to MSMEs through a range of instruments, including credit guarantees.
  • The World Bank has so far committed $2.75 billion to support India’s emergency COVID-19 response.
Uniform stamp duty on securities market instruments from July 1
  • The amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, to bring about uniformity of the stamp duty on securities across states will come into effect from July 1, 2020.
  • Central Govt has created the legal and institutional mechanism to enable states to collect stamp duty on securities market instruments at one place by one agency, through the stock exchange or clearing corporation authorised by it or by the depository on one instrument.
  • The amendment will improve the ease of doing business and bring in uniformity of the stamp duty on securities across states, which can help building a pan-India securities market.
  • Stock exchanges will now collect stamp duty for trading in securities at a unified rate from July 1 and deposit the proceeds with the Centre, which will then divide it among states where the trade took place.
  • At present, market participants collect stamp duty at rates fixed by the state where the trade takes place. This created a complex system with multiple tax rates and differing regulations in different states, posing a challenge to settle deals.
  • Under the new provisions, stock exchanges/clearing agencies would collect duty on securities transactions and deposit it with the centre, for off market transactions platform, the depositories would collect stamp duties.
  • This centralised collection mechanism is expected to ensure minimise cost of collection and enhance revenue productivity. It will help develop equity markets and equity culture across the length and breadth of the country, ushering in balanced regional development.
Microsoft collaborate with Accenture to nurture B2B startups in India
  • Microsoft announced to collaborate with global professional services company Accenture to host the third edition of the Accenture Ventures Challenge for B2B startups in India.
  • It will recognise startups in India in four categories: supply chain resilience, channel shift to digital commerce, systems resilience and responsible technology.
  • Microsoft, in February 2020, launched the “100X100X100” programme to bring 100 companies to commit $100,000 each for enterprise-ready solutions from 100 business-to-business (B2B) startups in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) space in India over the course of 18 months.
  • Accenture Ventures Challenge identifies the best B2B tech startups to develop solutions for real-world challenges faced by businesses. Its’ 2020 edition will identify 12 innovative startups that are helping to address the business and human impact of COVID-19.
  • The winner in each category will be given an opportunity to join the Accenture Ventures Open Innovation partner programme and co-create solutions for Accenture clients around the world.

July 02, 2020

 Assam Govt decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into National Park
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced that the state government has decided to upgrade the DehingPatkai Wildlife Sanctuary, which is home to a vast variety of flora and fauna, into a national park.

FACTFILE – Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

  • Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 km2 rainforest.
  • It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004.
  • The Dehing Patkai forms the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India.
  • The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary and a part of Dehing Patkai Rainforest, due to their importance for elephant habitat, were declared as Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant.
Railways to invite private players for passenger train operations
  • Indian Railway has invited request for qualifications for private participation for passenger train operations on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains.
  • Railway ministry plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains. The project would entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.
  • The private investment for running passenger trains over Indian Railways network
  • began last year with the introduction of Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
  • The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world class travel experience to passengers.
  • The 109 (origin-destination) pairs of trains have been formed into 12 clusters across the Indian Railway network. The private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and maintenance of the trains. Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph and should reduce journey time.
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur develops new micro porous film
  • Researcher Dr Tushar Deshpande of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has developed an elastomeric film that has multiple uses. The film can be used as a bandage to prevent a wound from getting infected. It will also speed up healing by aiding tissue building around the wound, by allows air to pass but no virus.
  • Deshpande said the film can also separate petrol from water. The film doesn’t absorb any liquid and has been made with polydis methyl siloxin, ethyl acetated and water and its thickness is 150 microns.”
  • It could also be used in making personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to prevent coronavirus infection. The film will also be effective in making tissues of other organs, including heart, liver and brain.
Delhi CM Kejriwal announces India’s first Coronavirus plasma bank in Delhi
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the first plasma bank in the country for the novel coronavirus patients in the city and urged the Covid survivors to come forward and donate plasma to save lives. He also launched the helpline number to register names for plasma donation.
  • The patients who were treated from Covid-19 and have completed 14 days after their treatment are eligible for donating plasma. They must be between 18 and 60 age groups, must have weight more than 50 kg.
AAI inks MoA with Cachar District for financial assistance to Cacahr Cancer Hospital
  • The Cachar District Adminstration and authorities of Airports Authority of India (AAI) Silchar airport signed an Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for providing financial assistance for procurement of ambulance for Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar amounting to Rs 13 Lakh.
  • The MoA was signed by Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli and Silchar Airport Director PK Gorai.
  • As a part of the CSR initiative, the Airport Authority of India will support the project by providing financial assistance for procurement of sophisticated ambulance for the cancer hospital.
World Bank approves $500 million project STARS to better education quality in 6 Indian states
  • The World Bank board of executives has approved a new project worth $500 million to improve learning outcome and governance of government schools in six Indian states.
  • The project STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program) will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan in partnership with Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.
  • STARS will help improve learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction, and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management.
  • The STARS program builds on the long partnership between India and the World Bank, since 1994, for strengthening public school education and to support the country’s goal of providing ‘Education for All’.
  • The program will support individualized, needs-based training for teachers that will give them an opportunity to have a say in shaping training programs and making them relevant to their teaching needs.
India, World Bank sign loan agreements for housing sector in Tamil Nadu
  • The Govt of India, state Govt of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank signed legal agreements to help low-income groups in the state of Tamil Nadu get access to affordable housing.
  • The loan agreements were signed for two projects:
  • The $200 million First Tamil Nadu Housing Sector Strengthening Programme supports the government’s ongoing efforts to increase the availability of affordable housing by gradually shifting the role of the state from being the main provider to an enabler.
  • It aim to unlock regulatory barriers and incentivise private sector participation in affordable housing for low-income families.
  • $50 million Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project is also approved to support innovations in housing finance and strengthen housing sector institutions in the state. It will finance the newly created Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund (TNSF) – an innovation in housing finance in India.
  • These loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) have a maturity of 20 years including a grace period of 5 years.
Former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan gets Mahalanobis award
  • Former Reserve Bank of India Governor C. Rangarajan has been conferred the P.C. Mahalanobis Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to official statistics, on the occasion of Statistics Day on June 29.
  • Rangarajan had also held the posts of Chairman, Financial Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and Chairman, Madras Faculty of Economics.

BIOGRAPHY – Chakravarthi Rangarajan

  • Chakravarthi Rangarajan is an Indian economist and 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, he resigned the day the UPA lost power. He is also the Chairman of the Madras School of Economics; former President of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).
  • He served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
  • He was also the chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission.
  • In 2002, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.
Madhya Pradesh launches ‘Hamara Ghar-Hamara Vidyalaya’ campaign
  • To maintain the academic regularity of students during the Corona crisis, the State Education Center has prepared a ‘HamaraGhar-HamaraVidyalaya’ means My Home-My school scheme, in which children will be taught at home in a school-like environment.
  • Under the scheme, the school bells are going to be heard within the student’s house and the teachers will begin the class of the students after the bell. It provides a school-like environment for the children taught at their home through online classes.

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July 03, 2020

Two new species of butterfly ‘Striped Hairstreak and Elusive Prince’ discoved in Arunachal Pradesh
  • Lepidopterists have discovered two new species of butterfly, namely the Striped Hairstreak and Elusive Prince, in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh
  • The Striped Hairstreak, was first recorded by Japanese entomologists in Hainan province of China. And the Elusive Prince, has a Vietnamese connection and was thought to be the more familiar Black Prince found in the Eastern Himalayas.
  • The findings from Arunachal Pradesh indicate the rich biodiversity of the State. India now has 1,327 species, up from 1,318 in 2015
  • The Striped Hairstreak (Yamamotozephyruskwangtugenesis) was located in Vijaynagar bordering Myanmar while the Elusive Prince was found in Miao on the periphery of the Namdapha National Park.
Delhi launches remote teaching-learning activities and LEAD portal
  • Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia announced the commencement of remote teaching-learning activities for students of city government schools.
  • The Directorate of Education has devised an alternate teaching-learning plan to reduce the academic loss of students in classes KG to XII of all government and aided schools in Delhi.
  • A plan of action in this regard has been worked out for the students through a combination of strategies using digital devices and support of the parents and the school managements.
  • Apart from these regular teaching-learning activities, additional optional online teaching-learning activities will be added from time to time to enhance the learning activities of the students.
  • Delhi Deputy Chief also launched a comprehensive e-learning portal called LEAD (Learning through E-Resources Made Accessible for Delhi)— which has more than 10,000 instructional materials and course content for school students.
  • Through LEAD, students will have access to textbooks, study material and course content as per the syllabus of the CBSE, NCERT and the Delhi government’s curriculum.
Global e-waste increased by 21% in five years, says UN
  • As per the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020, a record 53.6 million metric tonnes of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 per cent in just five years.
  • The prediction of global e-waste (defined as any discarded products with a battery or plug) will reach 74 Mt by 2030, almost a doubling of e-waste in just 16 years.
  • e-waste became world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream, fuelled mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few options for repair.
  • Region wise: Asia generated the greatest volume of e-waste in 2019, some 24.9 million metric tonnes, followed by the Americas (13.1 million metric tonnes) and Europe (12 million metric tonnes), while Africa and Oceania generated 2.9 million metric tonnes and 0.7 million metric tonnes respectively.
  • Only 17.4 per cent of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled.
  • E-waste is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives and substances such as mercury, which damages the human brain and/or coordination system.

FACTFILE – The Global E-waste Monitor 2020

  • The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 is a collaborative product of the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP), formed by UN University, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Solid Waste Association, in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme.
Railways runs longest train ”SheshNaag” of 2.8-km length
  • The Indian Railways broke its own record of the longest train ever to run on Indian Railways, by operating ”SheshNaag”, a 2.8-km-long freight train. The South East Central Railway in Nagpur division attached long haul freight train consisting of four BOXN that is 251 wagons hauled by four electric locomotives.
  • The train had three rakes of 58 wagons and one rake of 59 wagons.
  • The whole train got the power of the four railway locomotives as a result. With this formation, Indian Railways will be able to save time required for the movement of freight trains in the Indian Railways network.
Bharti Airtel’s Ajai Puri appointed new Chairman of COAI
  • The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) announced the appointment of Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel as its Chairman for the year 2020-21.
  • Pramod Kumar Mittal, President, Reliance JioInfocomm, will be the Vice Chairman of the Association.
  • Ajai Puri has been with Bharti Airtel since 2004, and has held several senior leadership positions including Director for Market Operations and Director and CEO, DTH.
Indra Mani Pandey appointed India’s Permanent Representative to UN
  • Indra Mani Pandey has been appointed as India’s next Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.
  • Indra Mani Pandey, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as an additional secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
  • Before, Pandey served in Indian missions in Damascus, Cairo, Islamabad, Kabul, Muscat and Geneva.
  • He also served as joint secretary in the Disarmament and International Security Affairs division of the MEA.
Giriraj Singh launches the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter “Matsya Sampada”
  • Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh launched the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter “MATSYA SAMPADA”. It would be published on a quarterly basis.
  • Published by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India and the Operational Guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
  • The Newsletter is an outcome of the endeavours of the Department of Fisheries to reach out to the stakeholders especially fishers and fish farmers through various means of communication, and to inform and educate them about the latest developments in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Fitch slashes India’s growth projection from 9.5% to 8% for FY22
  • Fitch Ratings cut India’s growth forecast for 2021-22 fiscal to 8 per cent from 9.5 per cent projected last month. Though it retained projection of Indian economy contracting by 5 per cent in the current fiscal.
  • Indian economic growth stood at an estimated 4.2 per cent in 2019-20. Earlier, Fitch projected Indian economy to grow 5.5 per cent in 2022-23.
  • S&P has forecast a 5 per cent contraction in the current fiscal year and the growth to recover to 8.5 per cent next fiscal.
  • Moody’s predicts India’s real GDP to contract by 4 per cent in fiscal 2020 due to the shock from the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdown measures, followed by 8.7 per cent growth in fiscal 2021.

