Facts- April

Bear bile:

• For treating severe and critical cases of COVID-19, Chinese government has recommended an injection of Tan Re Qing,👀 which contains bear bile.
• The use of bear bile in Chinese medicine dates back at least 1,300 years. Bile is secreted by the liver and stored in the gall bladder.
• Bile from bears tends to be high in ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol👀, which is helpful in dissolving gallstones and treating liver disease.

Sodium hypochlorite:

• Sodium hypochlorite is commonly used as a bleaching agent, and also to sanitise swimming pools.
• It releases chlorine👀, which is a disinfectant👀. Large quantities of chlorine can be harmful.
• At a much lower 0.25-0.5%, this chemical is used to treat skin wounds👀 like cuts or scrapes. An even weaker solution (0.05%) is sometimes used as a handwash.
• It is corrosive and is meant largely to clean hard surfaces👀. It is not recommended to be used on human beings.
• A 1% solution can cause damage to the skin of anyone who comes in contact with it. If it gets inside the body, it can cause serious harm to lungs.

Why in News?

In Uttar Pradesh, migrant workers travelling to their home states, or their belongings, were sprayed with a disinfectant containing sodium hypochlorite, apparently to sanitise them.

Patriot air defence missiles:

US recently deployed Patriot air defence missiles to Iraq👀.

Patriot (MIM-104)👀 is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

The missile is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system👀.

The missile has a range of 70km and a maximum altitude greater than 24km. The minimum flight time is less than nine seconds👀 and the maximum is three and a half minutes👀.

Operation Sanjeevani:

An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft recently delivered 6.2 tonne of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives👀 under Operation Sanjeevani.

Among other things, these medicines include influenza vaccines, anti-viral drugs such as lopinavir and navigator 👀— which have been used to treat patients with COVID-19 in other countries.

What is National Cadet Corps?

It is a youth development movement👀. It came into existence under the National Cadet Corps Act XXXI of 1948👀.

It is a Tri-Services Organization, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, engaged in grooming the youth of the country into disciplined and patriotic citizens.

• The NCC provides exposure to the cadets in a wide range of activities., with a distinct emphasis on Social Services, Discipline and Adventure Training. The NCC is open to all regular students of schools and colleges on a voluntary basis. The students have no liability for active military service.

Why in News?

National Cadet Corps (NCC) has offered a helping hand to civilian authorities in the country’s fight against COVID-19 by extending the services of cadets under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’👀.

AarogyaSetu:

• It is mobile app developed in public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19.
  The App joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian.
• It will enable people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the Corona Virus infection👀.
• It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

During India coronavirus lockdown, the laws that come into play (Relevant for both Prelims and Mains):

1. Section 188 IPC deals with those disobeying an order passed by a public servant, and provides for imprisonment ranging from one to six months. For those violating orders passed under the Epidemic Diseases Act, Section 188 IPC is the provision under which punishment is awarded.
2. Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides for punishment for two kinds of offences: obstructing any officer or employee of the government or person authorised by any disaster management authority for discharge of a function; and refusing to comply with any direction given by the authorities under the Act. Punishment can extend to one year on conviction, or two years if the refusal leads to loss of lives or any imminent danger.
3. Section 505 IPC provides for imprisonment of three years or fine, or both, for those who publish or circulate anything which is likely to cause fear or alarm. Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act provides for imprisonment, extending to one year, of those who make or circulate a false alarm or warning regarding a disaster or its severity or magnitude.
4. Under Section 52, Disaster Management Act, whoever makes a false claim for obtaining “any relief, assistance, repair, reconstruction or other benefits” from any official authority can be sentenced to a maximum of two years imprisonment and a fine will be imposed on the person.

IAS, IPS officers’ associations form ‘Caruna’, an initiative to fight Coronavirus:

Associations representing officers of Central Civil Services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), have formed an initiative called ‘Caruna’👀 to support and supplement the government’s efforts in fighting coronavirus.

The acronym ‘Caruna’ stands for Civil Services Associations Reach to Support in Natural Disasters and represents a collaborative platform, on which civil servants, industry leaders, NGO professionals and IT professionals among others have come together to contribute their time and abilities.

Delhi’s ‘5T’ war against virus:

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a “5T plan”👀 created by his government to contain COVID-19 spread in Delhi. These five Ts are testing, tracing, treatment, teamwork and tracking-monitoring👀.

Samadhan challenge:

The Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and All India Council for Technical Education in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris launched a mega online challenge – SAMADHAN 👀– to test the ability of students to innovate.

