Current News National

Germany Recognizes It Committed Genocide In Present-Day Namibia

Germany has formally recognized its killing of tens of thousands of people belonging to two ethnic groups more than a century ago in present-day Namibia was a genocide.

• German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced the recognition on 28^th May 2021, saying "in light of Germany's historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness."
• He added that Germany will support Namibia and the victims' descendants with more than $1.3 billion for reconstruction and development.

A Brief History

• From about 1884 to 1915, Germany occupied several territories in Africa. Its colony in German South West Africa, in what is now Namibia, was established to provide more territory for its people, a campaign called Lebensraum. At the time, German urban areas were overcrowded due to a population boom.

• After settlers seized their land and cattle, ethnic Herero and Nama people launched a rebellion against their occupiers. German soldiers killed tens of thousands of them between 1904 and 1908. Survivors were forced into the desert and later placed in concentration camps where they were exploited for labor.
• Many died of disease and starvation, some after being used for medical experiments. It's estimated that 80% of the Indigenous populations of the Herero and Nama died during the genocide.
• Note: Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron also acknowledgement that France had a duty to confront history and to recognize its part in the suffering it inflicted on the people of Rwanda.

News Crux Awards In News

Amartya Sen To Be Honoured With Spain's Princess Of Asturias Award 2021

• Nobel laureate Amartya Kumar Sen, an Indian economist and philosopher who studied the causes of famines, will be recognised with this year’s Princess of Asturias award in the social sciences category.
• The award is one of eight prizes, including in the arts, communications and sports, handed out annually by the Asturias Princess Foundation, which is named for Spanish Crown Princess Leonor.
• Sen has devoted his career to studying poverty and theories of human development. His 1981 essay on Entitlement and Deprivation famously proved that the greatest famines in history took place when food was available but some groups couldn’t access it.
• Sen’s theories on a person’s capacity, interacting with the concept of “positive freedom,” or absence of interference, have been incorporated into different social science disciplines and inspired UN development plans.

Current News Science & Technology

NASA Partners ISRO To Develop ‘Earth System Observatory’

• The US Space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a new system called the Earth System Observatory that will guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes – including helping to better understand Category 4 to 5 hurricanes. This mission will measure some of the planet’s most complex processes such as ice-sheet collapse and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides.
• NASA has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which brings together two different kinds of radar systems that can measure changes in Earth’s surface less than a half-inch. This capability will be utilized in one of the observatory’s first missions intended as a pathfinder, called NISAR (NASA-ISRO synthetic aperture radar).

Current News Science & Technology

India’s 1st Reactor On PPP Model

• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will construct the country’s first research reactor on public-private partnership (PPP) model.
• The research reactor, which will be designed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), will produce radioisotopes, and is expected to bring down the costs of nuclear medicine that is used in cancer treatment in India.
• DAE will provide the upfront capital and build the plant through its subsidiary – Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.
• In India, all major radioisotopes are produced by BARC, which houses research reactors in its Trombay campus and an accelerator in Kolkata. Some radioisotopes are imported from Europe, Australia and other Asian countries.
• Radioisotopes are radioactive isotopes that have an unstable atomic nucleus. They emit energy and particles when they change to a more stable form.

Current News Science & Technology

WHO And Switzerland Launch Global BioHub

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the first WHO BioHub Facility in Spiez, Switzerland as part of the WHO BioHub System.
• This facility will enhance the rapid sharing of viruses and other pathogens between laboratories and partners globally.
• The facility will serve as a centre for the safe receipt, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, in order to inform risk assessments, and sustain global preparedness against these pathogens.

News Crux Awards In News

Prof CNR Rao To Receive Eni Award 2020

• Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has been selected for the International Eni Award 2020 towards his research into renewable energy sources and energy storage. It is also called the Energy Frontier award. This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
• The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems. Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.
• The Eni Award is given by the Italian oil and gas company Eni with the aim of encouraging better use of energy sources and increased environmental research.
• The Eni Awards 2020 will be presented on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome.

