World Malaria Day

Context:

  • April 25 is celebrated as the World Malaria Day.
  • The theme for World Malaria Day 2020 is ‘Zero Malaria Starts with me’. 

About the day:

  • World Malaria Day was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body.
  • The day was established to provide “education and understanding of malaria” and spread information on “year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.”

RBM Partnership to End Malaria

  • The RBM Partnership to End Malaria is the largest platform for synchronized action against malaria.
  • Originally recognized as Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership in 1998, it mobilizes for action and resources and forges consensus among partners.
  • The Partnership consists of many partners, including malaria-endemic countries, the private sector, non-governmental and community-based organizations, their bilateral and multilateral development partners, foundations, and research and academic institutions.

World Malaria Day’s previous themes:

  • World malaria Day 2019- Zero Malaria Starts with Me
  • World Malaria Day 2018- Ready to Beat Malaria
  • World Malaria Day 2017- Malaria prevention works: Let’s close the gap
  • World Malaria Day 2016- End Malaria for Good
  • World Malaria Day 2015- Invest in the Future, Defeat Malaria

Important News articles – April 25/2020

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International

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/world/coronavirus-donald-trump-injecting-disinfectants-6378317/

GS – 3

Economy

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-rbi-print-rupee-india-economy-coronavirus-6377979/

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/dpiit-cait-join-hands-to-enable-kiranas-foray-into-e-comm-space-6378056/

GS – 4

Ethics

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pakistan-supreme-court-judges-khaled-ahmed-6377950/

Daily Current Affairs – April 24/2020

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National

Anti – narcotics law:

  • The Supreme Court of India pronounced that it is the quantity of the banned drug mixture that will decide the punishment of the offender and not the purity. The clarification was given by the apex court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
  • In order to determine whether the drugs are in “small or commercial quantity”, the neutral substance in the mixture is to be included along with actual weight.
  • This is being clarified by the court as according to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances act, the punishment for possessing commercial quantity of drugs is more than that of smaller quantity.
  • Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Act, 1985: The act prohibits a person to manufacture, produce, cultivate, possess, purchase, store, transport or consume narcotic drugs. Under the act, the GoI can constitute Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Consultative Committee to provide advise on matters relating to administration of the act. The committee shall consist of maximum of 20 members.
  • Under the act, the GoI shall constitute National Fund to control drug abuse.

GS – 3

Science and Technology

Tianwen – 1:

  • China named its first Mars exploration mission as Tianwen-1 as it celebrated Space Day on 24 April.
  •  The observation marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the country’s first satellite Dong Fang Hong-I in 1970. 
  • Tianwen – It means Heavenly Questions or Questions to Heaven, a poem written by China’s well-known poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). 
  • With this mission, the country aims to catch up with India, the US, Russia, and the European Union who is already executing their Mars Mission.

Virucidal coating to prevent COVID transmission:

  • Researchers from Faridabad-based Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) have initiated a study to engineer virucidal coatings to prevent the COVID-19 Transmission. 
  • The study is carried out in collaboration with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) and Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. 
  • The molecules that will target the membranes of COVID-19 viral particles selectively will be developed. 
    These molecules will be used to develop different surfaces including glass, plastic, and textiles including cotton, nylon, and polyester to provide a virucidal coating that can potentially inhibit the viral transmission.
  • The researchers also initiated efforts to purify the Nonstructural protein 12 (nsp12) protein to develop high throughput plate assays.
  • It can be used to identify different inhibitors of the protein. These inhibitors are serving as lead molecules for the development of drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
    Researchers are to identify possible inhibitors of two other proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus using computational tool
  • These include Nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14), which has a methyltransferase and exoribonuclease activity, and nsp13 which has an RNA helicase activity.
  •  The group of researchers is also analyzing the available genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 to identify regions in the genome that may be structured and can be targeted using a small molecule to perturb translation or replication of the genome.

