GRAND CHALLENGE FOR STRENGTHENING COVID VACCINE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK & MORE ( CURRENT AFFAIRS 25 DEC 2020 )

 GRAND CHALLENGE FOR STRENGTHENING COVID VACCINE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the launching of “CoWIN”, a Grand Challenge for strengthening the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system.

About:

• COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system is a digitalised platform to be used to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for COVID Vaccine Distribution System, nationally.
  
  
• It will be launched on the MSH (MeitY Startup Hub) portal, a collaborative platform developed under the aegis of MeitY towards building meaningful synergies in the Indian tech start-up space.
  
  
• The challenge invites participation from talented and innovative start-ups and emerging technology specialists to augment and scale the CoWIN platform.
  
  
• MoHFW has identified seven (07) focus areas of technology development to holistically address the likely limitations associated with complete and effective vaccine distribution system (VDS) and its seamless administration across India.
  
  
• The Challenge kickstarts with registration process at https://meitystartuphub.in on 23rd December 2020 and is open for participants to apply till 15th January 2021.
  

TSO KAR WETLAND COMPLEX

India has added Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as its 42nd Ramsar site, which is a second one in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

About:

• The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India.
  
  
• It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water.
  
  
• The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway.
  
  
• The site is also one of the most important breeding areas of the Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) in India.
  
  
• This IBA is also the major breeding area for Great Crested Grebe (Podicepscristatus), Bar-headed Geese (Anserindicus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadornaferruginea), Brown-headed Gull (Larusbrunnicephalus), Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadriusmongolus) and many other species.
  

FASTag

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highway announced that FASTag is being made mandatory for all vehicles in the country from new year. FASTag will be enforced from 1st of January, 2021.

About:

• The FASTags were launched in the year 2016.
  
  
• Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a notification in November this year making FASTag mandatory by 1st of January 2021 in old vehicles also sold before 1st December, 2017 through amendments in CMVR, 1989.
  
  
• As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since 1st December 2017, the FASTag had been made mandatory for all registration of new four wheeled Vehicles and is being supplied by the Vehicle Manufacturer or their dealers.
  
  
• It had further been mandated that the renewal of fitness certificate will be done only after the fitment of FASTag for the Transport Vehicles.
  
  
• For National Permit Vehicles, the fitment of FASTag was mandated since 1st October 2019.
  
  
• It has also been mandated that a valid FASTag is mandatory while getting a new 3rd Party Insurance through an amendment in FORM 51 (certificate of Insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID shall be captured. This shall be applicable w.e.f. 1 April 2021.
  
  
• This would be a major step for ensuring that the payment of fees be 100% at Toll Plazas through the Electronic Means only and that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the Fee Plazas. There would be no waiting time at the Plazas and would save fuel.
  

SWACHHATA ABHIYAN

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched 'Swachhata Abhiyan', a mobile application to identify and geotag insanitary latrines and manual scavengers.

About:

• He urged all citizens to download the app, ''Swachhata Abhiyan'', and through it provide the authorities concerned details of any insanitary latrine or manual scavenger they notice.
  
  
• This would help in rehabilitating all manual scavengers and replace insanitary latrines with sanitary ones.
  

ZOMI

Manipur's Zomi ethnic group has renewed its demand for the creation of Zoland Territorial Council (ZTC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, a self-administered zone on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.

About:

• The Zou people or Zomi are an indigenous community living along the frontier of India and Burma. They are a sub-group of the Zo people (Mizo-Kuki-Chin).
  
  
• In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Paite and the Simte peoples.
  
  
• In India, the Zou are officially recognized as one of the thirty-three indigenous peoples within the state of Manipur, and are one of the Scheduled tribes.
  
  
• According to the 2001 Census, the Zou/Jou population in Manipur is around 20,000, less than 3% of the population. The community is concentrated in Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur.

BHARATSKILLS

The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students. Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

About:

• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) has launched an online learning platform called the Bharatskills (https://bharatskills.gov.in) in Oct 2019.
  
  
• It is a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
  
  
• This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.
  

AMMONIA

Two persons died and several took ill in a major ammonia gas leakage at the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) unit at Prayagraj.

About:

• A tri-hydroid of nitrogen (NH3), ammonia is a building block for ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) that is used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertiliser.
  
  
• Ammonia is stored for industrial use in liquid form under high pressure or in gaseous form at low temperature.
  
  
• Ammonia, which is highly soluble in water, is found in soil, air, and water; it is naturally present in the body and secreted by the kidneys to neutralise excess acid. However, it is highly diluted when in the environment and does not affect the human body to a noticeable level.
  
  
• Uses of ammonia: Ammonia is critical in the manufacturing of fertilizers, and is one of the largest-volume synthetic chemicals produced in the world. More than 80 per cent of ammonia made is consumed in the manufacturing of fertilizer, and most of the remainder goes into the production of formaldehyde.
  

CORONAVIRUS IN ANTARCTICA

At least 36 people at a Chilean research station in Antarctica have been found infected with the novel coronavirus. This is the first instance of the virus on the southernmost continent.

About:

• The infected people were stationed at the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme, located on the northernmost tip of Antarctica, facing the southern Chilean coast.
  
  
• Antarctica is uninhabited except for those manning the nearly 60 permanent stations established by several countries, including India, for carrying out scientific research.
  
  
• As of now, the Indian contingent in Antarctica is not worried about the virus spreading. The two Indian permanent stations in Antarctica, Maitri and Bharati, are at least 5,000 km away from the Chilean base. The two Indian stations are themselves separated by almost 3,000 km.
  
  
• The Goa-based National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) is the nodal agency for India’s scientific expeditions in Antarctica and the Arctic.

MUNICIPAL BOND

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is expected to launch municipal bonds in January 2021.

About:

• With this, it will become the third Urban Local Body (ULB) in Gujarat to use this method to raise money to fund development work sanctioned under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). It has sought approval for the same from the state government.
  
  
• Ahmedabad was the first city in south Asia to launch a municipal bond of Rs 100 crore in 1998. Surat Municipal Corporation was the second city in Gujarat to announce bonds in 2018.

SUGATHAKUMARI

Eminent Malayalam poet, conservationist and women’s activist, Sugathakumari passed away at the age of 86.

About:

• Sugathakumari (1934 – 2020) was an Indian poet and activist, who was at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala.
  
  
• She began her literary life writing for a weekly in 1957 under the pen name Sreekumar. Fondly called ‘Sugatha teacher’, she was known for her poems filled with empathy, sensitivity and philosophical quest.
  
  
• In the late 1970s she led a successful nationwide movement, known as Save Silent Valley, to save some of the oldest natural forests in the country, the Silent Valley in Kerala, from submersion as a result of a planned hydroelectric project.
  
  
• Her poem “Marathinu Stuthi” (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest and reverberated in all the Save the Silent Valley campaigns.
  
  
• She was the founder secretary of the Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, an organisation for the protection of nature.
  
  
• She also founded Abhaya, a home for destitute women and a day-care centre for the mentally ill.
  
  
• Sugathakumari was also the first chairperson of the Kerala State Women Commission. Her tenure was marked by the launch of Kudumbashree Missions, one the successful projects for women empowerment in Kerala.