09 MAY 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS 

1. INDIA-EU LEADERS’ MEETING

At the invitation of the President of the European Council Mr. Charles Michel, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the India-EU Leaders’ Meeting.

About:

The meeting was held in a hybrid format with the participation of leaders of all the 27 EU Member States as well as the President of the European Council and the European Commission.

This is the first time that the EU hosted a meeting with India in the EU+27 format. The EU+27 have met in this format only once before, with the US President in March this year.

It is a significant political milestone and will further build on the momentum witnessed in the relationship since the 15th India-EU Summit in July 2020. The meeting was the initiative of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

During the meeting, the leaders exchanged views on three key thematic areas: i) foreign policy and security; ii) COVID-19, climate and environment; and iii) trade, connectivity and technology.

The leaders welcomed the decision to resume negotiations on both the Trade and Investment Agreements which will enable the two sides to realise the full potential of the economic partnership.

India and the EU launched an ambitious and comprehensive ‘Connectivity Partnership’ which is focused on enhancing digital, energy, transport and people-to-people connectivity.

India welcomed the EU’s decision to join CDRI.

India and the EU also agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation on digital and emerging technologies such as 5G, AI, Quantum and High-Performance Computing including through the early operationalization of the Joint Task Force on AI and the Digital Investment Forum.

A finance contract of Euro 150 million for the Pune Metro Rail Project was signed by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and European Investment Bank.

India-EU Leaders Meeting has set a significant milestone by providing a new direction to the Strategic Partnership and giving a fresh impetus for implementing the ambitious India-EU Roadmap 2025 adopted at the 15th India-EU Summit held in July 2020.

Source : PIB

2. STARSHIP SN15

SpaceX achieved the first successful touchdown of its prototype Starship rocket during the latest test flight of the next-generation launch vehicle in south Texas, after four previous landing attempts ended in explosions.

About:

The feat marked a key milestone for the private rocket company of Elon Musk in its development of a resusable heavy-lift launch vehicle to eventually carry astronauts and large cargo payloads to the moon and Mars.

The Starship SN15 blasted off from the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, along the Gulf Coast.

Maneuvering itself back into vertical position under rocket thrust as it approached the ground, the 16-story, three-engine vehicle descended to a gentle touchdown on its landing gear.

The flight came on the 60th anniversary of the first spaceflight by an American astronaut Alan Shepard's launch on a 15-minute suborbital mission atop NASA's Mercury-Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Source : All India Radio

3. VANRAJ BHATIA

Veteran Music Composer Vanraj Bhatia passes away at 93 after a brief illness.

About:

Vanraj Bhatia was an Indian composer best known for his work in Indian New Wave cinema.

He was also one of the leading composers of Western classical music in India.

Bhatia was a recipient of the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the television film Tamas (1988), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative and Experimental Music (1989) and India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri (2012).

Source : All India Radio

4. ARCTIC SCIENCE MINISTERIAL (ASM3)

India is participating in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM3) - the global platform for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic region (8-9 May, 2021).

About:

The first two meetings—ASM1 and ASM2—were held in the USA in 2016 and Germany in 2018, respectively.

ASM3, jointly organised by Iceland and Japan, is the first Ministerial meeting being held in Asia.

The meeting is designed to provide opportunities to various stakeholders to enhance collective understanding of the Arctic region, emphasize and engage in constant monitoring, and strengthen observations.

The theme for this year is ‘Knowledge for a Sustainable Arctic’.

Important Info :

India and Arctic

India’s engagement with the Arctic dates back to 1920 with the signing of the Svalbard Treaty in Paris. Since July 2008, India has a permanent research station in the Arctic called Himadari at NyAlesund, Svalbard Area in Norway.

Since 2013, India enjoys ‘Observer’ status in the Arctic Council with twelve other countries (Japan, China, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Singapore, and South Korea).

It has also deployed a multi-sensor moored observatory called IndARC in the Kongsfjorden fjord since July 2014.

The research in the Arctic region from India is coordinated, conducted, and promoted by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

The launch of NISER (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite mission by India, in collaboration with the USA, is underway. NISER aims to conduct global measurements of the cause and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging.

