13th January, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

National
PM Narendra Modi interacts with Chief Ministers of all States

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with Chief Ministers of all States through video conferencing. During the meeting, the Prime Minister will review the Covid situation in the country and take stock of the measures implemented to curb the spread of the infection.
The meeting is being held amid surge in Covid-19 cases in the country due to Omicron variant. On last Sunday, Mr. Modi had chaired a high-level virtual meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign and the emergence of new Covid-19 variant Omicron and its public health implications for the country.
During the meeting on Sunday, the Prime Minister had stressed on the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level and asked officials to maintain co-ordination regarding this with the states.
After detailed discussion, Mr. Modi directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in clusters reporting higher cases and required technical support be provided to states which are reporting higher cases presently.
Prime Minister also highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a new normal to control the spread.
The Government has started the precaution vaccination drive for healthcare and frontline workers besides those over 60 years of age with comorbidities has also started. Vaccination remains among the most effective means to fight Covid along with Test, Treat, Track and Covid Appropriate Behavior.

Government warns Omicron variant of Coronavirus is not the common cold & it should not be taken lightly

NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr. VK Paul has warned that Omicron variant of Coronavirus is not the common cold and it should not be taken lightly just because it is causing mild infections.
He told that this variant has led to the collapse of the health system of some countries. Dr. Paul said, Covid-19 pandemic has again become intense, this time powered by the Omicron variant ‘which is rapidly replacing or has already replaced’ Delta as the dominant form.
He stressed that vaccination is an important pillar in the Covid response programme. Dr. Paul said, people need to be vigilant, get vaccinated and follow Covid-appropriate behavior.
Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Luv Agarwal said that the number of districts reporting over five per cent weekly Covid case positivity has increased from 78 in the week ending on January 4 to 300 in the week ending on January 11.
He said that 19 states have over 10,000 active Covid cases. Dr Agarwal said, Mumbai, Pune and Thane in Maharashtra, Bengaluru Urban in Karnataka, Kolkata in West Bengal and Chennai in Tamil Nadu are emerging as districts of concern.

Lohri being celebrated; President Kovind greets citizens on the occasion

The festival of harvest, Lohri, is being celebrated in North India especially in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Chandigarh.
Lohri marks the end of the long nights of winter and welcomes the longer days of summer, as the Sun begins its journey to the Northern Hemisphere. Lohri is celebrated with a bonfire.
The festival is mostly associated with crop harvesting and happiness. Popcorns, peanuts, Rewari and Gajak are distributed to all neighbors, friends and relatives on the occasion.
President Ram Nath Kovind has greeted citizens on the occasion of Lohri. Mr Kovind also greeted people on the eve of Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bhogali Bihu, Uttarayan and Paush Parva and prayed for a spirit of fraternity among the people, prosperity and happiness in the country.
In a message, the President said, a majority of the festivals depict our integral relationship with nature and agriculture.
He said, festivals of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bhogali Bihu, Uttarayan and Paush Parva, mark the harvesting season of crops as the winter season ends and ushers in the spring.
Mr. Kovind said, people enjoy the fruits of good harvest and celebrate these festivals which also emphasize the need to preserve our environment. He said, it is not only an example of Indian diversity but also that of unity in diversity of our country.

International
WHO chief warns Omicron variant is dangerous particularly for unvaccinated people

World Health Organization (WHO) chief has warned that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is dangerous particularly for the unvaccinated people.
Briefing media in Geneva, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated.
This huge spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant, which is rapidly replacing Delta in almost all countries, he added.
Highlighting Africa's COVID vaccination rate, the WHO chief said in Africa, more than 85 per cent of people are yet to receive a single dose of vaccine.
We cannot end the acute phase of the pandemic unless we close this gap, he added. WHO chief stated that but we still have a long way to go to reach our target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population of every country by the middle of this year.
90 countries have still not reached the 40 per cent target, and 36 of those countries have vaccinated less than 10 per cent of their populations, he added.

Science & Technology
ISRO successfully conducts qualification tests of Cryogenic Engine for Gaganyaan

ISRO- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully conducted qualification tests of the Cryogenic Engine for Gaganyaan human space programme.
The ISRO Propulsion Complex in Tamil Nadu conducted the test for 720 seconds duration and met the test objectives.
A release by ISRO said, the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test.
This successful long duration test is a major milestone for the Human Space programme Gaganyaan.
The successful test has ensured the reliability and robustness of the cryogenic engine for induction into the human rated launch vehicle for Gaganyaan.
The engine will further undergo four more tests for a cumulative duration of 1810 seconds. Thereafter one more engine will undergo two short duration tests and one long duration test to complete the cryogenic engine qualification for the Gaganyaan programme.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III launch vehicle to be used for the Gaganyaan programme will use two cryogenic engines.
This engine developed by ISRO is named as Vikas. The success of Vikas engine signals a great breakthrough in the Indian manned mission to outer space.

Appointments
Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath appointed new chairman of ISRO

Eminent rocket scientist S. Somanath has been appointed the new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as well as the Space Secretary.
He will succeed K Sivan who completes his extended tenure as ISRO chief.
His appointment as the Space Secretary and the Space Commission Chairman is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining of the post.
The post of the ISRO chairman, the Space Secretary and the Space Commission chief is usually held by one person only.
Mr. Somanath will be the 10th chairman of ISRO.
He is at present Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Mr. Somanath took charge as the VSSC's head on January 22, 2018, after a two and a half years stint as the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, Thiruvananathapuram.
Previously, he served as the Associate Director (Projects) of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and also as the Project Director of GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle. Mr. Somanath is an expert in the area of system engineering of launch vehicles.

Sports
Seven players withdraw from India open badminton championship

Seven players withdrew from the India open badminton championship, which is being held in Delhi, after testing Covid positive. It includes Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponappa.
Srikanth is currently world No. 10 in singles while Ashwini Ponappa is world No. 20 in women’s doubles, N Sikki Reddy, Dhruv Kapila, Gayatri Gopichand, Akshan Shetty and Kavya Gupta has also pulled out of the competition after being deemed closed contacts of the infected.
The Round 2 matches of the Indian Open are being held in KD Jadhav Indoor hall, where PV Sindhu entered round 3 of the championship after defeating Ira Sharma and Sania Nehwal lost to Malvika Bansod in 34 minutes for huge upset.
Meanwhile Badminton World Federation (BWF) has said that the players will not be replaced in the main draw, and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round.

Published date : 13 Jan 2022 06:31PM