VisionIAS
07:02
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Monday, April 26, 2021
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs March 2021 PDF
aditya
20:03
Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs March 2021 PDF
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GS SCORE Yearly Compilation Geography Mapping Landlocked Country PDF
aditya
15:31
GS SCORE Yearly Compilation Geography Mapping Landlocked Country PDF
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Insights IAS Prelims 2021 Exclusive Science & Technology PDF
aditya
08:36
Insights IAS Prelims 2021 Exclusive Science & Technology PDF
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Saturday, April 24, 2021
Daily Current Affairs, 24th April 2021
aditya
16:14
1) National Panchayati Raj Day: 24 April
•Nation celebrates National Panchayati Raj Day on 24 April every year. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj organizes the National Panchayati Raj day or the National Local Self Government Day. India celebrates the first National Panchayati Raj Day or the National Local Government Day on April 2010.
2) World Day for Laboratory Animals : 24 April
•The World Day For Animals In Laboratories (WDAIL); also known as World Lab Animal Day or World Day for Laboratory Animals, is observed every year on 24 April. The day was instituted in 1979 by the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), as an “international day of commemoration” for animals in laboratories.
•WDAIL aims to end the suffering of animals in laboratories around the world and promote their replacement with advanced scientific non-animal techniques. Apart from this, the “World Week for Animals In Laboratories” (Lab Animal Week) is celebrated from April 20 to 26.
3) World Veterinary Day 2021: 24 April
•The World Veterinary Day is observed on the Fourth Saturday of April every year. In 2021, the day falls on April 24, 2021. The theme of the 2021 World Veterinary Day is ‘Veterinarian response to the COVID-19 crisis.’ The day was created by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2000 to celebrate the contributions of veterinarians to the health of animals and society.
4) International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace
•The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace observed globally on 24 April. ‘International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace’ was first observed by the United Nations (UN) on April 24, 2019. The day aims to spread knowledge about the advantages of multilateralism and diplomacy for peace, including through educational and public awareness-raising activities.
•The Assembly proclaimed the day while considering that preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation is fundamental to promote and support the three pillars of the UN – Peace and Security, Development and Human Rights. The Day is a reaffirmation of the UN Charter and its principles of resolving disputes among countries through peaceful means.
5) Aakash Ranison launches his E-Book “Climate Change Explained – For One And All”
•The climate activist-author, Aakash Ranison has come out with a new e-book titled “Climate Change Explained – for one and all”, on the occasion of Earth Day. Through the e-book, the author explains the impact of climate change and aims to motivate readers to reduce its outcome with the help of simple sustainable solutions.
•The book is a mix of facts, data, and information about climate change, having topics like “Greenhouse effect, global warming, Carbon footprint” and their effects on earth in the near future.
6) Rumana Sinha Sehgal won the Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021
•Rumana Sinha Sehgal, Software engineer turned entrepreneur from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, won the Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021 by the Diplomatic Mission Global Peace. She was virtually awarded for her contribution to the field of developing innovative and functional green products by recycling varied materials and non-biodegradable materials.
The HINDU Notes – 24th April 2021
aditya
16:05
📰 Prevalence of U.K. variant rises in Delhi
Proportion has risen from 28% in March to 50% last week in genome sequencing.
•The proportion of the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7) in genome samples sequenced from COVID cases in Delhi has risen from 28% in the second week of March to the 50% in the last week, Dr. Sujeet Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in a webinar on Friday.
•The U.K. variant has a mutation N501Y that is reported to increase the transmission of the virus leading to more numbers and a knock-on consequence of increasing disease severity and mortality.
•Speaking at the webinar organised by the Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Singh said there was also a rise in the Indian variant (B.1.617), that has two mutations associated with increased efficacy and decreasing the potency of vaccines.
•However while the relative proportion of known variants of concern, or VoC, (the U.K., South Africa, Brazil variants) is around 11%, investigations were still on to determine to what extent they were responsible for the severity of disease. New Delhi is undergoing an unprecedented surge in it fourth wave with a rise in instances of people manifesting breathlessness and a demand for oxygen cylinders and beds that has led to health systems being overwhelmed.
•Of 438 sequences of the VOCs analysed in Delhi, 415 exhibited the U.K. strain and 23 the South Africa strain. Delhi was among the States, along with Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat where instances of the U.K. strain in the wider community far outnumbered those detected among international travellers and their contacts.
•For instance, in Delhi, there were 324 instances of the U.K. strain in the “community” as opposed to 91 among travellers and their contacts (T&C). In Gujarat, it was 18 in T&C and 42 in the community and in Chhattisgarh there was only 1 case in the T&C as opposed to 14 in the community. Such numbers weren’t yet present for the Brazilian and South African strains. Several of these states are showing unprecedented spikes.
•The comparative data was presented by Dr. Singh.
•So far about 15,000 genomes had been sequenced, which is about 1% of India's coronavirus caseload.
•Dr. Anurag Agrawal, Director, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), said the concern with the Indian variants was that they possessed two mutations — E484K and L245R — that together would increase the likelihood of a wider range of antibodies being unable to counter the virus.
•“However immunity also includes a cellular level response that can generate cross reactivity and so we can still expect, a good antibody response which is why all vaccines, despite the variant, will be fairly protective (against disease),” he said.
•Dr. Priya Abraham, Director, ICMR-National Institute of Virology said the virus would continue to mutate and the best defence would be to continue following ‘COVID appropriate behaviour' and vaccinate at the earliest. She said that 90% of the RT-PCR tests being deployed were accurate. However, there were challenges in testing with several trained staff too testing positive and affecting the quality of testing and analysis, she added.
•Virologist Shahid Jameel, and head of the advisory group to INSACOG, who was moderating the webinar, said there was “preliminary” information that both Covaxin and Covishield appeared to be effective against the Indian variant. He was referring to a report by the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.
•“Science is a process that calls for evidence based policy making and not policy based evidence making. Three 'T's are needed: Truth, Transparency and Trust. Truth leads to transparency leads to trust,” he said.
📰 Centre to give 5 kg foodgrains free to poor
PM calls upon States to take a unified approach in dealing with resource scarcities.
•The Union government announced that 5 kg of food grains would be provided to 80 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for the months of May and June as many States were undergoing curfews and the high rates of coronavirus infections had led to a slowdown in economic activity.
•The announcement came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Chief Ministers, especially of States with high COVID-19 case burden. The outlay for the free grain programme has been pegged at ₹26,000 crore.
•Mr. Modi assured States that all resources, including the Indian Railways and the Indian Air Force (IAF), were being deployed to reach oxygen to different corners of the country. The PM asked States to be strict with curbing the hoarding and black marketing of essential drugs and injections as COVID-19 cases soared in India. He also said that the Central government would be providing vaccines against COVID-19 acquired by it to the States for free, as in the past.
•The meeting with Chief Ministers, followed by Mr. Modi’s meeting with oxygen manufacturers, the fourth such review of oxygen availability in the last week, assumes significance with daily new cases going past the 3.5 lakh mark on Friday.
•According to a statement released after the meeting with Chief Ministers, Mr. Modi had called for a unified approach in dealing with resource scarcities, which he said were being addressed. He stated that it was through such an approach during the first wave that India could tackle the first outbreak of COVID-19.
•The PM said that the IAF was flying in empty tankers for oxygen to reduce turnaround time on supplies. The Railways had been roped in to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains. He urged States fighting for scarce oxygen to set up coordination teams to allow the movement of tankers across State borders.
•Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which are now facing swiftly rising COVID-19 cases, were highlighted as an area of concern. Mr. Modi also expressed grief at the accidents that had taken place in hospitals, adding that hospital staff had to be more aware of safety protocols.
CMs interject
•When Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal live streamed his interjection in the meeting, Mr. Modi admonished him for violating the protocol of closed-door meetings. Mr. Kejriwal’s office later released a statement expressing regret, saying the live streaming was done under the impression that it was allowed as it had been done in previous meetings.
•West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, going head-to-head with the BJP in the Assembly polls in her State, absented herself from the meeting for the second successive time.
•Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel made a strong demand that vaccines should be provided at the same rates for both the Centre and the States.
•Serum Institute of India has announced that it would be providing the Covishield vaccine, which it currently sells to the Centre at ₹150-200 per dose, at ₹400 per dose to State governments and ₹600 per dose to private entities.
•“Please provide an action plan for vaccine availability to the States for running vaccination drive for those above 18 years of age from May 1,” Mr. Baghel at the meeting.
📰 Zydus Cadila’s antiviral drug gets emergency use nod
GS Score Weekly Current Affairs April 2021 Week 03 PDF
aditya
08:55
GS Score Weekly Current Affairs April 2021 Week 03 PDF
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GS SCORE FACT FILE- Major Industrial Regions of India PDF
aditya
08:51
GS SCORE FACT FILE- Major Industrial Regions of India PDF
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