Current Affairs April 2020 - COVID-19 SPECIAL

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1 - COVID-19 Fact Check Unit became operational

The COVID-19 Fact Check Unit became operational. The government had decided to constitute a COVID-19 Fact Check Unit (FCU) in the Press Information Bureau (PIB) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

FCU will receive messages by email at pibfactcheck@gmail.com to send response in a defined time-frame. The official version of any news on COVID-19 can be obtained from the Unit. The unit will be headed by DG, PIB Nitin Wakankar.

2 - C-DOT and Telecom Service Providers developed COVID Quarantine Alert System

The Department of Telecommunication and C-DOT in co-ordination with Telecom Service Providers developed and tested an application, which automatically triggers an email or SMS, if any identified corona positive person moves away from their quarantine location.

A Standard Operating Procedure for location based monitoring of potential cases from the telecom network data has been established. The system would send triggers to the identified monitoring agencies for any potential violations from the quarantined location subject to network availability and triangulation limitations.

3 - Geo-fencing app to locate quarantine violators

The government has tested an application named, COVID-19 Quarantine Alert System (CQAS), to trigger emails and SMS alerts to an authorised government agency, if a person has jumped quarantine or has escaped from isolation, based on the person’s mobile phone’s cell tower location.

Kerala is one of the first states to use this CQAS which combines telephone data, including device location, into a common secure platform and alerts local agencies, if COVID patients violate who are monitored or in isolation. Maharashtra government has introduced the MahaKavach app, which helps them to track the suspected COVID-19 cases in the state.

4 - NHA partnered with Uber to provide free rides for healthcare workers

Uber, in partnership with National Health Authority, has launched UberMedic service which provides our frontline healthcare workers safe, reliable and efficient transportation. The partnership will initially facilitate the provision of 150 cars free of cost to support medical facilities in New Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Patna.

UberMedic cars supplied to NHA will be equipped with roof-to-floor plastic sheeting enclosing the driver’s seat, thereby acting as a protective barrier between the rider and driver. Each UberMedic car will also be disinfected after every ride to ensure the highest possible safety and hygiene standards.

5 - DARPG launched “National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances”

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched DARPG’s National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances. The National Monitoring Dashboard was developed and implemented at https://darpg.gov.in, where COVID-19 related grievances are monitored on priority basis by a technical team of DARPG. The portal will be monitored at senior levels in Government on a daily basis.

The DARPG issued advisories to all line Ministries/ Departments and State Governments to ensure disposal of COVID 19 Public Grievance cases on priority basis preferably in 3-days time.

6 - Ministry of Tourism launched ‘Stranded in India’ portal

The Ministry of Tourism with an aim to extend support to the foreign tourists who are stranded in India, has come up with a portal to disseminate information regarding the services that can be availed by foreign tourists, who are stuck far away from their home land. The portal is titled ‘Stranded in India’ and aims to act as a support network for foreign tourists stuck in various parts of the country.

The portal strandedinindia.com consists of Comprehensive information around COVID-19 helpline numbers and help support section.

7 - IIT Bombay developed mobile app ‘CORONTINE’

A team at IIT Bombay designed a mobile app named ‘CORONTINE’ to help in tracking the potential or suspected asymptomatic carriers (AC) of coronavirus, if they leave their quarantine zone. With the help of GPS co-ordinates of the mobiles, app can auto track a user, if he/she leaves a specified quarantined zone marked by a geo-fence. App can send GPS coordinates on server under the supervision of AA.

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is a public technical and research university, found in 1958.

8 - AICTE launched “MHRD AICTE COVID-19 Student Helpline Portal”

Union HRD Minister launched MHRD AICTE COVID-19 Student Helpline Portal developed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi. Student Helpline Portal (https://helpline.aicte-india.org) will address the issues faced by students, due to closure of colleges and hostels amid national lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak.

The nature of support includes Accommodation, Food, on line Classes, Attendance, Examinations, Scholarships, Health, Transport, Harassment etc. Students in difficulty are encouraged to directly get connected with them through this portal.

9 - nCoVSENSE Module: Funded by DST to develop Rapid Test of COVID-19

The Department of Science & Technology has funded ‘Module Innovations”, a Pune based healthcare startup to develop a product for detecting COVID 19 with a 10 to 15 minute test. Module is now developing nCoVSENSEs (TM), which is a rapid test device for detection of antibodies that have been generated against the COVID 19 in the human body.

The nCoVSENSe test is aimed at detecting the IgG and IgM antibodies generated in the human body upon the onset of viral infection and is targeted against the Spike proteins making it specific for COVID 19.

10 - DST approved funding for developing a gel for nasal passage as prevention for COVID 19

Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is supporting a technology by the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering (DBB), IIT Bombay for capturing and inactivation of novel corona virus, the causative agent of COVID-19.

The funding will help the team of DBB, IIT Bombay develop a gel, that can be applied to nasal passage. This solution is expected to protect the safety of health workers and also lead to reduction in community transmission of COVID-19.

11 - Anti-Microbial Coating Technology developed by JNCASR

The Department of Science and Technology has approved a one-step curable anti-microbial coating developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). This coating is capable of completely killing the influenza virus and resistant pathogenic bacteria and fungi, including Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-19).

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the coating may be used to protect personal protective tools, clothes and equipment of health workers. It is anticipated that, the coating will not allow microorganisms to become active on coated surfaces.

12 - HUL united with UNICEF to support India to combat COVID-19

Hindustan Unilever partnered with UNICEF to support India's fight against COVID-19 and undertake a mass communication campaign to inform and empower the general public about the COVID-19 pandemic. The Campaign brings together the marketing expertise and scale of HUL and the technical knowledge of UNICEF to create engaging communication tools, that can help people change behaviours and stay safe during this time of the pandemic.