July 04, 2020

 Andhra Pradesh govt Launches Corporation for Outsourced Services
  • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Andhra Pradesh Corporation for Outsourced Services (APCOS) to recruit employees for various government departments in the state.
  • The establishment of a separate department is expected to eliminate contractors and middlemen who used to control outsourcing for government services.
  • The move is part of the reforms undertaken by the state government to usher transparency in governance.
  • APCOS will handle processes such as recruitment and salaries, including the ESI and PF benefits. It will hand over 50,449 appointment letters to the employees working in various departments across Andhra Pradesh.
ICMR to launch 1st indigenous Covid vaccine by August 15
  • The Indian council of Medical Research (ICMR) plans to launch indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 by August 15 after the completion of the clinical trials. It has selected 13 institutions across the country for clinical trials and asked them to initiate subject enrollment by July 7.
  • ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava informed the selected institutions that it has partnered with Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to fast-track clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine).
  • The vaccine is being derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune.
  • Institutions involved in vaccine trials include Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad, King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and AIIMS Patna.
RBI announces special liquidity scheme for NBFCs and HFCs
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the government of India has approved a scheme to improve the liquidity position of NBFCs/HFCs through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to avoid any potential systemic risks to the financial sector.
  • To be eligible under the scheme, RBI laid out the conditions:
    • The Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFCs), including Microfinance Institutions that are registered with the RBI, under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, excluding those registered as Core Investment Companies.
    • Housing Finance Companies that are registered under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987.
    • CRAR/CAR of NBFCs/HFCs should not be below the regulatory minimum, i.e., 15% and 12% respectively as on March 31, 2019.
    • The net non-performing assets should not be more than 6% as on March 31, 2019.
    • They should have made net profit in at least one of the last two preceding financial years (i.e. 2017-18 and 2018-19)
    • They should not have been reported under SMA-1 or SMA-2 category by any bank for their borrowings during last one year prior to August 01, 2018.
    • They should be rated investment grade by a SEBI registered rating agency.
    • They should comply with the requirement of the SPV for an appropriate level of collateral from the entity, which, however, would be optional and to be decided by the SPV.
  • SBICAP has set up a SPV (SLS Trust) to manage this operation.
India-Bangladesh form 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) for LPG business in Bangladesh
  • India and Bangladesh signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 Joint Venture Company for LPG business in Bangladesh.
  • The agreement was signed between the IOC Middle East FZE, Dubai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and RR Holdings Ltd., Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the holding company of Beximco LPG of Bangladesh.
  • The Joint Venture will help reduce the cost of imprt of LPG and make it more affordable for the consumers in Bangladesh. The LPG market in Bangladesh is fast expanding and the new project will draw upon the strengths of the Indian oil and Beximco in their respective areas.
  • The company plans to diversify into LPG export to the north eastern states of India from Bangladesh which will mutually benefit both the countries.
  • The new Joint venture company set up takes further the ‘neighbourhood first’ policy of the government of India. The energy cooperation between India and Bangladesh has made significant achievement in the recent years.
IIT Kanpur develops classroom-to-home teaching setup ‘Mobile Masterjee’
  • IIT Kanpur has developed a classroom-to-home teaching setup, named ‘Mobile Masterjee’, that can record the lectures by the teachers while using their available smart phones.
  • The product is lightweight and has adjustments to fit sheets and book on it for delivering instructions to the kids. The “Mobile Masterjee” can hold, position, and focus the whole recording setup, while making the online class a comfortable home environment. 

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July 05, 2020 

PM launched the Digital India Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge to identify the best Indian apps, already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale up and become world class.
  • The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology along with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) have come up with this challenge, which will run in two tracks promotion of existing apps and development of new apps.
  • For the promotion of existing apps and platforms across the categories of e-learning, work-from-home, gaming, business, entertainment, office utilities and social networking, the government will provide mentoring, hand-holding and support.
India ranks 34th in Global Realty Transparency Index
  • India’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index ranking has improved by one rank to 34 on the back of regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives, according to property consultant JLL.
  • India was ranked 35th in the index during 2018 bi-annual survey, while the country was at 36th position in 2016 and 39th in 2014.
  • The United Kingdom ranks first in the list of 99 countries, followed by the United States, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Germany.
  • Top 10 countries are categorised as highly transparent, while those in the 11th position to 33rd are termed as transparent.
  • The INDIA rank of 34 is with higher levels of transparency observed due to regulatory reforms, enhanced market data and sustainability initiatives.
  • This improvement is led by structural reforms such as the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA), GST, Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and digitisation of land records have brought about greater transparency in what was an erstwhile largely unregulated sector a few years back.
Care Ratings forecasts Indian Economy to contract by 6.4%
  • Care Ratings revised India’s GDP growth forecast for the current financial year to – 6.4 per cent as economic activity continues to be under restriction due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
  • Forecast for GDP growth is now -6.4 per cent for FY21 with GVA degrowth estimated to be around -6.1 per cen.
  • The sharper fall in real GDP also means that the nominal GDP for the year will also decline assuming inflation of 5 per cent which in turn will affect the projected fiscal deficit number of the central government which will be in the region of 8 per cent for FY21.

July 05, 2020 

Government of India declares Nagaland as “Disturbed Area” for six more months
  • Union Govt declared the entire Nagaland as “disturbed area” for a further period of six months till December-end.
  • The Home Ministry notified that the area comprising the whole Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary. Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (No.28 of 1958) the central government hereby declares that whole of the said State to be a ‘disturbed area’ for a period of six months with effect from 30th June, 2020 for the purpose of that Act.
  • Nagaland has been under the coverage of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for almost six decades.
IIT Madras launches world’s first online BSc degree in Programming and Data Science
  • The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has launched the “world’s first” online BSc degree course in Programming and Data Science. The course will be open to anyone who has passed class 12 with English and Maths at class 10 level, and enrolled in any on-campus undergraduate course.
  • Even the current batch of students who are completing their class 12 are eligible to apply. Graduates and working professionals can also take up this programme.
  • The course will be offered in three different stages – Foundational Programme, Diploma Programme and Degree Programme. At each stage, students will have the freedom to exit from the programme and receive a certificate, diploma or a degree, respectively.
PM Modi dedicates Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to nation
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project, to the nation via video conference.
  • Prime Minister said the Rewa project will make the entire region a major hub for pure and clean energy in this decade. Madhya Pradesh would be the main centre of solar energy in India, as such major projects are in progress in Neemuch, Shajapur, Chattarpur and Omkareshwar.
  • Solar energy as one which is ”Sure, Pure & Secure”. Sure because of the continuous supply of energy from the Sun, pure as it is environment friendly and secure because it is a secure source for our energy needs.

FACTFILE – Rewa Ultra Mega Solar

  • Rewa Ultra Mega Solar is the first solar project in India to break the grid parity barrier. It is an operational ground mounted, grid-connected photovoltaic solar park spread over an area of 6.4 km2 in the Gurh tehsil of Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh.
  • The project was commissioned with 750 MW capacity in December 2019.
  • This Solar plant is India’s first solar project to get funding from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which is available at a rate of 0.25% for a 40-year period, and from the World Bank.

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July 07, 2020 

India Ranked 31st in INFORM Risk Index 2020 for Humanitarian crises & Disasters
  • India has been ranked at 31st position with an inform risk of 5.4, means risk of humanitarian crises and disasters. 
  • This report is produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) on behalf of all INFORM Partners. It is the first global, objective and transparent tool for understanding the risk of regions based upon crises and disasters.
  • The report considers the following while framing the index
    • Natural Factors: Tsunami, Earthquake, Drought, Flood, Epidemic and Tropical Cyclones;
    • Human Factors: Human Conflicts and conflict risks;
    • Socio-Economic factors: Inequality, vulnerable people, deprivation and aid dependency;
    • Institutional: DRR, Governance; Infrastructure: Communication, Physical infrastructure, Access to health system.
  • North Korea ranks among the most dangerous places to live as its people are exposed to high risks of natural disaster, poverty and social injustice. 
Black Panther spotted in Karnataka’s Nagarhole Tiger Reserve
  • A forest range officer (FRO) in Karnataka’s Nagarhole Tiger Reserve (NTR) spotted a black panther. About half a dozen black panthers in Karnataka forests and one in Nagarhole.
  • NTR stretches between Kodagu and Mysuru districts and was a protected reserve from the time of the Wodeyar dynasty, rulers of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysuru.

FACTFILE – Nagarhole National Park

  • Nagarhole, which served as an exclusive hunting reserve of the Wodeyars, was made a wildlife sanctuary in 1955, covering an area of 284 square km – later stretched up to 643 square km.
  • Nagarhole National Park is a national park located in Kodagu district and Mysore district in Karnataka, India. It is one of India’s premier Tiger Reserves along with the adjoining Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • This park was declared the thirty seventh Project Tiger, Tiger reserves of India in 1999. It is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
  • The park has a healthy predator-prey ratio, with many tigers, Gaur, elephants, Indian leopards, and deer.
Venkaiah Naidu launches social media app ‘Elyments’
  • Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu launched India’s first indigenously developed social networking super app ‘Elyments’.
  • The Vice President urged every Indian to adopt the AtmaNirbhar Bharat campaign to transform “Local” India into a “Glocal” India.
  • The AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan was aimed at giving a new boost and a quantum jump to the economic potential of the country by strengthening infrastructure, using modern technologies, enriching human resource, and creating robust supply chains.
  • It was a launchpad for fostering entrepreneurship, nurturing innovation, and creation of an ecosystem for rural-urban symbiotic development.
  • Elyments is one of the first home-grown social media apps to emerge in the Indian market, developed by over 1,000 IT specialists, who are volunteers with spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s The Art of Living organization.
  • The makers of Elyments have designed the app keeping in mind the user’s privacy as one of the primary keys of concern. It has an end-to-end encryption feature to ensure user’s private conversations are not seen by any third party.
Odisha Launches ‘Balaram’ Yojana 
  • Odisha government launched, ‘Balaram Yojana’ to provide crop loans to landless farmers. Under the new scheme the landless cultivators will get loans through joint liability groups (JLGs).
  • Under the scheme, the government has set a target to provide farm loans to 7 lakh landless farmers in next two years, with a kitty of Rs 1,040 crore.
  • IMAGE and Agricultural Technology Management Agencies (ATMA) will coordinate the implementation of the yojana at the State and the district levels, respectively.
  • 7,000 branches of several banks and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies will coordinate the implementation in rural and small towns.
CBSE tie-up with Facebook to introduce curriculum on digital safety
  • Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has partnered with Facebook to launch a curriculum to teach digital safety & online well-being and augmented reality (AR) to students and teachers.
  • The digital safety and online well-being curriculum will be rolled out in phases. In the first phase, from July to October, it will be implemented across national education boards such as CBSE. In the second phase, it will be made available to state education boards.
  • The curriculum will cover online safety, privacy, and mental health, and will use Instagram’s guide for building healthy digital habits.
  • The AR course will teach the fundamentals of AR and train students and teachers how to use Facebook’s Spark AR Studio platform to create augmented reality experiences.

