Daily Current Affairs and GK | 6 October 2020

1. Winners for Nobel Prize in Medicine 2020 announced.

• Three scientists Harvey J Alter, Charles M Rice, and Michael Houghton, have jointly bagged the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology.
• It has been given for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.
• Dr. Alter and Dr. Rice are American medical researchers. Dr. Houghton is a British Professor of virology.
• A gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor will be given to winners.
• The discovery of the Hepatitis C virus has revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis.
• Currently, there is no effective vaccine against hepatitis C, and this research work has raised hope for the development of an effective vaccine.
• Nobel Prize:
  • It is awarded annually on the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
  • The Nobel Prizes are the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the world.
  • It is awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economics, and peace.
  • The Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize.

• Hepatitis C:
  • It is a chronic disease caused by the hepatitis C virus.
  • It can cause serious liver infection, which can lead to liver cancer.
  • According to WHO, there are more than 70 million cases of hepatitis in the world.

2. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated RAISE 2020 Summit on AI.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the RAISE 2020 Summit- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’.
• The summit is being held from 5 October to 9 October 2020.
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and NITI Aayog are organizing this summit.
• India aims to become a global hub for Artificial Intelligence and this goal is powered by the core principles of – Teamwork, Trust, Collaboration, Responsibility and Inclusivity.
• RAISE 2020 is an effort to encourage discussion on Artificial Intelligence.
• Programmes/Policies launched by the government that promotes AI:
  • Responsible AI for youth program- launched in April 2020
  • Digitization through AADHAR, UPI, GST and National Digital Health Mission.
  • National Education Policy 2020 focusing on technology-based learning and skilling.
  • Atal Innovation Mission, Setting up of virtual labs, etc.
  • National Programme on Artificial Intelligence
• Role of AI:
  • Agriculture
  • Creating next-gen urban infrastructure
  • Reducing traffic jams, improving sewage system and laying energy grids
  • Robust disaster management system
  • Addressing challenges related to Climate change
  • Knowledge sharing
  • Preserving diversity of language and dialects

(Source: News on AIR)

3. Two NABARD-supported Organic Spices Seed Parks to be established in Gujarat.

• Banaskantha and Patan in Gujarat will have NABARD-supported Organic Spices Seed Parks for saunf (fennel) and jeera (cumin) seeds.
• Organic Spices Seed Park at Banaskantha in Gujarat will be for saunf (fennel) seeds.
• Organic Spices Seed Park at Patan in Gujarat will be for jeera (cumin) seeds.
• The parks will be for promoting organic seed value chain, capacity building and best practices in the production of saunf (fennel) and jeera (cumin).
• The sanction letters for two parks have been given to two farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and released by Gujarat Chief Minister. The FPOs will be responsible for the functioning of parks.
• Both parks have been given grant assistance of ₹23 lakh and they will have 50 farmers each.
• NABARD is also working on the concept of value-chain finance or financing of every level of FPO chain.
• Gujarat:
  • It is a coastal state of India.
  • Capital: Gandhinagar
  • Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat, Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
  • Gir National Park is located in Gujarat.   

4. DRDO successfully tested Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART).

• DRDO has successfully tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from Wheeler Island of Odisha.
• The objective of the mission includes missile flight up to the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, the release of the Torpedo, and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM).
• It will play a vital role in the Anti-Submarine Warfare operations.
• The technologies required for SMART were indigenously developed by various DRDO laboratories like DRDL, RCI Hyderabad, ADRDE Agra, NSTL Visakhapatnam.
• Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART): It is a missile assisted release of lightweight anti-submarine torpedo system for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations far beyond torpedo range.
• Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO):
  • It is an agency of the Government of India that deals with the research and development work of the Army in India.
  • G. Sateesh Reddy is the current chairman of this organization.
  • It was founded in 1958.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.

