STUDYBAY TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED May 28, 2020 STUDYBAY TIMES NATIONAL Parliament's Monsoon Session to convene soon Indian Parliament's Monsoon session is likely to convene soon at the central hall while following the social distancing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus. The two houses of the Parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are likely to sit on alternate days. The government is planning to begin the session at the end of August, delaying it slightly in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. The Monsoon session of the Parliament is generally held at the end of July. The government has taken the decision to hold the parliament session despite daily spike in the number of coronavirus positive cases. Government directs states to talk to pvt labs to reduce price of COVID-19 test The centre has asked state governments to hold talks with private laboratories to reduce the price of the COVID-19 test. The ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava wrote a letter to the Chief Secretaries of the States/ UTs on May 26, 2020 advising the state governments to negotiate with the private labs and fix up mutually agreeable prices for samples being sent by the government and also for private individuals who want to get their COVID tests done at these labs. Aarogya Setu becomes open source: What does it mean? India’s Aarogya Setu app, which is used for COVID-19 contact tracing, has now become an open source. The announcement was made by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on May 26, 2020. The Aarogya Setu app was launched to enable Covid-19 contact tracing, syndromic mapping and enable the user to conduct self-assessments of their health. The app also uses Bluetooth and location data to find out if the user has come in contact with a COVID-19 positive person or not. Health Ministry directs States and UTs for real time update of availability and consumption of HCQ The Union Health Ministry has asked all the states and Union Territories (UTs) to update the consumption and availability of hydroxychloroquine or HCQ tablets. The update must be provided on the national COCVID-19 portal as a real-time data. The Ministry stated that the update will help in the further action plan and to provide more HCQ tablets to UTs and states as per the requirement. Union Power Minister assessed the power infrastructure post Amphan The Union Minister of Power, RK Singh, on May 25 reviewed the restoration of power systems in Odisha and West Bengal post-cyclone Amphan via video conferencing. RK Singh, on the occasion mentioned that the cyclone caused extensive power disruptions but the restoration work has been carried out swiftly. He also informed that the Inter-State Transmission System was restored within a few hours. The Union Minister assured that the restoration of power had been completed in Odisha and the work has been in progress in Kolkata as well as some other districts of West Bengal. References:- https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/national-india-1283851987-catlistshow-1 1 STUDYBAY TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED May 28, 2020 INTERNATIONAL India's steel output declines by 65 percent World Steel Association India’s crude steel output declined by 65 percent to 3.13 million tonnes in April 2020, as per a report released by the World Steel Association on May 24, 2020. In comparison, the report stated that India had produced 9.02 million tonnes of steel in April 2019. India’s steel output in March 2020 declined by 14 percent in comparison to March 2019. This decline comes amid the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25, 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in India. The complete lockdown brought a halt to all economic activities, besides essential services, which impacted the production, demand and supply of steel in India. Worst recession hits India in the current fiscal year: CRISIL Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) on May 26 stated that India’s worst recession till date is here as it has been predicted that the economy will shrink by 5 percent in the current fiscal year.In its assessment of India’s GDP, CRISIL mentioned that the First Quarter (April to June 2020) will be suffering a staggering contraction of 25 percent. It will be the fourth recession since Independence and first since the Liberalisation. NASA’s WFIRST Hubble Telescope renamed after Nancy Grace Roman NASA has renamed its next-generation space telescope- Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), after the space agency’s first chief astronomer Nancy Grace Roman. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope or Roman Space Telescope is set for launch in 2025. NASA’s first Chief Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman had paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe. She is considered as the mother of Hubble Space Telescope, which had launched 30 years ago. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stated that it was because of Nancy Grace Roman’s leadership and vision that NASA became a pioneer in astrophysics and launched Hubble, the world’s most powerful space telescopes. He stated that he cannot think of a better name for WFIRST, which will be a successor to the Hubble and Webb space telescopes. COVID-19: Prototype vaccine protects monkeys from the virus Researchers have reported that a prototype vaccine has been protecting monkeys from Coronavirus. The report has offered new hope for the effective vaccine that will work on humans as well. Astrophysicists capture new class of astronomical transient objects A new astronomical transient that is faster, brighter, and heavier at radio wavelengths than its mysterious predecessors has been captured in the universe by the astrophysicists. After a bright burst was visually captured, in 2016, by the astronomers in a tiny galaxy 500 million lightyears away from Earth, a Northwestern University-led team determined that the anomaly is the third fast blue optical transient (FBOT) ever captured in X-ray and radio wavelengths. References:- https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/ 2 STUDYBAY TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED May 28, 2020 ARTICLES INDIAN LITERTURE – RAJTARANGINI Rajatarangini, (Sanskrit: “River of Kings”) historical chronicle of early India, written in Sanskrit verse by the Kashmiri Brahman Kalhana in 1148, that is justifiably considered to be the best and most authentic work of its kind. It covers the entire span of history in the Kashmir region from the earliest times to the date of its composition. Kalhana was excellently equipped for the work. Uninvolved personally in the maelstrom of contemporary politics. His access to minute details of contemporary court intrigues was almost direct: his father and uncle were both in the Kashmir court. Regarding the events of the past, Kalhana’s search for material was truly fastidious. He delved deep into such model works as the Harsacarita and the Brihat-samhita epics and used with commendable familiarity the local rajakathas (royal chronicles) and such previous works on Kashmir as Nripavali by Kshemendra, Parthivavali by Helaraja, and Nilamatapurana. He displayed surprisingly advanced technical expertise for the time in his concern for unconventional sources. He looked up a variety of epigraphic sources relating to royal eulogies, construction of temples, and land grants; he studied coins, monumental remains, family records, and local traditions. But his traditional conceptual framework, using uncritical assumptions and a belief in the role of the poet as an exponent of moral maxims, makes the idealizing content in his narrative, particularly for the early period, rather dominant. Rajatarangini, which consists of 7,826 verses, is divided into eight books. Book I attempts to weave imaginary tales of Kashmir kings into epic legends. Gonanda was the first king and a contemporary and enemy of the Hindu deity Krishna. Traces of genuine history are also found, however, in references to the Mauryan emperors Ashoka and Jalauka; the Buddhist Kushan kings Hushka (Huviska), Jushka (Vajheska), and Kanishka (Kaniska); and Mihirakula, a Huna king. Book II introduces a new line of kings not mentioned in any other authentic source, starting with Pratapaditya I and ending with Aryaraja. Book III starts with an account of the reign of Meghavahana of the restored line of Gonanda and refers to the brief reign of Matrigupta, a supposed contemporary of Vikramaditya Harsha of Malwa. There too, legend is mixed with reality, and Toramana Huna is incorporated into the line of Meghavahana. The book closes with the establishment of the Karkota Naga dynasty by Durlabhaka Pratapaditya II, and it is from Book IV on that Rajatarangini takes on the character of a dependable historical narrative. The Karkota line came to a close with the usurpation of the throne by Avantivarman, who started the Utpala dynasty in 855. In Books V and VI the history of the dynasty continues to 1003, when the kingdom of Kashmir passed on to a new dynasty, the Lohara. Book VII brings the narrative to the death of King Harsha (1101), and Book VIII deals with the stormy events between the death of Harsha and the stabilization of authority under Kalhana’s contemporary Jayasimha (reigned 1128–49). Reference- https://www.themysteriousindia.net/ruins-telhara-university-older-nalanda/ 3 STUDYBAY TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED May 28, 2020 ARTICLES INDIAN CONSTITUTION PREAMBLE WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.