Latest Current Affairs: 5 April 2020

Current Affairs

5^th APRIL 2020

An Online Hackathon, “Hack the Crisis” launched to work solutions for
COVID-19

The Minister of electronics and IT & HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre launched
“Hack the Crisis- India”. It is an online hackathon that aims to work on
solution for COVID-19.
The initiative is being organized by “FICCI Ladies Organization” and
“Hack a Cause-India”. The initiative is supported by Ministry of Electronics
and IT. The Hackathon is a part of Global initiative.
The “Hack the Crisis” began in Estonia. A private firm Accelerate Estonia
along with other startups launched the online event. More than 2000 participated and it was a huge hit. Following its success,
they have taken it globally with the help of several other start-ups,
government institutions and private sector units.

An initiative by the civil servants to fight against COVID-19: CARUNA

The associations of civil servants formed an
initiative called CARUNA. CARUNA is Civil Services Associations Reach to
Support Natural Disasters.
CARUNA is a collaborative platform. It
includes IAS and IPS officers. The platform is to be represented by NGO, industry
leaders, IT professionals along with the civil servants. The initiative is
being launched to support government efforts to fight Corona Virus.
The initiative will help address shortages at
district level. These officers are to work along the empowered
inter-ministerial panel set up earlier by the Government of India to handle
COVID-19 crisis in the country.

6.2
million tonnes of essential medicines supplied to Maldives: Operation
Sanjeevani

The
Indian Air Force recently delivered 6.2 million tonnes of essential medicines
to Maldives under Operation Sanjeevani.
The
Indian Air Force airlifted the medicines in Hercules C-130J. The medicines
included lopinavir and ritonavir, influenza vaccines. Apart from medicines, the
IAF also delivered nebulizers, catheters, urine bags and feeding tubes.
The
treatment of Lopinavir and ritonavir has been suggested by WHO along with other
3 treatments.

Indian Air Force:
Founded: 8 October
1932; 87 Years ago

Role: Aerial warfare
Headquarters: New Delhi

Commander in Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria

Railway makes low cost prototype of
Ventilator; ICMR to test the prototype: JEEVAN

JEEVAN, is a low-cost energy efficient ventilator made by
the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. The cost of the machine is fraction of what
the original designs cost.
The prototype is to be tested by ICMR before mass
production. The cost of the machine is around Rs 10,000 without a compressor.

Indian Railway:

Founded: 8 May 1845; 174 years ago

Headquarters: New Delhi

Minister of Railway: Piyush Goyal

Minister of State Railway: Suresh
Angadi

Chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav

Owner: Government of India

Division: 18 zones

ICMR: Indian Council of Medical Research

Formation:
1911 (as IRFA – Indian Research Fund
Association), 1949 renamed to ICMR

Headquarters:
New Delhi

Tuberculosis Machine approved by
ICMR for COVID-19 Testing

The Indian Council of Medical Research approved the use of
Tuberculosis machine for conducting COVID-19 tests.
Currently India is using the RT-PCR (Real time-Polymerase
Chain Reaction) testing recommended by the US and approved by FDA. Along with
this, the ICMR has recommended the use of Truenat test. The Truenat test is
currently used to detect drug-resistant TB.

Study: Impacts of COVID-19 lowered
due to BCG Vaccination

Researchers of biomedical sciences of New York Institute of
Technology say that the countries such as Netherlands, Italy and United States
are more severely affected than countries with BCG policies. The Bacilus
Calmette-Guerin vaccine that had been administered in India to protect the
children against Tuberculosis, according to the study might be a game changer.
Iran, according to the study started BCG programme late in
1984, had elevated mortality rate. Brazil on the other hand that began the
programme early had lower mortality rate. Around 180 countries were studied.
Out of these 157 are currently using BCG programme. Several European countries
that have higher mortality rates have dropped the programme between 1963 and
2010.

Short
Notes

National Health Authority partners
with Uber: Dedicated Transport Services for Health care workers.
FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup to
be hosted by India in November, Postponed due to COVID-19.
Hockey India donates additional 75
lakh rupees towards PM-CARES Fund.
Odisha government launches online
cultural competition to engage children during lockdown.
Bihar Govt decides to screen 1 lakh
80 thousand people again for COVID-19 infection.