Daily Current Affairs and GK | 25 May 2024

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

1. A new vaccine candidate against malaria have been developed by JNU scientists.

• Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scientists have identified a promising vaccine candidate against malaria.
• It would help in more effective prevention and treatment strategies against malaria.
• Scientists have identified a novel PHB2-Hsp70A1A receptor ligand pair.
• The parasite protein PHB2 is therefore a potent vaccine candidate.
• The presence of PfPHB2 antibodies was detected in active malaria patient from the Tripura region.
• The PfPHB2 antibodies will be a turning point towards malaria therapeutic development.
• The scientists have found that PfPHB2 protein which is found on the merozoite surface. It will interact with the red blood cell surface heat-shock protein Hsp70A1A.
• Prohibitins are a family of proteins that will play important role in various cellular processes.
• This research has been published in the iScience journal by Cell Press.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

2. In India, the world’s first 100% biodegradable pen has been launched.

• It uses non-toxic ink and a refill made of recycled paper. Its exterior can be chosen from bamboo, paper, or metal.
• The majority of a standard pen is composed of plastic.
• The world's first 100% biodegradable pen was introduced by Saurabh H. Mehta of New Delhi.
• He started the business bioQ, which sells environmentally friendly stationery.
• He launched NOTE (No Offence to Earth) as a bioQ brand.
• The NOTE pen comes with non-toxic ink and a refill made of recycled paper.
• Refills can be created to any length or diameter and are fully configurable.
• To ensure that each prototype could fulfil the industry norm of an 18-month shelf life, an accelerated ageing test lasting four months was conducted on each.
• An eighteen-month shelf life was attained by a vegetable oil-based solution that was refined using a method that is pending patent.
• A barrier between the ink and paper is created by lightly coating the inside surface of the refill with vegetable oil.
• This guarantees that the refill breaks down organically after usage.
• Pens are generally used for an hour or two on average before being disposed of. They are not considered single-use plastics.

Topic: Indian Polity

3. The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) has been formally dissolved by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry.

• It was the ministry's technical branch, with its main office at the Center in Delhi.
• It was in charge of giving community nutrition programs logistical and technical support. 
• The FNB maintained quality control labs and four regional offices in Chennai, Faridabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
• Following suggestions from the Principal Economic Adviser's report on the rationalization of government bodies, the decision was made following a Cabinet meeting in April of last year.
• The cabinet had approved the ministry's suggestions during the meeting to rationalize and close the FNB, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, and the Central Social Welfare Board.
• The FNB was originally set up under the agriculture ministry. It was later moved to the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry in 1993.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

4. A new plant species has been discovered from Kerala’s Edamalayar forest range.

• The name of plant species is Emblica chakrabartyi. It belongs to the gooseberry (Phyllanthaceae) family.
• It has been discovered from Adichilthotti within the Kerala’s Edamalayar forest range.
• It has been named after Tapas Chakrabarty for contribution he made to the study on Phyllanthaceae.
• During an expedition, the scientists discovered a population of about 55 plants in and around the Edamalayar and adjacent Sholayar forest areas.
• They discovered them as a component of a large-scale study on the flowering plants of the Ernakulam district, supported by the UGC.
• Scientists were from King Fahd University in the United Arab Emirates, National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow, and SNM College Maliankara in Ernakulam.
• The plant grows to a maximum height of around two meters.
• The leaves are large, shiny, elongated up to 13 cm in length and oval shape.
• The fruiting and flowering season lasts from December to June.
• While female flowers are solitary and situated on the leaf axils, male flowers are found in inflorescence.
• Each flower has six petals that are colored yellowish green.
• When the fruits ripen, they change from brown to black, and the 8–9 mm-diameter black seeds develop.

Topic: Indian Polity

5. Supreme Court refused to direct ECI on disclosure of booth-wise voter turnout.

• On 24th, the court has refused to give any instructions to the Election Commission on the petition of an NGO regarding making the booth wise voter turnout data public on its website during the Lok Sabha elections.
• The hearing was on a petition seeking to upload on the website the data of votes polled at each polling station within 48 hours of Lok Sabha election voting.
• The application hearing was adjourned by a vacation bench consisting of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, with the statement that the matter will be taken up after the Lok Sabha elections.
• The Election Commission filed an affidavit before the hearing in the apex court on May 24 on an application filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms.
• The affidavit states that full disclosure of Form 17C may cause mischief. This will harm the entire electoral process.
• Changing the procedure in the last two phases of the election would amount to interference in the election process and would fall under Article 329 (B) of the Constitution.
• Article 329 of the Indian Constitution deals with the interference of courts in electoral matters.

Topic: Personality in News

6. Klaus Schwab, a founder of the World Economic Forum, decided to step down from executive role.

• By January next year, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will step down and take up the role of Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
• Klaus Schwab is stepping away from day-to-day management of the organization after more than 50 years at the helm.
• The leadership transition will be completed before the next Davos gathering in January 2025.
• The forum is best known for its annual gathering of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
• The Forum, which Mr. Schwab founded in 1971, was then known as the European Management Forum.
• It was initially designed as a place for European business leaders and government officials to gather and discuss increasing their competitiveness with the US.
• Borge Brende is the current president of the World Economic Forum.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. A film by FTII students has won ‘La Cinef’ award at 77th Cannes Film Festival in France.