Current News International

French Prez Macron Recognises French Responsibility In Rwanda Genocide

• French President Emmanuel Macron, in a visit to Rwanda, recognised France’s responsibility in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. His comments came during a solemn speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where 2,50,000 victims of the mass killings are buried.
• Macron said that only Rwandans could forgive France for its role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and France did not listen to those who warned it about the impending massacre in Rwanda and stood de facto by a genocidal regime. However, he added that France was not an accomplice to the genocide.
• The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were slaughtered by armed militias.
• The role of France in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been a source of controversy and debate both within and beyond France and Rwanda. France actively supported the Hutu-led government against the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front.

News Crux Obituary

1971 War Hero Col. Panjab Singh Passed Away

• Col Panjab Singh (retd), a 1971 Indo-Pak war hero and recipient of the third highest gallantry wartime award Vir Chakra, passed away.
• He defended Poonch in the face of determined enemy attack over two nights.

News Crux Appointment & Resignation

Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa Became First Female PM Of Samoa

• Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa has become the first female Prime Minister of Samoa, a Polynesian island country.
• She was Samoa's first female Cabinet Minister, and also served as Samoa's first female Deputy Prime Minister.
• The sovereign state is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations as a Commonwealth republic.

Current News International

Mali’s President, PM Resign After Arrests By Military

• Mali's interim President and Prime Minister resigned after they were arrested by the military.
• Soldiers led by interim Vice President Assimi Goita, had arrested President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane after a cabinet reshuffle in which the two officers lost their post.
• Goita, who led the coup in August last year against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, has claimed that the president and prime minister violated the transitional charter by failing to consult him about the new cabinet.

Current News Ecology & Environment

National Mission On Use Of Biomass In Coal Based Thermal Power Plants

The Power Ministry has decided to set up a National Mission on the use of Biomass in coal based thermal power plants.

• The modalities of operation and structure of the Nation Mission are under finalization. It is being envisaged that the Mission will have a Steering Committee headed by the Power Secretary comprising all stakeholders including representatives from Petroleum and New and Renewable Energy Ministries.
• The National Mission on biomass will also contribute to the National Clean Air Programme.

Benefits

• Air Pollution: It is intended to address the issue of air pollution due to farm stubble-burning and to reduce the carbon footprints of thermal power generation.
• Energy Transition: It will also further support the energy transition in the country and its targets to move towards cleaner energy sources.
• Co-Firing: The Mission will increase the level of co-firing from the present five percent to higher levels to have a larger share of carbon-neutral power generation from the thermal power plants. Besides, it will consider regulatory issues in biomass co-firing.
• Supply Chain: It will also work to facilitate overcoming the constraints in the supply chain of biomass pellets and agro- residue and its transport upto to the power plants.

News Crux Reports/Committee/Commission

Nilesh Shah Committee On Investment Funds

• The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), in its endeavour to develop a comprehensive and consistent regulatory framework based on global best practices with a special focus on ease of doing business, has constituted an Expert Committee on Investment Funds to recommend to IFSCA on the road map for the funds industry in the IFSCs.
• The Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Mr. Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Current News Science & Technology

NASA To Launch VIPER In 2023

• NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will go to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice that could eventually be harvested to sustain human exploration on the Moon, Mars — and beyond.
• VIPER is planned for delivery to the lunar surface in late 2023 under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
• VIPER represents the first resource mapping mission on another celestial body.

News Crux Appointment & Resignation

Subodh Jaiswal Appointed As New CBI Director

• Former Mumbai Police chief and current head of CISF Subodh Kumar Jaiswal has been appointed as the new CBI Director.
• The CBI Director is appointed by the Central Government on the recommendation of a three-member committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him.
• In case there is no recognized leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, then the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha would be a member of that committee.

