CURRENT AFFAIRS 18 MAY 2021

1. INDIAN LANGUAGE LEARNING APP

MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the Government of India, in partnership with Department of Higher Education has launched an Innovation Challenge for creating an Indian Language Learning App.

About:

• The objective of this challenge is to create an app that will promote regional language literacy, thereby creating greater cultural understanding within the country.
• The Innovation Challenge is open to Indian individuals, startups and companies.
• The Innovation Challenge closes on 27 May 2021. Upon evaluation of submission of prototypes, the top 10 teams will be invited to make presentations and top 3 will be selected by a jury. The top 3 will receive funding of INR 20, 10 and 5 lakhs to make the apps better. 

Source : PIB

2. PLASMA THERAPY

The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to a advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

About:

• Though a trial by the ICMR on 400 patients last year — called the PLACID trial — had found no significant benefit from the use of plasma, it continued to find a place in the recommended guidelines.
• Some experts have said the use of such plasma may have even played a role in facilitating new worrisome mutations to the virus.

Plasma therapy?

• Blood plasma is a yellowish liquid component of blood that holds the blood cells of whole blood in suspension. It is the liquid part of the blood that carries cells and proteins throughout the body. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume.
• This plasma contains viral antibodies that have treatment potential for severe cases of the disease.
• Plasma therapy is a medical procedure that uses the blood of a recovered patient to create antibodies on those infected individuals.
• Medically known as convalescent plasma therapy, this treatment uses antibodies found in the blood taken from a recovered Covid-19 patient. It is then used to treat those with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection to aid recovery.

Source : The Hindu

3. GOLD EXCHANGE

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has floated a consultation paper on the proposed framework for Gold Exchange in India.

About:

• The proposal was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her FY22 Budget speech.
• SEBI, entrusted with the task of regulating the proposed exchange, including for vaulting, assaying and gold quality and delivery standards, said the existing stock exchanges may deal in ‘electronic gold receipt’ (EGR) through a separate segment.
• The markets regulator has also suggested a new exchange exclusively for EGR that would have advantages such as better liquidity and single-price reference.
• As far as transactions are concerned, SEBI working groups have suggested that an entire transaction be divided into three tranches.
• It has been proposed that the vault manager should have a net worth of ₹50 crore and will be required to furnish security deposits.

Source : The Hindu

4. DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

After she allegedly hit two staff members at a boutique in Seoul last month, the wife of Belgium’s ambassador to South Korea will now be exercising her diplomatic immunity to avoid criminal charges.

About:

• Diplomatic immunity is a privilege of exemption from certain laws and taxes granted to diplomats by the country in which they are posted.
• The custom was formed so that diplomats can function without fear, threat or intimidation from the host country.
• Diplomatic immunity is granted on the basis of two conventions, popularly called the Vienna Conventions — the Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, and the Convention on Consular Relations, 1963.
• They have been ratified by 187 countries, including South Korea, which means, it is a law under that country’s legal framework and cannot be violated.

What is the extent of this immunity?

• According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, the immunity enjoyed by a diplomat posted in the embassy is “inviolable”. The diplomat cannot be arrested or detained and his house will have the same inviolability and protection as the embassy.
• It is possible for the diplomat’s home country to waive immunity but this can happen only when the individual has committed a ‘serious crime’, unconnected with their diplomatic role or has witnessed such a crime. Alternatively, the home country may prosecute the individual.

Source : Indian Express

5. WORLD’S OLDEST CAVE ART AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Scientists have warned that environmental degradation is killing one of the oldest and most precious pieces of the world’s human heritage.

About:

• Researchers have reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate.
• A team of scientists examined 11 caves and rock-shelters in the Maros-Pangkep region in Sulawesi.
• The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall, and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it.
• A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago.
• The cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.

Source : Indian Express

6. EKLAVYA MODEL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS (EMRS)

Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Microsoft sign MoU on Joint initiative for Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools.

About:

• Under affirmative action initiative, Microsoft will make AI curriculum available to tribal students in both English and Hindi at all EMRS schools under the Ministry to skill educators and students in next-generation technologies including Artificial Intelligence. 
• Under this program in the first phase, 250 EMRS schools have been adopted by Microsoft out of which 50 EMRS schools will be given intensive training and 500 master trainers would be trained in the first phase.
• Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors.
• In order to give further impetus to EMRS, it has been decided that by the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an EMRS.

Source : PIB

7. SAMVEDNA

With an objective of providing psychological first-aid and emotional support to children affected during COVID-19 Pandemic, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)is providing Tele-Counselling to children through SAMVEDNA.

About:

• SAMVEDNA stands for Sensitizing Action on Mental Health Vulnerability through Emotional Development and Necessary Acceptance.
• It is a Toll-Free Helpline launched to provide psycho-social mental support for Children affected during COVID 19 Pandemic.
• This service is available on a toll-free No: 1800-121-2830 from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Tele counselling is provided to the children under three categories:
• Children who are in Quarantine/isolation/COVID Care centers.
• Children who have COVID positive parents or family members and near ones.
• Children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19 Pandemic.
• NCPCR is a statutory body and works under the aegis of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India.

Source : PIB

8. MAGNETOMETER

Scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, have developed a magnetometer for low cost, reliable & real-time measurements of magnetic fields.

About:

• A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment.
• Some magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location.
• A compass is one such device, one that measures the direction of an ambient magnetic field, in this case, the Earth's magnetic field.

Source : DD News

9. ELDERLINE

Toll Free Helpline for elderly persons ELDERLINE (14567) becomes operational in several states.

About:

• In order to address the problems of elders in the context of the ongoingCOVID pandemic, the Ministry of Social Justice has started state wise call centres in major states under the ELDERLINE project. The facility is already made operational in 5 major States of UP, MP, Rajasthan, TN and Karnataka.In Telangana, this facility has been working for more than a year.
• These call centres can be reached by toll free number 14567. All elders may be advised to use this facility.
• The ELDERLINE is a facility operationalised with the assistance of Tata Trusts and NSE foundation.

Source : PIB

10. TELECOM SECURITY

Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash inaugurated an online course to train and certify Officers in Network Security on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (May 17).

About:

• The Course was organised by the National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT), the premier training institute of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.
• This is a 36-hour (12 week) Course to train and certify Officers in Network Security and is the first of its kind. While the Course is presently for DoT Officers, it is proposed to be expanded to cover other Officers of the Government and gradually those in the Private Sector also.
• Sound Telecom Network Security is a result of collaborative efforts of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), various Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and DoT officers, including those in the field (LSAs).
• The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies.
• 17 May marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Source : PIB