International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace:

  • The day is marked by the United Nations.
  • It aims to preserve values of international cooperation and multilateralism, based on which the UN Charter and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals are framed. Also, the day is marked to promote and support three pillars of the United Nations. They are peace and security, human rights and development.
  • This year, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace considers COVID-19 as the biggest challenge since the world war.
  • This year the day is being marked to spread the importance of multilateralism to win over the combat against COVID-19.
  • This is to be achieved by identifying common opportunities of the countries.

National Panchayati Raj Day

History of the day:

  • The National Panchayati Raj Day is observed annually on April 24. The Government in consultation with the states had decided to celebrate the day as National Panchayati Raj Day.
  •  The word ‘Panchayat’ is an amalgamation of two words where ‘Panch’ means ‘five’ and ‘Ayat’ means ‘assembly’ and ‘Raj’ means ‘rule’.
  • The observance marks the day the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution came into effect.
  • The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, which gave constitutional status on Panchayati Raj institutions, came into effect from April 24, 1993. The day marks a defining moment as it decentralised political power to the grassroot level. 

National Panchayati raj day 2020:

  • PM Narendra Modi interacted with all the village sarpanchs across the country through video conferencing
  • Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was also present on the occasion. 
  • PM inaugurated a unified e-GramSwaraj Portal and mobile application on the occasion. The portal is a new initiative of the Panchayati Raj Ministry to provide all the gram panchayats with one single interface to prepare and implement their gram panchayat development plan (GPDP).
  • The Prime Minister also launched the Swamitva Scheme on the occasion, which will provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.  The scheme is expected to boost the government’s efforts to alleviate poverty in rural areas.
  • Under the scheme, the inhabited land will be demarcated in rural areas by using the latest surveying methods such as drone technology with collaborated efforts of the Survey of India, State Panchayati Raj Department, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and State Revenue Department.

“When the panchayat raj is established, public opinion will do what violence can never do.” -Mahatma Gandhi​

“The voice of the people may be said to be God’s voice, the voice of the Panchayat.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Important News articles – April 24/2020

GS – 2

National

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/business/coronavirus-india-lockdown-govt-industry-to-join-hands-map-skills-with-jobs-for-22-lakh-stranded-migrants-6376412/

GS -3

Science and Technology

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/health-fitness/is-the-novel-coronavirus-pandemic-delaying-fertility-treatment-6376408/

Economy

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/business/market/rupee-falls-25-paise-to-76-31-against-us-dollar-in-early-trade-6376951/

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-oil-price-crash-impacts-sugar-what-it-means-for-india-6376389/

Live Mint – https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/opinion-indian-debt-market-that-never-was-11587701684568.html

GS – 4

Ethics

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/coronavirus-doctors-health-workers-violence-securing-the-fighters-6376374/

Live Mint – https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/corona-lessons-that-could-keep-us-prepared-for-the-next-crisis-11587660498430.html

Daily Current Affairs – April 23/2020

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International

Marijuana Cultivation:

  • Lebanon became the first Arab country to legalize marijuana cultivation.
  • The cannabis plant has been farmed illegally in Lebanon in the fertile Bekaa Valley.
  • Today the country has legalized marijuana cultivation for industrial and medical purposes to cope with the economic crisis that is being faced by the country.
  • According to the United Nations, Lebanon is the third largest supplier of cannabis resin in the world after Morocco and Afghanistan.
  • Apart from Lebanon here are two other regions in the world, where the cannabis plant is used in opium production. They are Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent.
  • The Golden Crescent includes three countries namely Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Together they form a crescent in the map and hence the name Crescent.
  • Afghanistan was the largest opium producer in 1990s and in twenty years still stays as one of the largest producers of Opium
  • The Golden Triangle includes Thailand, Myanmar and Laos where the regions meet at the confluence of Ruak and Mekong river and hence forming a golden triangle

National

Permanent bridge on river Ravi:

  • Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed a new permanent bridge on the river Ravi connecting Kasowal enclave in Punjab to the rest of the country.
  • The 484-meter bridge was built by 141 Drain Maintenance Coy of 49 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) of Project Chetak. 
  • The pontoon bridge used to be dismantled every year prior to the Monsoon so that it does not get washed away in the strong currents of the river. Because of this issue, thousands of acres of fertile land across the river could not be tilled by farmers during the Monsoon. 
  • To avoid this, a Class 70 permanent bridge with all-weather connectivity was planned and built by the BRO.
  • The bridge will ensure that the locals will not suffer during the harvest season.
  • The bridge has been built in a way that it does get damaged because of the heavy discharge of water and the tendency of the river to change course in the monsoons.