News Crux Obituary

Noted Scientist Srikumar Banerjee Passed Away

• Srikumar Banerjee, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission has passed away on 23 May 2021.
• He retired as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy in 2012.
• Banerjee also served as the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for six years till 2010.
• Alumni of IIT Kharagpur, Dr Banerjee had received the Padma Shri in 2005 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1989 for his exceptional service in the field of science.

State In News Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Govt. Launches Chief Minister Vatsalya Yojana

• Uttarakhand Govt. has announced ‘Chief Minister Vatsalya Yojana’ for orphaned children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19.
• Under the scheme, the State Government will make arrangements for their maintenance, education and training for employment up to the age of 21 years.
• They will be given a maintenance allowance of 3000 rupees per month.
• The state government will make laws for the paternal property of these orphans in which no one will have the right to sell their paternal property until they are adults. This responsibility will be with the District Magistrate of the concerned district.
• The children whose parents have died due to Covid-19 will be given 5 percent horizontal reservation in government jobs of the state government.

Current News International

Lithuania Quits 17 Plus 1

• Pushing back against China, Lithuania, a tiny European nation has announced that it is quitting the China-led “17+1” grouping which also comprises several central and southern European nations, calling it “divisive”.
• The Baltic country urged fellow EU members to pursue “a much more effective 27+1 approach and communication with China.”
• In recent months, Lithuania also took several steps that angered Beijing, including the blocking of Chinese investment and announcing it would open a trade office in Taiwan.

Current News Science & Technology

Bengaluru Witnesses Sun Halo

• The people in Bengaluru witnessed a bright rainbow ring around the sun for a few minutes on 24^th May 2021 morning, a rare optical and atmospheric phenomenon called ‘22 degree circular halo’.
• The phenomenon popularly known as the 22 degree circular halo of the sun or occasionally the Moon (also called a moon ring or winter halo), occurs when the sun’s or moon’s rays get deflected/refracted through the hexagonal ice crystals present in cirrus clouds.

Current News Science & Technology

Zebrafish Can Help Humans In Safe Space Travel

• A new study led by researchers from Queen's University Belfast has shown that understanding an important biological process in zebrafish can help humans travel safely in space.
• Zebrafish's process of hibernation may provide potential insights into helping humans be protected from the elements of space, especially radiations, during space flight.
• When zebrafish are exposed to radiation, they are protected from it due to a hibernating process known as induced torpor.
• If humans could replicate a similar model of hibernation observed in the zebrafish, it could increase chances of making humans a spacefaring species.
• Hibernation is a commonly observed physiological process in nature. It is a state where an organism enters metabolic depression (reduced metabolism) and engages in very minimal or no physical activity. The mechanism enables several organisms to survive adverse conditions such as low environmental temperatures and scarcity of food.
• Torpor, a form of hibernation, is a brief spell of suspended animation. It usually lasts less than a day. When in torpor, an animal's metabolism, heartbeat, breathing, and body temperature are greatly reduced.
• Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a freshwater fish that is native to South Asia. They are classified as a species of least concern on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.

Current News Indian Economy

S.H.E. Project For Empowering Indian Women

• Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, announced the launch of the ‘School of Hope and Empowerment’ (S.H.E.) at the 2021 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development.
• S.H.E., a multi-media, multi-stakeholder impact communications initiative to support and educate women from small towns in India to overcome key barriers to entrepreneurship.
• By leveraging the power of digital connectivity and partnerships, Tata Communications will create enabling environments of, for and by women from marginalised communities to establish themselves as entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities.
• S.H.E. includes a series of short films highlighting challenges faced by women in becoming entrepreneurs, such as gender stereotypes, family commitments, financial and societal constraints, and lack of self-belief.
• The aim of this CSR project is to inspire at least a million women to realise their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs.
• In the first phase, S.H.E. is focused on aspiring women entrepreneurs aged 18-35 years from low-income backgrounds in the peri-urban areas of Dhanbad, Bokaro, East Singhbhum, Hazaribagh and Ranchi in Jharkhand. With just 25% of women in the labour force and limited employment opportunities in the region, this project will address the challenges of financial independence of these women.
• The next two phases of the project are aimed at including the entrepreneurial women in Odisha and Bihar.