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Assam Current Affairs – May 29 – 31, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – May 29 – 31, 2020

( Covers all important Assam & North-East Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of May 29 – 31, 2020 )

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May 29, 2020

Health Ministry includes RMNCAH+N activities in essential services

  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare categorised RMNCAH+N activities in the essential services category. These activities are related to pregnancy care management, newborn care and childhood illness management, immunisation services, management of severe acute malnutrition in children, family planning services, comprehensive abortion care services and adolescent health services as essential.
  • The Ministry said that in addition to priority to health facilities and healthcare workers, it is also vital that essential health services for vulnerable population like this segment are continued during the pandemic.
  • Provision of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) services during and post COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • The Ministry said any area exiting in ”containment/buffer zone” can start RMNCAH+N activities as listed in ”areas beyond buffer zone” after a minimum gap of 14 days following delisting.
  • Similarly, an area entering a ”containment and buffer zone” should restrict these activities immediately.
  • Drugs, commodities needed for continuing the RMNCAH+N services, should be treated as essential commodities.
  • Home deliveries of essential medicines like IFA, Calcium, ORS, Zinc, contraceptives etc can be organized in the containment zone.
  • The Health Ministry said the campaign-mode servicing like mass vitamin prophylaxis, Campaigns for Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF), National Deworming Day (NDD) and Test Treat and Talk (T3) camps for anaemia could be provided on an alternative mechanism like through home delivery of essential services and commodities etc based on local situation.
  • The Ministry asserted that critical services for women, children and adolescents should be provided irrespective of their COVID-19 status and under no circumstances should there be a denial of essential services.

Tamil Nadu signs 17 investment MoUs worth Rs 15,128 crore

  • The Tamil Nadu government signed 17 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) involving an investment of Rs 15,128 crore having a potential to generate about 47,150 jobs.
  • The MoUs were signed with companies that are already operating in the state like Daimler India Commercial Vehicles and also with new investors.
  • The investing companies are from Germany, Finland, Taiwan, China, France, South Korea, Japan, USA, Australia, England and Netherlands.

CSIR-IIIM, RIL to develop and scale-up new COVID-19 diagnostic test

  • The Institute of Integrative Medicine in Jammu has tied up with Reliance Industries Ltd to develop and scale-up a new Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP)-based COVID-19 diagnostic kit.
  • A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has also been signed between IIIM-Jammu and RIL, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
  • The IIIM is a research institute under the CSIR.
  • COVID-19 RT-LAMP test is a nucleic acid-based test carried out from nasal or throat swab sample from patients.
  • The test has been developed and successfully demonstrated using synthetic templates.
  • It is a rapid (45-60 minutes), cost-effective and accurate test.
  • It has been tested with a small number of samples of patients and validating the kit on more number of patient samples is planned and will be done together with RIL.
  • 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.
  • The current COVID-19 testing is done by real-time PCR and their components are mostly imported.
  • These tests are expensive and require highly trained manpower, costly instruments and a relatively high-end lab and cannot be deployed at remote locations in quarantine centres, airports and railway stations.
  • The RT-LAMP test can be done with minimal expertise in a very basic lab setup like mobile units or kiosks for testing at airports, railway stations, bus stands and other public places.

May 30, 2020

New waterways linking NE India, Bangladesh

  • New waterways between Tripura and Bangladesh would start within three months and it would boost trade and numerous economic activities.
  • State CM Deb said that a temporary jetty would be built at Sonamura in western Tripura within three months before starting the new waterways through Gomati river between Tripura and Bangladesh.
  • After operating the small vessels to carry various goods during the monsoon season, dredging for operating big vessels and ships would start in the Gomati river during the winter season.
  • To operate vessels smoothly between Tripura and Bangladesh, 18 km waterways (15 km in Bangladesh territories and 3 km in Tripura territories) in the Gomati river would require dredging.
  • The Gomati river, one of the eight rivers of Tripura flows to Bangladesh, linked with Meghna, one of the major rivers in the neighbouring country.
  • The Second Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade was signed in Dhaka on May 20 by Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and Bangladesh Shipping Ministry Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.
  • In the Second Addendum, Sonamura (Tripura)-Daudkhandi (Bangladesh) stretch (93 km) of the Gomti river was included as IBP route number 9 and 10 in the protocol and it would improve connectivity of Tripura and adjoining northeastern states of India with Bangladesh”s economic centres and would help the hinterland of both the countries.

Odisha govt announces Rs 17000 crore livelihood package

  • The Odisha government announced a special package to provide employment opportunities for migrant workers and people affected due to Covid-19 pandemic in the rural areas.
  • The council of ministers” meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, approved the package named Special Livelihood Intervention Plan.
  • The livelihood intervention package will be implemented from June 2020 to March 2021 as the public health crisis has led to an economic crisis in the rural areas.
  • The plan is aimed at generating employment in rural areas through sectors like agriculture, fisheries, animal resources development, MGNREGS, forest and handlooms and handicrafts.
  • Under the package, the government would provide assistance to the farmers for various crop cultivation including flower, mushroom, and plantation of fruit-bearing trees.
  • About 2 lakh farmers would be assisted for plantation of fruit-bearing trees including mangoes in the state while women self-help groups will be provided assistance for mushroom cultivation.
  • The Odisha government also announced two industrial parks of 1,000 acres each at Dhamra in Bhadrak district and another in Dhenkanal district with an investment of about Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 crore each.
  • A textile park will be set up at Dhamra, which will provide employment opportunities for 20,000 people. A medical park will be set up at Dhenkanal, which will create job opportunities for 16,000 people, said the Chief Secretary.

IIT Madras restoration project at Chilika Lake

  • The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) said its researchers undertook a major restoration project at the famous Chilika Lake – the largest brackish water body in Asia located in Odisha to help in tripling the population of the Irrawaddy dolphins while also benefitting over 2 lakh fishermen.
  • According to IIT-M, its intervention in the year 2000 and continuous monitoring since then has benefitted over 200,000 fishermen living in 132 villages as it resulted in a seven-fold increase of fish catch and tourists to co-exist with the lake ecosystem with minimal disturbance to the environment. Due to the successful restoration, the lake was removed from the threatened list (Montreux record) 1st from Asia.
  • Chilika Development Authority also received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award and Evian special prize 2002 for outstanding achievement.
  • In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands.
  • The Chilika lagoon is over 4,000 years old and spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha.
  • The highly productive ecosystem of the lake supports the livelihood for fishermen and also acts as drainage for Mahanadi river basin.
  • The lake was in a degraded condition and included in the threatened list (Montreux Record) by Ramsar Convention in 1993. This warranted urgent action for restoration of the lake.
  • The hydrodynamic regime of the lagoon was affected due to shifting of the mouth towards the northeast and subsequent reduction of seawater into the lake. Consequently, the ecology, biodiversity and economy of the area were also affected.

May 31, 2020

Assam Govt ties up with UNICEF for students’ career guidance portal

  • The State government in partnership with UNICEF Assam, has launched a career guidance portal to counsel children on their future and choices of professional life.
  • The portal brings more than 500 career options to students from Class IX to Class XII, with specific focus on gender inclusivity.
  • The portal is a result of the vision of the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for secondary and senior secondary students.
  • At present available in English and Hindi, the portal www.assamcareerportal.com, will also be made available in Assamese in the near future.
  • This career guidance portal will help the student community to take appropriate decisions regarding their careers.
  • The principals and teachers of secondary and senior schools will act as focal points for each of 4,373 secondary schools, so that they can orient and guide students on every aspect of the portal and how it can be used.
  • The department, along with UNICEF, plans to orient all district-level officials and teachers via a virtual platform.
  • The objective of the portal is to help students stay informed on various career opportunities, orienting them about the requisite skills and education needed to pursue a career of their choice.
  • With all the career information available to the students with one login, the career guidance portal will also aim to serve them with information regarding numerous scholarship opportunities.
  • UNICEF Assam has been in the lead technical role for this initiative and has supported in development of the career portal for children in secondary and higher secondary classes with partner iDream Career.
  • The portal has been adapted to Assam’s context and it features over 500 careers that are regularly updated and also includes non-traditional career areas such as agriculture and food sciences, hospitality and tourism, virology, animation and graphics and sports and fitness.
  • As of now, the portal has information of about almost 19,000 colleges along with information on 1,150 entrance tests and 1,050 scholarships for students to access. The portal is expected to benefit more than eight lakh students from classes IX to XII.

NHAI plans to develop Model Stretches in every state

  • In order to exhibit the model stretches of National Highways as per norms, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to develop 57 stretches of NH (1,735 km) across the country near each state capital.
  • These Model Stretches will also serve as a platform to educate the highway engineers of the country, including state PWD engineers.
  • These stretches will have all the required safety and aesthetic features like road signs, road markings, road furniture & safety items, proper junctions and entry/exit points, functional drains, pedestrian facilities, street lighting, plantation & landscaping, toll plaza, user facilities & wayside amenities.
  • The stretches will also be equipped with CCTV cameras at all vulnerable locations, no black spots to avoid accidents and eco-friendly measures.
  • The idea is to make the highway stretch look like a perfect textbook version of a model road.
  • Some of the NH sections identified for development as Model Stretches are Dausa to Jaipur, Jalandhar to Amritsar, Srinagar to Banihal, Varanasi Ring Road, Chennai Bypass, MP/MH border to Nagpur including Nagpur Bypass, Brahmaputra Bridge to Guwahati.
  • The NHAI has issued policy guidelines to help its regional officers identify and plan the development of Model Stretches and complete the work in a timely manner.
  • The NHAI HQ will be monitoring the progress through an online e-portal (Data Lake), where pictures/videos of each Model Stretch would be uploaded apart from other related information.

Centre allows movement of persons and goods across borders

  • The Centre, while announcing the guidelines for phased re-opening of the lockdown, said that from June 1, there will be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods. The restrictions will be limited to only containment zones up to June 30.
  • There shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements.
  • The MHA emphasised that no state/UT shall stop the movement of any type of goods/cargo for cross land border under treaties with neighbouring states.
  • However, if a state/ Union Territory based on reasons of public health and its assessment of the situation proposes to regulate movement of persons, it will give wide publicity in advance regarding the restrictions to be placed on such movement, and the related procedures to be followed.
  • Movement by passenger trains and Shramik Special trains; domestic passenger air travel; movement of Indian nationals stranded outside the country and of specified persons to travel abroad; evacuation of foreign nationals; and sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers will continue to be regulated as per the SOPs issued.

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Assam Current Affairs – May 22 – 28, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – May 22 – 28, 2020

( Covers all important Assam & North-East Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of May 22 – 28, 2020 )

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May 22, 2020

First International Tea Day celebrated on 21st May

  • The tea industry marked its first International Tea Day on 21 May, 2020, as an effort to raise awareness of the long history and the deep cultural and economic significance of tea around the world.
  • The goal of the day is to promote and foster collective actions to implement activities in favour of the sustainable production and consumption of tea and raise awareness of its importance in fighting hunger and poverty.
  • International Tea Day is observed annually on May 21, according to the United Nations. The concerning resolution was adopted on December 21, 2019 and calls on the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to lead the observance of the Day.
  • An International Tea Day has been celebrated on December 15, since 2005, in tea producing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda and Tanzania.
  • In Assam, Dikom Tea Estate, celebrated International Tea Day by honouring the souls, who have engraved the deep roots of Dikom tea estate centuries ago by lighting candles and thanking each and everyone.
  • The estate on this auspicious day inaugurated its Information Centre and also launched its e-learning portal in YouTube.

Odisha govt raises kharif loan target to Rs 9,000 crore

  • The Odisha government has raised the cooperative kharif loan target to Rs 9,000 crore from Rs 7,500 crore.
  • Cooperation Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said small and marginal farmers, migrants, joint liability groups and women self-help groups had been given priority.
  • Proper planning had been made to provide short-term credit for fisheries, animal husbandry, dairy and poultry sectors.
  • The government has set the target of providing Rs 5,000 crore crop loan by the quarter ended June and Rs 4,000 crore by quarter ended September.

