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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 December 2020

::NATIONAL::

IIT-Bombay researchers have come up with an urban quality of life index tailored to the reality of life in India.

About:

For the first time, they have factored in gender parity.
Chennai, it turns out, is the most women-friendly and Patna the least.
Overall, Mumbai tops the list of 14, followed closely by Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. But so important is the gender role index that quality of life rankings of six cities would have changed had it not been considered — Delhi, Jaipur and Indore would have been ranked higher, and Mumbai, Bhopal and Lucknow would have ceded their spots.
Only Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai surpass the average score for gender index, while Indore, Jaipur and Patna are way below average.

Key highlights of the study:

The study found that Jaipur has the highest crime rate against women, Chennai has the lowest.
The gap in literacy rate between men and women is the widest in Jaipur (13.2%) and lowest in Kolkata (5.4%).
The unemployment rate for women is the highest in Patna — at 346, it is more than four times the urban average of 73.
Another often overlooked factor are the basics — power, water, education. Only 36% urban households in Patna have access to treated tap water.
Literacy was the highest in Pune (91%) and, surprisingly, the lowest in Hyderabad (83%).

India’s first homes for transgender children in need of care and protection will soon be established in Bengaluru.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development gave its nod for the project last week.
The minutes of the supplementary Project Approval Board (PAB) under child protection services says that two government-run children’s homes reserved for transgender children will be established in Bengaluru Urban.
Children in need of care and protection include orphans, abandoned children, street children, child labourers and child victims of abuse.

The Cancer Genome Atlas Program(TCGA)is a cancer genomics program of the US-India which began in 2006 bringing together researchers fromdiverse disciplines and multiple institutions.
Over the years,TCGA generated over 2.5 petabytes of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data.
These data led to improvements in the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer.
On similar lines, the establishment of an ‘Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA)’ has been initiated by aconsortium of key stakeholders in India led by CSIR.

Oman, India’s oldest strategic partner in West Asia, has announced directives to establish Oman-India FriendshipAssociation.
This would be the first such initiative in West Asia.
The aim of the association to provide a platform that promotes friendship, understanding and matters ofmutual interest between Oman and India business and social communities in the Sultanate.

The Ministry of Textiles has invited proposals for the constitution of a dedicated Export Promotion Council (EPC) for technical textiles.
The decision is significant as there is a lot of untapped potential in the area of technical textiles, as per estimates, and the Indian textiles industry has already demonstrated its abilities by manufacturing large quantities of personal protective equipment kits and N95 masks following the Covid-19 outbreak.
The exporter associations and trade bodies registered under the Companies Act or the Society Registration Act have been asked to submit proposals for constitution of a dedicated EPC for technical textiles by December 15 2020.
The Council shall abide by all directions of the Central government in respect of promotion and development of international trade and would be responsible to promote ITC (HS) lines identified and notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) from time to time.

Six years after Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission was launched, it is set to return to Earth on December 6 carrying with it samples from the one-kilometre wide Ryugu asteroid that orbits the Sun.
The mission is similar to NASA’s OSIRIS-REX mission that brought back samples from asteroid Bennu late in October.
According to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), this is the first time that a probe has visited a celestial body that is under 100 metres in diameter.

What is the Hayabusa2 mission?

The Hayabasu2 mission was launched in December 2014 when the spacecraft was sent on a six-year-long voyage to study the asteroid Ryugu and collect samples that it is now bringing back to the Earth.
The spacecraft arrived at the asteroid in mid-2018 after which it deployed two rovers and a small lander onto the surface. In 2019, the spacecraft fired an impactor into the asteroid’s surface to create an artificial crater with a diametre of a little more than 10 metres, which allowed it to collect the samples.
As per NASA, the asteroid is thought to be made up mostly of nickel and iron. “Asteroids like Ryugu are interesting for several reasons, perhaps foremost because they are near the Earth and might, one day in the far future, pose an impact threat,” NASA has said.
Hayabasu2’s predecessor, the Hayabusa mission brought back samples from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010.