News Crux

Civil Services Chronicle Online, April, 2020 :

Wasp 76b

  • It is an exoplanet (planet which orbits a star outside the solar system) named Wasp-76b where they suspect it rains iron instead of water.

Hydroxychloroquine Now A Schedule H1 Drug

  • The government has notified hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, under Schedule-H1 to regulate and restrict the sale and distribution of the drug.
  • The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, provides for classification of drugs into different schedules.

Torreites Sanchezi

  • The study of fossil shells of Torreites sanchez, an extinct mollusk species of rudist clam that lived during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, Earth spun 372 times a year 70 million years ago compared to the current 365.This means the day was 23½ hours long compared to 24 hours.
  • The mollusk used to grow fast laying down daily growth rings. The rings allowed the scientists to determine the number of days in a year and more accurately calculate the length of a day 70 million years ago.

International Day Of Forests

  • International Day of Forests is celebrated every year on 21 March to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
  • The theme for International Day of Forests 2020 is “Forests and Biodiversity”.

New Environment Impact Norm

  • Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released draft EIA notification.
  • It proposes an update to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006.
  • The current EIA specifies a “minimum of 30 days” for people to respond. The draft EIA notification gives a “minimum of 20 days” of notice period.
  • It also requires that the public-hearing process be wrapped up in 40 days, as opposed to the existing norm of 45 days.

IOC: 1st Company To Supply BS-VI Fuel Across India

  • Indian Oil Corporation Limited has become 1st company to begin supply of BS-VI fuel across its 28,000 petrol pumps.
  • The Government of India has set 01st April 2020 as the deadline to start the supply of BS-VI emission compliant fuels.
  • BS (Bharat Satge)-VI grade fuel is the world’s cleanest fuel containing just 10 parts per million of sulphur.

Abel Prize 2020

  • Hillel Furstenberg from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Gregory Margulis from Yale University, the USA won the Abel Prize 2020 for their “pioneering use of methods from probability & dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics”.
  • The Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2002. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters gives the award.

Nari Shakti Puraskars 2020

  • Sixteen Nari Shakti Puraskars were presented this year by President Ram Nath Kovind on International Women’s Day.
  • The Nari Shakti Puraskar is the country’s highest civilian honour for women, and recognizes services towards the cause of women empowerment.  

The Achievers and their Field of Work

  • Man Kaur: A centenarian sprinter. Dubbed as the “Miracle Mom from Chandigarh”, 104-year-old Man Kaur started running when she was 91 years old. 
  • Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth, and Avani Chaturvedi: IAF’s first women fighter pilots
  • Padala Bhudevi and Bina Devi: Popular as the ‘Mushroom Mahila’ for popularising mushroom cultivation.
  • Arifa Jaan: An artisan from Kashmir she took up the task of the revival of the lost art of Numdha handicrafts. Numdha is a traditional felted Kashmir carpet, made by rolling and pressing wool by the application of moisture.
  • Chami Murmu: Hailed as the Lady Tarzan of Jharkhand, Chami Devi Murmu has been mobilizing women to plant Eucalyptus, Sal and Acacia trees, among others, to replenish the forests in Jharkhand that had been destroyed by the timber mafia.
  • Nilza Wangmo: She runs a restaurant in Alchi, near Leh town and is taking the Ladakh cuisine to the world.
  • Rashmi Urdhwareshe: An automotive research professional
  • Kalavati Devi: A lady mason, who acted as a driving force in reducing open defecation in the district of Kanpur. She went door to door to tell people about the ills of open defecation and has built over 4,000 toilets across the city and around it.
  • Tashi and Nungshi Malik: Tashi and Nungshi Malik from Uttrakhand were the first female twins to scale Mt Everest in 2013. They have climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa in 2015 and Mt Vinson, Antarctica in 2014, Puncak Jaya in Australia in 2014 and Mt Elbrus in Europe in 2013.
  • Kaushiki Chakroborty: A Khayal and Thumri exponent and is one of the few people to keep Indian classical music alive.
  • Karthyayini Amma and Bhageerathi Amma: Karthyayini Amma scored 98 marks out of 100 in the 4th standard equivalency course under the Kerala Literacy Mission’s Aksharalaksham scheme. Bhageerathi Amma has created history by becoming the oldest woman to sit for the same exam.

Zoya Akhtar

  • Indian filmmaker Zoya Akhtar has been honoured with IIFTC Tourism Impact Award 2020 for her outstanding contribution to world tourism through her cinema.
  • The 8th India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Rescheduled

  • The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have been postponed by one year and will be held from 23 July to 8 August, 2021. The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were earlier scheduled to be held from 24 July to 9 August 2020.
  • The decision has been taken by the IOC amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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