GK & CA
Collection of weekly GK & CA since year 2016.
March, 2020
4705
First in the world to start antibody tests for Corona Virus
India is all set to begin antibody tests to confirm if a person was previously infected with the virus. This will help understand the epidemiology of Covid-19. The test is different from the current methodologies that use nasal or throat swabs to determine active infection.
Sat, 28 Mar, 20204704
Abel Prize, 2020 to Hillel Frustenberg and Gregory Margulis
The Norwegian Academy of Science is to award the Abel Prize for the year 2020 to the two great mathematicians Hillel Frustenberg and Gregory Margulis. They are being honoured for their work towards probability and dynamics in number theory, combinatorics and Group Theory.
Sat, 28 Mar, 20204703
Made in India COVID-19 Test Kit
4702
Satyarup Siddhanta:Mountaineer enters Limca Book of Records
4701
IITM hosts India’s first Hyperloop Pod Competition
The Hyperloop Pod Transportation Project was approved by the Maharashtra Government to build the first Hyperloop line between Pune and Mumbai. Similary, another project of Hyperloop pod transport has been undertaken between the cities of Vijayawada and Amaravati.
Sat, 28 Mar, 20204700
Important days of week (Mar 18 to Mar 28)
March 23: Shaheed Diwas
March 24: World Tuberculosis Day
March 23: World Meteorological Day
March 22: World Water Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
4698
Corona Virus
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans.
Sat, 21 Mar, 20204697
Swavalamban Express
The Train is to visit 11 entrepreneurial cities. This includes Delhi, Jammu, Mumbai. Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolakata, Bhubaneswar and Varanasi. During the period, various workshops and programmes are to be organized. The train has been launched to fulfil India’s goal of 5 trillion USD by 2024-25.
Sat, 21 Mar, 20204696
Tech for Tribal
The initiative is to benefit 3 lakh people. The TRIFED has launched the initiative along with Institutes of National Importance. It includes IIT-Kanpu, IIM Indore, Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneshwar. Under the initiative, the institutes are to develop course contents related to entrepreneurship in value addition.
Sat, 21 Mar, 20204695
Fossil links human hands to fins for the first time
The Paleontologists of Canada have linked human hands to the fins of fish. The researchers examined a fossil of “Elpistostege”. The Elpistostege represents the pivotal stage of transition of fish into land vertebrates. The transition was supported by the front fins of the fish called the pectoral fins.
Sat, 21 Mar, 20204694
Important days of the week ( 15-03-2020 to 22-03-2020)
March 21: International Day of Forests
March 20: International Day of Happiness
4692
March 10: CISF Raising Day
Though established in 1969, the CISF was made an armed force in 1983. The sanctioned strength of the force was raised to 180,000 from 145,000 in 2017.
Sat, 14 Mar, 20204691
WHO declares Corona Virus as GLOBAL PANDEMIC
The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines pandemic as epidemic spread over several countries affecting large number of people. On the other hand, Epidemic is the sudden increase of number of cases of the disease above what is normally expected among the population in in that area.
Sat, 14 Mar, 20204690
New Name for Mumbai Central Station: Nana Shankarseth
It is the state Government that usually initiates the process of name change of Railway Station. This is usually done to change the British name of the station to the local pronunciations. It is also done to honour a local leader. There are no rules or procedure by law or in constitution for the name change of the station.
Sat, 14 Mar, 20204689
Animal Protection Index: India ranks second
The Animal Protection Index ranks countries from A to G. India was ranked along with Spain, Mexico, France and New Zealand. In other words, these countries were ranked equally to India. According to the index, they were best performing countries.
Sat, 14 Mar, 20204688
GoI: cost effective Solar Receiver Tube Technology
The tubes developed absorbs solar energy and converts the heat to required application. They provide high resistance to corrosion especially to Indian weather conditions. The Technology is a wet chemical process that is used to coat stainless steel tubes that are used in industrial heat applications.
Sat, 14 Mar, 20204686
Red Panda Species are two separate species
Both the Himalayan red pandas and the Chinese red Pandas were together considered as red panda species. However, the DNA analysis says that they are are two separate species. Chinese Red Panda are found in northern Myanmar, Sichuan, south-eastern Tibet and China. The Himalayan red Pandas are found in India, Nepal, Bhutan and southern Tibet.
Sat, 07 Mar, 20204685
Eco-Sensitive Zone
4684
GoI nominates 2 sites: World Heritage Sites List
The Government of India submitted two nomination dossiers for their inclusion in World Heritage List for the year 2020. They are as follows
Dholavira: A Harappan City
Monuments and Forts of Deccan Sultanate
4683
Luxembourg: 1st Country to provide Free Public Transport
4682
CRISPR (CaS9)-The Gene Editing :blindness for the first time
The Gene Editing Tool called CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) has been used for the first time to treat blindness. It is a family of DNA sequences that are found in prokaryotic organisms like bacteria. They are derived from DNA of Bacteriophages. Bacteriopage is a virus that infects bacteria and archaea.
Sat, 07 Mar, 20204681
Black Carbon Levels in Himalayan Glaciers and Biomethanation
The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) conducted study near Gangotri Glacier in 2016. According to the study, the black carbon concentration in the region has increased by 400 times. The increase in carbon concentration in the region is mainly because of agricultural burning and forest fire.
Sat, 07 Mar, 20204680
India-European Union: Integrated Local Energy Systems
4679
What is Moratorium?
Moratorium is a temporary suspension of an activity or business. Though RBI has powers to impose restrictions on financial activities of banks in India, it has no powers to impose a moratorium. The Reserve Bank has taken actions as the Yes Bank is currently unable to raise funds that will help against loan losses.
Sat, 07 Mar, 20204678
Important day (1st March to 7th March)
March 7: Jan Aushadhi Diwas
March 4: National Security Day
March 3: World Wildlife Day (Global Coalition for Biodiversity launched)
March 1: Zero Discrimination Day observed all over the world