India and Bangladesh adds five more ‘ports of call’

  • To boost trade, economic activity and connectivity, India and Bangladesh have added five more “ports of call” on either side and increased the protocol (water) routes from 8 to 10.
  • These additions to the protocol will facilitate bilateral trade with improved reliability and cost effectiveness for the business community and the people of both the countries.
  • The Second Addendum was signed by Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and Bangladesh Shipping Ministry Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.
  • There are six “ports of call” each in India and Bangladesh. The new five “ports of call” on the Indian side are Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigopha and on the Bangladesh side Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad.
  • Two more extended ”ports of call” Tribeli (Bandel) and Badarpur in India and Ghorasal and Muktarpur in Bangladesh have been added.
  • The Indian transit cargo is mainly coal, fly-ash, POL and heavy machineries for power projects in the northeast. The other likely cargo is fertilizers, cement, grain, farm products and containers.
  • Both the countries have also agreed to introduce trade between Chilmari (Bangladesh) and Dhubri (Assam, India) through the use of shallow draft mechanised vessels.
  • The new “ports of call” will enable loading and unloading of cargo transported on the India-Bangladesh Protocol Route and stimulate economic development of new locations and their hinterland.
  • This protocol, first signed in 1972 soon after independence of Bangladesh, is a reflection of shared history, trusted friendship and mutually beneficial partnership.
  • It was last renewed in 2015 for five years with a provision of automatic renewal for the next five years, giving long-term assurance to stakeholders.

ICMR comes up with fully indigenous diagnostic platform for COVID-19

  • The Indian Council of Medical research said that it has validated a completely indigenous diagnostic platform for COVID-19 diagnosis. The apex medical research body in the country said the platform offers a reliable and affordable option to augment the SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity in India.
  • This fully indigenous diagnostic platform offers a reliable and affordable option to augment the SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity in India.
  • The platform comprises a TrueNat machine, inbuilt RNA extraction system, RT-PCR chips, collection swabs and viral lysis medium (VLM).
  • Single assay has a turnaround time of 35-50 minutes for 1-4 samples with a total of 12-48 samples being tested per day, depending upon the type of machine.
  • It also added that the biosafety and biosecurity requirements are minimal in view of the sample being collected in viral lysis medium (VLM), which inactivates the virus.
  • ICMR has now recommended the TrueNat COVID-19 test as a two-step test: step one i.e. E gene screening assay for all COVID-19 suspect samples to be followed by step two for the RdRp based confirmatory test in all E gene positives.

UN launches global initiative to combat COVID-19 misinformation

  • The UN launched an initiative called “Verified” to counter COVID-19 misinformation by increasing the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information.
  • Verified, led by the UN Department for Global Communications (DGC), will provide information around three themes: science, solidarity and solutions.
  • It will also promote recovery packages that tackle the climate crisis and address the root causes of poverty, inequality and hunger.
  • The initiative is calling on people around the world to sign up to become “information volunteers” to share trusted content to keep their families and communities safe and connected.
  • The DGC will partner with UN agencies and UN country teams, influencers, civil society, business and media organizations to distribute trusted, accurate content and work with social media platforms to root out hate and harmful assertions about COVID-19.

May 23, 2020

Sikkim’s first viral research and diagnostic lab inaugurated

  • Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang inaugurated the State’s first viral research and diagnostic laboratory (VRDL) at the STNM Hospital at Sochaygang, which is certified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
  • With the establishment of the laboratory, Sikkim will no longer have to depend on other States for COVID-19 and other medical tests. Samples from Sikkim are being sent to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri for RTPCR testing for COVID-19.
  • The laboratory has a capacity to conduct 90 tests at a time. It will take three-and-a -half hours to deliver test results of a batch of 90 samples.
  • It may be mentioned here that 75 per cent of the cost of construction and establishment of the laboratory was borne by the ICMR, while 25 per cent of the funds were provided by a private firm from its CSR fund.

Beekeeping will help achieve goal of doubling farmers’ income

  • Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday beekeeping will be an important factor in achieving the goal of doubling farmer’s income.
  • Addressing a webinar organised by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Union Minister said the government has allocated Rs 500 crore towards beekeeping under the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan.
  • India is among the world’s top five honey producers. Compared to 2005-06, honey production has risen by 242 per cent and exports up by 265 per cent.
  • The National Bee Board has created four modules to impart training as part of the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) and 30 lakh farmers have been trained in beekeeping. They are also being financially supported by the government.
  • Indian government is implementing the recommendations of the committee to promote beekeeping and has launched ”Honey Mission” as part of ”Sweet Revolution” which has four components. Even small and marginal farmers can adopt beekeeping since investment is low and returns high.

Centre released Rs 19,100 crore released under PM-KISAN during lockdown period

  • The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said, the Centre has released an amount of Rs 19,100.77 crore under the Pradhan MantriKisanSamman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme during the lockdown period after March 24 till date and around 9.55 crore farmer families have been benefitted under this scheme.
  • As per the latest data, around 34.87 lakh hectares area coverage under summer rice as compared to 25.29 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.
  • About 12.82 lakh ha area coverage under pulses as compared to 9.67 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.
  • As far as course cereals are concerned, around 10.28 lakh ha area is under coverage as compared to 7.30 lakh hectares during the corresponding period of last year.
  • About 9.28 lakh ha area is under coverage under oilseeds as compared to 7.34 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.
  • As per the latest data of the procurement, a quantity of 5.89 lakh MT gram (chana), 4.97 lakh MT mustard and 4.99 lakh MT toor has been procured by NAFED during the lockdown period.
  • In Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2020-21, a total of 337.48 lakh MT wheat arrived in FCI out of which 326.96 lakh MT was purchased.

UN’s The State of the World’s Forests released

  • The latest edition of UN’s The State of the World’s Forests released stated Urgent action is needed to safeguard the biodiversity of the world’s forests amid alarming rates of deforestation and degradation,.
  • The report shows that the conservation of the world’s biodiversity is dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests.
  • The report was produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership, for the first time, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and technical inputs from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).
  • It highlights that some 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses since 1990, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades.
  • The COVID-19 crisis has thrown into sharp focus the importance of conserving and sustainably using nature, recognizing that people’s health is linked to ecosystem health. Protecting forests is key to this, as they harbour most of the earth’s terrestrial biodiversity.
  • This report shows that forests contain 60,000 different tree species, 80 per cent of amphibian species, 75 per cent of bird species, and 68 per cent of the earth”s mammal species.
  • Despite slowing of the rate of deforestation in the last decade, some 10 million hectares are still being lost each year through conversion to agriculture and other land uses.
  • The report presents a comprehensive overview of forest biodiversity, including world maps revealing where forests still hold rich communities of fauna and flora, such as the northern Andes and parts of the Congo Basin, and where they have been lost.
  • The Aichi Biodiversity Target to protect at least 17 per cent of the earth’s terrestrial areas by 2020 has been achieved for forests, although progress is still required to ensure the representativeness and effectiveness of such protection.
  • The largest increase in protected forest areas occurred in broadleaved evergreen forests such as those typically found in the tropics. Over 30 per cent of all tropical rainforests, subtropical dry forests and temperate oceanic forests are now located within protected areas.

Union Cabinet approved Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for small business borrowers

  • Union Cabinet approved the Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSMEs and MUDRA borrowers.
  • Under the Scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage would be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for the additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore in the form of a ECLGS facility. A amounts of Rs 41,600 crore shall be provided by the Centre, spread over the current and the next three financial years.
  • The scheme would be applicable to all loans sanctioned under ECLGS during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31, 2020, or till an amount of Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under the ECLGS, whichever is earlier.
  • The main objective of the scheme is to provide an incentive to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), including banks, financial institutions, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to increase access to and enable availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers, in view of the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by providing them 100 per cent guarantee for any losses suffered due to non-repayment of the ECLGS funding by borrowers.
  • All MSME borrower accounts with outstanding credit of up to Rs 25 crore as on February 2020, which were less than or equal to 60 days past due as on that date and with an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore, would be eligible for collateral-free loan under the scheme.
  • The amount of ECLGS funding to eligible MSME borrowers will either be in the form of additional working capital term loans in case of banks or additional term loans in case of NBFCs and it would be up to 20 per cent of their entire outstanding credit up to Rs 25 crore as on February 29, 2020.

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May 24, 2020

Academic TV channel launched in Assam

  • The State Education Minister HimantaBiswaSarma launched a new academic television channel, GyanVriksha, to compensate for the academic losses induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The academic channel, started under Assam government’s SamagraShikshaAbhiyan, would contain study material from Class I to Class XII, apart from various co-curricular and skill development activities.
  • The channel, initially to be operated through cable network, would be gradually broadcast through the DTH operators in a phased manner.
  • Initially, the channel will be available only in Assamese and gradually contents would be developed in other languages.
  • The minister also advised all the students to learn from BiswaVidya, Assam YouTube channel, which has also been developed as a mobile application.

Mizoram cabinet grants industry status to sports

  • To give a boost to the sports sector in Mizoram, the Mizoram state Cabinet granted industry status to sports.
  • State Sports minister Robert Romawia Royte said the cabinet has cleared the proposal of the Sports and Youth Service department to grant sports an industry status.
  • This significant move will help to take forwards the segment in a more systematic and sustainable manner. It will usher in rapid as well as large scale development in various fields of sports.
  • Mizoram was the first state to grant industry status to sports. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and other big industrial bodies have been demanding industry status to sports since a long time.

Bangladesh produces 1st generic version of remdesivir

  • Bangladesh-based Beximco Pharmaceuticals has become the worlds first company to produce a generic version of the antiviral drug remdesivir, originally developed by US-based Gilead Sciences.
  • Remdesivir was originally designed as an Ebola treatment, It works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order to replicate inside our cells.
  • Beximco’s production of the generic version will ensure quick supply of the drug to many countries in the South Asia.
  • A recent clinical trial in the US showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who were seriously ill. However, it did not significantly improve survival rates. Experts have warned that the drug should not be seen as a magic bullet for coronavirus. But in the absence of any clear treatment for COVID-19, many countries are willing to try remdesivir.

HUL, UNICEF extend tie-up for delivery of hygiene products in tea gardens in Assam

  • Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has stated that it has extended its collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support delivery of essential hygiene products to tea plantation workers based in Assam for use during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The collaboration will benefit families residing in the tea estates of the region and will facilitate the reach of key communication assets and availability of essentials such as soaps and toilet cleaners for tea plantation workers.
  • The initiative focuses on enhancing awareness related to COVID-19 amongst the tea plantation workers and local communities and on helping them take necessary precautions to stay safe during the pandemic.
  • UNICEF has been playing a key role in the tea plantations since 2010 through various interventions and the primary focus has been on the well-being of children and women.
  • In April 2020, HUL committed Rs 100 crore towards helping India fight the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of this effort, HUL has rolled out many initiatives to ensure that citizens of India across all walks of life have access to essential products such as soaps, sanitizers and toilet cleaners, and understand the causes and implications of the virus through simple and direct communication.

May 25, 2020

Tripura gets first international waterway

  • In a major development, the 93-km Sonamura-Daudkhandi stretch of the Gomati river has been approved of, as an India-Bangladesh protocol route. It is expected to strengthen the bilateral trade between the two countries, besides boosting Tripura’s economy and helping it emerge as the gateway to the North East.
  • Within six days of the Chief Minister’s appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the landmark decision has come as the second addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, which was signed in Dhaka.
  • Under the current protocol, there are six ports of call each in India and Bangladesh. These are Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Silghat and Dhubri on the Indian side and Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj and Pangaon on the Bangladesh side.
  • As per the protocol, inland vessels of both the countries can operate on the designated protocol route and dock at the ports of call in each country, notified for loading and unloading of cargo. There has been significant improvement in the movement of cargo vessels in an organised manner on the protocol route.
  • The inbound cargo to India mainly comprises coal, fly ash, POL and ODC for power projects in the North East, while around 30 lakh MT of fly ash is exported by cargo from India to Bangladesh per annum. Around 638 inland vessels take up approximately 4,000 loaded voyages annually.

