PM CALLS FOR SAARC STRATEGY, MASKS AND SANITIZERS NOW ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES, CORONAVIRUS STRAIN ISOLATED
Focus: GS-II International Relations, GS-III Science and Technology, Disaster Management, Prelims Why in news? Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14th March 2020 called for a videoconference summit of leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to discuss a common strategy to tackle COVID-19. Masks and hand sanitisers have been declared as essential […]
COVID-19 DECLARED PANDEMIC BY WHO, STATES TO BE ASKED TO INVOKE EPIDEMIC DISEASE ACT
Focus: GS-III Disaster Management, Science and Technology, Prelims Why in news? The World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11 said that according to its assessment, COVID-19 “can be characterised as a PANDEMIC.” WHO has been assessing this outbreak round-the-clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by […]
HOW DEMAND FOR ORGANIC FOOD IS DRIVING BIOTECH INNOVATION
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology Why in news? The outbreak of novel coronavirus has refocused attention on animal farming practices and the additives that go into animal feed. Even otherwise, there’s been a growing consumer pushback against dairy, poultry and fish pumped up with antibiotics, hormones and chemicals. Demand for products from traceable, organic and […]
SUPREME COURT FREES TRADE IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology, Prelims Why in news? The Supreme Court on March 4 set aside an April 6, 2018, circular of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibiting banks and entities regulated by it from providing services in relation to virtual currencies (VCs). The position as on date is that VCs are not […]
E-WASTE RECYCLING HAS DOUBLED – CENTRE
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology, Prelims Why in news? The Central Government said that the electronic waste (e-waste) in 2018-19 was over double of the e-waste recycled in 2017-18. Details The approximate estimated generation of e-waste in FY 2017-2018 for electrical and electronic equipment was 7,08,445 tonnes of which 69,414 tonnes were recycled, whereas in […]
COVID-19 CASES
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology, Prelims Why in news? COVID-19 Cases rise to 29 in India, of which 2 cases with high viral load were detected in Telangana. The infection broke out in China’s Wuhan city in December 2019 and has spread to over 60 countries, killing more than 3,000 and infecting over 90,000. COVID-19 […]
HE SARS-COV-2 IS MUTATING, SAY SCIENTISTS
Focus: Science and Technology Why in news? Senior scientists at Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), have said the virus dubbed SARS-CoV-2 is mutating, after analysing the 115 published genome sequences from the current COVID-19 outbreak. Some of these ‘errors’ in the virus known as ‘mutations’ may be significant […]
PM MODI CALLS FOR COVID-19 EMERGENCY FUND FOR SAARC
Focus: GS-II International Relations, GS-III Science and Technology, Disaster Management, Prelims Why in news? The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should create a fund to fight the threat of COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 15th March 2020 – Addressing the first ever video conference among the heads of governments of the […]
HACKERS MAY HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR SMART DEVICE
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology Why in news? iPhone, iPad, Amazon Echo or Kindle or certain handsets from Google, Samsung or Xiaomi, is exposed to have a vulnerable WiFi chips that allowed hackers to access data from the handset. Once a hacker gets access to any device for even a short period of time, they […]
EU RAISES ALERT AS VIRUS TOLL CROSSES 3,000
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology Why in news? The death toll from COVID19 outbreak surpassed 3,000 on 2nd March 2020 as more people died in China, Iran and the U.S. and Europe raised its state of alert. The new coronavirus, also called SARSCoV2, has now infected more than 89,000, spread to over 60 countries and […]