Daily Current affairs 30-06-2020

Sankalp Parva:

What is in news?

Ministry of Culture is celebrating the “Sankalp Parva” from 28th June to 12 July 2020.

About :

• This initiative has been launched following the call of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to plant at least five trees either in Office campus or wherever it is possible in order to ensure clean and healthy environment of the country.
• Ministry of Culture has recommended planting 5 tress: Bargad, Awla, Pepal, Ashok and Bel. These 5 trees represent the herbal heritage of the country.

Fishing cats:

Why in News?

The Odisha Government has started a two-year conservation project for Fishing Cats in Bhitarkanika National Park.

About:

• The fishing cat is nocturnal (active at night).
• State animal of West Bengal.
• Habitats: In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.

Protected by :

• Vulnerable— IUCN Red List.
• CITES: Appendix II
• Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I.
• Fishing Cat Project, launched in 2010 started raising awareness about the Cat in West Bengal.

Kholongchhu  Hydroelectric  Project

The Concession Agreement for the 600 MegaWatt Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between Bhutan government and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited was signed.

About:

• The 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan.
• The Project envisages an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 meters height.
• It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a Joint Venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited of India.
• The is the first Joint Venture Hydroelectric Project between India and Bhutan. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.

Key facts :

• Hydropower sector is the flagship area of India-Bhutan bilateral cooperation.
• The 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated earlier in August last year by the Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan.
• With this, four hydroelectric projects of bilateral cooperation totalling over 2100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan.

Delhi Plasma Bank

Delhi chief minister announced setting up of a 'plasma bank' for treatment of COVID-19 patients in the national capital.

About:

• The Plasma bank will be set up at the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and doctors or hospitals will have to approach it for plasma if a COVID-19 patient needs the same.

• The plasma bank will be first of its kind for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Perhaps, it will be the first plasma bank in the country.
• In the plasma therapy, antibodies from blood of patients, who have recovered from coronavirus, are used to treat infected patients. It is aimed at assessing the efficacy of convalescent plasma to limit complications in COVID patients.
• Like in blood banks, where blood is extracted and stored for those who might be in need, the idea is to extract and store plasma from people who have recovered from Covid-19 and give it to someone suffering from the disease.

COVAXIN

What is in news?

COVAXIN, India’s first vaccine candidate against novel coronavirus, developed by vaccine maker Bharat Biotech gets the approval of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for Phase I and II clinical trials.

About:

• COVAXIN is an inactivated vaccine, created from a strain of the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus, that has shown promise in preclinical studies, demonstrating extensive safety and effective immune responses.
• COVAXIN has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
• The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine will be developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India.
• Human clinical trials of the experimental COVID-19 are scheduled to start across the country in July 2020.

Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)

• DCGI under gamut of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is responsible for approval of licenses of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, vaccines, IV fluids and sera in India.
• DCGI lays down standards and quality of manufacturing, selling, import and distribution of drugs in India.
• It acts as appellate authority in case of any dispute regarding quality of drugs.
• It prepares and maintains national reference standard.
• It brings about uniformity in enforcement of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
• It trains Drug Analysts deputed by State Drug Control Laboratories and other Institutions.

BALOCHISTAN

What is in  news?

Four heavily armed gunmen attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi. Pakistan’s Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

About :

• The Balochistan region is divided almost evenly between Pakistan (where it's called Balochistan) and Iran. A part of it lies in Afghanistan too. Politically, it comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and the southern areas of Afghanistan.
• Formerly under British rule, Balochistan was declared independent on August 11, 1947 and it formed a parliament. But Pakistan illegally occupied (because people were never asked what they wanted) it on March 27, 1948.
• The land holds significant reserves of gas, gold, copper, oil and uranium, but is mostly untapped by Iran. The Pakistani area continues to be poor too, because the country is accused of allegedly siphoning the area's resources away from its people and towards Punjab.
• Pakistan is accused of systematically repressing and marginalising Balochs. It's said that over 1,40,000 have been displaced since 2004-2005. Balochs are denied jobs and even basic facilities like water and electricity.

Baloch Liberation Army (BLA):

• The BLA, the armed wing of the Baloch movement, has carried out several violent attacks in Pakistan. It has about 6,000 cadre spread across the Balochistan Province and in the bordering areas of Afghanistan. It has been banned by Pakistan since 2006.
• BLA rebels have claimed that they are aiming for both freedom from Pakistan and internal reform of the Baloch society. They are opposed to the traditional sardar or Kawailey system at home.
• The BLA has often been accused of launching attacks on Pakistan’s military targets and on Chinese-built infrastructure. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is passing through Balochistan.

India bans Chinese apps

What is in news?

Government of India has banned 59 apps originating from China, including very popular ones like the short video platform TikTok, UC Browser, file sharing app ShareIt, and CamScanner etc.

About:

• The ban has been enforced by The Ministry of Information Technology by invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009.
• Title of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is “Power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource”.
• According to ministry, these Apps are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.
• The notification is expected to be followed by instructions to Internet service providers to block these apps. Users are likely to soon see a message saying access to the apps has been restricted on the request of the government.
• This action could be a warning to bigger Chinese businesses in India, and to China itself.

Anthropause

What is in news?

Also called as the “Great Pause”, it is a term coined by the researchers in the UK.

About :

• It refers to the coronavirus-induced lockdown period and its impact on other species.
• There were pumas sighted in Chile’s Santiago, jackals in the parks of Tel Aviv in Israel, dolphins in the waters of Italy and even a monkey fight on the streets of Thailand.
• As a result of the lockdown, nature appears to have changed, especially in urban environments, since not only are there now more animals, but also some “unexpected visitors.”
• On the other hand, there are some animals for whom the lockdown may have made things more challenging.
• For instance, for various urban-dwelling animals, such as rats, gulls and monkeys who depend on food provided or discarded by humans, the lockdown would have made life more difficult.
• The researchers believe studying this period will provide valuable insights into the relationship between human-wildlife interactions in the 21st century.
• It might also be useful in preserving global biodiversity, maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and predicting global zoonoses and environmental changes.

Rafale:

What is in news?

The first batch of four Rafale fighter jets is scheduled to arrive in India in the last week of July amid continuing tensions on the border with China.

The four aircraft are scheduled to depart from France on July 27 and flyto India with a stopover at the Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

About :

• Everything about Rafale fighter jet• Introduced in 2001, Rafale is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed and built by French company Dassault Aviation. The aircraft is considered one of the most potent combat jets globally.
• It is distinct from other European fighters of its era, as it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.
• Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the optronique secteur frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, were domestically developed and produced for the Rafale programme.
• The aircraft is available in three main variants: Rafale C single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.
• The Rafale fighter jets are being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy. It has been marketed for export to several countries and was selected for purchase by the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.

Key facts :

• The Rafale is referred to as an ‘omnirole’ aircraft by Dassault, as the company claims that it has the capability to perform several actions at the same time, such as firing air-to-air missiles at a very low altitude, air-to-ground and interceptions during the same sortie.
• Several upgrades to the weapons and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be introduced by 2018.