IIT Guwahati researchers develops material that can separate oil and water

  • A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has successfully developed a graphene-based super-hydrophobic material which can separate oil and water.
  • Dr. Uttam Manna, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati and his team have developed the material and it can separate oil and water from both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions.
  • Hydrophobic materials are known as non-polar materials with a low affinity to water. This characteristic makes such materials water repelling. These materials are largely governed by the physical architecture and the chemical composition, thus, such materials can be rationally created by combining low-surface-energy materials with hierarchical roughness.
  • The research group manipulated graphene, which is a form of carbon, to have super-hydrophobic properties suitable for separation of oil from water in emulsions.
  • The team developed a simplistic method to produce graphene oxide-polymer composites with hierarchical topography and low surface energy chemistry in the confined space.
  • Materials with extreme water repellence capacity are considered best for removing oil from water, and they are being extensively studied for applications such as water purification and self-cleaning surfaces.

India becomes 2nd  largest PPE kits producer in the world

  • From zero, India is now the second largest Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) manufacturing country in the world. It was made possible within a span of 60 days and now more than a hundred units spread all across India are manufacturing such kits.
  • Before the Covid-19 crisis starts, India did not manufacture PPE kits and the requirements were met through imports. But now the country is manufacturing at least 3.5 lakh to four lakh PPE kits every day.
  • Government of India encouraged textile manufacturing units to produce PPE kits. In the first phase, five such units came forward to manufacture PPE kits. Now the number of such units supplying kits to the Government has increased to more than a hundred, while, around 500 other units are certified to manufacture it.
  • Most of the units manufacturing PPE kits are originally textile industries and there were some initial hiccups in encouraging such companies to shift to manufacturing PPE kits.
  • Though the production of PPE kits increased, the Government is not allowing exports as of now as the country has heavy demand for the item. Once the situation improves, the Government may decide to allow exports, but no such decision has yet been taken.

Union Cabinet nod to Rs 20,050 crore Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

  • The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the implementation of Rs 20,050- crore Pradhan MantriMatsyaSampadaYojana (PMMSY), a scheme to promote ”Blue Revolution” in the country through sustainable development.
  • The scheme will be implemented in the next 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.
  • Out of the Rs 20050 crore, the share of the Central government will be Rs 9,408 crore and the state governments” Rs 4,880 crore while the share of beneficiaries will be Rs 5,763.
  • The PMMSY will address the critical gaps in the fisheries sector and aid it in realizing its potential.
  • The scheme is expected to create direct gainful employment opportunities to about 15 lakh fishers, fish farmers, workers, vendors and other rural/urban populations in fishing and allied activities. Besides, it promises to offer indirect employment opportunities, including enhancement of incomes.
  • It will help in augmenting fish production and productivity at a sustained average annual growth rate of about 9 per cent to achieve a target of 22 million metric tons by 2024-25 through sustainable and responsible fishing practices.
  • The scheme also aims to improve availability of certified quality fish seed and feed, traceability in fish and including effective aquatic health management and help in creation of critical infrastructure, including modernisation and strengthening of value chain.
  • The PMMSY, a 5-year scheme, will be implemented as an umbrella scheme with two separate components as a Central sector scheme (CS) and (b) Centrally-Sponsored Scheme (CSS).

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May 26, 2020

UN lists Manipur’s “Khudol” among top global initiatives to fight COVID-19 pandemic

  • Manipur’s “Khudol” has been listed among the top 10 global initiatives for an inclusive fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The listing of the initiative among the top 10 global initiatives was done by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
  • The “Khudol” initiative was launched by an Imphal-based NGO “Ya_All”, aims to ensure food supplies and health services for the people living with HIV, daily-wage earners, LGBTQI+ community, children, and adolescents.

FACTFILE – Khudol

  • Khudol is a crowdfunded initiative of Ya_All, .
  • The initiative aims to ensure food supplies and health services for the people living with HIV, daily-wage earners, LGBTQI+ community, children, and adolescents.
  • Under the initiative network of 100 volunteers has been mobilized.
  • The volunteers have, so far, provided around 2,000 families and individuals with over 1,000 health kits, 6,500 sanitary pads, and 1,500 condoms.

FACTFILE – Ya_All

  • Ya_All, means Revolution in Manipuri, is an Imphal-based NGO which was founded in 2017 to organise mental health workshops.
  • Founder of Ya_All: Sadam Hanjabam.
  • It was founded in 2017. The initiative aims to organize mental health workshops and work mostly on the health and well-being of adolescents, youths, LGBTI community.

India developed Intelligent Testing Strategy for being ”ahead of virus”

  • The Indian Council of Medical Research said that India developed an Intelligent Testing Strategy to remain ”ahead of the virus” by developing testing infrastructure that is laboratories and other means of testing.
  • The country now has capacity of testing 2 lakh samples per day, in 610 total labs (432 public, 178 private) and is currently testing 1.1 lakh samples in a day and has the capacity to test 1.4 lakh samples per day, which is being raised to 2 lakh samples per day.
  • Most states have been working with the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) to deploy TrueNAT machines for COVID-19 testing.
  • Through this machine, testing is done in such areas or districts where modern virological laboratories in private or public sectors don”t exist.
  • More labs are being set up and additional machines are deployed in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal as well as rest of the country to meet possible higher requirements.

Indian Army Major gets UN award for anti-sexual violence campaign

  • An Indian Army Major, Major Suman Gawani, who has been selected for the 2019 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for her role in the organisation”s anti-sexual violence campaign, has been called a “powerful role model” by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
  • Major Suman Gawani is with the Army Signal Corps, through her “support, mentoring, guidance and leadership, she helped to create enabling environment for UN Peacekeepers” by combating sexual violence in conflict situations.
  • While deployed as a military observer with the UN Mission in South Sudan, Gawani ‘mentored over 230 UN Military Observers on conflict-related sexual violence and ensured the presence of women military observers in each of the Mission’s team sites”.
  • She also trained South Sudanese government forces and helped them to launch their action plan on conflict-related sexual violence.
  • Gawani shares the award with Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer working in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic,

Indian-American scientist Rajiv Joshi wins inventor of the year award

  • Indian-American inventor Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious Inventor of the Year award in recognition of his pioneering work in advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence capabilities.
  • Dr Joshi, who is a master inventor with more than 250 patented inventions in the US, works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York.
  • He was presented with the prestigious annual award by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association early this month during a virtual awards ceremony.
  • An IIT Mumbai alumnus, Joshi has an MS degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a PhD in mechanical/electrical engineering from Columbia University, New York.
  • His invention span from novel interconnect structures and processes for more scaling, machine learning techniques for predictive failure analytics, high bandwidth, high performance and low power integrated circuits and memories and their usage in hardware accelerators, meant for artificial intelligence applications.
  • Many of these structures exist in processors, supercomputers, laptops, smartphones, handheld and variable gadgets and many other electronic items. His innovations have advanced day-to-day life, global communication, health sciences and medical fields impacting the world.

May 27, 2020

Arunachal Pradesh and AAU sign a MoU for GI Registration of Khamti Lahi Rice, Tawang Maize and Adi Ginger

  • Govt of Arunachal Pradesh and AAU Jorhat have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for GI Registration of Khamti Lahi Rice, Tawang Maize and Adi Ginger (Kekir) and for other agro-technology practices, processing, packaging and marketing of agricultural produces.
  • Khamti Lahi Rice is known for its uniqueness in terms of its taste, aroma, size, shape, colour and cooking method and sought the technical support and cooperation from the Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat for its cultivation, processing, packaging and marketing and also for its Intellectual Proprietary Right protection like – GI Tag Registration in a proper scientific way for generating employment and as an income source for the people/farmers of the State.
  • Arunachal Pradesh Govt sought the help of AAU, Jorhat for GI Registration of Tawang Maize and local Adi Ginger (Kekir) along with Khamti Lahi Rice which are pending for last many years.
  • AAU, Jorhat, the premier Institute for Agriculture in North East region is also sought to come up with ideas and suggestions for market opportunity and accessibility.

IIT-M researchers develop engineered magnesium alloy for automobiles

  • The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) said its researchers have developed a high-performance magnesium alloy that can replace steel and aluminium in automobiles.
  • IIT-M said its researchers working with University of North Texas and US Army Research Laboratory Teams have developed an engineered magnesium alloy.
  • The engineered magnesium alloy with significantly improved properties can replace steel and aluminium alloys in automotive and aerospace components.
  • The current industrial application of wrought magnesium alloys in structural components is very limited due to their poor moderate/low strength, poor ductility, yield strength asymmetry and lack of high strain rate super plasticity despite their density being two-third of aluminium and one-quarter of steel.
  • Light-weight vehicles consume less fuel to run and are therefore one of the strategies to increase vehicle’s energy-efficiency.
  • The new engineered alloy is strong, highly ductile and its superplasticity is achieved at higher strain-rates which reduces overall manufacturing time, effort and costs.
  • It is also lightweight, which helps lower the carbon footprint of vehicles. Lightweight vehicles need lesser fuel to run and are therefore more fuel-efficient.
  • Being one of the lightest and energy-efficient structural materials, magnesium alloys are potential candidates to replace steel and aluminium alloys in automotive and aerospace components since their density is two-thirds of aluminium and one-quarter of steel.

AMRIT app developed to track corona suspects

  • The Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) at Prayagraj, has developed a new mobile application which will help the administration and the corona control room to track suspected patients.
  • The mobile app named ”AMRIT” (Assessment, Monitoring, Reporting and Intelligent Tracking), will help chemist shops, medical practitioners and other organisations to submit information about suspected corona patients.
  • The app will also track people who are taking over the counter medicines for suppressing symptoms like cough/cold/fever and unknowingly spreading the infection to those who are coming in their contact.
  • The admin panel of the app will keep record and information about all the registered patients or customers, chemist shops, medical practitioners and other organizations like government offices, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
  • The app also has ASHA workers registration feature and has been designed to help the ASHA workers/anganwadi workers in easily submitting the information to the control room.
  • The app has also been designed to facilitate door to door survey by health workers/ social workers where they can easily send information about the suspected corona patients in a family without any delay.

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  May 28, 2020

Jahnabi Phookan appointed as National President of FICCI FLO

  • Jahnabi Phookan has been appointed as National President of FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), the oldest women-led and -focused business chamber of Southeast Asia and the women’s wing of the apex chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
  • She took over from outgoing National President Harjinder Kaur Talwar at the 36th FLO ANNUAL SESSION- Rising Above Covid Challenges.
  • FICCI FLO represents over 8000 women entrepreneurs and professionals across 17 chapters nationally and works aggressively towards promoting economic empowerment and equal opportunities for women.
  • In her role as the National President, she will focus on empowering women with entrepreneurship capabilities and professional excellence, enabling them to take up new challenges and maximise opportunities in the new normal post Covid.
  • Jahnabi is an entrepreneur, a co-founder of two National Tourism Award-winning companies: Jungle Travels India and Assam Bengal Navigation Company under JTI Group. Her companies are encompassed in travel & hospitality – boutique river cruising, small group specialised tours, tea and textiles – all of which empower young people’s livelihoods, especially women and their communities.

UP Govt sets up disaster relief team for locust attack

  • The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has set up a Disaster Relief Team, headed by the Deputy Director, Agriculture Directorate, to deal with locust attacks in various parts of the state.
  • The team will survey various districts where locust presence has been found and will take remedial measures for the same. The state government has also set up a control room to coordinate with various districts on the issue.
  • District level committees are also being set up for the purpose under the chairmanship of the Chief Development Officer (CDO).
  • Farmers have been asked to spray pesticides in their farmlands and also play loud music since locusts are said to turn away if they hear loud music.

Karnataka to install 15 Covid screening smart kiosks

  • The Karnataka government will install 15 Covid screening smart kiosks across the state for random population screening. The kiosks will address the need for higher and quicker community testing for the virus.
  • The kiosks will ensure the safety of both the healthcare worker and the Covid test taker.
  • Looking like two conjoined telephone booths, the kiosk provides separate enclosures for the Covid tester and the test taker, separated by a transparent airtight partition.
  • Both the enclosures have separate entries, lighting and ventilation arrangements, including a mic and speaker for communication.
  • Replaceable gloves and hand sanitizer are made available in the kiosk.
  • An attendant wearing a PPE will first collect basic information about people coming for tests: vitals (weight, age, any existing health condition), persons” travel history, if they have come in contact with any known Covid patients, and check their temperature using an IR temperature gun.
  • The information is then stored in an app.
  • Later, the test taker will be given a kit to collect his swab sample for testing and move into the kiosk enclosure for the healthcare worker to collect his sample.
  • On completion, the worker will return the swab sample for the test taker to put it in a vial and drop it in an ice box. After every sample collection, the kiosk is disinfected.

