Current Affairs - 2019-20

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India’s first automatic coastal warning for disasters will come up in Odisha from July 2017. Through alert system, Odisha will be able to warn its coastal population by pressing a single button from a control room in the Odisha capital in the event of natural disasters like tsunami or cyclone. The loud sirens will then go off simultaneously from towers at 122 spots locations including tourist destinations, fish landing centres and coastal habitations. The new system will also enable authorities to alert people in smaller pockets, depending on the severity of the disaster.

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Before April 2019, National Housing Bank (NHB) was a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBI. RBI sold its 100% equity to government in 2019 and now its owner is Government of India. This was done to end the cross-holding in the regulatory institutions as per the Narasimham-II committee report’s recommendations.

Notes:
∠ACB = 180° – 120° = 60°
AB = AC
∴ ∠ABC = ∠ACB = 60°
∴ ∠BAC = 60°
Hence option [B] is the right answer.

Notes:
The 1504 kilometers of Western DFC cover Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and UP. The Eastern DFC cover UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Punjab and Haryana.

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Generally, diabetes patients are advised to avoid eating rice. But recently, researchers in India have identified a high-yielding variety of white rice with low Glycemic Index (GI) that is not harmful for diabetic patients and hence can be consumed by them. The newly identified variety of white rice has low Glycemic Index (GI), a measurement that indicates a particular type of carbohydrate-containing food’s impact on a person’s blood glucose (also called blood sugar) level. This white rice variety was found on the “Chapati Gurmatiya” race of rice, which is a traditional cultivated variety of paddy in Chhattisgarh.

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Recently, the Gujarat state government has introduced a new concept called “Bal Doctor” (Kid Doctor) who will look after children’s health under the school health programme. These Bal Doctors will be equipped with stethoscopes and medicines which they will dispense to their classmates. Also they will be given a stock of Ayurvedic medicines to deal with any health-related issue. Under the plan, government wants One Bal Doctor to be appointed in each primary school for which the state education department and the health department will function jointly. These Bal Doctors will encourage other students to wash their hands before mid-day meal and will also monitor Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme (of the National Health Mission).

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India transformed from a low-income country in 1960 to lower-middle income country in 2008, and now is thriving to achieve the status of upper-middle income country. The category is decided based on criteria set by the World Bank. The current criteria by the World Bank are- $1006 – $3955 of per capita income for lower-middle income country and $3956 – $ 12235 per capita income for upper-middle income countries. The Per Capita Income of India as per the World Bank’s 2016 estimate is $ 1670.

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Monero (XMR) is an open-source cryptocurrency created in April 2014 that focuses on privacy, decentralisation and scalability.

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Pepper is being billed as the first “emotionally intelligent” robot. Miko is India’s first emotionally intelligent” robot.

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BGR-34 is an anti-diabetic Ayurvedic drug developed by the research wing of the Science and Technology Ministry. It was recently in news when it was placed 14^th among the top branded drugs manufactured by multinational Pharma companies, according to a survey by the All Indian Origin Chemists and Distributors (AIOCD). The Ayurvedic drug 'BGR-34' was launched in 2015, and has been developed jointly by two CSIR laboratories, National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plant (CIMAP). It is prepared by a combination of natural extracts from four plants mentioned in Ayurveda, and it helps in treatment of type-II diabetes. It works as antioxidant and checks free radicals, thus, boosting our immune system. It helps to maintain the normal blood glucose levels, and reduces chances of complications due to persistent high blood glucose levels. Therefore, it imparts a good quality life to patients with high blood sugar levels.