TNPSC Current Affairs June 26, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs June 26, 2020 (26/06/2020)

 

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Topic: Historical Diary of Events

Pune NGO aims to revive spirit of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’

In a bid to revive the Independence-era spirit of the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, named after nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, and to mark the death centenary of Tilak, Pune-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) ‘Sarhad’ will launch a series of literary and cultural programmes to strengthen connections between Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Rationale behind the event:

Punjab, Bengal and Maharashtra have played significant roles during the struggle for Indian Independence. The historical association and cultural bonds among the three States was solidified in the modern era by the trinity of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’.

After Independence, while the socio-cultural bonds between Maharashtra and Punjab have grown stronger, Maharashtra’s ties with Bengal have somewhat weakened, despite a rich pedigree of literary and cultural affinity in the past.

Key facts:

It will be a two-year-long event and is named ‘Maharashtra-Bengal friendship chapter’. It is envisioned as a people’s cultural revivalist movement in these two States.

It will commence on Tilak’s death centenary (August 1, 1920-August 1, 2020) and will go on till August 15, 2022 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the great philosopher, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

Kala Azar

The only drug available against leishmaniasis, miltefosine, is rapidly losing its effectiveness because of emerging resistance to this drug due to a decrease in its accumulation inside the parasite, which is necessary for the drug to kill the parasite.

So, a team of researchers had been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance. This team has now shown allosteric modulation of transporter proteins of Leishmania using computationally-designed synthetic peptides.

These promising research outcomes indicate that this approach could prove useful in the long run to develop novel therapeutics against drug-resistant Leishmania parasites.

Kala-azar:

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, black fever, and Dumdum fever, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2020

This day was observed on 26 June with the theme of “Better Knowledge for Better Care”.

Why June 26th?

The date June 26 is to commemorate Lin Zexu’s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, ending in June 25, 1839, just before the First Opium War in China. On this occasion, UNODC World Drug Report 2020 was also released.

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Topic: Welfare Oriented Govt Schemes and their Utilities

Decarbonizing Transport Project

NITI Aayog and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD jointly launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies’ (DTEE) project in India on 24 June.

About the project:

The ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the development of modelling tools and policy scenarios.

The project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India.

The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative.

Current participants: India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco.

How this will help India?

The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector.

Out of the total carbon dioxide emissions in India, 13% come from the transport sector. These emissions have more than tripled since 1990.

In India, CO2 emitted per inhabitant was just about a twentieth of that of an average OECD country, yet, India’s transport CO2 emissions are likely to increase by almost 6% annually to 2030.

This project will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

Styrene Gas leak case

Andhra Pradesh State government has extended the time for submission of report by the high-power committee that is probing the styrene monomer vapour leak incident at the LG Polymers unit till June 30.

Background:

The committee was constituted to investigate into the May 7 incident that had killed 12 persons and hospitalised many others residing in the vicinity of the factory located at R.R. Venkatapuram village.

The government had earlier asked the committee to submit the report by June 22.

The committee, besides probing the cause of the incident, would also find possible solutions to address the concerns raised by the victims and recommend steps to be taken, and identify hazardous industries.

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Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration

Nation’s top wheat contributor

Madhya Pradesh (MP) this year surpassed Punjab to become the number one contributor of wheat.

Punjab, however, is still a way ahead from MP as far as per hectare productivity of wheat is concerned, which is around 52 per cent more (per hectare) than MP. This year wheat was sown on 2 LH across the country against 296.98 LH last year.

Of the total wheat area in the country, MP’s share was 31 per cent, while Punjab cultivated wheat on 10.6 per cent of the total national area.

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Topic: International Events

Russia’s Energia plans to take First Tourist on Space Walk in 2023

Russian Company- S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (also known as RSC Energia) has announced that it will take the first tourist for a spacewalk in 2023. The announcement came after RSC Energia has signed a deal with Space Adventures (space tourism company in the United States). RSC Energia is a part of the Roscosmos (Russia’s space agency).

As per the deal, two tourists will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in the year 2023 under the joint agreement of both the companies. From the end of RSC Energia, one of the two tourists will be able to do a spacewalk together with a cosmonaut from Roscosmos.