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Assam Current Affairs – May 08 – 14, 2020

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Assam Current Affairs & GK – May 8 – 14, 2020

( Covers all important Assam & North-East Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of May 8 – 14, 2020 )

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May 08, 2020

Assam starts community surveillance for SARI, ILI to curb Covid-19

  • The Assam government started community-based surveillance for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) across the state to contain the possible spread of Covid-19.
  • Under the Assam Community Surveillance Plan (ACSP), health workers including doctors would go to the 25,000 villages to identify the ILI and SARI cases in the villages and as and when required, samples would be collected for testing.
  • The ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) and MPW (Multi-Purpose Workers) along with other health staffers will be involved in this task.
  • A State Level Task Force headed by the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare and a State Level Coordination Committee led by Commissioner and Secretary of the Department have been formed.
  • The ACSP would ensure that all SARI and ILI cases are tested for Covid-19, and then map and link the places and accordingly, plan for adequate beds and ICU facilities.

India ranks 53rd in Budget Transparency and Accountability survey

  • India has been placed at 53rd position among 117 nations in terms of budget transparency and accountability, according to the Open Budget conducted by International Budget Partnership (IBP).
  • It has provided India’s Union Budget process a transparency score of 49 out of 100, which is higher than the global average of 45.
  • New Zealand tops the chart with a score 87. South Africa (87), Mexico (82) and Brazil (81) are among the top countries providing extensive information to public for scrutiny.
  • India performs well in publishing timely and relevant information in the audit reports and in-year reports and has scored well and above many other countries. But the absence of a published Pre-Budget Statement and not bringing out a Mid-Year Review pulled down the transparency score for the Union Budget of India.
  • The survey, covering 117 countries, rates the level of budget transparency across countries on a scale of 0-100, based on several normative, internationally comparable indicators.
  • It evaluates for each country, the availability of eight key budget documents of the Central or Federal Government, and assesses whether these are made public, in a timely manner, and provide comprehensive information.
  • The Open Budget Survey is part of the International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Initiative, a global research and advocacy program to promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems.

Air India operated its first evacuation flights under Vande Bharat Mission

  • National passenger carrier Air India operated its first evacuation flights under India’s “Vande Bharat Mission” from New Delhi to Singapore, to ferry 14 passengers to Singapore.
  • Besides Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express operated two flights from Kerala to Gulf. Air India Express operated the Cochin-Abu Dhabi-Cochin and Kozhikode-Dubai-Kozhikode service.
  • Besides the one-way ferry service, Air India has also invited passengers, who qualify under the government’s new international travel norms to apply for passage from India to various destinations the airline will send its aircraft to conduct evacuation flights.
  • As per plans, these two airlines will operate 64 flights in seven days to bring back 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries. Overall, more than 190,000 Indian nationals, who would have to pay a one-way ferry service charge, are expected to be brought back in the airlift operation.

Major labour laws suspended in Uttar Pradesh for 3 years

  • The Uttar Pradeshgovernment has finalised an ordinance suspending a majority of labour laws in the state for three years. This is an attempt to help both existing and new industrial units in the state.
  • The recommendations regarding the labour laws were finalised by a group of ministers comprising labour minister Swami Prasad Maurya and MSME Minister Sidharth Nath Singh.
  • The state cabinet has cleared the Uttar Pradesh Temporary Exemption from Labour Laws Ordinance, suspending more than 30 labour laws in the state.
  • Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said recently that Uttar Pradesh would amend labour laws to attract new investments, especially from China.
  • About eight of them are being retained under the ordinance.There are more than 40 labour laws, some of which are now redundant.
  • These include the Bonded Labour Act of 1976, Employee Compensation Act of 1923 and Building and Other Construction Workers’ Act of 1996, Provisions of laws pertaining to women and children, like the Maternity Act, Equal Remuneration Act, Child Labour Act and section 5 of the Payment of Wages Act which states that wages of a person earning less than Rs 15,000 a month cannot be deducted are also being retained.
  • Other labour laws like those related to settling industrial disputes, health and working conditions of workers and trade unions, contract workers and migrant workers will be frozen for three years. Factory Owners have been given more powers to hire and fire without attracting punitive measures from the labour department up to a certain limit.

May 09, 2020

Bamboo Conclave for North-East held via Video Conferencing

  • A Bamboo Conclave was held through Video Conference and featured the participation of representatives of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), the Union Ministry of Agriculture and various other stakeholders from different sectors.
  • The conclave was addressed by Union Minister of State (I/C) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh. The minister emphasized on the importance of Bamboo to India’s Post- COVID economy.
  • He stated that Bamboo will provide India an opportunity to evolve as an economic power with the support of its Bamboo resources.
  • Bamboo is vital to India’s Post- COVID economy and will provide an opportunity for India to emerge as an economic power with the support of its Bamboo resources.
  • The amendment in the Indian Forest Act brought about by the govt in 2017, as a result of which, home grown bamboo has been exempted from it in order to enhance livelihood opportunities through bamboo.
  • The total requirement of “Agarbatti” in India is about 2,30,000 per annum and the market value of it is up to Rs 5000 crore. But India has been importing a large bulk of it from countries like China and Vietnam.
  • It is an opportunity for the North Eastern region to help India become world competitive and self-sufficient in the changed scenario, as Northeast consists 60% of India’s reserve of Bamboo.
  • In future, Ministry of North East will try to work out a time bound plan for promotion of bamboo manufacturing and trade, and also work out feasibility of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this sector.
  • Bamboo can be processed into multiple products, including bio-diesel and green fuel, wooden lumbers and plywood, which can change the entire face of the economy and create employment opportunities in multiple sectors.

Assam CM invites companies to set up ventures in State

  • Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal made an open invitation to companies to set up their business ventures in Assam as the State has a power surplus of 350 MW to cater to their electricity need.
  • CM Sonowal said that though the State has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the unrelenting endeavour of the government’s power companies has yielded into a power surplus of 350 MW.
  • The Chief Minister invited companies to invest in Assam and set up their units to explore the business-friendly ambience including availability of energy.
  • Chief Minister also hailed the role of every personnel of power department and the power companies in maintaining their high standard of professionalism and providing uninterrupted supply to the State.

PM Modi, Italy PM discuss health, economic impact of COVID-19

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the measures required to address the health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte over a phone call.
  • PM Modi also conveyed his condolences for the loss of lives in Italy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He commended the fortitude shown by citizens of Italy during the crisis.
  • Both the leaders expressed solidarity with each other and appreciated the mutual cooperation extended towards each other’s stranded nationals.
  • The leaders agreed to continue active consultation and cooperation between India and Italy, to further strengthen bilateral relations.
  • PM also assured Conte of India’s unstinted support to Italy in provision of essential medicines and other items.

Defence Ministry and Tata Power ink to modernise 37 airfields

  • Union Ministry of Defence inked a deal with Tata Power SED worth Rs 1,200 crore to modernise the infrastructure of 37 airfields for the Indian Air Force (IAF), Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
  • Modernisation of 37 airfield infrastructure is happening under Phase II of the programme. Under Phase I, 30 airfields were upgraded.
  • The project is a turnkey project that includes installation and commissioning of modern airfield equipment’s like Cat-II Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Cat II Air Field Lightning System (AFLS) etc.
  • The modern equipment around the airfield will also be directly connected to Air Traffic Control (ATC), thereby providing excellent control of the airfield systems to the air traffic controllers.
  • The up-gradation of navigational aids and infrastructure under this project would enhance the operational capability by facilitating air operations of military and civil aircraft even in poor visibility and adverse weather conditions while enhancing aerospace safety.

UP CM Yogi launches ‘Pravasi Raahat Mitra’ App

  • Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, launched the ‘Pravasi Rahat Mitra’ App that is aimed at aiding migrant citizens coming to Uttar Pradesh from other states so that they can take advantage of government schemes. It will also help to monitor their health besides providing jobs and livelihood information, suitable to their skills.
  • The data collection of these migrant citizens will be done through the app that has been developed by the state revenue department in collaboration with United Nation Development Program.
  • The app will have full details of the persons staying in the shelter center and the migrants who have reached their homes directly from other states. The status of distribution of ration kits to migrant citizens will also be recorded in the app.
  • The data collected through the app will be installed on the state-based Integrated Information Management System.

AIIB extends $500 million loan for India’s Covid fight

  • Board of Directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) has approved a loan of $500 million to support India’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic by strengthening health care system.
  • It will be co-financed by the World Bank and would support India in addressing significant challenges posed to the public health system.
  • The financing will enable the Government of India to scale up efforts to limit the transmission of cases, strengthen the health system to expand its response capacity and enhance preparedness to manage future outbreaks.
  • The project also supports the purchase of medical equipment, enhanced disease detection capabilities and strengthened research and is expected to address the needs of infected people, at-risk populations, medical and emergency personnel and service providers at medical and testing facilities as well as national and animal health agencies.

FACTFILE – Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) loans to India

  • India is the top borrower from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
  • Next to India, Indonesia has emerged as the second largest borrower with about USD 600 million loans.
  • Significantly in the pipeline for lending for India by the 84-member bank this year included any projects worth billions of dollars.
  • Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has an authorised capital of USD 100 billion.
  • China is the largest shareholder with 26.06 per cent voting shares in the bank. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 per cent followed by Russia 5.93 per cent and Germany with 4.5 per cent.
  • Borrowing from AIIB is preferred by a number of countries as it charges about one to 1.5 per cent interest with long term repayment including five-year grace period.
  • The AIIB board viewed Indian projects favourably due to India’s economic credentials as well as well-prepared project reports.

Rice research station recommended 10 new varieties for Assam farmers

  • Gerua-based Regional Rainfed Lowland Rice Research Station (RRLRRS) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Rice Research Institute (ICAR-NRRI) has recommended 10 new rice varieties for farmers of Assam.
  • These varieties have been found suitable for lowland rice ecology and for the climatic condition of Assam after tests and field trials.
  •  High protein varieties – CR Dhan 310, CR Dhan 309, CR Dhan 311
  • Climate smart varieties – CR Dhan 801, CR Dhan 802
  • Aromatic high yielding variety – CR Dhan 909
  • Four high yielding varieties suitable for lowland situation –  CR Dhan 307, CR Dhan 506, CR Dhan 601 and Chandrama
  • While CR Dhan 601 and Chandrama are suitable for cultivation in all seasons, the other eight varieties are basically for planting only in the kharif season.

FACTFILE – ICAR-NRRI-Regional Rainfed Lowland Rice Research Station (RRLRRS) Gerua, Assam

  • The Regional Rain-fed Lowland Rice Research Station (RRLRRS) as a sub-station under ICAR-NRRI was established on September 15, 1997 at Gerua in the Hajo circle of the Kamrup district of Assam, upon request of the Assma Govt to consider establishing a sub-station of National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) in the state to assist it’s efforts on rice research, as NRRI plays a pivotal role in rice research of the country.

Main mandates of the ICAR-RRLRRS are

  • To conduct basic, strategic, applied and adaptive research on crop improvement, production and protection for increasing and stabilizing rice productivity in rainfed lowland ecosystem.
  • To explore, evaluate, conserve and exchange rice germplasm.
  • To develop high yielding and input responsive rice varieties resistant/tolerant to different biotic and abiotic stresses under rainfed lowland ecosystem.
  • To generate appropriate agronomic and protection technologies for increasing and sustaining the productivity of rice-based production systems under rainfed lowland ecosystem.
  • To import training to the farmers, field functionaries, extension specialists and research workers on improved rice production cropping and farming systems.

Trust Area of Research

  • Strengthening the breeding strategy to evolve suitable Sali varieties with tolerant to flood.
  • Development of short duration varieties with blast resistance and cold tolerance for Boro season.
  • Development of flood resistant rice varieties for lowland, semi-deep and deep water conditions.
  • Development of appropriate integrated insect pest and disease management strategies.

Salient Achievements

  • Released rice variety ‘Chandrama’ as Boro and Sali for Assam.
  • Released aromatic high yielding rice variety ‘CR Dhan 909’ as Sali crop for Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra and UP for irrigated and rainfed lowland ecology.
  • Rice varieties ‘Naveen’ have been identified suitable as pre-flood Ahu crop and ‘Abhishek’ as post-flood Sali rice crop.
  • Continual maintenance of over 830 Eastern Indian rice germplasm.
  • Use of pheromone traps @ 20/ha recorded the lowest incidence of dead heart (3.45%) and white ear head (2.01%).

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May 10, 2020

NIAB Hyderabad develops portable device ‘eCovSens’ to detect Covid

  • Researchers from Hyderabad-based National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) have developed a portable device ‘eCovSens’ that could possibly be used as a diagnostic tool for detection of COVID-19 antigens from saliva samples of suspected coronavirus patients within 30 seconds.
  • Developed by a group of scientists, led by Sonu Gandhi from NIAB, Department of Biotechnology, the device is named as ‘eCovSens’ and is at present in validation stage.
  • The biosensor device has the potential to directly detect a specific protein of the SARS-CoV-2, even when the proteins are present in low concentrations in the human saliva.

FACTFILE – The National Institute of Animal Biotechnology

  • National Institute of Animal Biotechnology is an Indian autonomous research establishment of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.
  • The state of the art Animal Biotechnology and Transgenics institute is housed in the Aryabhata Block of the sprawling University of Hyderabad in Gachibowli.
  • The primary mandate of NIAB is towards the development of sustainability and globally competitive livestock (farm animals) for public and industry through innovative and cutting edge technology.

CAIT to launch national e-commerce marketplace ‘Bharatmarket’

  • Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has announced to launch a national e-commerce marketplace ‘Bharatmarket’ soon for all retail traders in collaboration with several technology partners.
  • The marketplace will integrate capabilities of various technology companies to provide end-to-end services in the logistics and supply chains from manufacturers to end consumers, including deliveries at home.
  • The e-commerce portal will include a nationwide participation by retailers and aims to bring 95 per cent of retail traders onboard the platform, who would exclusively run the portal.
  • The traders body is looking to enrol about one crore retailers on this e-marketplace in 2020 and make it the world’s largest and most-unique e-marketplace ever.

ICMR partners with Bharat Biotech to develop Covid-19 vaccine

  • The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) partnered with Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for coronavirus.
  • The team will use the virus strain isolated at ICMR”s National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
  • The strain has been successfully transferred from NIV to Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL).
  • Work on vaccine development has been initiated between the two partners.
  • ICMR-NIV will provide continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development.
  • ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine.

Ex-RBI Governor Rangarajan heads panel to tackle Tamil Nadu’s fiscal challenges

  • The Tamil Nadu government has set up a high-level committee comprising of economists, industrialists, vice chancellors, bankers, government officials, headed by former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan to look at the fiscal challenges being faced by the state and the way forward in the context of Covid-19.
  • The committee’s terms of references are
    • To assess the overall immediate and medium-term impact of Covid-19 on different sectors of the Tamil Nadu economy, including impact of the lockdown, additional costs and implications due to social distancing and other precautionary measures;
    • Assess opportunities and threats in the short and medium term.
    • Measures required to help important sectors of the economy to overcome Covid-19 pandemic.
    • Identify specific reform measures to be taken by the state government to support the growth of important sectors of the economy.
    • Asses the Covid-19 impact on TN’s fiscal situation, the way forward to improve it, including increasing the tax: Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), diversifying revenue source and repriotising expenditure.

Over 60 per cent of styrene vapour leaked from LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam

  • Over 60 per cent of the styrene vapours that leaked from a tank in LG Polymers near Visakhapatnam, killing at least 11 people.
  • Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney issued an order appointing a high-level to probe into the causes behind the gas leak and suggest measures to improve the protocol for industrial safety of similar types of plants.

What is styrene?

  • It is a flammable liquid that is used in the manufacturing of polystyrene plastics, fiberglass, rubber, and latex.
  • Styrene is also found in vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, and in natural foods like fruits and vegetables.

Effect on Human

  • Short-term exposure to the substance can result in respiratory problems, irritation in the eyes, irritation in the mucous membrane, and gastrointestinal issues.
  • Long-term exposure could drastically affect the central nervous system and lead to other related problems like peripheral neuropathy. It could also lead to cancer and depression in some cases.

May 11, 2020

USFDA approves emergency use of investigational vaccine, Remdesivir

  • The US food and drug regulatory body has allowed the emergency use of an investigational anti-viral vaccine to treat COVID-19 patients after some researches, found that the drug helped recover some of the infected cases faster.
  • The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the use of investigational anti-viral Remdesivir in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
  • The EUA allows for Remdesivir to be distributed in the US and administered intravenously by health care providers, as appropriate, to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with severe condition.
  • Remdesivir is authorised for the treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 disease, the optimal duration of treatment is still being studied in ongoing clinical trials.
  • Indian-American Subramanian, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine is one of the lead investigators of the study.

National Institute of Virology develops ‘COVID Kavach’ that tests 90 samples together

  • The National Institute of Virology in Pune has successfully developed the first indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2A (Covid-19) human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of the deadly virus.
  • This kit was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has high sensitivity & accuracy. Additionally, it also has the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours.
  • The ICMR technology has been transferred to ZydusCadila for mass-scale production and the Drug Controller General has granted commercial production & marketing permission to Zydus.

FACTFILE – National Institute of Virology, Pune

  • The National Institute of Virology, Pune is an Indian virology research institute, and one of the translational science cells part of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
  • It was founded in 1952 in collaboration of the ICMR and the Rockefeller Foundation as a part of the global programme of investigations on the arthropod-borne group of viruses.
  • It was originally known as ‘Virus Research Center’. To expanded scope and activities, it was re-designated as the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in 1978
  • It has been designated as a WHO H5 reference laboratory for SE Asia region. It is identified as the WHO Collaborating Center for arboviruses reference and hemorrhagic fever reference and research.
  • NIV is also the National Monitoring Centre for Influenza, Japanese encephalitis, Rota, Measles, Hepatitis and Coronavirus.

DRDO develops devices to sanitise phones, currency notes

  • The RCI, a premier laboratory of DRDO based at Hyderabad, has developed an automated contactless UVC sanitising cabinet to sanitise mobile phones, iPads, laptops, currency notes, cheque leafs, challans, passbooks, and paper.
  • Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a part of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), developed the Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser (DRUVS).
  • The proximity sensor switches clubbed with drawer opening and closing mechanism makes its operation automatic and contactless. It provides 360 degree exposure of UVC to the objects placed inside the cabinet.

NASSCOM creates end-to-end covid-19 platform for Telangana

  • The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) successful delivered of an end-to-end ‘COVID’ platform to Telangana government.
  • The platform brings together solutions from multiple technology leaders and delivers more than 100 dashboards, from over 30 government and public datasets, with hundreds of thousands of data points, which will help the state combat the pandemic.
  • The NASSCOM taskforce has developed a covid-19 India Vulnerability Map, which will provide real time streaming of data about the coronavirus, across regions and states in the country.
  • The platform will source data from public sources that includes select social channels, websites, blogs, forums and public data sets to create actionable reporting dashboards and will allow the got to project insights sourced from the information with public datasets display.

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May 12, 2020

Centre releases Rs 6000 crore to assist 14 states including 6 NE states

  • The Centre released the second instalment of states’ share of revenue deficit grant amounting to over Rs 6,000 crore, to assist states effectively address the situation arising out of Covid-19.
  • The grant had been released for 14 states including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Sikkim and six North Eastern states excluding Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The money has been released ahead of schedule and as a special dispensation to meet immediate funding needs of the state governments looking to restore economic activity and minimise losses to its citizens due to disruptions caused by the lockdown.
  • Much of this money is expected to be used by states towards paying the salaries to their staff as sharp fall in tax collections in April.

Assam CM interacts with PSUs, industry bodies

  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal interacted with representatives of Central and State Government PSUs, industry and tea associations at the Assam Administrative Staff College and solicited their suggestions to arrest the economic slowdown.
  • He also talked to several industry leaders through video conference who joined the interaction from different parts of the State and the country.
  • Industries in Assam contribute 39 per cent to the State GDP and provide direct employment to approximately 4 lakh people and indirect employment to around 20 lakh people and this sector has been severely affected by the lockdown.
  • Stating that due to lockdown big and small tea gardens incurred loss to the tune of around Rs. 500 crores, Sonowal assured the industry leaders that continuous efforts to revive the economy were underway.
  • The State government has taken up steps to facilitate return of migrant workers of the State who are stranded at different places of the country, CM Sonowal stressed on making best use of their skills to boost the industrial sector.

Kashmir Saffron receives Geographical Indication (GI) Tag

  • Kashmir saffron has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry.
  • The spice is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa highlands and some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwama, Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar.
  • The application was filed by the Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, and facilitated by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, and Saffron Research Station, Dussu.
  • Iran is the largest producer of saffron and India is a close competitor. With the GI tag, Kashmir saffron would gain more prominence in the export market.
  • Kashmir saffron is renowned globally as a spice and is a very precious and costly product. It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes.
  • The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and high quantity of crocin , safranal and picrocrocin.
  • The saffron available in Kashmir is of three types — Lachha Saffron, Mongra Saffron, and Guchhi Saffron.

TS Tirumurti appointed new Permanent Representative of India to UN

  • T. S. Tirumurti, an IFS officer of 1985 batch, has been appointed as the next Ambassador or Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. 
  • At present, he is holding the position of Secretary, Economic Relations, at the MEA headquarters in Delhi.
  • Tirumurti succeeds Syed Akbaruddin who is credited with effectively presenting India’s position on a range of crucial issues at the UN’s headquarters in New York for last several years.

May 13, 2020

African Swine fever outbreak in Assam

  • With the outbreak of the African swine fever, animals especially the pig’s health issue, have become a serious concern for the State as piggery is a lucrative way of livelihood for a large section of Assamese youths.
  • More than 14,000 pigs died of swine fever and new cases have been reported from Nagaon district.
  • According to the Assam Pig Breeding Policy, 2019, the pig farmers of Assam are facing six major challenges including the pig health issue.
  • The policy stated that there is a big gap between the requirement and availability of feed and feed crops in Assam.  This is because cultivation of maize, which is an important feed ingredient for pigs, is not popular in Assam. Because of this its cost is very high in the State and availability is not adequate.
  • Indigenous varieties of pig are very poor performers in terms of body weight and prolificacy and it makes them unsuitable for profitable commercial ventures.
  • Citing the issue of climate change and global warming, the policy stated that both the factors may have serious implications on the pig sector.
  • Most of the pig producers of the State are small and marginal farmers who have limited capacity to adopt the latest technological advancements.

GI Tag to Manipur Black Rice, Gorakhpur Terracotta

  • Chak-Hao, the black rice of Manipur and the Gorakhpur terracotta have bagged the Geogrphical Indication (GI) tag.
  • The application for Chak-Hao was filed by the Consortium of Producers of Chak-Hao (Black Rice), Manipur and was facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur and the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC).
  • Chak-Hao, a scented glutinous rice which has been in cultivation in Manipur over centuries, is characterised by its special aroma. It is normally eaten during community feasts and is served as Chak-Hao kheer.
  • Chak-Hao has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine. This rice takes the longest cooking time of 40-45 minutes due to the presence of a fibrous bran layer and higher crude fibre content.
  • The terracotta work of Gorakhpur is a centuries-old traditional art form, where the potters make various animal figures like, horses, elephants, camel, goat, ox, etc. with hand-applied ornamentation.

Prime Minister announced package of Rs 20 lakh crore to boost economy

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a massive financial package to revive, reform and make the country self-reliant, while at the same time welcoming foreign capital and strengthening of supply chains.
  • Prime Minister announced stimulus measures which will take the total amount announced by the Ministry of Finance and the RBI to a total of Rs 20 lakh crore which is about 10 per cent of India’s GDP.
  • According to the Prime Minister, it is now the time to make India self-sufficient in every way and every Indian should buy and promote local goods.
  • The package will give emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws. The package will also focus on the farmers and the labourers.
  • The package will give rise to a rational tax system, strong financial system besides encouraging businesses and bringing in investments into India. As new infrastructure and rational tax systems are the focus area for a quantum leap of growth.

Tamil Nadu’s Arumbavur wood carvings get GI tag

  • The unique Arumbavur wood carving was awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Arumbavur is a Town Panchayat in Perambalur district in the state of Tamil Nadu.
  • The application for GI was made by the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (Poompuhar), Arumbavur Wood Carvers’ Handicrafts lndustrial Cooperative Society Ltd, and the Arumbavur Temple Car and Woodcarving Artisans Welfare Society.
  • The Arumbavur wood carvings are primarily making sculptures on the wooden logs of Indian siris (Poo Vaagai, Albizialebbeck), Mango (Mangiferaindica), Lingam tree (Mavilangam), Indian Ash fiee (Othiyan – Odinawodier), Rosewood, Neem tree (Vembu – Azadirachtaindica).
  • The unique aspect of the Arambavur wood carvings is that it is often inspired by architectural details on temple sculptures and carvings indigenous to the region.
  • The art form also draws inspiration from mythology and mythical deities.
  • The Arumbavur wood carvings revolve around idols and deities, temple chariots and temple cars, door panels of houses, pooja rooms and temples, decorative figures, poojamandapam.
  • The artisans used to go to the particular place where the temple car has to be made and stay in that temple for a period of upto four years and complete the work.
  • Sculptures of Lord Vinayaka, Goddess Saraswati, Lord Krishna, Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi can be seen in Arumbavur Wood Carvings, along with motifs such as hamsa/mythical swans, poomakhumbhal cornucopia, kaamadhenu, Temple chariots and temple cars and other floral motifs.

Uttar Pradesh transfers Rs 225 crore to MGNREGA beneficiaries

  • Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath transferred Rs 225.39 crores to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beneficiaries through direct bank transfer.
  • State govt has raised the honorarium of the ‘gram sewaks’ who are beneficiaries under MGNREGA, to Rs 6,000 per month from the earlier Rs 3,630 per month.
  • CM Govt also appealed to the MGNREGA workers to help in generating more employment in their villages and districts and ensure that the needy get employment.

Microsoft launches ‘Back2Business’ solutions for SMBs in India

  • Microsoft announced the launch of new solutions designed to help Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) maintain business continuity and embark on their Cloud adoption journeys amid the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Curated for specific scenarios in different organisation sizes, these “Back2Business” solution boxes bring together offerings across Azure and Modern Workplace.
  • There are solution packages designed to accelerate the Cloud adoption journeys of SMBs. These are curated to help ramp up legacy systems, migrate workloads to Azure or modernise apps and websites.
  • The Back2Business Solution Boxes offer speed in deployment and usage and flexibility with pay-as-you-go pricing, along with our commitment to privacy and security.

US commit $3.6 Million aid to India for COVID-19 Battle

  • The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has committed $3.6 million to assist India’s efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The initial tranche of funding will seek to further strengthen and support the Central government’s efforts to increase laboratory capacity for SARS-COV-2 testing, including molecular diagnostics and serology.
  • The funds will also support the development of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) centers that can improve the ability of hospital networks to detect Covid-19 cases and strengthen local health systems through enhanced surveillance and monitoring systems.
  • The CDC will work with local partners to assist in the development of a strong public health workforce to support India’s capacity to respond not only to this pandemic but also to future threats as well.
  • It will also include planning for health emergency operation centres. The CDC India programme will provide technical assistance for the ongoing crisis emergency and risk communication efforts of the government.

Central relief package of Rs 1.70 lakh crore for poor

  • The Union government recently announced a relief package of Rs 1.70 lakh crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for the poor to help them fight the battle against coronavirus.
  • The Centre proposes to pay 24 per cent of the monthly wages into the EPF account for the three months – March, April and May.
  • The benefits will be available to establishments having up to 100 employees with 90 per cent or more such employees earning monthly wages up to Rs 15,000.
  • The entire employees’ EPF contribution and employer’s EPF and EPS contributions of the monthly wages for the three months shall be paid directly by the Central government in the EPF account of the employees.
  • The employer in relation to any eligible establishment shall disburse wages for the month to all employees of the establishment and file ECR to avail the benefit under the scheme.

Researchers of IIT Guwahati, Singapore institute use data science models

  • Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and the Duke-NUS Medical School of Singapore have used data science models to analyse and carry out a state-wise assessment of the COVID-19 situation in India.
  • The data-driven assessment was carried out by Dr Palash Ghosh, Assistant Professor of IIT Guwahati, in collaboration with Dr Bibhas Chakraborty, Associate Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
  • The assessment can predict the total number of infected people for different states in India in the next 30 days, based on the growth of active cases in recent times, along with the daily infection-rate (DIR) values for each state.
  • The researchers label a state as severe if a non-decreasing trend in DIR values is observed over the last two weeks along with a near exponential growth in active infected cases.

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May 14, 2020

Assam to introduce new inter-district tourism scheme

  • The Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) has decided to introduce an inter-district tourism plan in the State in a bid to encourage the local youths.
  • The ongoing lockdown has made a huge impact on the tourism sector, and, therefore, the ATDC has come forward with a new move of helping the unemployed youths.
  • The chairman of the ATDC, Jayanta Malla Baruah informed that the ‘PunyaDham’ scheme would be implemented within the state this year, which is likely to attract more tourists.
  • It is to be noted that the State Tourism department has incurred a huge loss due to the impact of novel corona virus.

Finance Ministry’s 15 measures to revive economy

  • Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced 15 new and some enhanced measures to revive businesses, and support workers via fiscal incentives and regulatory easing, consist of slew of fiscal and regulatory measures for MSMEs, real estate, NBFCs, power distribution and general businesses.
  • As a major reform measure for the MSME sector, the Centre has decided to give a new definition to MSMEs. Specifications wise, the investment limit for defining MSMEs has been revised upwards. Additional criteria such as turnover have been considered for defining MSMEs.
  • Rs 3 lakh crore “collateral-free automatic loans” for businesses, including MSMEs, will be provided to meet operational liabilities built up, buy raw material and restart business.
  • A Rs 50,000 crore ”Fund of Funds” for MEMEs, which face severe shortage of equity, was also announced. Another scheme worth Rs 20,000 crore for “subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs.
  • The Centre will not to go in for global bidding for government procurement for tenders up to Rs 200 crore, thereby, promoting the participation of MSMEs.
  • e-market linkage for MSMEs will be provided and the CPSEs will pay all receivables to MSMEs within 45 days.
  • Rs 30,000 crore special liquidity scheme for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) was also announced.
  • A Rs 45,000 crore partial credit guarantee scheme for NBFCs. Under this measure, first 20 per cent loss will be borne by the Centre, and even unrated papers will be eligible for investment, enabling NBFCs to reach out even to MSMEs in far-flung areas.
  • A Rs 90,000 crore liquidity injection plan was announced for the financially stressed power distribution companies, which will allow these entities to clear their dues towards power generation companies.
  • The Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs will issue advisory to states and Union Territories to declare the Covid-19 situation as a ”force majeure” under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.
  • Centre to reduce the TDS (tax deduction at source) rates for non-salaried specified payments made to residents, and the TCS (tax collection at source) rates by 25 per cent for the specified receipts. This will be applicable to the payment for contract, professional fees, interest, rent, dividend, commission and brokerage.

Tamil Nadu’s Kovilpatti kadalaimittai gets GI tag

  • The famous Kovilpattikadalaimittai has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.  It is manufactured in Kovilpatti and adjacent towns and villages in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu
  • The application was filed by the Kovilpatti Regional Kadalaimittai Manufacturers.
  • Kovilpatti kadalaimittai is a candy made of peanuts held together with glistening syrup, and topped with wisps of grated coconut dyed pink, green and yellow.
  • It is made using all natural ingredients such as the traditional and special ‘vellam’ (jaggery) and groundnuts and water from the river Thamirabarani is used in the production, which enhances the taste naturally.

Govt to use Rs 3,100 crore from PM-CARES for ventilators, migrants’ welfare

  • The Centre allocated Rs 3,100 crore from the PM CARES (Prime Minister”s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund to fight against COVID-19.
  • The bulk of it, Rs 2,000 crore, will be spent to buy ventilators, while a significant Rs 1,000 crore is being earmarked for the migrant labourers. As much as Rs 100 crore is kept for supporting vaccine development.
  • As much as 50,000 ‘Made in India’ ventilators will be purchased from PM CARES Fund at a cost of about Rs 2,000 crore. These ventilators will be provided to government-run COVID hospitals in all states and UTs for better treatment of critical COVID-19 cases.
  • A lump-sum assistance of total Rs 1,000 crore from the Fund is earmarked for the welfare of the migrant labourers. The money will be distributed to states and UTs.
  • The money is meant to strengthen districts’ efforts in providing accommodation facilities, making food arrangements, providing medical treatment and making transportation arrangements of the migrants.
  • State/UT-wise funds will be released on the weightage of (a) population of the state/UT as per 2011 Census – 50% weightage (b) Number of positive COVID-19 cases as on date – 40% weightage and (c) equal share (10% weightage) for all states/UTs to ensure basic minimum sum for all states.
  • Meanwhile, Rs 100 crore is kept for developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Indian academia, start-ups and industry have come together in cutting-edge vaccine design and development on the money is meant to support their research and development.

UN slashes India’s growth rate to 1.2% for 2020-21

  • United Nations has slashed India’s economic growth projection for the current fiscal year to 1.2 per cent, which would still be the second-highest growth rate among major economies trailing China.
  • The mid-year World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) update expects India’s rate of gross domestic growth to increase to 5.5 per cent in the next fiscal year.
  • The growth rate for the world ravaged by Covid-19 is projected to shrink by 3.2 per cent this year, with the developed countries bearing the brunt with their economic growth dropping by 5 per cent.
  • China is expected to grow by 1.7 per cent this year and increase its rate to 7.6 per cent next year. South Asia’s economies overall to shrink by 0.6 per cent during the current year.

Gilead inks pact with 3 Indian drugmakers to produce, sell Remdesivir

  • US drug-maker Gilead Sciences has signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with three Indian pharmaceutical companies Cipla, Hetero Labs and Jubilant Life Sciences, to manufacture and sell the anti-viral drug to treat severe COVID-19 patients. Gilead would provide technology transfers to the drug manufacturers to facilitate the production.
  • Gilead’s Remdesivir has received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Hetero which has been working with the ICMR for necessary approvals, said Remdesivir would be manufactured at its formulation facility in Hyderabad.
  • Cipla will be permitted to manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and finished product, and market it in 127 countries, including India and South Africa under Cipla’s own brand name.
  • Remdesivir is given to patients intraveinous one time each day for up to 10 days depending on recommendations of healthcare providers, according to the FDA. The drug may help decrease the amount of the coronavirus in bodies and help patients get better faster.
  • Possible side effects of Remdesivir include infusion-related reactions and increases in levels of liver enzymes. It’s all of the risks are not known yet.

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