TNPSC Current Affairs April 30, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs April 30, 2020 (30/04/2020)

 

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Topic: Latest Reports and Events

The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020)

The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020) has been released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The centre is a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Displacements in India:

Nearly five million people were displaced in India in 2019 — the highest in the world so far.

The displacements in India were prompted by increased hazard intensity, high population and social and economic vulnerability.

More than 2.6 million people suffered displacement due to the southwest monsoon. 2019 was the seventh warmest year since 1901 in India; its monsoon was the wettest in 25 years.

Eight tropical storms hit in the year fuelling further destruction. These include Maha and Bulbul.

In addition to displacement due to natural disasters, over 19,000 conflicts and violence also prompted the phenomenon.

Unrests and communal violence triggered displacement in the second half of the year. For example, political and electoral violence, especially in Tripura and West Bengal, led to the displacement of more than 7,600 people.

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Topic: International Events

Multi-system inflammatory state

Doctors have picked up a slight rise in the number of children of all ages needing intensive care treatment for a condition called “multi-system inflammatory state”. The rise has happened over the past three weeks in London and elsewhere in the UK.

What is a multi-system inflammatory state?

It’s a severe immune response that can affect the body in multiple ways, most importantly by making the blood vessels leaky, a condition called Kawasaki disease.

This leads to low blood pressure and a build-up of fluid in the lungs and organs. It is extremely serious. Patients need urgent intensive care to support the heart, lungs and sometimes other organs such as the kidneys.

Are there other symptoms?

The children have overlapping symptoms of toxic shock syndrome (another extreme immune reaction) and unusual Kawasaki disease. Other symptoms include abdominal pain, gastrointestinal problems and heart inflammation.

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Topic: International Reports and Events

Annual Special 301 report

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released its Annual Special 301 Report.

What is Special 301 Report?

It is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries.

It is published pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

The Report includes a list of “Priority Foreign Countries”, that are judged to have inadequate intellectual property laws; these countries may be subject to sanctions.

In addition, the report contains a “Priority Watch List” and a “Watch List”, containing countries whose intellectual property regimes are deemed of concern.

Observations made about India in the latest report:

India continues to be on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for lack of adequate intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement.

While India made “meaningful progress” to enhance IP protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it did not resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and created new ones. The same assessment was made in the 2019 report.

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Topic: New Appointments, Persons in News

India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations

India has appointed diplomat T S Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, as its Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

What are Permanent Missions to the United Nations?

According to Article 1 (7) of the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character, a “Permanent Mission” is a: “mission of permanent character, representing the State, sent by a State member of an international organization to the Organization”.

The Permanent Mission is the diplomatic mission that every member state deputes to the United Nations. It is headed by a Permanent Representative, who is also referred to as the “UN ambassador”.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

Berberine and Alzheimer

Berberine is a natural and cheap product similar to curcumin, available commercially. It is poorly soluble and toxic to cells.

Why in News?

Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre For Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have modified the structure of Berberine into Ber-D to use as a Alzheimer’s inhibitor. Ber-D is a soluble (aqueous), antioxidant. It is a multifunctional inhibitor of multifaceted amyloid toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.

The structural attributes of Ber-D are such that they prevent the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and rescue biomacromolecules from oxidative damage. These attributes make Ber-D a promising candidate for developing effective therapeutics to treat multifaceted toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

HCARD

It is a robot to assist frontline COVID-19 healthcare warriors. It helps in maintaining physical distance from those infected by coronavirus.

Developed by Durgapur-based CSIR lab, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute. This robot can be controlled and monitored by a nursing booth with a control station having such features as navigation, drawer activation for providing medicines and food to patients, sample collection and audio-visual communication. HCARD stands for Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device (HCARD.