News Crux Awards In News

Templeton Prize 2021

• Naturalist Jane Goodall has been conferred the Templeton Prize 2021 in recognition of her life's work on animal intelligence and humanity.
• Dame Jane Morris Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, where she witnessed human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees, including armed conflict.
• The award is given by John Templeton Foundation, USA for outstanding contributions in affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.

Current News National National Security

INS Rajput Decommissioned

• The Indian Navy’s first destroyer INS Rajput was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam after serving the nation for 41 glorious years.
• INS Rajput was also the first ship to be fitted out to fire the supersonic cruise and long-range BrahMos missile.
• She was also the first Indian Naval ship to get affiliated with an Indian Army Regiment ‘the Rajput Regiment’.
• Apart from participating in various naval operations like Op Pawan, Operation Aman, Operation Cactus, and various multinational exercises, the ship was a flag bearer of the Indian Navy's benign role by participating in various relief operations.

News Crux Obituary

Sunderlal Bahuguna

The driving force behind the legendary Chipko Movement against deforestation that marked a key milestone in Indian environmentalism, Sunderlal Bahuguna has passed away due Covid-19 on 21 May 2021.

• He was a member of the Chipko Movement in the 1970s, and later spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement starting 1980s, to early 2004.
• Bahuguna was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2009. In 1981, he had refused to accept the Padma Shri over the government’s refusal to cancel the Tehri dam project despite his protests.

PIB News National

DRDO Develops 'DIPCOVAN': COVID-19 Antibody Detection Kit

Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed an antibody detection-based kit 'DIPCOVAN', the DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance.

• The DIPCOVAN kit can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent.
• The kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi.
• The antibody detection kit is approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in April 2021.
• In May 2021, the product received the regulatory approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to manufacture for sale and distribution.
• DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.
• Industry partner Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd will commercially launch the product during the first week of June 2021. Readily available stock at the time of launch will be 100 kits (approx. 10,000 tests) with a production capacity of 500 kits/month after the launch. It is expected to be available at about Rs 75 per test.
• The kit will be very useful for understanding COVID‐19 epidemiology and assessing an individual's previous SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure.

News Crux Obituary

Ki Rajanarayanan: Noted Tamil Writer Passes Away

• Tamil writer, novelist, and Sahitya Akademi awardee Rayangala Shri Krishna Raja Narayana Perumal Ramanujam Naicker fondly known as Ki Rajanarayanan or KiRa has passed away.
• A pioneer in writing stories in dialects, Ki. Ra. also authored a dictionary of dialect — Karisal Kaatu Sollagarathi — which paved the way for similar dictionaries from other regions of the State.
• Ki. Rajanarayanan was honored with Sahitya Academy award in 1991 for his novel ‘Gopalla Purathu Makkal’.

State In News West Bengal

West Bengal To Establish A Legislative Council

• The West Bengal cabinet has approved the formation of the Legislative Council - the Upper house of the state legislature. The state had a bicameral legislature but it was abolished in 1969.
• At present, only six states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh have Legislative Council.
• The State Legislative Council is established under Article 169 of the Indian Constitution.
• The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one-third of the members of the State Legislative Assembly.
• Parliament of India can create or abolish the State Legislative Council of a state if that state’s legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority.

Current News Indian Economy

India Climbs To 3rd Spot On EY Index

• India has moved a notch higher at the third spot on EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) due to an exceptional performance on the solar photovoltaic (PV) front.
• The observations are as per the 57th EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) released by EY globally.
• The US retains top position on RECAI 57 followed by China.