The students participating in this challenge will search and develop such measures that can be made available to the government agencies, health services, hospitals and other services for quick solutions to the Coronavirus epidemic and other such calamities.

World Health Day:

• April 7 is observed as ‘World Health Day’ This was the day in 1948 when the World Health Organisation was founded.
• The theme for the World Health Day 2020 is “Support Nurses and Midwives”👀.
• WHO chose the year 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” because of the contribution of nurses and midwives in making the world a healthier place.

About Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR):

ICCR was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Independent India’s first Education Minister👀.

It is an autonomous organisation.

ICCR has been assigned the responsibility of facilitating the celebration of the International Day of Yoga by Indian Missions/Posts abroad since 2015.

Objectives:

• To actively participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programs pertaining to India’s external cultural relations.
• To foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people, and to develop relations with nations.

Important awards by ICCR:

1. Distinguished Indologist Award.
2. World Sanskrit Award.
3. Gisela Bonn Award.

Why in News?

ICCR celebrated its 70^th foundation day on April 9.

Gamosa:

The COVID 19 pandemic has made the ubiquitous gamosa, a decorative cotton towel, evolve from memento to mask.

What is Gamosa?

The Gamosa is an article of significance for the people of Assam. It is generally a white rectangular piece of cloth with primarily a red border on three sides and red woven motifs on the fourth.

• Assam has traditionally had two types of gamosas — the ukaor👀 plain kind used to wipe sweat or dry the body after a bath, and the phulam, which is decorated with floral motifs to be gifted as a memento or during festivals such as Bihu👀
• The gamosa’s graph as a symbol of protest rose during the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation from 1979 to 1985. The extremist United Liberation Front of Asom too used the towel with “revolutionary” motifs.

Operation Shield to fight Covid-19:

Announced by Delhi Government.

• SHIELD stands for sealing, home quarantine, isolation and tracing, essential supply, local sanitation and door-to-door checks.
• It will be implemented in 21 localities identified as containment zones in Delhi.

Neighbouring rights law:

• It is mentioned in Europe’s new digital copyright law👀. 
• It is designed to ensure news publishers are compensated when their work is shown on websites, search engines and social media platforms.

Why in News?

France’s competition regulator recently said that Google must start paying media groups for displaying their content, ordering it to begin negotiations after refusing for months to comply with Europe’s new digital copyright law.

What has the Google said?

• Google, which effectively has a lock on internet searches in Europe, refused to comply, saying that articles, pictures and videos would be shown in search results only if media groups consent to let the tech giant use them at no cost.
• If they refuse, only a headline and a bare link to the content will appear, Google said, almost certainly resulting in a loss of visibility and potential ad revenue for the publisher.

What is Paralympics?

• Paralympics or a series of international multi-sport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities.
• There organised in parallel with the Olympic games.

Eligibility: The international Paralympic committee has established 10 disability categories.

The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

Bharat Padhe online:

‘Bharat Padhe Online’ campaign launched to invite ideas to improve online education ecosystem.

• The campaign aims to invite the best brains in the country to share suggestions/solutions directly with the HRD Ministry to overcome constraints of online education.
• Further educators across the country can also come forward to contribute with their expertise and experience in the field of education.

World Homoeopathy Day:

• Observed on 10th April 2020👀.
• It commemorates the 265th birth anniversary of Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy. 
• The theme of 2020 is “Enhancing the scope of Homoeopathy in Public Health”.

What is Homeopathy?

 The way to heal by the doctrine of ‘similia similibus curantur’ i.e likes are cured by likes.

• The homeopathic medical system is a recognized medical system in India under the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973. It is also recognized as one of the national systems of medicines.

Technology Development Board (TDB):

It is a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Established under Technology Development Board Act, 1995

It provides financial support to Indian companies👀 for commercialization of indigenous technology or adaptation of imported technology.

About CAT:

The Central Administrative Tribunal was established by an Act of Parliament namely Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 as sequel to the 42nd amendment of the Constitution of India inserting Article 323 A👀.

Functions: The tribunal adjudicates disputes and complaints with respect to Recruitment and Conditions of Service of the persons appointed to the Public Services and Posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or any State or of any other Local Authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.

Composition: The Tribunal is headed by the Chairman and 65 Members, 33 from Judicial (including Chairman) and 33 from the Administrative stream. The Chairman is normally a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.

YUKTI portal:

YUKTI stands for Young India Combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation.

