Current Affairs 20th July 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 20th July 2019
Delhi Traffic Police Launch New E-Payment System to Overcome Corruption
The new e-challan system and the e-payment gateway for the use of Delhi Traffic Police
The scheme was launched by the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik
About the Scheme
The E-challan devices are enabled with active GPS
The challaning officer and the violator can be logged and tracked to a particular geo-location.
This is an important tool for evidence
This tool is enabled to establish the credibility of the prosecution.
The payment gateway mainly the citizens with the flexibility to log in securely at their convenience and settle the pending violation notices with proof of payment.
The citizen interface with police improves and becomes more transparent.
The e-challaning system will integrate all these systems into one holistic professionally managed prosecution and traffic management system critical fillip to the efforts of achieving safe driving conditions in Delhi.
Chandipura virus:
What is it?
Named after the Maharashtra village where the virus was first discovered, the likely vector (carrier) of the virus is the female phlebotomine sandfly. It has been detected in sand flies in Senegal and Nigeria, apart from India. The virus is known to cause inflammation of the brain, and progresses rapidly from an influenza-like illness to coma and death.
Chandipura virus (CHPV) belongs to the Rhabdoviridae family in the order Mononegavirales of the genus Vesiculovirus. Interestingly, its continuing mutating trend has enhanced its lethality to cause human infections, unlike its genetic cousin, the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV).
Symptoms:
- Sudden high fever accompanied by headaches and altered consciousness.
- Convulsions.
- Vomiting and nausea.
- Unconsciousness
Key facts:
The virus predominantly infects children between the ages of 2-16, spreading through the bite of a sandfly, and in some cases, even the mosquito during the monsoon and pre-monsoon season.
It is distantly related to the virus that causes rabies and is known to have a case fatality between 55-75 percent.
India to be free of Tuberculosis by 2025
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a social cause or an issue of human sensitivity as a mission.
India fixed a deadline of 2025 for eradicating tuberculosis (TB) against the global deadline of 2030.
The main aim of the government is to eradicate the disease.
Union Health Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministries of Defence, Railways and Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) to eliminate TB from India by 2025.
He also spoke about diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis and stressed on the need to eradicate them.
A new scheme for nutritional support to expand public-private partnership models and aligning our strategies to follow the similar success we got in HIV /AIDS.
Information Technology (IT) tools are used to monitor the programme and treatment adherence.
About TB:
It is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs.
The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes.
INS Sagardhwani starts on mission Sagar Maitri
Marine Acoustic Research Ship (MARS), INS Sagardhwan started its two-month-long second mission Sagar Maitri from Southern Naval Command in Kochi, Kerala.
It flagged off by Southern Naval commander Vice Admiral A.K. Chawla and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman G. Satheesh Reddy.
The main visit of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia would be initiating collaborative research programmes.
Aim: To collect data from the entire North Indian ocean.
Their focus on the Andaman Sea and adjoining seas and establish long term collaboration with Indian Ocean Ring countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research and Development’.
The mission aligns with the policy declaration of ‘Safety And Growth for All in the Region’ (SAGAR).
The first Sagar Maitri mission held on April 2019.
About INS Sagardhwani
It is an indigenously built Marine Acoustic Research Ship (MARS)
It was commissioned in the year 1994.
It is owned by Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory
It is operated by the Indian Navy
The ship carried out intensive oceanographic observational programmes and research over the years.
They celebrated their silver jubilee on July 30, 2019.
Nag- Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM):
Context: Indian Army has successfully conducted summer user trials of NAG, 3rd Generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM).
Key facts:
- The NAG missile is a third-generation anti-tank guided missile, which has top attack capabilities that can effectively engage and destroy all known enemy tanks during day and night.
- It uses an imaging infrared seeker in lock-on-before-launch mode.
- It is launched from NAG missile carrier (NAMICA) which is capable of carrying up to 6 combat missiles.
- Range: Minimum-500 metres and Maximum- 4 kilometres.
- Developed by DRDO.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan in New Delhi
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched a special campaign named Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan in New Delhi. The campaign was held from 17-19th July 2019.
Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan:
The campaign aimed to sensitize and mobilise the community on measures for prevention and control of Vector-Borne Diseases (VBDs). Vector-borne diseases, like Malaria, Dengue and Chikungunya, are illnesses that are caused by pathogens and parasites in human populations. It also aimed to make the community a partner for checking vector/mosquito breeding across Delhi.
Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan was a people movement campaign as there was the active involvement of people’s representatives, officers from Government of India, Government of NCT Delhi, all three Delhi Municipal Corporations, New Delhi Municipal Council, Railways and Cantonment board and other stakeholders.
Campaign:
The Delhi government has constituted a total of 286 ward-wise teams with 20-25 members per team which includes officers of the Municipal Corporation along with officers from Central Government and Government of NCTD. The team was sent to all the 272 Municipal wards and 14 locations of NDMC.
The team checked the hospital premises for breeding of vector mosquito and eliminate breeding habitat. Larvicide was applied wherever needed. The teams also met the members of Resident Welfare Association and community and conducted awareness session and activities with them as it aimed to combat malaria, dengue and chikungunya.
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its updated report
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the leading wildlife conservation body, has recently released its updated its assessment on various species from the canopies of tropical forests to the ocean floor. It warned the global countries as mankind's destruction of nature has driven species to the verge of extinction at an unprecedented rate. It said that the species that are targeted by humans for food tend to become endangered much more quickly. Severe habitat loss is also a major cause for the destruction.
Highlights of the report:
More than 7,000 animals, fish and plants have been added to it endangered Red List.
It stated that 105,732 species have been moved from the least concern category to critically endangered and extinct category.
The study said that around 28,000 species are at the risk of extinction.
More than 90% of marine fish stocks are either overfished or fished to the limit of sustainability.
Highlighted species:
Wedgefishes and giant guitarfishes are the most imperiled marine families on Earth. They are collectively known as Rhino Rays due to their elongated snouts.
The False Shark Ray is at the verge of extinction as its population collapsed to 80% in the last 45 years.
Including Rollaway Monkey of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, Seven species of primate are closer to extinction on the new list. 40% of all the primates in West and Central Africa are now threatened with extinction.
Rajasthan government has launched Student Police Cadet (SPC) scheme
The Rajasthan government has launched Student Police Cadet (SPC) scheme, a Police training program, for class 8 and 9 students on July 18. The training aims to curb rising adolescent delinquency and strengthen teenagers mentally and physically. Also, it aims to make the students aware of basic laws and legal procedures.
All aspects of public and personal life have been developed for the SPC training.
It would be imparted at three levels which includes:
♦ indoor classes
♦ outdoor activities
♦ visits to relevant places and offices
Aim:
The training programme was jointly initiated by the state education and police departments. The program will be made available in the selected government schools in the current academic session.
Implementation of the Programme:
The SPC training programme has been launched successfully in 930 state government schools and 70 Kendriya Vidyalayas. The schools that were selected for the SPC training programme would be granted Rs.1 lakh for the two-year course.
Under the program, the students would be trained as Student Police Cadets (SPC). They would also render voluntary services in public functions such as the Republic Day and Independence Day in their respective areas. So far, the project has been implemented in 39 schools of the Rajasthan State.