India’s contributions to the Sustained Arctic Observational Network (SAON) would continue.

Source : PIB

5. CHRISTCHURCH CALL TO ACTION TO ELIMINATE TERRORIST AND VIOLENT EXTREMIST CONTENT ONLINE

The United States will join the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online, a New Zealand-led global campaign to stamp out violent extremism online.

About:

The Christchurch Call is named after the New Zealand city in which 51 people from the Muslim community were killed in terrorist attacks broadcast live on the Internet on 15 March 2019.

The Christchurch Call is an action plan that commits governments, international organizations and Internet players to take a series of measures, in particular:

developing tools to prevent the downloading of terrorist and violent extremist content;

combating the causes of violent extremism; improving transparency in the detection and removal of content; and ensuring that the algorithms designed and used by businesses do not direct users towards violent extremist content, so as to reduce their viral nature.

Source : All India Radio

6. WOMEN IN ARMED FORCES

The Indian Army inducted its first batch of 83 women soldiers as part of its military police.

About:

The attestation parade for the soldiers took place at the Dronacharya Parade Ground in Bengaluru.

The government had approved the induction of women in military police in January 2019, and plans to have 1700 women soldiers by 2036, in batches of 100 recruits per year.

Important Info :

Corps Of Military Police (CMP)?

It is the military police of the Indian Army. The roles of military police include the following:

policing the cantonments and Army establishments,

maintaining movement of soldiers as well as logistics during peace and war and

handling prisoners of war.

They can be identified by their red berets and white belts. They also wear a black brassard with the letters MP imprinted in red.

The First section of Indian Corps of Military Police was raised in 1939 during the World War 2.

Source : Indian Express

7. 2-DEOXY-D-GLUCOSE (2-DG)

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved anti-COVID drug developed by DRDO for emergency use.

About:

An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.

Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19.

The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.

Source : The Hindu

8. SHAMIM HANFI

Veteran Urdu Critic, Professor Shamim Hanfi passes away at 82 due to Covid-19.

About:

Shamim Hanafi was an Indian Urdu critic and dramatist.

He was a proponent of modernist movement in Urdu literature. His books on modernism include The Philosophical Foundation of Modernism and New Poetic Tradition.

HE authored several books on literary criticism, plays and books for children. He also translated Abul Kalam Azad's book 'India Wins Freedom'.

He was associated with the Jamia Millia Islamia as Professor Emeritus.

He was conferred with the awards like Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award, Hindustan Gyan Peeth award and Ghalib Award for his contributions towards Urdu literature.

Source : All India Radio

9. MUCORMYCOSIS

Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul has said that mucormycosis known as black fungus affects those people who are suffering from diabetes. Reacting to reports of mucormycosis or black fungus among Covid-19 patients, he said, the infection affects only those who have a high blood sugar level.

About:

Mucormycosis is a very rare infection.

It is caused by exposure to mucor mould which is commonly found in soil, plants, manure, and decaying fruits and vegetables.

It is ubiquitous and found in soil and air and even in the nose and mucus of healthy people.

It affects the sinuses, the brain and the lungs and can be life-threatening in diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer patients or people with HIV/AIDS.

Doctor believe mucormycosis, which has an overall mortality rate of 50%, may be being triggered by the use of steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Steroids reduce inflammation in the lungs for Covid-19 and appear to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight off coronavirus. But they also reduce immunity and push up blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients.

It's thought that this drop in immunity could be triggering these cases of mucormycosis.

Source : All India Radio

10. NATIONAL TASK FORCE TO STREAMLINE OXYGEN ALLOCATION

The Supreme Court constituted a 12-member task force to assess availability and distribution of medical oxygen - on scientific, rational and equitable basis - across the country. The task force will also suggest measures to ensure availability of medicines needed to treat COVID-19.

About:

The tenure of the task force shall be six months initially.

The 12-member task force comprises Dr Bhabatosh Biswas, Dr Devender Singh Rana, Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Dr Gagandeep Kang, Dr JV Peter; Dr Naresh Trehan, Dr Rahul Pandit, Dr Saumitra Rawat, Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, Dr Zarir F Udwadia, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (ex officio member).

Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government shall be the Convenor of the national task force.

Source : Times of India