The portal aims to monitor and record the efforts and initiatives of MHRD which have been taken in the wake of COVID-19.

What are Primordial Black Holes (PBH)?

• Primordial Black Holes (PBH) were formed during the Hot Big Bang phase.
• It is believed that they are formed as a result of collapsing radiations as opposed to the collapse of massive stars👀, which is the case of any other black holes.
• PBH can be massively large as 3000kms or be extremely tiny like nucleus of an atom.

What is a virosome?

Virosomes are enveloped virus like particles👀.

• They are lipid-based carriers👀 (envelopes) containing the functional fusion viral proteins and natural membrane proteins of the natural virus.
• These lipid-based viral envelopes can be combined with additional rationally designed antigens and adjuvants for each specifics vaccine or immunotherapies.
• Virosomes based vaccines are designed to maintain the immunogenicity of a live-attenuated virus but with the safety of a killed virus.
• The virosomes are devoid of the nucleocapsid👀and without the genetic material of the source virus, they are unable to replicate, cause an infection or a disease.

What is wormivet?

It is an indigenous herbal medication (dewormer)👀.

It was recently brought out by National Innovation Foundation India (NIF) in form of commercial product for livestock owners as an alternate to chemical method of treatment of worm.

Different festivals being celebrated in several parts of country- April 13 and 14:

1. Vaisakhi– Spring harvest festival celebrated by Hindus ans Sikhs. The day marks the formation of Khalsa Panth of warriors under Guru Gobind Singh. It is celebrated as the first day of the month of Vaisakha according to Hindu calendar.
2. Vishu– It is a Malayali festival celebrated in the South Indian state of Kerala, Tulu Nadu region in Karnataka, bordering areas of Tamil Nadu and their diaspora communities. The festival marks the first day of Medam, the ninth month in the solar calendar followed in Kerala.
3. Rongali Bihu- Celebrated in Assam. It marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year.
4. Naba Barsha- Bengali New Year according to the Gregorian Calendar.
5. Puthandu – Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month – Chithirai – and marks the beginning of the Tamil New Year.

Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF):

• The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) was established in 2000 under an agreement between the Governments of India and United States of America.
• It has a mandate to promote, catalyze and seek bilateral collaboration in science, technology, engineering and biomedical research through substantive interaction amongst government, academia and industry.
• As an autonomous, not-for-profit society, IUSSTF has the ability, agility and flexibility to engage and involve industry, private R&D labs; and non governmental entities in its evolving activity manifold.
• This operational uniqueness allows the IUSSTF to receive grants and contributions from independent sources both in India and USA, besides the assured core funding from the two governments.
• IUSSTF currently implements a portfolio of “four” broad program verticals – Scientific Networks, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Research and Development and Visitation Programs.

Google Journalism Emergency Relief Fund:

• Google is planning to launch this emergency fund to help local news outlets struggling👀 to maintain operations in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Under this, Google would offer grants ranging from the “low thousands of dollars”👀 for the smallest operations to “low tens of thousands for larger newsrooms.👀”
• This financial support is for local newsrooms hit by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of its Google News Initiative.

Need: The move comes with the media sector facing deep cutbacks resulting from the global consumer lockdown, an intense economic slump and a retrenchment in advertising revenues that many news outlets depend on.

Thrissur Pooram festival:

Thrissur Pooram has been cancelled for the first time on account of the COVID-19 outbreak.

About the festival:

It is called the ‘mother of all festivals’ in Kerala.

The Pooram dates back to the late 18th century and was started by Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of the erstwhile Kochi state.

MK 54 lightweight torpedo:

US Department of State has approved a Foreign Military Sale to India of 16 MK 54 all round up lightweight torpedoes.

MK 54 lightweight torpedo was known as the Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo (LHT). It weighs around 608 pounds, while its warhead weighs around 96.8 pounds and is highly explosive. These torpedoes are used by US surface ships, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters and are their primary anti-submarine warfare weapon.

KISAN RATH MOBILE APP:

Union Agriculture Ministry has launched Kisan Rath Mobile App to facilitate transportation of foodgrains and perishables during lockdown.

• The app is developed by the National Informatics Centre to facilitate farmers and traders in searching transport vehicles for movement of Agriculture and Horticulture produce.
• The App will also facilitates traders in transportation of perishable commodities by Refrigerated vehicles.

What is order books, inventories and capacity utilisation survey (OBICUS)?