5. MoU signed between ISLRTC and NCERT for converting of educational material into Indian sign language.

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
• The objective of this MoU is to make educational materials accessible for deaf children in Indian sign language.
• Under the MoU, NCERT Textbooks, Teachers Handbook, and other Supplementary materials and resources of Class I-XII of all Hindi and English Medium subjects will be converted into Indian Sign Language in Digital format.
• Deaf students, teachers, teacher educators, parents, and the Deaf community can now access the educational resources in Indian Sign Language.
• Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC):
  • It was established in 2011.
  • It is an autonomous national institute under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
  • It is responsible for developing man-power for popularizing the use of Indian Sign Language, teaching and researching Indian Sign Language.
• NCERT:
  • It is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Education (earlier Ministry of Human Resource Development).
  • It is responsible for qualitative improvement in school education and promotes research in areas related to school education.
  • It also prepares and publishes model textbooks, supplementary material, newsletters, journals, educational kits and digital multimedia materials.
  • It is a nodal agency which makes plan and policies for the Universalization of Elementary Education in India.

6. Former Gujarat HC Acting Chief Justice A S Dave passed away.

• Anantkumar Surendraray Dave, former Acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, passed away on 5 October.
• He will be remembered for his contributions to the legal field.
• A High Court judge can be appointed as the Acting Chief Justice by the President in case of vacancy of office of Chief Justice or if the Chief Justice is temporarily absent or is not in the condition to perform his duties.

(Source: ANI)

7. Quad countries Foreign ministers will meet in Tokyo.

• The foreign ministers of Quad countries will meet in Tokyo to discuss the post COVID-19 international order and various challenges emerging from the pandemic.
• The foreign ministers of all four Quad countries will be present for the first time for face to face meeting post COVID-19 pandemic.
• This is the second such Quad foreign ministers meet.
• Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD or QUAD):
  • It was established in 2007.
  • Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are members of this forum.
  • It aims to establish an “Asian Arc of Democracy", including the countries in Central Asia, Mongolia, the Korean peninsula, and other Southeast Asia countries.
• Foreign Ministers of QUAD:

8. 12^th BRICS Summit to be held virtually on November 17.

• The 12^th BRICS Summit will be held on 17 November 2020 virtually.
• The 12^th BRICS Summit theme is “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.
• It will be held under the Chairmanship of Russia.
• BRICS:
  • BRICS is an association composed of the five major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
  • It was started in 2001 as BRIC and later South Africa was added in 2010.
  • The BRICS nations met annually at formal summits.
  • The 11^th BRICS Summit was held in Brasília, Brazil.
  • It accounts for 42% of the population, 23% of GDP, 30% of the territory, and 18% of the global trade.
  • The member countries have a close strategic partnership on peace and security, economy and finance, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

(Source: News on AIR)

9. MoHUA and Swiggy signed MoU to take street food vendors online.

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed an MoU with Swiggy to onboard street food vendors on its e-commerce platform.
• It will provide thousands of consumers to street vendors which will help them to grow their businesses.
• This MoU is facilitated under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANIDHI) Scheme.
• It will be run on a pilot basis in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, and Varanasi.
• Street vendors will be helped with PAN and FSSAI registration, training on technology, menu digitization and pricing along with hygiene and packaging best practices.
• PM Street Vendor’s  AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANIDHI):
  • It was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 1 June 2020.
  • It will provide affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods during the COVID-19 lockdown.
  • It will provide a capital loan of up to ₹10,000, which must be repaid in monthly installments in one year.
• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister: Hardeep Singh Puri

10. National Startup Awards 2020 presented by Minister of Commerce and Industry.

• Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, has declared the results of the first edition of the National Startup Awards.
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has instituted the first-ever National Startup Awards.
• The awards have been given to recognize the outstanding startups and system enablers that are making innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact.
• The applications for the Awards were invited for 12 sectors, including Agriculture, Education, Enterprise Technology, Energy, Finance, Food, Health, Industry 4.0, Space, Security, Tourism and Urban Services.
• The winners will get a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each along with opportunities to present their work to relevant public authorities for pilot projects.
• An exception incubator and an Accelerator will be given a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh.