Current Affairs 04-07-2020

HPAKANT

What is in news?

In Myanmar, at least 162 people have been killed in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Kachin province. Myanmar Fire Service Department said that 162 bodies have been recovered from the landslide in Hpakant, the centre of the world's biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry.

About:

• Hpakant is a rough and remote area in Kachin state, 950 kilometres north of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. It is located on the Uyu River.

• It is famous for its jade mines which produce the world's best quality jadeite.

What is Jade?

• Jade refers to an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green varieties.

• It can refer to either of two different minerals: nephrite, (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of minerals), or jadeite, (a silicate of sodium and aluminium in the pyroxene group of minerals).

Prerak dauur samman

What is in news?

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister announced a new category of awards titled Prerak Dauur Samman as part of Swachh Survekshan-2021, the sixth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India conducted by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

About:

• The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional sub- categories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) - with top three cities being recognized in each.

• In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

1. Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories

     2. Processing capacity against wet waste generated

3. Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste

4. Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing

5. Percentage of waste going to landfills

6. Sanitation status of cities

Shivalik forest

What is in news?

The Saharanpur Divisional Commissioner has sent a proposal to the Uttar Pradesh government to declare the Shivalik forest in the Saharanpur circle a tiger reserve.

About:

• If accepted, it would be the fourth tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh after Amangarh in Bijnor, Pilibhit and Dudhwa in Lakhimpur-Kheri.

• The Shivalik forest constitutes the northern tip of the State and the 33,220-hectare-long corridor, located at the foothills of the Shivalik range, connects four States — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It will facilitate safe movement of tigers.

Mobile Masterjee

What is in news?

IIT Kanpur has developed a classroom-to-home teaching setup 'Mobile Masterjee'.

About:

• COVID-19 has brought the education system, particularly the classroom teaching to a standstill. The students in rural India are hit maximum by this.

• To solve this problem IIT Kanpur has developed a classroom-to-home teaching setup that can record the lectures or instructions by the teachers while using their available smart phones.

• It is named 'Mobile Masterjee', which is a classroom-to-home teaching setup and will be very helpful to the students in rural india.

• The product is lightweight and has adjustments to fit sheets and book on it for delivering instructions to the kids. A set graduated scale aligns the sheet at the desired angle, followed by the rotational quick adjustment of the mobile holder.

Surety bonds

What is in news?

Insurance regulator IRDAI has formed a panel under G Srinivasan, director, National Insurance Academy, to assess the suitability of the Indian insurance industry or any other sector to offer Surety Bonds for road contracts in the country.

About:

• Surety Bond is a three-party agreement that legally binds together a principal who needs the bond, an obligee who requires the bond and a surety company that sells the bond.

• Surety bonds provide financial guarantee that contracts will be completed according to pre-defined and mutual terms. When a principal breaks a bond’s terms, the harmed party can make a claim on the bond to recover losses.

• Currently, Surety Bond for contractors is not being offered by insurance companies in the market to guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor and provide performance security to various government agencies.

Heparin

What is in news?

India’s drug pricing regulator has allowed pharmaceutical companies to increase the ceiling price of essential medicine heparin by 50 percent until December 31.

About:

• Heparin is a blood thinner that has long been used in patients vulnerable to blood clots in their legs, lungs, heart or other body parts.

• It is used to reduce their risk of heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolism. Several patients with critical illnesses, including those requiring kidney dialysis, are given the drug.

• During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare included the drug in its clinical management guidelines for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in the ICU.

Guru Purnima:

What is in news?

Vice President of India Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has conveyed gratitude and indebtedness to ‘Gurus’ including Shri L.K.Advani who shaped his perspectives and life at various stages of his long journey, on the occasion of Guru Purnima.

About:

• Guru Purnima, celebrated on the occasion of the first full moon of the month of ‘Ashada’, is an important occasion to pay reverence to the Gurus.

• Veda Vyas, Lord Buddha and the 24th Jain Tirthankara were born this day. 

• Buddha delivered his first sermon this day in Sarnath.

ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist)

What is in news ?

ASHA facilitators were trained to become an integral part of the Active Case Search Team in the identified Containment Areas. Community COVID Management Committee was constituted in the village with the ASHA S. Kurkalang devi as a key member.

About :

• ASHA is a trained female community health activist. Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.

• The role of an ASHA is that of a community level care provider. This includes a mix of tasks: facilitating access to health care services, building awareness about health care entitlements especially amongst the poor and marginalized, promoting healthy behaviours and mobilizing for collective action for better health outcomes and meeting curative care needs as appropriate to the organization of service delivery in that area and compatible with her training and skills.

Chambal Express Project:

What is in news?

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari reviewed the proposed Chambal Express Project with Chief Minister of  Madhya Pradesh,Shri  , Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and  Member of Parliament, through Video Conference.

About :

• He said that with the construction of this expressway, the entire area will be developed and many small and medium industries would come on both sides of this road.

• The 300-km-long Chambal Express Way, connecting Madhya Pradesh with Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, was planned to be construction through the ravines of Chambal region.

• The project was announced by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in April 2017

Dharma chakra day

What is in news?

Prime Minister Modi will address celebration of Dharma Chakra Day / Asaadh Poornima on July 4, 2020.

About:

• The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is celebrating Asadha Poornima on July 4, 2020, as Dharma Chakra Day.

• This day commemorates Buddha's First Sermon to his first five ascetic disciples at the Deer Park, Rsipatana in the present day Sarnath near Varanasi, UP.

• The day is also celebrated by Buddhists all over the world as the day of Dharma Chakra Parvattana or “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma”.

• This day is also aptly observed as Guru Poornima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their Gurus.