Current Affairs 2020 Current Affairs October 2020 Bundi: Architectural Heritage of a Forgotten Rajput Capital The Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh Webinar series titled “Bundi: Architectural Heritage of a Forgotten Rajput Capital” on 24th October 2020 focused on Bundi, Rajasthan. Bundi is a district in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan. Bundi was the erstwhile capital of Hada Rajput province known as Hadoti located in south-eastern Rajasthan. Bundi is also known as City of stepwalls, blue city and also as Chotti Kashi. Bundi was known as Chotti Kashi owing to presence of over hundred temples within and around the hada capital. Temples constructed in early phase of Bundi’s growth were is classical Nagara style, while in later phases new temple typologies emerged from amalgamation of architectural form of traditional haveli with the classical Nagara style. Jain temples formed third type of temple type constructed in an introvert form. A fourth temple type emerged in the form of raised or elevated temple. Absence of monumentality in their scale is a distinctive feature of temples in Bundi. AIM Launched India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE) AIM (Atal Innovation Mission), in association with CSIRO, is organizing a two-day hackathon on circular economy, ‘India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE)’, on 7 and 8 December. The idea of I-ACE was conceived during a virtual summit on 4 June, between the Indian and Australian prime ministers, exploring innovative ways to boost circular economy in India and Australia. The four key themes for the hackathon are as follows: Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste Creating opportunities for plastic waste reduction Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste Arjun Munda launched two Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda launched two Centers of Excellence for Tribal Welfare. These centers were launched in collaboration between the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Art of Living through video conference. The first initiative ‘Strengthening PRIs’ will be launched in 5 districts covering 30 Gram Panchayats and 150 villages of Jharkhand, in creating awareness among elected representatives of PRI about various Tribal Acts. The second is about training 10000 tribal farmers in Aurangabad District of Maharashtra on sustainable natural farming based on Go-Adharith farming techniques. Farmers will be helped in getting the Organic certification and the marketing opportunities will be made available to them to make each of them Atmanirbhar Tribal Farmers. Current Affairs 2020 Suture zone in Ladakh is tectonically active, could alter earthquake study The suture zone of the Himalayas or the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) in the Ladakh region, where the Indian and Asian Plates are joined, has been found to be tectonically active, as against current understanding that it is a locked zone. This could have major implications in terms of earthquake study, prediction, understanding the seismic structure of the mountain chains well as its evolution. Himalaya were known to be made up of north dipping thrusts like the Main Central Thrust (MCT), the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), and the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT). As per the established models, all of these thrusts except MFT are locked, and overall deformation in Himalaya is being accommodated only along with the MFT. The new findings, which suggest a more remote fault at the suture zone being neo-tectonically active, could call for a serious relook into the existing evolutionary models using new techniques and a larger geological database. A 100 million-year-old fish has been discovered in Kerala A 100 million-year-old fish has been discovered in Kerala which is named after the dark and conflicted character of JRR Tolkien’s epic saga movie ‘Lord of the Rings’. ‘Aenigmachanna gollum’ belongs to an old family of fish, called dragon snakeheads, which retains its primitive characteristics after all these millennia. It looks like a dragon, swims like an eel, and has remained hidden for a hundred million years. Besides the Gollum, a sister species has also been discovered, called ‘Aenigmachanna mahabali’. The discovery of a new family of fish is very rare. The dragon snakeheads have evaded scientists till now because they live in subterranean aquifers and come to the surface only after heavy flooding from rain. The lack of evolution can be seen in the shortened swim bladder of the dragon snakeheads as well as fewer vertebrae with ribs. These indicate that the family is less specialised than regular snakeheads. The family also has eyes and a reddish brown pigmentation, which is unusual as most subterranean fish are pale and have no eyes. What’s next in Future-Reliance vs Amazon? A tribunal in Singapore restrained Future Group and Reliance Industries Limited from proceeding with a Rs 24,713-crore deal signed in August for Future Retail to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance Retail and Fashionstyle. The emergency order by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) came on a plea from global e- commerce giant Amazon. Singapore has emerged as the preferred location for international arbitration involving Indian companies as foreign investors typically want to avoid the rigmarole of the Indian courts. According to the 2019 annual report of SIAC, India was the top user of its arbitration seat with 485 cases being referred to SIAC, followed by Philippines at 122, China at 76 and the United States at 65. India now has its own international arbitration centre in Mumbai. But in context of arbitration, this is a recent development. Current Affairs 2020 Gadkari laid Foundation Stones of 9 NH projects in Tripura Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari virtually laid the foundation stones of nine National Highway projects with a total length of nearly 262 kms worth over Rs 2752 crore in Tripura. The Projects, on completion, will provide faster and hassle-free inter-state and international connectivity to Bangladesh, and will be a major stride towards strengthening tourism sector of the State. The Projects include: 1. Jolaibari - Belonia of NH-108A 2. Kailashahar - Kumarghat of NH-208 3. Khayerpur to Amtali (Agartala bypass) of NH-08 4. Agartala – Khowai of NH-108B 5. Kailashahar to Kurti bridge of NH-208A 6. Manu-Simlung of NH-44A 7. RCC Bridge over river Muhuri & RCC Bridge over river Gomati 8. Strengthening of Churaibari-Agartala section with paved shoulder of NH-08 9. Geometric improvement on Churaibari-Agartala section of NH-44 Defence Minister dedicated BRO road in East Sikkim to the nation Defence Minister dedicated the 19.85 kilometre alternate alignment of the national highway 310 in Sikkim. He has complimented the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for its unwavering commitment towards delivering outstanding quality infrastructure in record time and optimal costs. National Highway 310 (NH-310) traverses the state of Sikkim in India. Necessitated due to the previous alignment having seen extensive damages due to sinking and other natural hazards, the road serves as an important link to bolster defence preparedness in the Nathu-La Sector in particular and in whole of East Sikkim in general. The road was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Male govt employees now entitled for child care leave The male employees of the government are also now entitled to Child Care Leave (CCL). However, the provision of Child Care Leave (CCL) will be available only for those male employees who happen to be “single male parent”. This may include male employees who are widowers or divorcees or even unmarried and may therefore, be expected to take up the responsibility of child care as a single - handed parent. The orders regarding this had been issued quite some time back but somehow did not receive enough circulation in the public. An employee on Child Care Leave may now leave the head quarter with the prior approval of Competent Authority. In addition, the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) may be availed by the employee even if he is on Child Care Leave. Child Care Leave can be granted at 100% of leave salary for the first 365 days and 80% of leave salary for the next 365 days. In case of a disabled child, the condition of availing Child Care Leave up to the age of 22 years of the child has been removed and now Child Care Leave can be availed by a government servant for a disabled child of any age. Current Affairs 2020 The plasma therapy debate Recently published findings on convalescent plasma therapy on Covid-19 patients have triggered a debate over its efficacy. After the country’s largest such trial, known by the acronym PLACID, found that convalescent plasma was ineffective in arresting Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been considering dropping this option from the national guidelines. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. Convalescent plasma, extracted from the blood of patients recovering from an infection, is a source of antibodies against the infection. The Plasma therapy involves using their plasma to help others recover. For Covid-19, this has been one of the treatment options. The donor would have to be a documented case of Covid-19 and healthy for 28 days since the last symptoms. While use of convalescent plasma seemed to improve resolution of shortness of breath and fatigue in patients with moderate Covid-19, this did not translate into a reduction in 28-day mortality or progression to severe disease. The ICMR has been cautious because of the trial findings. Experts said, however, that guidelines are not necessarily binding and it is too early to dismiss convalescent plasma therapy. .