• The Reserve Bank of India has launched latest round of quarterly order books, inventories and capacity utilisation survey (OBICUS) of manufacturing sector. The survey provides valuable input for monetary policy formulation.
• The RBI has been conducting the OBICUS of the manufacturing sector on a quarterly basis since 2008.
• The information collected in the survey includesquantitative data on new orders received during the reference quarter, backlog of orders, pending orders, total inventories with a breakup between work-in-progress (WiP) and finished goods (FG) inventories and item-wise production.

Various pandemics and how have they influenced the course of human history?

Justinian Plague: Broke out in the sixth century in Egypt and spread fast to Constantinople👀, which was the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The plague was named after the then Byzantine Emperor Justinian. The outbreak had killed up to 25 to 100 million people.

Black Death: The Black Death, or pestilence, hit Europe and Asia in the 14th century. It killed some 75 to 200 million people. Black Death led to improved wages for serfs and agricultural labourers. Land became more abundant relative to labour. It also led to the weakening of the Catholic Church.

Spanish Flu: Broke out during the last phase of the First World War. Germans and Austrians were affected so badly that the outbreak derailed their offensives.

What is remdesivir?

It is a drug with antiviral properties that was manufactured by US-based biotechnology company in 2014, to treat Ebola cases. It was also tried in patients of MERS and SARS, both caused by members of the coronavirus family, but experts said it did now show promising results back then. It is now being studied as a COVID-19 treatment.

What are Blazars?

Blazars are among the brightest objects in the universe thanks to emissions powered by supersized black holes.

• The most distant of the newly discovered blazars started to emit their light when the universe was just 1.4 billion years old. Previously, the most distant blazars detected by Fermi emitted their light when the universe was about 2.1 billion years old.
• Blazars are similar to all active galaxies, acquiring energy from matter falling toward a central supermassive black hole. A small part of this infalling material becomes redirected into a pair of particle jets, which blast outward in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light.

Goa is now COVID free:

Goa has become the first zero COVID-19 State in the country with the last seven positive cases also turning negative.

This makes Goa the first green State in the country with no case of coronavirus being reported since April 3.

Bangalore Blue variety of grape:

• It is a variety of fox grape grown in districts around Bangalore.
• It is one of the three major varieties of grape in the state of Karnataka (the other two being Thomson seedless and Anab-E-Shahi Dilkush).
• It received a geographical indication tag from the Government of India in 2013.

What is “milk tea alliance”?

It is a pro-democratic front formed by thousands of internet users from Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong in social networks against the authoritarianism of the Chinese Government and its supporters👀.

The informal movement began by defending itself against the insults of pro- Chinese twitter users against Thailand. It has now ended up forming a social network group to combat Chinese “propaganda”.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI):

• West Texas intermediate (WTI), also known as Texas light sweet, is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing👀.
• This grade is described as light crude oil because of its relatively low density, and sweet because of its low sulfur content.
• It is the underlying commodity of New York Mercantile Exchange’s oil futures contracts.

Why in News?

US oil markets created history when prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the best quality of crude oil in the world, fell to “minus” $40.32 a barrel in New York. This is the lowest crude oil price ever known.

World Wide Help (WWH):

IIT Bombay has developed a platform named World Wide Help (WWH) which can be used to connect people seeking medical help with helpers, such as doctors.

How it works?

1. The WWH platform can be used with an app or a phone. The user simply calls a dedicated number and can input basic data such as the age of the person in need of help and whom they wish to solicit help from. They can supply the phone number, too.
2. This is registered as a task in the app and assigned to a primary helper who is a junior doctor or medicare professional. Further, the task may be re-designated by the primary helper to a senior doctor, who is the second level of helper.

Matterhorn:

• Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps.
• It is situated in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy.
• Its summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.
• The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes.
• Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains, the Matterhorn has become an iconic emblem of the Alps in general.

Why in News?

Indian Tricolour of more than 1,000 meters in size was projected on Matterhorn Mountain, Zermatt, Switzerland to express solidarity to all Indians in the fight against COVID-19.

Daporijo Bridge:

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed the Daporijo bridge over Subansiri river in Arunachal Pradesh 👀in a record span of just 27 days.

The bridge links roads leading upto the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.

The Subansiri River is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River in the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The Subansiri is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra.

Earth Day:

It is an annual event, organized to show support for environmental protection around the world on April 22.

Earth Day was founded by American senator Gaylord Nelson for environmental education.

This day commenced on April 22, 1970. In the year 2020, the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day is being celebrated.

The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action.