• The name of the film is “Sunflowers were the first ones to know”.
• This is a film by Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune, student Chidanand S Naik and his team.
• The film has been directed by Chidananda S Naik and shot by Suraj Thakur. It is edited by Manoj V.
• This recognition has come after four years since another FTII student film ‘CATDOG’ won the award at 73rd Cannes.
• The movie is based on a well-known Kannada folktale about an old woman who steals a rooster after which the sun does not rise.
• The Chaos She Left Behind by Nikos Kolioukos and Out the Window Through the Wall by Asya Segalovich were chosen by the jury to share second place.
• Mansi Maheshwari's Bunnyhood took home the third prize.
• The First Prize winner receives a grant of €15,000 from the Festival de Cannes.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Sports

8. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched ‘Let’s Move India’.

• This is an initiative to motivate the public to celebrate the athletes taking part in the coming Olympic Games in Paris.
• Through a digital challenge on social media, the campaign invites individuals from all around the nation to join.
• Young people can participate in a number of regional school events in honour of Olympic Day on June 23.
• People are urged to either design their own festivities or emulate their favourite athlete's celebrations as of right now.
• From July 26, Olympians will represent their 1.4 billion fellow citizens.
• Abhinav Bindra, the first individual Olympic gold medallist from India and a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, has partnered with the IOC.
• As part of the Olympic Values Education Programme, they will collaborate to invite educational institutions all throughout the country to become a part of the movement.

Topic: National News

9. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has announced new driving licence rules.

• The new driving rules will became applicable from June 1, 2024, which will simplify rules for obtaining a driving licence.
• A major change is that now applicants will not be required to take a driving test at the Regional Transport Office (RTO).
• The driving test can be conducted at accredited private driving schools.
• Driving training centres are required to have a minimum of one acre of land.
• If the applicant passes the test at these schools, they will get a certificate to apply for a driving licence at RTO.
• The penalty for driving a car without a valid licence has been increased to ₹2,000.
• Punishments for minors driving vehicle includes a fine of ₹25,000 and action against the parents, along with the cancellation of the vehicle’s registration certificate.
• Government has also decided to phase out 9,000 outdated government vehicles and raise emission standards for other vehicles.
• This step is part of the strategy to reduce vehicular pollution and promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. A UP woman received the Amal Clooney Women's Empowerment Award in London.

• An 18-year-old rickshaw driver, Arti, received the Amal Clooney Women's Empowerment Award.
• She was honoured for inspiring other young girls through her work under the government's Pink e-rickshaw initiative.
• Under the Project Lehar, Prince's Trust International and the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) introduced Arti to the Indian government's Pink E-Rickshaw scheme.
• Under this initiative, pink e-rickshaws were provided by the Bahraich district administration with a subsidy for women drivers.
• She also met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London.
• The Prince's Trust International was founded by King Charles III when he was the Prince of Wales.

Topic: Geography

11. IMD shared an update on cyclone 'Remal' that will affect West Bengal adjoining Bangladesh.

• A low-pressure area over the southwest and adjacent west-central Bay of Bengal has moved northeastward.
• It concentrated as a depression over central parts of the Bay of Bengal on May 24.
• According to the India Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of further intensification into a cyclonic storm over the east-central Bay of Bengal by May 25.
• Thereafter, it will move almost northwards and make landfall near Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts as a severe cyclonic storm by 26 May.
• A tropical cyclone is a low-pressure system with very high winds moving around it.
• These cyclones occur in the region between 5-35° latitude north or south of the equator.
• The tropical cyclone moves in an anticlockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Topic: Sports

12. Ademola Lookman's brilliant hat-trick in the final helped Atalanta win the Europa League title.

• On 22 May, Atalanta won UEFA Europa League title in Dublin, Ireland.
• It is their second major trophy in their 117-year history, following a 3–0 win over Bayer Leverkusen that ended the German champions' remarkable unbeaten streak.
• Lookman is only the sixth player to score a hat-trick in European finals.
• Atalanta earned their first major European trophy, which is also the first major trophy for 66-year-old coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
• Since 1971, the UEFA Europa League has been organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs.
• The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla, winning seven titles.
• The record for scoring most goals (17) in a single season of the tournament is held by Colombian striker Radamel Falcao.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

13. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd granted the Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) accolade.

• The zero waste to landfill (ZWL) accolade has been given by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-ITC) Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development.
• Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) has claimed that it has become the first airport in India to receive this recognition.
• Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has implemented the best waste management practices. It has achieved 99.50 per cent waste diversion from landfill.
• It has successfully diverted 100% of plastic waste and 100 per cent of MSW waste (wet and dry).
• This airport has achieved this recognition by adopting the 5R principles of reduce, reuse, reprocess, recycle and recover of Sustainable Waste Management.
• Paper waste, cutlery waste, food waste and road waste were the main sources of waste generation at this International Airport.
• The system involves waste segregation, recycling, monitoring, and reduction, as well as an Environmental Management System (EMS).
• The airport has designated sites for collecting segregated waste and transferring it.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) gets the 'PSU Samarpan Award’.

• Cmde Hemant Khatri, the Chairman and Managing Director (C&MD) of HSL has been honoured with the 'PSU Samarpan Award'.
• This is an award by Gov Connect, an initiative by ilouge Media.
• The award recognizes the leadership of HSL's CMD in driving the transformation of the shipyard.
• CMD, HSL, received the award in the 'Other PSU' category.