Tuesday 29 September 2020


 

Today's Task

 

 

 

 

HISTORY

World Organisations – Pacts and Summits

IMF lauds PM Modi’s call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat

Ø  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign launched by the government in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ø  IMF said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) helped the country tackle the Covid-19 economic shock.

Ø  The economic package under this self-reliant India initiative, which was announced in the aftermath of the coronavirus shock, has supported the Indian economy and mitigated significant downside risks, so we do see that initiative as having been important.

Sports and Games

Foundation Stone of ‘Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior’to be Laid

Ø  The foundation stone of ‘Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh’ will be laid at a function organized by DEPwD, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment through video conferencing.

Ø  Setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh was approved by the Cabinet on 28 February, 2019. Total estimated cost to set up the Centre is Rs.170.99 crore. The Centre will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. For overall superintendence and supervision of the Centre, Governing Body under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, DEPwD has been constituted.

Awards & Honours

Kerala wins UN award for 'outstanding contribution' towards prevention, control of non-communicable diseases

Ø  Kerala won a United Nations award for its "outstanding contribution" towards the non-communicable diseases-related sustainable development goals.

Ø  Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja announced that the award was a recognition of the tireless service of Kerala in the health sector.

Ø  The state government has arranged facilities from the basic public health centres to hospitals at all levels to treat the lifestyle diseases.

Ø  The UN Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) award this year on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases was announced by World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Cultural Panorama

13th Century inscription stone was found near Kallupatti

Ø  The present structure of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai might have been reconstructed during the rule of Jatavarman Kulasekara Pandya (1190-1216 Common Era). This structure was damaged due to unknown reasons and was again renovated in the 13th century during the period of Maravarman Sundarapandyan II, according to the inscriptions found at the temple.

The 13th century inscriptions belonging to Pandya period, the name of the presiding god is mentioned as ‘Thiru Alavay Udaiya Nayanar’ and goddess was mentioned as ‘Thirukkamakkottam Udaiya Aludaiya Nacchiyar’. “It was during the Nayak period when the name ‘Chokkanatha’ for the presiding god was mentioned for the first time. The name of the goddess as ‘Meenakshi’ was mentioned on the engravings of a ‘pavaivilaku’ dated to 1752 CE.

Ø  The present name of the goddess- ‘Meenakshi Sundareswarar’ was first mentioned on the engravings on a Tiruvachi lamp stand dated to 1898 CE 

  SCIENCE


 

Latest Inventions on Science & Technology

India successfully test-fires Indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile

Ø  India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile.

Ø  The state-of-the-art missile was test-fired from Chandipur's Integrated Test Range (ITR). The trial met all the required parameters. The trial was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the ITR.

Ø  The missile is reported to have a strike range of 350 km. It is capable of carrying warheads weighing upto 500 to 1,000 kg and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.

Ø  The last night time testfire of Prithvi-II was conducted successfully from the ITR was on November 20, 2019.

Mass Media & Communication

UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Launched U-Rise Portal for Students

Ø  Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh launched Unified Re- imagined Innovation for Student Empowerment (U-Rise) portal in Lucknow, UP.

Ø  The portal guides the students in learning, career counselling, and getting employment in the state.

 

Ø  It was developed by Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow. It is a joint initiative by the Department of Technical Education, Department, Training, Employment and the Skill Development Mission.

NATIONAL – DIARY OF EVENTS


 

One  of  the  First   Medical  Devices  Park   to   be  Set  up   in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Ø  In 2019, Central Government approved the setting up four medical device parks in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the lines of “Make in India” initiative and to provide world-class products at affordable prices for treatment.

Ø  In this regard, on September 24, 2020, Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation stone for one of the first medical devices parks in the country, “MedSpark” at Life Science Park, Thonnakkal, Thiruvananthapuram.

Ø  MedSpark is a joint initiative of Technical Research Centre for Biomedical Devices (TRC) at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), the industrial and investment promotion agency of the Government of Kerala.

National Medical Commission comes into existence

Ø  The National Medical Commission (NMC) has come into existence in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI) as the country's apex regulator of medical education and profession.

Ø  With the NMC coming into being, the Board of Governors (BoG) that had the MCI on September 26th, 2018, to perform its functions, has been dissolved. The nearly 64-year-old Indian Medical Council Act has also been abolished.

Ø  The NMC Act, which seeks to bring in mega reforms in the medical education sector, received the Presidential assent on August 8, 2019.

Ø  The National Medical Commission comprises a chairman, 10 ex-officio members and 22 part-time members.

Ø  Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma, former head of AIIMS ENT department, Delhi, has been appointed as chairman of the NMC for three years.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 

 

India ranked 89th among 181 countries in World Risk Report 2020

Ø  According to the World Risk Index (WRI) 2020, India has been ranked at the 89th spot among 181 Countries. The World Risk Index is a statistical model for the assessment of global risk of disasters such as earthquakes, storms, floods, droughts and sea-level rise.

Countries with Lowest Risk Index:

v  According to the Index, Qatar (0.31) had the lowers risk, followed by Malta (0.66) and St.Vincent and the Grenadines (0.81).

Rank

Country

World Risk Index

Category (Based on Risk)

89

India

6.62

Medium Risk

1

Vanuatu

49.74

Very High Risk

2

Tonga

29.72

Very High Risk

181

Qatar

0.31

Very Low Risk

180

Malta

0.66

Very Low Risk