CURRENT AFFAIRS 17-08-2020

PROJECT DOLPHIN; PROJECT LION

What is in news?

PM Modi announced that on the lines of the successful conservation programmes Project Tiger and Project Elephant, India will now have two more similar missions, Project Dolphin and Project Lion, to protect these species in their natural habitat in a holistic manner.

Project Dolphin:

• Gangetic river dolphin, declared as a National Aquatic species in 2010, is a species of freshwater dolphins primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

• At present, there are about 3,700 Gangetic river dolphins in the Indian river systems.

• These dolphins are sighted along deep river reaches in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

• The Project Dolphin, announced by the PM, will, however, cover both freshwater (river) and marine (oceanic) dolphins.

Project Lion:

• Asiatic lions are found in protected areas and agro-pastoral landscape of Saurashtra, covering nine districts in Gujarat. Its current estimated population is 674. India has recorded a 29% increase in its population in the past five years — from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.

• The Project Lion will have many additional components including creation of new required infrastructure, use of technology, involvement of experts for conservation, providing world standard care and health management.

SALIVADIRECT

What is in news?

A new, rapid diagnostic test for the novel coronavirus that uses saliva samples was granted an emergency use authorisation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

About:

• The inexpensive test, called SalivaDirect, developed by a team from the Yale School of Public Health, has high sensitivity and can detect the virus even when the number of virus copies in the saliva sample is as low as 6-12 copies per microlitre.

• Collecting and testing saliva samples involves three steps — collecting saliva without preservative buffers, proteinase K treatment and heat inactivation, and dualplex RT-qPCR virus detection.

• The testing protocol has been provided as an “open source”, allowing laboratories in the U.S. to perform the tests. Thus, SalivaDirect will be free to use by diagnostic labs.

Significance:

• The new saliva test would increase efficiency and avoid shortage of crucial test components such as reagents.

• The new test makes sample collection non-invasive and reduces the need for trained healthcare workers to collect the samples, reducing the risk of infection during collection.

• In contrast, tests using nasopharyngeal swabs lead to false negative results due to errors at the time of sample collection.

WORLD’S  TALLEST  PIER  BRIDGE

What is in news?

Indian Railways is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge in Manipur.

About:

• The bridge which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering marvel because the tallest pier height will be 141 meter.

• It will surpass the existing record of 139 meter of Mala - Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.

• The Manipur bridge is located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal. It will be completed by March 2022.

• The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG line project. The total length of the bridge will be 703 meter. The piers of the bridge are constructed using hydraulic augers, the tall piers needed specially designed “slip-form technique" to ensure efficient and continual construction.

Facts to remember :

• A pier, in architecture, is an upright support for a structure or superstructure such as an arch or bridge. Sections of structural walls between openings (bays) can function as piers.

RIHAND  SUPER  THERMAL  POWER  PROJECT

What is in news?

NTPC Ltd., a central PSU under Ministry of Power and country’s largest power generation company, has developed an infrastructure at its Rihand Super Thermal Power station in Uttar Pradesh to transport fly ash in bulk to cement plants at a cheaper cost.

About:

• The effort marks the beginning of a new era for the transportation of fly ash from a remote location to a consumption centre, enabling power plants for upgrading the utilization of fly ash.

• The development is in line with NTPC's commitment towards 100 percent utilization of fly ash from power plants. During the financial year 2019-20, almost 44.33 million tonnes of fly ash was utilized for various productive purposes.

Rihand  Super  Thermal  Power  Project?

• Rihand Super Thermal Power Project is located in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of NTPC Limited.

• The coal for the plant is derived from Amlori and Dudhichua mines. The water source is from Rihand Reservoir which is constructed on Son river.

MINIMUM  AGE  OF  MARRIAGE  FOR  WOMEN

What is in news?

PM Modi said that the central government has set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women.

About:

• Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years and 18 years for men and women respectively. Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.

• For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.

• In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.

• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.

• The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority which is gender-neutral. An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.

What is the committee that the Prime Minister mentioned?

• On June 2, the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.

• Headed by former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitely, the committee includes Member Health at the NITI Aayog, Dr Vinod Paul, and several Secretaries to the Government of India.

'DE-JURE' DAY (PUDUCHERRY)

What is in news?

The Union Territory of Puducherry celebrated its 59th anniversary of the “De-Jure”day.

About:

• Puducherry became independent by virtue of a referendum on October 18,1954.

• But the treaty of cession signed between the French and Indian governments was ratified by the French Parliament only on August 16, 1962. So on that day the “De-Jure”(The Legal Merger of the UT with the Indian Union) was effected.

• The referendum was taken on October 18,1954 on whether to remain in French regime or to merge with the Indian union. As many 178 representatives participated in the referendum in which 170 voted in favour of a merger with India and 8 against it.

• The referendum was taken at Keezhoor near Villianur here and to commemorate the occasion a memorial was constructed at Keezhoor.

GAREEB  KALYAN  ROZGAR  ABHIYAN

What is in news?

Indian Railways has generated more than 5.5 lakhs mandays of work under Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan in six states. The states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

About:

• On 20th June 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to empower and provide livelihood opportunities in areas and villages witnessing large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the COVID-19.

• An amount of Rs 50,000 Crores would be spent for building durable rural infrastructure under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan.

• This Abhiyaan of 125 days, is being undertaken in mission mode, and involves focused implementation of 25 categories of works/ activities in 116 districts, each with a large concentration of returnee migrant workers in 6 states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha.

• Public works is being undertaken during this campaign will have a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crores.

• The Abhiyaan  is a convergent effort between 12 different Ministries/Departments.

POSITIVE  PAY  MECHANISM

What is in news?

The new 'Positive Pay' mechanism introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will make cheque payments safer and reduce instances of frauds.

About:

• Issuers will be able to send all details to their bank, thereby ensuring faster clearance of cheques above Rs 50,000.

• All cheques will be processed as per the information sent by the account holder at the time of issuance of cheques. This will cover approximately 20 per cent of transactions by volume and 80 per cent by value. The RBI will outline operational guidance in this regard soon.

Positive Pay mechanism?

• Positive Pay is a fraud detection tool adopted by banks to protect customers against forged, altered or counterfeit cheques.

• It cross verifies all details of the cheque issued before funds are encashed by the beneficiary. In case of a mismatch, the cheque is sent back to the issuer for examination.

• By following such a system, a bank knows of a cheque being drawn by the customer even before it is deposited by the beneficiary into his/her account.

TAMIL NADU  CM'S  SPECIAL  AWARD

What is in news?

Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation, Soumya Swaminathan was conferred with the Tamil Nadu chief minister's special award, in recognition of her advisory role in combating the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

About:

• The WHO representative has been offering suggestions to the state health department to step up measures in fighting the pandemic.

• According to the World Health Organisation, Swaminathan has 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate her research into impactful progr