The mass media campaign titled '#BreakTheChain #VirusKiKadiTodo' generates short informative assets on social distancing, handwashing and generosity across India through television, news portals and prominent social media channels.

13 - Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched ‘COVID India Seva’

Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the "COVID India Seva". It is an interactive platform aimed at providing real time solutions to Covid-19 related queries. People can post their queries to the COVID INDIA SEVA twitter handle for getting swift replies from the team of trained experts.

Through this, people can pose queries @CovidIndiaSeva and get them responded to the same, in almost real time. It works off a dashboard at the backend that helps process large volumes of tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution.

14 - CSIR-NAL developed Personal Protective Coverall Suit to Combat COVID-19

CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru along with MAF Clothing Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru have developed and certified Polyproplylene spun laminated multi-layered non-woven fabric based Coverall to ensure the safety of Doctors, Nurses, Paramedical staff and Health Care workers, who are working round the clock to fight COVID-19.

The Coveralls have gone through stringent testing at SITRA, Coimbatore and have been qualified for use. The major advantages of these Coveralls are that, they are highly competitive in price as compared to other manufacturers and the import content is negligible.

15 - NBRI developed alcohol-based herbal sanitizer

National Botanical Research Institute, NBRI has developed alcohol-based herbal sanitizer. The product is developed under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR-Aroma Mission as per the World Health Organisation’s guidelines.

The herbal sanitizer contains Tulsi essential oil as herbal constituent, which is strong natural antimicrobial agent and 60% of isopropyl alcohol for killing germs. It has been clinically tested and found to be highly effective against surface microbes. The product will be available in the market under the brand name of ‘Clean Hand Gel’.

16 - MoRTH launched dashboard on its website to provide 'dhabas and repair shops' details

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has created a dashboard link on its website for providing list and details of Dhabas and Truck repair shops available across the country by various organisations like NHAI, States, Oil Marketing companies. The list can be accessed at .www.morth.nic.in.

National Highway Authority of India's centralised call number 1033 has also been activated to answer calls and provide information about the dhabaas and repair shops along National Highways.

17 - CSIR to test "sepsis drug" against novel coronavirus

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to develop/repurpose an approved immunomodulator, Sepsivac®, to enhance innate immunity of the body to limit the spread of COVID-19. Sepsivac® is expected to protect the close contacts of COVID-19 patients and health care staff, by boosting their innate response. It is also expected to provide quicker recovery to the hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

Sepsivac® contains heat-killed Mycobacterium W (Mw). It is found to be extremely safe in patients and no systemic side effects are associated with its use. Sepsivac® is manufactured by Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ahmedabad.

18 - Science communication initiative “Covid Gyan” launched

An initiative “Covid Gyan” has been launched by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and Tata Memorial Centre (TMC). Covid Gyan website serves as a hub to bring together, a collection of resources in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. These resources are generated by public supported research institutions and associated programs.

The primary objective of this website is to create public awareness and bring in a holistic approach, to the understanding of this disease and potential means to mitigate it. The content presented here, relies on the best available scientific understanding of the disease and its transmission.

19 - UNODC launched ‘Lockdown Learners’ series for students, teachers of India

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has launched a ‘Lockdown Learners’ series of online dialogues with students and educators in India on COVID-19 and its impact on Sustainable Development Goals, peace and rule of law. The dialogues have been launched by the United Nations body under its flagship Education for Justice initiative.

The Lockdown Learners series, also provides a platform for students to receive mentorship and knowledge support through activity-based learning.

20 - IIIT-Delhi developed ‘WashKaro’ app

Researchers at IIIT-Delhi have developed an app, WashKaro app, which warns people about a coronavirus containment zone nearby and helps them check, whether a news item about the pandemic is genuine or fake. The research team had also presented the app at the World Health Conference in Geneva through video conferencing.

WashKaro app houses Covid-Tracer, which tells people if their safety is compromised because, they are close to a coronavirus hotspot. It uses bluetooth technology for communication and does not need internet or location services.

21 - CISF launched ‘e-karyalay’ app for movement of files

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has launched an e-office application, that enables movement of files and documents without physical touch. The application called ''e-karyalay'' (electronic office) has been designed, by the in-house technical team of the force.

The application has been hosted at CISF cloud with all security arrangements in place to safeguard the data. A data recovery site has also been established to maintain round-the-clock services of e-karyalay.

22 - IIT Delhi researchers develop web-based COVID-19 dashboard ‘PRACRITI’

IIT Delhi researchers have developed a web-based dashboard for predicting the spread of COVID-19 in India. The mobile-friendly dashboard, named as PRACRITI (Prediction and Assessment of Corona Infections and Transmission in India), gives detailed state-wise and district-wise predictions of COVID-19 cases in India. The projections are given for a three-week period, which is updated on a weekly basis.

PRACRITI provides the R0 values of each district and state in India based on the data available from sources such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and WHO.

23 - CSIR to begin trial on anti-leprosy drug for COVID-19 vaccine

The Council of Science and Industrial Research is scheduled to begin its trials on the anti-leprosy vaccine called Mw (Mycobacterium w), to see, if it can be used as a Covid-19 vaccine. CSIR along with Gujarat-based pharma-giant Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. would be working on Mw vaccine for Covid-19.

Three hospitals will also be involved in this clinical trial, which includes AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Bhopal and PGI Chandigarh. This would be a three-part trial. The trials will compare the safety and the desired results in COVID-19 patients but not in the ones who are critical.