Current News Ecology & Environment

‘Net Zero By 2050’: IEA Report

On 18^th may 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released the report ‘Net Zero by 2050’.

Highlights of the Report

• Halting new oil, gas, and coalfields will be key to achieving Net Zero Global Carbon emissions by 2050.
• Achieving Net Zero emissions is vital to limit the increase in average global temperatures to less than 1.5 degree Celsius.
• The current pledges of the Nations across the world are insufficient to curb global temperature rise, they will result in an increase of 2.1 degrees Celsius by 2050.
• Energy investment needs to increase to USD 5 trillion a year by 2030 from USD 2 Trillion at present to achieve net zero emissions.
• Installation of Solar photovoltaic additions should reach 630 GigaWatts (GW) a year by 2030, Wind power needs to increase to 390 GW. It is four times the target set in 2020 for new capacity additions.
• The share of Electric Vehicles in the global fleet must increase from 5% (at present) to 60% by 2030.

News Crux Awards In News

Millennium Technology Prize 2020

• Shankar Balasubramanian, a British-Indian chemist from the University of Cambridge, along with his colleague David Klenerman have won the Millennium Technology Prize for their innovation of Next Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS), technology that enables fast, accurate, low-cost and large-scale genome sequencing – the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism’s make-up.
• This means huge benefits to society, from helping the fight against killer diseases such as COVID-19 or cancer, to better understanding crop diseases and enhancing food production.
• The Millennium Technology Prize is Finland’s tribute to innovations that promote the well-being of mankind and society. Technology Academy Finland (TAF) is the home of the Prize and the President of the Republic of Finland is the patron of it.

Current News

Six Indian Places Added To Tentative List Of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• Six Indian sites have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
• The six sites are - Satpura Tiger Reserve, Iconic riverfront of the historic city of Varanasi, Megalithic site of Hire Benkal, Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra, Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley- Jabalpur, and temples of Kanchipuram.
• With the addition of these six sites, UNESCO has 48 proposals in the tentative list of India. “As per Operational Guidelines, 2019, it is mandatory to put any monument/site on the Tentative List (TL) before it is considered for the final nomination dossier.
• India has 38 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (Cultural-30, Natural-7, Mixed-1)

Current News Indian Economy Infrastructure

‘Infrastructure’ Status For Convention Centres

• The Finance Ministry has granted ‘Infrastructure’ status for exhibition and convention centres that is expected to ease bank financing for such projects.
• The benefits available as ‘infrastructure’ projects would only be available for projects with a minimum built-up floor area of 1,00,000 square metres of exclusive exhibition space or convention space or both combined. This includes primary facilities such as exhibition centres, convention halls, auditoriums, plenary halls, business centres, meeting halls etc.
• As of now, the major projects under way in the sector are backed by the government – the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centres at Dwarka as well as Pragati Maidan in the capital.
• The infrastructure tag no longer involves significant tax breaks but would help such projects get easier financing from banks.
• Last August, the government had added affordable rental housing projects to the list of sectors recognised as infrastructure.

Current News National

DRDO’s Oral Drug 2-DG Released For Emergency Use

The first batch of the adjunct COVID therapy drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) — developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad — was released for emergency use on 17th May 2021.

• On May 1, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted permission for emergency use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.
• The anti-Covid-19 drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The drug is available in powder form in a sachet, and can be taken orally after dissolving in water.
• The drug accumulates in virus-infected cells, and prevents the growth of virus by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
• 2-DG being a generic molecule and an analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in large quantities.
• The molecule helps in faster recovery of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, and reduces their dependence on supplemental oxygen.

Current News National

National Digital Financial Infrastructure (NADI)

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is building next generation Digital Financial Infrastructure.

