Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

Govt. to consider cut in salary of MP’s and suspension of MPLADS for 2 years

Union Cabinet today approved an Ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 for reducing salary by 30 per cent for one year.
It will come into effect from 1st of this month. Speaking to media about Cabinet decisions, Information and Broadcasting Minister PrakashJavadekar said, the salary of Union Ministers and members of Parliament will be cut by 30 per cent for one year.
He also informed that Cabinet has decided to suspend MPLAD fund for two years from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022. He said, an amount to the tune of 7900 crore rupees will be accumulated and deposited in the consolidated Fund of India to fight COVID-19
Mr Javadekar also informed that President, Vice President, Governors of States have also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut of 30 per cent as a social responsibility for one year. The money will go to Consolidated Fund of India.

Supreme court says restriction upon court hearing lawfull

The Supreme Court on Monday deemed all restrictions imposed on people from entering, attending or taking part in court hearings as lawful in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said these restrictions were in tune with the social distancing norms and best public health practices advocated to contain the contagion.
The court invoked its extraordinary constitutional powers under Article 142 to step away from the convention of open court hearings. The open court system ensures transparency in administration of justice.
In the past few days, the SC and the High Courts had stopped open court hearings. Cases were heard via videoconferencing to ensure social distancing. The Supreme Court premises was completely shutdown.
The CJI Bench assembled on Monday to suomotu streamline the videoconferencing guidelines for courts. In a series of directions, the apex court allowed the High Courts to decide the modalities for the temporary transition to the use of videoconferencing technologies in their respective States.
Until appropriate rules are framed by the High Courts, videoconferencing should be employed for hearing arguments, said the apex court.

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::ECONOMY::

Govt.relaxes export curbs on certain pharmaproducts,medicines

Government has relaxed export curbs on 24 pharma ingredients and medicines including vitamin B1 and B12.
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification in this regard yesterday. Last month, DGFT had imposed export restrictions on 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations, under which exporter has to obtain a licence or permission from the DGFT.
Easing of curbs on 24 APIs and its formulations assumed significance as certain pharma companies have raised concerns over these restrictions. With this, export of these items is allowed freely without any restrictions.
Besides Vitamin B1, B6 and B12, the other APIs and formulations over which the export restrictions have been eased include tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, progesterone, chloramphenicol, ornidazole, formulations made of chloramphenicol, formulations made of clindamycin salts, and formulations made of neomycin.

Smart cities command centres turned to war rooms for fighting COVID

Municipalities implementing the Smart Cities Mission have started using their Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) as “war rooms” for COVID-19 response, including carrying out CCTV surveillance of public spaces, using heat maps to set up virus containment zones and real-time tracking of ambulances.
Senior officials of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which oversees the Smart Cities Mission, have been coordinating the efforts of the cities, an official said. Of the 100 municipalities in the Smart Cities Mission, the ICCCs of 45 cities are “online” or operational, another official said.
The ICCCs set up under the Mission are meant to coordinate traffic management, surveillance, utilities and grievance redressal. Now, they are being used as a part of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the official said.
“As COVID-19 war rooms, the ICCCs are implementing initiatives such as CCTV surveillance of public places, GIS mapping of COVID-positive cases, GPS tracking of healthcare workers, predictive analytics (heat maps) for virus containment across different zones of the city, virtual training to doctors and healthcare professionals, real-time tracking of ambulances and disinfection services and medical services through video-conferencing, tele-counselling and tele-medicine,” a statement from the Ministry said.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

U.S passes order for recovery and use of space resources

US President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at encouraging international support for its policy allowing private industry for recovery and use of space resources from the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies.
Scott Pace, Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Space Council said that this Executive Order establishes US policy toward the recovery and use of space resources, such as water and certain minerals, in order to encourage the commercial development of space.
The executive order titled 'Encouraging International Support For The Recovery And Use Of Space Resources' will create long-time suitability in the human exploration of Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies.
The order reaffirms US support for the 1967 Outer Space Treaty while continuing to reject the 1979 Moon Agreement, which only 17 of the 95 Member States of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space have ratified in the past four decades.
The order further clarifies that the United States does not view outer space as a 'global commons,' and it reinforces the 2015 decision by Congress that Americans should have the right to engage in the commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space.

Brail seeks lifting of export curb on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)

A day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke to Prime Minister NarendraModi on the issue, Brazilian President JairBolsonaro announced that he had also requested India to allow the supply of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), now being used as a possible treatment for the Coronavirus or COVID-19.
As requests to supply the drug pile up from other countries as well, officials said the government may reconsider its notification on Saturday that banned all exports of the drug.
However, advocacy groups are warning that the government must not overlook the possibility of an “escalation” in domestic demand, and point out that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has added HCQ to its protocol for all health workers.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers develop artificial proteins that can control activity of genes

Researchers have created artificial proteins that can control the activity of genes and other molecules in living cells in predetermined ways, an advance that can be used to program the behaviour of more complex chemical and biological systems.
The researchers, including those from the University of Washington in the US, explained that the proteins, like their electronic counterparts, logic gates, implement a Boolean function, which is a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output.
They explained that these logic gates sense and respond to signals in predetermined ways.The novel protein logic gates, made from biological parts, aim to bring this level of control into bioengineered systems, the researchers added.
Using proteins like the one currently developed, the scientists said, inputs such as the presence of two different molecules in a living cell can cause it to produce a specific output, such as activating or suppressing a gene.
While recruiting a patient's own immune cells in the fight against cancer has worked for certain forms of the disease, targeting solid tumours with genetically engineered T-cells has proven challenging.

::SPORTS::

WFI may conduct fresh trials for international competitions

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) may hold fresh trials to complete the selection process before the start of Asian and World qualifying tournaments, said its secretary V.N. Prasood here on Monday.
The WFI was mulling this move in the wake of postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the subsequent cancellation of qualifying tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prasood said the federation will either conduct fresh trials or may advance the 2020 National championships to complete the selection process before the start of the qualifying Asian and World tournaments.
He added that the final decision will be taken after the United World Wrestling (UWW) releases a fresh schedule for these events.

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