Daily Current Affairs, 11th March 2020

1) National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs held in New Delhi

•Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the “National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces)” in New Delhi. The Conference was organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR & D). Smriti Irani also released a hand-out- ‘BPR & D Mirror- Gender Bender’ and also the book titled “To Greater Heights”. The Minister stressed the importance of the women to be trained many as forensic and cybercrime investigators because women are victimised more in cybercrimes.

The main objective of the National Conference was to discuss and deliberate on the following 2 (two) themes:

•Cyber Stalking and Bullying of Women: Steps for Protection.

•Challenges faced by CAPF Women in Operational Areas.

Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D)

•The Government of India established the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), under the Ministry of Home Affairs in the 1970s. It replaced the Police Research and Advisory Council (1966), with the primary objective of modernization of police force. The Government of India further decided to create a National Police Mission under the administrative control of BPR&D to transform the police forces in the country. Recently, BPR&D observed its 50th foundation day.

2) Odisha to open department for SHGs called “Mission Shakti”

•Odisha will be the first state to have an exclusive department for Self Help Group (SHGs) called “Mission Shakti”. It is created for the development of women & is dedicated to all the women of Odisha. The Mission Shakti and Mamata Scheme combinedly benefit 70 lakh, women in the state. 50% reservation in Panchayati Raj has created a new era for the socio-economic development of women.

3) University of Ranchi launches its own Community Radio Station

•University of Ranchi launched its own Community Radio Station RADIO KHANCHI 90.4 FM Aap Sabka Radio on the occassion of International Women’s Day. The radio would provide help to university students which is spread over a campus of more than 15 kms. Students will be able to receive information about academic, cultural, examination, important datelines and placement related activities and programs.

•Radio Khanchi under Ranchi University remains to be the first-ever University in the Eastern Zone to be gifted with a Community Radio Station by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and sponsored by Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Jharkhand.

•Radio Khanchi has prepared its own signature tune and the Vice-chancellor of Ranchi University Dr Ramesh Kumar Pandey has requested for technical assistance of their Community Radio station from All India Radio. Ranchi University for an initial span of two years to manage the technical functioning of the radio station.

4) New Delhi to host an exhibition titled “Jallianwala Bagh”

•An exhibition titled “Jallianwala Bagh” is scheduled to be held in New Delhi. “Jallianwala Bagh” exhibition will be inaugurated by Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel on the occasion of 130th Foundation Day of National Archives of India (NAI).

5) GoI constitutes committee to decide modalities of Kisan Rail

•The Union Government of India has constituted a committee to decide modalities of Kisan Rail. This committee has been formed under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare along with representatives of the Indian Railways. “Kisan Rail” is planned to be set up through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode and will facilitate a cold supply chain to transport the perishable goods.

•Initiative of “Kisan Rail” was proposed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech of 2020-21 to set up a seamless National Cold Supply Chain for perishables like fish, milk and meat.

•The Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) has commissioned temperature-controlled perishable cargo centres as a pilot project under the Kisan Vision Project. CONCOR has done this through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. The temperature-controlled perishable cargo centres have been commissioned at the following places namely Ghazipur Ghat (Uttar Pradesh), New Azadpur (Adarsh Nagar, Delhi) and Raja ka Talab (Uttar Pradesh).

6) “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator” fund launched

•A new fund named as “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator” has been launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard. The $125 Million fund has been launched to accelerate technologies to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.




About “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator”:

•“COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator” fund has been designed to identify, assess, develop and scale treatments to the COVID-19 disease outbreak. The fund aims to assess new and repurposed drugs and biologics to cure patients suffering from COVID-19 in the immediate term, and also capable of curing other viral pathogens in the future.

•The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will also work along the World Health Organization, government and private sector funders and various other organizations as well as regulators and policy-setting institutions.

7) Gujarat ranks 1st in domestic solar rooftop installations

•Gujarat ranks first in the list for domestic solar rooftop installations with 64% of domestic solar installations. Nearly 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the State as on March 2, 2020. The State government of Gujarat has adopted a solar rooftop scheme “Surya Gujarat” to cover about eight lakh domestic electricity consumers under the scheme by 2022. Maharashtra ranks second in the list with 5,513 installations as on the same date. About 79,950 systems have been installed throughout the country has a capacity of 322 MW.

•The government of Gujarat had also relaxed subsidy criteria for domestic users with up to 40% subsidy on the cost of projects up to 3 kWh capacity, while 20% subsidy assistance is being provided for project with a capacity between 3 and 10 kWh.

What is a Solar rooftop?

•Solar rooftop is solar panels placed on top of roofs of commercial, institutional or residential buildings. They capture the light energy emitted by the sun and convert it into electrical energy. This setup is also known as a solar rooftop photo-voltaic system. It produces a clean, Eco-friendly form of energy, meaning that it’s which does not produce any type of pollution or harmful gases.

8) V Praveen Rao wins MS Swaminathan Award

•Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor V Praveen Rao has won the 7th Dr MS Swaminathan Award for the period 2017-2019. The Selection Committee has decided to select Praveen Rao for the award recognising his contributions in the fields of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration. The award will be conferred on him in June 2020. Praveen Rao handled 13 research & 6 consultancy projects on micro-irrigation in India, Israel and South Africa.

•The MS Swaminathan award was constituted by Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL). It carries a prize of ₹2 lakh and a citation.

9) Andhra Pradesh ranks 1st in overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan

•According to the report of NITI Aayog, “Transforming Nutrition in India: POSHAN Abhiyaan”. Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in the country for the overall implementation of POSHAN ( Prime Minister’s Overreaching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan. The 2nd anniversary of POSHAN Abhiyaan is recognized by celebrating Poshan Pakhwada from 8th-22nd March 2020. Tamil Nadu tops the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the programme.

•The Andhra Pradesh State Government has given smartphones to all 55,607 Anganwadi workers to improve service delivery and for reporting day to day actions, as well as to council the targeted beneficiaries through video embedded in the application.

10) Nupur Kulshrestha becomes 1st woman DIG of Indian Coast Guard

•Nupur Kulshrestha becomes the first woman to be promoted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Indian Coast Guard. She joined Indian Coast Guard in 1999. The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea.

•The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on 18 August 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India as an independent Armed force of India. It operates under the Ministry of Defence. The Coast Guard works in close cooperation with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs) and the Central and State police forces.

11) Naveen Patnaik released book “ The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat”

•The chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik released a comic book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat’. This book is released on the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha CM Late Biju Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The book deals about the life and works of legendary leader and Naveen Patnaik’s father Biju Patnaik. The book aims to inspire and encourage young minds to serve the motherland. The comic book, prepared by Kalinga Foundation Trust and published by New Delhi- based the Creative workshop.

12) PV Sindhu wins BBC Indian Sportswoman of Year Award

•PV Sindhu has won the inaugural edition of BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2019. She was conferred the award during the BBC award ceremony held in New Delhi. She was nominated for the award along with four other contenders namely para-badminton player Manasi Joshi, boxer Mary Kom, sprinter Dutee Chand and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. PV Sindhu was the first Indian singles badminton player to win an Olympic silver medal and she also became the first Indian to win gold in the Badminton World Championships 2019 held in Basel, Switzerland.

•BBC has also conferred former Indian sprinter PT Usha with the Lifetime Achievement award. She has been awarded for her contribution to Indian sports. Former sprinter PT Usha missed out a medal by one hundredth of a second when she finished at fourth position in the 400 m race of 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.