• This high speed network to be owned by the Government of India with which the government can monitor and control all financial activity and security becomes easy.
• The National Digital Financial Infrastructure (NADI) would provide a roadmap and framework for future digital financial services growth in the country.
• The NADI will consist of modern network infrastructure which includes 5G/Edge Cloud with SDNs (software defined networking) for connecting to the critical data centre infrastructure at the back-end.
• This will have the ability to separate financial network traffic from other traffic with clear entry points for protecting the network from outside elements and ability to quickly isolate the network in the event of counter-attacks.
• It will also have the middle ware infrastructure for supporting both digital identity verification, digital identity assessment and digital asset management with the support of efficient digital ledger technologies and AI/ML technologies.
• It will also provide for development and deployment of financial applications by banks and other financial institutions.

Current News Ecology & Environment

Nagaland Conservationist Gets Green Oscar

• Y Nuklu Phom, an environmentalist from Nagaland’s remote Longleng district has won Whitley Awards 2021, also known as the Green Oscar.
• Nuklu Phom’s name, along with that of five others, was announced in a virtual award ceremony organised by the UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN).
• The award recognises Phom’s efforts at establishing a new biodiversity peace corridor changing the fate of Amur Falcons, which come to roost in Nagaland each year, from being hunted by locals.
• Nuklu and his team offer alternatives that engages communities in conservation using the Amur falcon as a flagship.

Current News Science & Technology

DRDO Develops Oxycare System

The Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO has developed an Oxycare system to regulate oxygen being administered to the patients based on the sensed values of oxygen saturation in the body.

• The intelligent configuration of this Oxycare system provides automatic regulation of oxygen through a Low Pressure Regulator and Electronic Control System.
• The Oxycare system optimises consumption of oxygen based on oxygen saturation in the body.
• It reduces the workload of hospital staff eliminating the need of routine measurement and manual adjustment of oxygen flow.
• It is integrated with Non-Rebreather Masks saving oxygen by 30 to 40 per cent.
• The Oxycare system with audio warning for various failure scenarios can be used at homes, Quarantine Centres, COVID Care Centres and hospitals.
• DRDO has transferred the technology to multiple industries in the country for production.
• PM-CARES Fund has accorded sanction for the procurement of 1,50,000 units of Oxycare System at a cost of over 322 crore rupees.

Current News Science & Technology

China: Second Country After US To Land A Rover On Mars

China has successfully landed its rover Zhu Rong on Mars.

• It landed in the Utopia Plain in southern part of Mars on 15^th May 2021 after seven months of space travel and three months in orbit.
• Now china is the second country after the USA to land a rover on Mars.
• Besides Zhu Rong, there are two other operational rovers on Mars – Curiosity and Perseverance – both of them operated by Nasa, which has landed so far 10 missions on the red planet.
• Zhu Rong is part of China’s first spacecraft for Mars, Tianwen-1, which was launched in July 2020 with three parts – orbiter, lander and rover.
• It is one of three international Mars missions that was launched in the middle of 2020, along with NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February and the United Arab Emirates' Hope Probe, which entered Mars orbit, also in February just to study the planet from orbit.

News Crux Awards In News

World Food Prize 2021

Leading nutrition expert Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted was announced as the 2021 World Food Prize Laureate for her achievements in pioneering fish-based food systems to improve nutrition, health and livelihoods for millions around the world.

• Dr. Thilsted was the first to establish that many small fish species commonly eaten across Southeast Asia are an important source of essential micronutrients and fatty acids and improve the absorption of nutrients in plant-based foods, reshaping scientific understanding of the benefits of fish in diets.
• This breakthrough has helped prioritize increases in fish consumption and production, transforming the diets and incomes of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
• Dr. Thilsted is the seventh woman to be awarded the World Food Prize and the first woman of Asian heritage.
• Now a Danish citizen, Dr. Thilsted descends from a family of Indian migrants to Trinidad and Tobago, and she began her career as the first and only woman stationed in Tobago’s Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries.
• World Food Prize is presented by the World Food Prize Foundation located in Des Moines, USA.
• Indian-American soil scientist - Dr. Rattan Lal was the winner of the World Food Prize 2020.