Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 09 May 2021

Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 04 September 2021

::National::

World Red Cross Day

World Red Cross Day is also known as Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 every year. This date marks the birth anniversary of Henry Dunant, who is the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He is also a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was born on May 8, 1828.
It is an annual celebration of their principles. The day is celebrated by the Red Cross society across all the countries. It works for the welfare of people. World Red Cross Society provides for food shortages, natural disasters, wars as well as diseases of an epidemic.
The theme of World Red Cross Day 2021 is 'Together we are unstoppable'!
On this World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, we celebrate our long journey and reaffirm our commitment to our humanitarian mission.
The first Red Cross Day was celebrated on May 8, 1948. In 1946 in World War II, the Tokyo proposal was put into effect. The possibility of an annual celebration was asked by the Board of Governors of the 'League of the Red Cross Societies (LORCS)', later called the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross Societies.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

What is Global Task Force on Pandemic?

The Global Task Force on Pandemic Response provides a unified platform for businesses to mobilize and deliver resources to assist COVID-19 efforts in areas of the highest need around the world. With leadership from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and support from Business Roundtable, it was launched in May 2021 to support COVID-19 response amid rising case counts in India and around the globe. See the list of participating companies.
The Global Task Force works in close collaboration with U.S. and Indian government officials to share information and coordinate efforts.
This includes regular business briefings with the Modi and Biden Administrations, U.S. Congress, U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
While the Global Task Force is focusing initial efforts on the pressing need in India, additional working groups will be formed to address COVID-19 surges in other countries as needed.
To support additional country-specific efforts, the Global Task Force will partner with additional business groups. Through its Steering Committee, the Global Task Force will work to concentrate efforts where corporate support will be most beneficial – and will launch specific working groups as the dynamics of the virus evolve around the world.

::Economy::

2 DG – DRDO's anti-covid drug approved

An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad. Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19.
Pursuing Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi’s call for preparedness against the pandemic, DRDO took the initiative of developing anti-COVID therapeutic application of 2-DG. In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and found that this molecule works effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth. Based on these results, Drugs Controller General of India’s (DCGI) Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) permitted Phase-II clinical trial of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients in May 2020.
The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL, Hyderabad, started the clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients. In Phase-II trials (including dose ranging) conducted during May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery. Phase IIa was conducted in six hospitals and Phase IIb (dose ranging) clinical trial was conducted at 11 hospitals all over the country. Phase-II trial was conducted on 110 patients.
In efficacy trends, the patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints. A significantly favourable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalisation of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC.
Based on successful results, DCGI further permitted the Phase-III clinical trials in November 2020. The Phase-III clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 to March 2021 at 27 COVID hospitals in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The detailed data of phase-III clinical trial was presented to DCGI. In 2-DG arm, significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence (42% vs 31%) by Day-3 in comparison to SoC, indicating an early relief from Oxygen therapy/dependence.
The similar trend was observed in patients aged more than 65 years. On May 01, 2021, DCGI granted permission for Emergency Use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. Being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in plenty in the country.

::Science and Tech::

NASA rover records Ingenuity helicopter flight to Mars

The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time. It hitched a ride to Mars on the Perseverance rover. Once the rover reached a suitable "airfield" location, it released Ingenuity to the surface so it could perform a series of test flights over a 30-Martian-day experimental window.
For the first time, a spacecraft on another planet has recorded the sounds of a separate spacecraft. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used one of its two microphones to listen as the Ingenuity helicopter flew for the fourth time on April 30, 2021. A new video combines footage of the solar-powered helicopter taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z imager with audio from a microphone belonging to the rover’s SuperCam laser instrument.
The laser zaps rocks from a distance, studying their vapor with a spectrometer to reveal their chemical composition. The instrument’s microphone records the sounds of those laser strikes, which provide information on the physical properties of the targets, such as their relative hardness. The microphone can also record ambient noise, like the Martian wind.
With Perseverance parked 262 feet (80 meters) from the helicopter’s takeoff and landing spot, the rover mission wasn’t sure if the microphone would pick up any sound of the flight. Even during flight, when the helicopter’s blades spin at 2,537 rpm, the sound is greatly muffled by the thin Martian atmosphere. It is further obscured by Martian wind gusts during the initial moments of the flight. Listen closely, though, and the helicopter’s hum can be heard faintly above the sound of those winds.
The helicopter completed its technology demonstration after three successful flights. For the first flight on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity took off, climbed to about 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, hovered in the air briefly, completed a turn, and then landed. It was a major milestone: the very first powered, controlled flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars, and, in fact, the first such flight in any world beyond Earth. After that, the helicopter successfully performed additional experimental flights of incrementally farther distance and greater altitude.
With its tech demo complete, Ingenuity transitions to a new operations demonstration phase to explore how future rovers and aerial explorers can work together.