Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 November 2020
Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 21 November 2020
::NATIONAL::
Virtual court and e-challanproject
- The Assam government recently launched Virtual Court (traffic) and e-Challan project.
- E-challan solution is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) whereas the software has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).
- It will replace the present concept of manual challan with an electronically generated digital challan.
- Virtual court is an initiative of E-Commitee of Supreme Court along with Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.
- There is no brick and mortar building of the court.
- In a trial by Virtual Court, neither litigant shall come to the court nor will Judge have to sit physically in the court to adjudicate the case.
- The communication may only be in electronic form and the sentencing and further payment of fine or compensation will also be online.
- Only single process is allowed and there can be no argument. It may be proactive admission of guilt by the accused or proactive compliance of the cause by defendant on receipt of the summons in electronic form.
National Newborn Week 2020
- Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan today chaired an event to mark the National Newborn Week 2020.
- It is being observed from 15th to 21st November.
- It aims to reinforce the importance of newborn health as a key priority area of the health sector and to reiterate the commitment at the highest level.
- This year, the theme of National Newborn Week is ‘Quality, Equity, Dignity for every newborn at every health facility and everywhere.
::ECONOMY::
Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project
- India and World Bank signed 120 million USD loan to modernise transport sector in the state of Meghalaya.
- The project aims to improve 300 km of strategic road segment through climate resilient and nature-basedsolution.
- It will also position Meghalaya as a major connecting hub for international trade through the Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, and the Nepal Corridor.
::INTERNATIONAL::
India ranks 77 in global bribery risk matrix
- India is at 77th position with a score of 45 in a global list that measures business bribery risks of 2020.
- It is released by TRACE, world leading anti-bribery standard setting organization.
- India ranked 77th among 194 countries. India has performed better than China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- North Korea presents the highest commercial bribery risk, while Denmark the lowest.
- Score is calculated based on four parameters. These are
- Government and civil service transparency.
- Business interactions with government.
- Capacity for civil society oversight.
- Anti-bribery deterrents and enforcement.
Science and Technology
Antimalaria drug resistance
- Malaria killed 405,000 people in 2018 and affected 218 million people. However, the fight against this killer is becoming difficult due to the growing resistance against malarial drugs.
- The report, released as part of the ongoing World Antimicrobial Awareness week, was prepared on the basis of studies conducted from 2010-2019.
- Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are the first and second line of treatment for malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (P falciparum). This parasite causes a majority of malarial cases in the WHO’s African and South-East Asian regions, the hubs of the disease.
- A global database containing data from 1,046 studies conducted from 2010-2019 and involving 65,749 patients was analysed for the section of the report on P falciparum.
- ACTs are combined with other drugs. The role of the artemisinin compound is to reduce the number of parasites during the first three days of treatment (i.e reduce parasite biomass).
- The role of the partner drug is to eliminate the remaining parasites (i.e cure the infection). Six ACT combinations are usually prescribed.
Sports
ICC postpones women’s T20 World Cup
- The South African edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup was postponed by three months to February 2023 to avoid a cluster a big-ticket events in 2022 and manage players’ workload.
- The tournament was scheduled in November 2022 but will now be held in February 2023 notified by International Cricket Council (ICC).
- It will provide a better workload balance for players giving them the best possible opportunity to perform to the highest levels on a global stage.