Earth Day Network (EDN) is the not for profit organisation that leads Earth Day worldwide.

Saiyam:

• It is a mobile application developed by the Pune Municipal Corporation under Smart Cities Mission to effectively track the home-quarantined citizens and ensure that they are staying in the home.
• The Mobile Application has GPS tracking so that whenever quarantined citizens leave their homes, City Administration gets alerted and the local ward or the local police station gets informed, who then visit the family.

World Book Day:

Also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, it is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.

World Book Day was first celebrated on 23 April 1995.

On April 23, UNESCO will celebrate the 25th edition of World Book and Copyright Day.

CIVIL SERVICES DAY:

Observed on 21st April every year.

Why 21st April? On this day in 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of probationers at the All India Administrative Service Training School at Metcalfe House, New Delhi in 1947. In his speech he called civil servants as the steel frame of India.

Objective: To make civil servants re-dedicate themselves to the cause of the citizens and renew their commitment to public service.

On this day, the ‘Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ is given. The award is given in three categories, dividing the states and UTs into different categories. The award was instituted in 2006.

About Technology Development Board:

It is a statutory body established by Technology Development Board Act, 1995.

Objective: To promote development and commercialization of indigenous technology and adaptation of imported technology for much wider application.

Roles and functions of the board:

1. Encourage enterprises to take up technology-oriented products.
2. Provide equity capital or loans to industrial concerns and financial assistance to research and development institutions.

Sepsis:

• Sepsis occurs when chemicals released in the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This can cause a cascade of changes that damage multiple organ systems, leading them to fail, sometimes even resulting in death.
• Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, fast heart rate and mental confusion.

Why in News?

Sepsivac- the Drug for sepsis will be tested for COVID-19.

VIDYADAAN 2.0:

Launched by Union HRD Ministry, it is a national program for inviting e-learning Content contributions.

VidyaDaan is conceptualised as a common national program for individuals and organizations across the country to contribute e-learning resources for both school and higher education to ensure continuity of quality learning.

The content will be used on the DIKSHA app to help millions of children across the country to continue their learning anytime and anywhere.

Kasowal Bridge:

It is a 484- metre long permanent bridge on the river Ravi👀 to connect the Kasowal enclave of Punjab along the Pakistan border to the rest of the country.

Built by the Borders Roads Organization.

Kasowal enclave is around 35 square km. It was till now connected through a pontoon bridge of limited load capacity.

The enclave was formed because it has the Ravi behind it and the International Border ahead of it.

There are similar enclaves of Pakistani territory too, which lie ahead of Ravi and face Indian territory. These Pakistani enclaves — Dera Baba Nanak enclave and Jassar enclave — were occupied by the Indian Army in the 1965 and 1971 wars.

Education for Justice:

The Education for Justice (E4J) initiative was launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes to teach next generation about crime prevention and address problems under law.

The initiative seeks to prevent crime and promote a culture of lawfulness through education activities designed for primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

The E4J initiative is under the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration.

Team Mask Force:

• It is a video Created by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).
• It promotes the use of masks to fight the infectious disease COVID-19.
• The video featuring India’s most revered cricketers urges fellow countrymen to join the team mask force and help the nation fight against the novel coronavirus.

Noor satellite:

It is a military satellite launched recently by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps — a branch of the country’s armed forces. 

The satellite flew into orbit on top of a multi-stage Qased rocket.

Khongjom Day:

Ir is celebrated in Manipur every year on April 23 to pay tribute to the war heroes of Anglo-Manipuri War 1891 who had sacrificed their lives fighting against the British to protect freedom of Manipur.

What are deep nudes?

Deep nudes are computer-generated images and videos.

Cybercriminals use Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to superimpose a digital composite (assembling multiple media files to make a final one) on to an existing video, photo or audio.

Concerns: Because of how realistic deepfake images, audio and videos can be, the technology is vulnerable for use by cybercriminals who could spread misinformation to intimidate or blackmail people.

Panchayati Raj Diwas:

National Panchayati Raj Day is the national day of India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24^th April annually.

Why on this day? The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 came into force with effect from 24th April, 1993. It has institutionalized Panchayati Raj through the village, Intermediate and District level Panchayats.

Anthurium:

Anthurium is one of the best domestic flowering plants in the world. It purifies the surrounding air and remove harmful airborne chemicals like formaldehyde, ammonia, toluene, xylene, and allergens.

NASA has placed it in the list of air purifier plants.

Why in News?

