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Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Indian Railways continues to deliver essential commodities like food grains through its freight services to strengthen Government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of corona virus in the country

About: Northern Railway has formed 5000 tonnes long lead long haul loaded foodgrain trains. 25 such Annapoorna trains have been formed and run by NR upto 16.04.2020. Like NR , As part of this endeavour, now the South Central Zone of Indian Railways too has come up with a unique concept of running “Jai Kisan” Special freight trains so as to ensure speedy delivery of foodgrains to different parts of the country. Under normal circumstances, one freight train containing 42 covered wagons loaded with food grains carries around 2600 tonnes. But in the new concept two freight trains means 42+42 =84 covered wagons with 5200 tonnes capacity food grains will be moved in a single path.  Source : PIB (Economy) An international team led by an Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Kozhikode student has developed a one-stop COVID-19 platform for accessing emergency services from official government sources

About: The website - covidfyi.in - is a one-stop digital directory for all COVID19 related services and help. The website aims to bring the right information to the right people, as only official information from Government organisations is put on this platform to ensure authenticity and credibility. The core team of 16 is led by IIM Kozhikode student Simran Soni and consists of researchers, medical students and developers from countries like Germany and the US.  Source : All India Radio (Health) Ministry of Tourism celebrated the World Heritage Day-2020 through a webinar series

About: World Heritage Day is observed every year on April 18 to preserve the human heritage and recognize the efforts of the organizations working for it. Shared Cultures, Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility is the theme of 2020. It is decided by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) every year. The ICOMOS organization was established on the principles put down in the Venice Charter, also known as the 1964 International Charter on the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites. During a seminar in Tunisia, the International Council of Mountains and Sights suggested celebrating World Heritage Day on 18 April 1982. Then, in November 1983, at the 22nd session of the UNESCO Conference, a resolution to celebrate World Heritage Day was passed on April 18 every year.  Source : All India Radio (Culture) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Union Minister for Culture launched the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of India in New Delhi

About: The National ICH List is an attempt to recognize the diversity of Indian culture embedded in its intangible heritage. It aims to raise awareness about the various intangible cultural heritage elements from different states of India This initiative is also a part of the Vision 2024 of the Ministry of Culture. Following UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, this list has been classified into five broad domains in which intangible cultural heritage is manifested:Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; Performing arts; Social practices, rituals and festive events; Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; Traditional craftsmanship. The present items in the list have been collated from the projects sanctioned under the scheme for ‘Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India’ formulated by the Ministry of Culture in 2013. As of now the list has more than 100 elements, It also includes the 13 elements of India that have already been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  Source : PIB (Culture) As cases of local transmission start surfacing across the country, The Centre has advised a containment plan to the states and UTs About: A containment zone has been defined based on the index case / cluster, which will be the designated epicentre, the listing and mapping of contacts, geographical distribution of cases and contacts around the epicentre and the administrative boundaries within urban cities /town/ rural area. The RRT (Rapid Response Team) has been advised to do a listing of cases, contacts and their mapping. This is to help in deciding the perimeter for action. Cluster containment strategy refers to contain the disease within a defined geographic area after early detection, breaking the chain of transmission and preventing its spread to new areas. A buffer zone is an area around the containment zone, where new cases are most likely to appear.  Source : Indian Express (Health) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Aggressive methods to halt the virus by suspending mobility are examples of a strategy known as the precautionary principle

About: According to the principle, authorities must take precautionary measures when stakes are high, despite when scientific evidence about the expected event being harmful is not yet certain. This implies that protective action should be taken to prevent any possible harm, even if there is a chance that such harm will not occur–thus playing it safe.  Important Info : Timeline: The principle first found acceptance in Germany in the 1970s and 80s, as lawmakers sought its implementation in cases of uncertain environmental and health hazards.In 1992, the UN Rio Declaration on Environment and Development incorporated the strategy, as did the Maastricht Treaty.The Rio Declaration defines the principle as: “Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”  Source : Indian Express (Diaster Managment) What are types of coronaviruses in humans ?

While there are hundreds of coronaviruses that cause diseases in animals such as pigs, camels, bats and cats, till date seven different types of coronaviruses have been identified that infect humans About: When the human coronaviruses were first identified? 229E: One of the first coronaviruses strains to be described in the mid-60s, possibly by D Hamre and JJ Procknow in 1966. OC43: Discovered in 1967 according to the Journal of Virology. However, a paper in Virology Journal has described it as the first human coronavirus to be discovered in 1965, citing a 1966 paper written by Tyrrell and Bynoe who worked with the nasal swab titled B814. NL63 and HKU1: First identified in the Netherlands in 2004, probably after it was isolated from a seven-month-old infant showing respiratory symptoms. During this time, there was an increase in research on human coronaviruses, which led to the discovery of NL63 and HKU1 in Hong Kong in early 2005. SARS-CoV: 2003 in China (animal source not yet known, bats thought to have given it to other animals, probably civet cats) MERS: 2012 in Saudi Arabia (transmitted by dromedary camels) SARS-CoV-2: 2019 in Wuhan (source not yet known, possibly bats)  Source : Indian Express (Health) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Global compilation of reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) found Online

In a global compilation of reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) found online, India stands right on top of the list, with 11.7% of the total reports or at 19.87 lakh reports, followed by Pakistan, which contributes 6.8% of all reports (11.5 lakh reports) About: The National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) urges people to report CSAM found online across the world annually, on their online platform CyberTipline. This year, the Centre received a total of 1.68 crore reports. Three of the top four countries were in South Asia, raising concerns among child rights activists about the online safety of children in the region. Bangladesh comes in fourth with 5.5 lakh reports and a share of 3.3%.  Source : The Hindu (Social Issues) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy In a move that will restrict Chinese investments, the Centre has made prior government approval mandatory for foreign direct investments from countries which share a land border with India

Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy President Donald Trump announced that he would halt the funding the US gives to the WHO, which he said was mismanaging the spread

About: The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO was established in 7 April 1948, which is commemorated as World Health Day. The first meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the agency's governing body, took place on 24 July 1948. Its flagship publication, the World Health Report, provides expert assessments of global health topics and health statistics on all nations. The World Health Assembly (WHA), composed of representatives from all 194 member states, serves as the agency's supreme decision-making body. Funding: Voluntary donations from member states (such as the US) contribute 35.41%, assessed contributions are 15.66%, philanthropic organisations account for 9.33%, UN organisations contribute about 8.1%; the rest comes from myriad sources.  Source : Indian Express (International Relations) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy After leaving the ICU, some Covid-19 patients may suffer from what is known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS)

About: PICS is defined as new or worsening impairment in physical (ICU-acquired neuromuscular weakness), cognitive (thinking and judgment), or mental health status arising after critical illness and persisting beyond discharge from the acute care setting. Further, such patients may experience neuromuscular weakness, which can manifest itself in the form of poor mobility and recurrent falls. Psychological disability may arise in a person in the form of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The most common PICS symptoms are generalised weakness, fatigue, decreased mobility, anxious or depressed mood, sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbances and cognitive issues. Cause: PICS may be induced if a person was on prolonged mechanical ventilation, experienced sepsis, multiple organ failure and a prolonged duration of “bed-restore deep sedation”.  Source : Indian Express (Health) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory that ZOOM video conference is not a safe platform

About: USA based ZOOM video communication has seen an exponential rise in usage in India as office-goers remain at home owing to the present lockdown. The software used in the online platform is said to be made in China and some calls were being routed through servers in China. The Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued a set of guidelines for its safe usage. It was not for use by government offices and officials. Source : Indian Express (Science & Technology) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy According to a WHO Information Note — ‘Tuberculosis and COVID-19’, there is a need to maintain TB services during effective response to COVID-19 According to a WHO Information Note — ‘Tuberculosis and COVID-19’, there is a need to maintain TB services during effective response to COVID-19. TB patients who have lung damage or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may suffer from more severe illness if they are infected with COVID-19

About: India accounts for 27 per cent of the world’s total TB patients and is among the top 8 countries with the highest number of TB cases. In 2018, as many as 4.4 lakh people died of TB in India which is 29 per cent of the total 1.5 million deaths due to TB in the world. Out of total 7 million cases reported in 2018 across the world, India had 2.69 million cases, while, according to data available, it missed out on tracking down 5.40 lakh cases. Doctors claim that people suffering from TB and COVID-19 may have poorer treatment outcomes, especially if TB treatment is interrupted. The immunity of TB patients is very low.  Source : Indian Express (Health) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) has developed a compact solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions in water

About: Heavy metal ions such as lead, mercury and cadmium pose severe potential threats to living beings as they can easily be accumulated in the body and cannot be detoxified by any chemical or biological processes. Now CeNS has developed a compact solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions, e.g., lead ions (Pb2) down to 0.4 parts per billion (ppb) for efficient onsite detection. The sensor film was prepared by forming a composite between manganese doped zinc sulfide quantum dots and reduced graphene oxide on a glass substrate. These particular quantum dots are water-soluble and have high photoluminescence (~ 30 %) quantum yield, making them suitable for luminescence-based sensing.  Source : All India Radio (Science & Technology) Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, an Institute of National Importance, of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has developed a diagnostic test kit that can confirm COVID19 in 2 hours at low cost

About: The confirmatory diagnostic test, which detects the N Gene of SARS- COV2 using reverse transcriptase loop-mediated amplification of viral nucleic acid (RT-LAMP), will be one of the world’s first few if not the first of its kinds in the world. The test kit, funded by the DST called Chitra GeneLAMP-N, is highly specific for SARS-CoV-2 N-gene and can detect two regions of the gene, which will ensure that the test does not fail even if one region of the viral gene undergoes mutation during its current spread.  Source : DD News (Science & Technology) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy Government provided relief from payment of four month rental to the small IT units operating out of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

About: Status: Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an autonomous society under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and it has 60 centers across the country.  Objective: Encouraging, promoting and boosting the export of software from India. Established in: 1991.  Headquarters: New Delhi. Source : All India Radio (Science & Technology) Surgeons at Chandigarh’s PGIMER have re-implanted the severed hand of an assistant sub-inspector in Punjab whose hand was chopped off by a group of Nihang sect members in Patiala over a curfew pass

About: The surgery, which took 7.5 hours, was a very complex procedure. It involves conjoining various parts of the arm and the hand — bones, muscles, tendons, arteries, veins as well as nerves. The process is called anastomosis. An anastomosis is a surgical connection between two structures. It usually means a connection that is created between tubular structures, such as blood vessels or loops of intestine.  Source : Indian Express (Science & Technology) Read UPSC Current affairs and Daily News Analysis from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore Vignan IAS Academy A new species of green pit viper found in Arunachal Pradesh has a Harry Potter link

About: The scientific name Trimeresurus salazar has been inspired by Salazar Slytherin, co-founder of J.K. Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The new species is the fifth variety of reptile to have been discovered in the State in a little more than year. Salazar’s pit viper belongs to the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède and has been collected from the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Pakke-Kessang district.  Source : The Hindu (Environment) Daily Current affairs and News Analysis Read more and Latest Current affairs Contact Vignan IAS Academy Enroll For IAS Foundation Course from Best IAS Academy in Bangalore

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