Apthamitra helpline and App:

  • The Karnataka State government launched the “Apthamitra” 
  • It was aimed to empower people in the state’s fight against coronavirus. It was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. 
  • The system and website are owned by Health and Family Welfare Department and State Disaster Management Authority. The system functions under the aegis of NASSCOM, Bengaluru. Also, the Digital Mobile app was developed by Infosys BPM.
  • Apthamitra is provided with an exclusive toll-free number and a mobile app. It was aimed to provide required medical advice and guidance for those in need during the lockdown. 
  • The ‘Apthamitra’ helpline will function from 8 am to 8 pm. The helpline Centers are located at six locations in Bengaluru (4 centers), Mysore and Mangalore (Bantwal) with a total of 300 seat capacity.
  • It is a 2-tier system: Tier I is manned by AYUSH or nursing or pharma final year volunteer students.
  • Tier-II is manned by MBBS or Integrated Medicine or AYUSH volunteer doctors.
  • It will connect the people from their respective locations for risk assessment, counselling, telemedicine, and referral for testing and treatment. 
  • The helpline “14410” will cover residents in all parts of the state.
  • The initiative will help people to identify the people who have Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SERI), coronavirus like symptoms, or having a high risk of getting infected. 
  • It will identify people with low risk, but having some symptoms similar to those of coronavirus and provide them telemedicine support with OTC medicines, and counsel them for self-quarantine.

GS – 3

Science

Micro reactor to produce uniform size of nano particles:

  • Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) has developed a microreactor that can produce large quantities of uniform size of nanoparticles. Producing a uniform size of nanoparticles has been a problem faced by the biomedical field. 
  • Microreactor has parameters such as the concentration of reactants, flow rate, agitation, reaction temperature, and time. It can determine the size of nanoparticles and their distribution.
  • Using this method gold and silver, cadmium-telluride, chitosan, alginate and hyaluronic acid nanoparticles of any size with the coefficient of variation below 5% can be produced.
  • The new approach to resolve the mono dispersity paradox of the nanomaterial can be applied to other chemical reactions where stringent control on the reaction dynamics is vital.

Government Policy and Schemes – Part 1

SchemeFull-FormGovernment Ministry
PMJDYPradhan Mantri Jan Dhan YojanaMinistry of Finance
PMSSYPradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha YojanaMinistry of Health & Family Welfare
PMMYPradhan Mantri Mudra YojanaMinistry of Finance
PMJJBYPradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima YojanaMinistry of Finance
PMSBYPradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima YojanaMinistry of Finance
APYAtal Pension YojanaMinistry of Finance
KVPKisan Vikas PatraMinistry of Finance
GMSGold Monetisation SchemesMinistry of Finance
PMFBYPradhan Mantri Fasal Bima YojanaMinistry of Agriculture
PMGKYPradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai YojanaMinistry of Agriculture
DDUGJYDeen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti YojanaMinistry of Power
RGMRashtriya Gokul MissionMinistry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
DIDigital IndiaMinistry of Electronics and Information Technology
SISkill IndiaMinistry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurs
(PMKVY)Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas YojanaMinistry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurs

Important News articles – April 23/2020

GS – 2

International

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-india-tightened-fdi-rules-and-why-its-china-thats-upset-6374693/

Governance

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/coronavirus-pandemic-narendra-modi-lockdown-the-test-of-a-nation-6374647/

GS – 3

Economy

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/crude-oil-prices-opec-lockdown-coronavirus-spill-6374634/

Live Mint – https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/opinion-can-india-grow-at-7-with-all-the-macro-headwinds-11587529945926.html

GS – 4

Ethics

Indian Express – https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/coronavirus-police-democracy-economy-nation-after-lockdown-6373072/

World Book and Copyright day

What is this day about?

