Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 02 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

WHO listed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA 1273) for emergency use, making it the fifth vaccine to receive emergency validation from WHO.
WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and is a prerequisite for COVAX Facility vaccine supply. It also allows countries to expedite their own regulatory approval to import and administer COVID-19 vaccines.
The vaccine has already been reviewed by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), which makes recommendations for vaccines’ use in populations (i.e. recommended age groups, intervals between shots, advice for specific groups such as pregnant and lactating women). The SAGE recommended the vaccine for all age groups 18 and above in its interim recommendations dated 25 January 2021.
The US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine on 18 December 2020 and a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union was granted by the European Medicines Agency on 6 January 2021.

The Global Forest Goals Report 2021 is the first evaluation of where the world stands in implementing the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2030, providing a snapshot of actions being taken for forests, while stressing that it is necessary to meet the 2030 deadline in the Plan. The report finds that while the world had been making progress in key areas such as increasing global forest area through afforestation and restoration, these advances are also under threat from the worsening state of our natural environment.
The world is combatting unprecedented, worldwide crises on multiple fronts, from the devastating impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, to the escalating impacts of climate change and a biodiversity crisis. For each of these complex global challenges, forests and forest-dependent people are both a casualty and an important part of the solution.
The report has been produced in two versions: the full report provides an overview of progress towards the Global Forest Goals, including country actions taken, infographics, and success stories; and a shorter “Overview of Progress” version which highlights overall progress towards each of the six Global Forest Goals.

The Central Pollution Control Board has identified 30 industries to modify their nitrogen plants for the production of medical oxygen. Some of these plants can be shifted to nearby hospitals for supplying oxygen and some plants, where it is not feasible to shift the plants, can produce oxygen on-site, the CPCB said.
The Centre had asked the CPCB to identify industries with spare nitrogen plants and explore the feasibility of converting nitrogen plants to produce oxygen. The CPCB has a database of all industrial units in the country.
A senior Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) official said that they have not issued any such directions in the national capital.
“There are no such major plants that can be converted, but if any specific directions are issued from CPCB we will look at options,” the officials said.
M/s UPL Ltd converted one 50 Nm3/hr capacity nitrogen plant to produce oxygen using Zeolite Molecular Sieve and installed it at LG Rotary Hospital, Vapi in Gujarat. This plant is producing 0.5 ton/day of oxygen and is operational since April 27. UPL Ltd. is also under the process of conversion of three more plants. On conversion to oxygen plants, these plants will be installed at hospitals in Surat and Ankleshwar.

The United States has cleared the potential sale of six additional P-8I maritime patrol aircraft for India, worth $2.42 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which handles these sales, notified the US congress of the clearance of the deal by the state department.
India already has a fleet of P-8I patrol aircraft, with eight ordered in 2009 and four more in 2016. With six more now, “will allow the Indian Navy to expand its maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA) capability for the next 30 years”, the DSCA said, adding, “India will have no difficulty absorbing these aircraft into its armed forces.”
Manufactured by Boeing, P-8I is an Indian variant of P-8s that the company says are designed for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It does multiple missions and comes equipped with “state-of-the-art sensors, proven weapons systems, and a globally recognised platform”.
India’s order for the new P-8Is comes with eight Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Joint Tactical Radio Systems 5 (MIDS-JTRS 5); 42 AN/AAR-54 Missile Warning Sensors; 14 LN-251 with Embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigations Systems and other elements.

The biggest airplane ever built now has two flights under its belt.
Stratolaunch's Roc carrier plane, which is being groomed to haul hypersonic vehicles aloft, conducted its second-ever test flight Thursday morning (April 29).
The giant aircraft, which features a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters), took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in southeastern California at 10:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT; 7:28 local California time) on a data-gathering shakeout cruise that lasted three hours and 14 minutes.
Roc reached a maximum altitude of 14,000 feet (4,267 m) and a top speed of 199 mph (320 kph) during Thursday's test flight, which Stratolaunch deemed a success.
"We're very pleased with how the Stratolaunch aircraft performed today, and we are equally excited about how much closer the aircraft is to launching its first hypersonic vehicle," Stratolaunch chief operating officer Zachary Krevor said during a postflight news conference today.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen established Stratolaunch in 2011 with the idea that Roc would be used to launch satellites in midair. But Allen died in October 2018 without seeing that vision become reality, or even seeing the twin-fuselage Roc get off the ground. The plane didn't make its first — and, until today, only — test flight until April 2019.