1. TRIPS

The United States will support an initiative at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to waive Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) protection for COVID-19 vaccines.

About:

• The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.
• TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.

Source : The Hindu

2. INDIAN ARMY COVID MANAGEMENT CELL

Indian army has established a COVID management cell to coordinate assistance to civil authority.

About:

• The Cell is under a Director General rank officer which reports directly to the Vice Chief of Army Staff.
• This will bring in greater efficiency in coordinating real time responses to address exponential rise in COVID cases across the country including Delhi.
• Assistance to civil administration in Delhi is already being provided in the form of testing, admissions in military hospitals and transportation of critical medical equipment.
• Indian Army has been at the forefront of COVID response at the national level. It has deployed considerable medical resources to assist civil authorities especially at the five COVID hospitals already functional or in the process of being established at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna.

Source : All India Radio

3. WAG 12 B LOCOMOTIVE

Indian Railways inducts 100th 12000 HP WAG 12 B Locomotive.

About:

• The loco is named WAG 12 B with number 60100.
• The locomotive is manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).
• These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horse power electric locomotive. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.
• These locomotive are proving to be a game changer for further movement of coal trains for Dedicated Freight Corridor.
• First 12000 HP Made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn Station on 18.05.2020.
• Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura
• The Electric Locomotive Factory, Madhepura is a joint venture of Alstom SA of France with Indian Railways for the production of 800 high-power locomotives over a period of 11 years designed to run on Indian tracks at 120 km per hour.
• Madhepura district is one of the districts of Bihar and Madhepura town is the administrative headquarters of this district.

Source : PIB

4. PRONING

As the second wave of Covid-19 sweeps through the country with deadly consequences, doctors across the state have started advocating proning exercises to improve oxygen levels in Covid positive patients — both in home isolation as well as in hospital.

About:

• Proning a medically approved position — which is also being promoted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare — in which patients are made to lie on their abdomen to boost their oxygen levels.
• Proning as an exercise is being advised to Covid patients in hospitals, so that they may not require additional oxygen support.

What are proning positions?

• While proned, the patient is made to lie on his/her belly using pillows. One can also lie on their right side( right lateral), left side ( left lateral) or sit at a 60-90 degree angle in the ‘fowler position’.
• Medically, doctors suggest that a patient remain prone for a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 2 hours. This helps improve ventilation to the lungs and hence oxygen levels start improving.

Source : Indian Express

5. SIGNAL

An attempt by instant messaging app Signal to use Instagram ads to demonstrate how Facebook collects and sells user data resulted in Signal’s Instagram account getting blocked.

About:

• Signal is a cross-platform centralized encrypted messaging service developed by the Signal Technology Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. It uses the Internet to send one-to-one and group messages, which can include files, voice notes, images and videos. It can also be used to make one-to-one and group voice and video calls.
• Signal, which is owned by a nonprofit corporation, competes with WhatsApp. Both WhatsApp and Instagram are owned by social media giant Facebook.
• Signal, which has a specific focus on privacy (its tagline is ‘Say hello to privacy’), claims companies like Facebook collect user data from their bouquet of apps “in order to sell visibility into people and their lives”.

Source : Indian Express

6. UNIQUE DISABILITY ID (UDID)

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Government of India has made it mandatory for all States/UTs to grant certificate of disability through online mode only using UDID portal w.e.f. 01.06.2021.

About:

• The Central Government notified the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 under RPwD Act, 2016 on 15.06.2017.
• Rule 18(5) mandates the Central Government to appoint a date making it mandatory for the State/UT authorities to issue certificate of disability through online mode.
• The UDID project is under implementation since 2016.
• Concerned authorities of all States/UTs have been imparted training by DEPwD for working on the UDID portal (swavlambancard.gov.in).
• The States/UTs have been given adequate time to convert to online mode. It will ensure complete digitization of certification of disability from 01.06.2021, besides providing a viable mechanism for cross-checking genuineness of the certificate to achieve pan-India validity, and simplifying the process for the benefit of Divyangjan.

Source : PIB

7. DAHLA DAM

The Taliban has captured Afghanistan’s second-biggest dam after months of fierce fighting in its former bastion of Kandahar.

About:

• Dahla Dam, which provides irrigation to farmers via a network of canals as well as drinking water for the provincial capital, is now under Taliban control.
• The dam’s capture comes after clashes erupted in neighbouring Helmand province this week, just days after the U.S. military formally began withdrawing its remaining troops from Afghanistan.

Geography

• The Dahla Dam, also known as Arghandab Dam, is located in the Shah Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan.
• Constructed in 1952, it is said to be the second largest dam in Afghanistan.
• The Dahla Dam is built on the Arghandab River.

Source : The Hindu

8. STRATEGY FOR PULSES CULTIVATION IN KHARIF 2021

With an aim to attain self-sufficiency in the production of pulses, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has formulated a special Kharif strategy for implementation in the ensuing Kharif 2021 season.

About:

• Through consultations with the state governments, a detailed plan for both area expansion and productivity enhancement for Tur, Moong and Urad has been formulated.
• Under the strategy, utilising all the high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds that are available either with the Central Seed Agencies or in the States will be distributed free of cost to increase area through intercropping and sole crop.
• For the coming Kharif 2021, it is proposed to distribute 20,27,318 (almost 10 times more seed mini kits than 2020-21) amounting to Rs. 82.01 crores. The total cost for these mini-kits will be borne by the Central Government to boost the production and productivity of tur, moong and urad.
• The Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes(ATARIs) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras will also be roped in for effective implementation and training to the farmers.

Source : PIB

9. BADRINATH

MOUs were signed between the Oil and Gas PSUs-IndianOil, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and GAIL, and Shri Badrinath Utthan Charitable Trust for Construction and Redevelopment of Shri Badrinath Dham as a Spiritual Smart hill Town.

About:

• As per the MoUs, the Oil & Gas PSUs will be contributing Rs. 99.60 crore in the first phase of the developmental activities, including river embankment work, building all-terrain vehicular path, building bridges, beautifying existing bridges, establishing gurukul facilities with accommodation, creating toilet and drinking water facilities, installing streetlights, mural paintings etc.
• Badrinath is a holy town and a nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand.
• It is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and gets its name from the Badrinath Temple.
• Badrinath was re-established as a major pilgrimage site by Adi Shankara in the 8th century.
• Badrinath or Badrinarayan Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu which is situated along the banks of Alaknanda River.

Source : LiveMint