D Vasini Bai, a women innovator from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has developed 10 varieties of Anthurium.

National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF) has facilitated mass multiplication and large scale production of four highly demanded varieties through tissue culture technique at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore, for the diffusion of the varieties in similar agro-climatic zones of the country.

e-GramSwaraj Portal and Mobile App:

Launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

It will provide the Gram Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

The portal will ensure real time monitoring and accountability.

Devanahalli Pomelo:

In a bid to revive and conserve ‘Devanahalli Pomelo’, an endangered citrus fruit, the operators of Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru have started a plantation drive in the region as part of their flagship CSR Programme ‘Namma Ooru’.

Devanahalli Pomelo has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag as it is known for its sweet taste.

Also known by its scientific name Citrus Maxima, the tree’s fruit is rich in Vitamin C. While each pomelo tree grows 24 inches per season, it can live from 50-150 years and reach a height of 25 feet.

Ruhdaar:

• It is a low-cost mechanical ventilator to fight against COVID19.
• Developed by IIT Bombay team.
• The cost of production of one ventilator is Rs 10,000.

Saudi Arabia abolishes flogging:

Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment for crime. 

• Now, with flogging abolished, judges will have to choose between fines, jail sentences and non-custodial alternatives such as jail sentences.
• This reform was made in order to “bring the kingdom into line with international human rights norms against corporal punishment”.
• In 2018, Saudi had lifted the ban on women drivers. And, women not requiring permission from their male guardians to apply for a passport anymore.

Unified Geologic Map of the Moon:

It is the first ever digital, unified, global, geological map of the moon.

• It was released virtually by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and the Lunar Planetary Institute on April 22, 2020.
• The map is a ‘seamless, globally consistent, 1:5,000,000-scale geologic map’.
• It will serve as a blueprint for future human missions and a source of research and analysis for the educators and the general public interested in lunar geology.

Total Nobels for the Curie family:

The Curies have received a total of four of Nobel prizes, the highest won by a single family.

They also have the unique distinction of having three Nobel-prize winning members in the family.

• In 1903, Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics making her the world’s first woman to win the prize. Curie shared the 1903 Nobel with her fellow researcher Pierre Currie and Becquerel for their combined work on radioactivity. 
• In 1911, she created history again by becoming the first woman to have won two Nobel awards. The 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Marie after she managed to produce radium as a pure metal.
• The 1935 Nobel in Chemistry went to Irène Curie and her husband and co-researcher Frédéric Joliot for their joint work on the artificial creation of new radioactive elements. 

Rohtang Pass:

It is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km (32 mi) from Manali.

• It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, Manali-Leh Highway, a part of NH 21, transverses Rohtang Pass.
• River Ravi rises west of the Rohtang pass in the Kullu Hills.

Yemen separatists declare self-rule in south:

• Separatists in southern Yemen have declared self-rule, breaking a peace deal signed in November with the internationally recognised government.
• The coalition consists of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Saudi-backed government forces.
• Yemen has been devastated by a civil war between the Houthis and the government-backed coalition.

Pitch Black 2020:

• Australia’s multilateral air combat training exercise, Pitch Black 2020 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation.
• In the last edition of Pitch Black in 2018, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had for the first-time deployed fighter aircraft for the exercise.
• The multilateral air combat exercise provides a unique opportunity for exchange of knowledge and experience with forces across the globe in a dynamic warfare environment.

About CERT-In:

CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is a government-mandated information technology (IT) security organization. CERT-In was created by the Indian Department of Information Technology in 2004 and operates under the auspices of that department.

It’s purpose: The purpose of CERT-In is to respond to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices throughout the country. According to the provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, CERT-In is responsible for overseeing administration of the Act.

HCARD:

• It is a robot to assist frontline COVID-19 healthcare warriors.
• It helps in maintaining physical distance from those infected by coronavirus.
• Developed by Durgapur-based CSIR lab, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute.
• This robot can be controlled and monitored by a nursing booth with a control station having such features as navigation, drawer activation for providing medicines and food to patients, sample collection and audio-visual communication.
• HCARD stands for Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device (HCARD.

What are Estrogen and progesterone?

Estrogen and progesterone are the two main sex hormones that characterise a woman.

• Estrogen helps her develop female physical features and also maintains her reproductive system.
• Progesterone is secreted by a temporary endocrine gland that the body produces during the second half of the menstrual cycle, and helps prepare the body for possible pregnancy after ovulation.

The male body too has estrogen and produces progesterone, both in smaller amounts.