  • World Book and Copyright Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23 April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the scope of books – a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.
  •  On this occasion, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a year to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s celebrations. 

Why this day is celebrated on 23rd April?

  • 23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. This date was a natural choice for UNESCO’s General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone to access books.

Aim of the day:

  • By championing books and copyright, UNESCO stands up for creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge, with the work across the board – from the Creative Cities of Literature network to promoting literacy and mobile learning and advancing Open Access to scientific knowledge and educational resources. With the active involvement of all stakeholders: authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media, and all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors, World Book and Copyright Day has become a platform to rally together millions of people all around the world.

विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस और उसका डिजिटल उत्सव

प्रसंग:

  • पृथ्वी की भलाई के लिए जागरूकता फैलाने और लोगों को पर्यावरण संरक्षण के लिए प्रोत्साहित करने के लिए विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस 2020 पूरे विश्व में मनाया जाएगा।
  • इस वर्ष पृथ्वी दिवस की 50 वीं वर्षगांठ है।

महत्व:

  • विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस लोगों को प्रकृति के संरक्षण के लिए और समृद्ध पर्यावरण के लिए धरती माँ का धन्यवाद करने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करता है।
  • यह दिन ग्रह की स्थिति का विश्लेषण करने और जलवायु को बचाने के लिए एकीकृत प्रतिक्रिया तैयार करने में भी मदद करता है।
  • यह एक चेतावनी है कि पृथ्वी पर जीवन के लिए स्वच्छ हवा, फलते-फूलते जंगल और पानी महत्वपूर्ण हैं।

दिन की मुख्य विशेषताएं:

  • विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस 22 अप्रैल, 1970 से एक वार्षिक कार्यक्रम के रूप में मनाया जाता रहा है। उस दिन न्यूयॉर्क में लाखों लोग सड़कों पर आए और मजबूत पर्यावरण कानून की मांग की। 25 वर्षीय डेनिस हायेस ने इस कार्यक्रम का आयोजन किया था।
  • विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस विश्व स्तर पर पृथ्वी दिवस नेटवर्क द्वारा समन्वित किया जाता है और 193 से अधिक देशों में मनाया जाता है।
  • दुनिया भर के लोग पर्यावरण की रक्षा और पोषण करने की शपथ लेंगे।

दिन 2020 की थीम:

  • क्लाइमेट एक्शन विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस 2020 का एक विषय है।
  • इसकी आधिकारिक वेबसाइट पर, आयोजकों ने कहा कि जलवायु परिवर्तन पर एकीकृत कार्रवाई ने इस मुद्दे को अलग कर दिया है जिससे यह 50 वीं वर्षगांठ का जश्न मनाने के लिए सबसे अधिक दबाव का विषय है।

विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस 2020: डिजिटल उत्सव

  • लोगों को COVID-19 लॉकडाउन के बीच अपने घरों के अंदर रहना होगा, विश्व पृथ्वी दिवस 2020 को डिजिटल रूप से मनाने के लिए तैयार है।
  • भाग लेने की योजना बनाने वाले लोग वेबसाइट पर जाकर ’24 घंटे की कार्रवाई ‘में शामिल हो सकते हैं।
  • साइन अप करने के लिए कई कार्यक्रम भी हैं जिनमें डेनिस हेस का पूरा साक्षात्कार, ‘पृथ्वी दिवस, 50 वर्ष’ पर शामिल है।
  • एक 22 चुनौतियां भी ले सकता है, जिसमें आपके कार्बन पदचिह्न को मापना, एक प्लास्टिक ऑडिट करना, स्काइप वैज्ञानिक, पृथ्वी के लिए काम करना, एक दिन के लिए शून्य अपशिष्ट और संयंत्र आधारित आहार के इस सप्ताह में प्रति दिन एक भोजन का सेवन करना शामिल है।
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