Current Affairs

India has volunteered to participate in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ongoing solidarity trial for developing vaccines for Covid-19. Background WHO with its partners is organizing a study called the solidarity trial in many countries in which some of the untested treatments are compared with each other. The study has been designed to generate the robust data needed to show which treatments are the most effective. Details Ø In order to look at newer drugs that might come, India is soon likely to participate in the WHO solidarity trial for COVID-19. Earlier we did not do it because our numbers were so small and contribution would have looked minuscule. Ø WHO’s multi-country solidarity trials aims to isolate drugs approved by regulators for other diseases that can be utilised in the Covid-19 fight. The reason already safety-tested drugs are being looked at is because these do not need lengthy clinical trials. Ø Among the drugs lined up f...

The ozone layer above Antarctica has recovered so much, it's actually stopped many worrying changes in the Southern Hemisphere's atmosphere, according to a new study. Background A new study suggests the Montreal Protocol, the 1987 agreement to stop producing ozone depleting substances (ODSs), could be responsible for pausing, or even reversing, some troubling changes in air currents around the Southern Hemisphere. Details Ø Before the turn of the century, ozone depletion had been driving the southern jet stream further south than usual. This ended up changing rainfall patterns, and potentially ocean currents as well. Ø Using a range of models and computer simulations, researchers have now shown this pause in movement was not driven by natural shifts in winds alone. Ø In Australia, for instance, changes to the jet stream have increased the risk of drought by pushing rain away from coastal areas. If the trend does reverse, those rains might retur...

The government has unveiled the first set of measures to address the looming economic distress set off by the shutdown of business and destruction of demand.   Background The announcements come when the government is hard-pressed to create the headroom for additional spending in a fiscally difficult year. Details Ø Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a package that aims to provide, for the next three months, free food to the “poorest of the poor”, some income support to farmers and unorganised sector workers, a Rs 50-lakh medical insurance cover for health care staff and a Rs 500-transfer to women Jan Dhan account holders. Ø Officials indicated that a package for the MSME sector and a broader income-support scheme for migrant and farm workers, which was being expected, are likely to follow. Ø The government has unveiled the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to provide free wheat, rice and pulses to nearly 80 crore people across...

In a study, scientists have described how micro-organisms survive in rocks nestled thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor in the lower oceanic crust .   Background Organisms seeking out an existence far beneath the sea floor live in a hostile environment. Very little resources find their way into  The  seabed through seawater and subsurface fluids, which circulate through fractures in the rock and carry inorganic and organic compounds . Details ➤The discoveries were made as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), which studies samples of rock and sediment taken from beneath the seafloor. ➤Normally, it’s to investigate the historic climate records preserved there, but in this case an international team of scientists found evidence of life. ➤The first analysis of messenger RNA, the genetic material containing instructions for making different proteins, from this region, coupled with measurements of enzyme activities, microscopy, c...

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in India and across the world, Kochi-based startup Asimov Robotics has developed a robot that can be deployed in hospitals to ease pressure on the medical staff. Background The three-wheeled robot can carry food, medical and clinical consumables and navigate freely in the hospitals. The robot has been developed in 15 days by a team of seven people. Details Ø The robot is mainly designed to be used inside isolation wards. The robot, dubbed “ KARMI-BOT ”, has lower and upper trays that can be loaded with food or sterile containers. Ø Additionally, the robot also disinfects the used items as it comes out of the quarantine zone. The robot also lets doctors or relatives interact with the patients through video calling. Ø The robot has autonomous navigation and can be used remotely as well. The advantage of deploying a robot in this scenario is to cut down on human to human contact. This will help both...

A man in China died of hantavirus, a disease spread through rodents, in Yunnan province. The 32 other passengers in the bus with the man were tested for the virus.   Background The hantavirus report came as China is currently grappling with coronavirus which has resulted in the death of 3,277 people in the country, mostly in its epicentre Hubei province and its capital Wuhan. Details Ø   Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory disease in humans caused by infection with hantaviruses. Ø   Anyone who comes into contact with rodents that carry hantaviruses is at risk of contracting the infection. Ø   If infected individuals are recognised early and receive medical care in an intensive care unit, they may do better. Ø   In intensive care, patients are intubated and given oxygen therapy to help them through the period of severe respiratory distress. Ø   The World Health Organization has c...

New work finds that the Milky Way stretches nearly 2 million light-years across, more than 15 times wider than its luminous spiral disk. The number could lead to a better estimate of how massive the galaxy is and how many other galaxies orbit it.   Background Astronomers have long known that the brightest part of the Milky Way  is some 120,000 light-years across. Beyond this stellar disk is a disk of gas. A vast halo of dark matter, presumably full of invisible particles. But because the dark halo emits no light, its diameter is hard to measure. Details Ø Scientists have used nearby galaxies to locate the Milky Way’s edge. The precise diameter is 1.9 million light-years, give or take 0.4 million light-years. Ø To find the Milky Way’s edge, team conducted computer simulations of how giant galaxies like the Milky Way form. In particular, the scientists sought cases where two giant galaxies arose side by side, like the Milky Way and ...

Trump signs emergency coronavirus relief bill into law Background United States President Donald Trump has signed a multi-billion dollar emergency coronavirus economic relief bill, hours after it was passed by the US Senate . Details ➤The Families First Coronavirus Response Act , which was passed by a vote of 90-8 in the US Senate, provides for free testing of COVID-19, insurance, paid leave for those diagnosed with or caring for someone affected by the virus. ➤The [Families First Coronavirus Response Act] makes emergency supplemental appropriations and other changes to law to help the Nation respond to the coronavirus outbreak. ➤   This is the second such legislaslative passed by the US Congress to address the COVID-19 outbreak. ➤I t had passed a USD 8.3 billion package of relief measures to fund free COVID-19 tests, meals for children who would normally receive food at now-shuttered schools, accelerated vaccine research, expanded unemployment benefi...