KERALA
- Good result in filariasis survey among students
- No new cases of filariasis have been reported in the second phase of the transmission assessment survey (TAS) among students in the district.
- According to World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, TAS is used as a surveillance tool to ensure that infection levels remain below target thresholds.
- TAS is conducted to study the transmission of filariasis among students and to evaluate whether the disease is transmitted to the next generation.
- A parasitic disease caused by mosquitoes which infects the human body through tiny filarial worms, filariasis has been under check in the district following a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme.
INTERNATIONAL
- Facebook launched Facebook Hubs to aid start ups
- Facebook launched‘Facebook Hubs’ at 20 locations in India to support the start-up ecosystem in the country. These hubs will help foster innovation and support for the community by hosting mentor hours and trainings, workshops, roundtable discussions. The company has partnered with co-working company 91springboard. These hubs will be part of a global network for training and mentoring facilities for start-ups, among others.
- World Kidney Day: 14 March 2019
- The World Kidney Day 2019 is being observed on March 14, 2019.
- This Day is observed annually on the second Thursday in March
- It aims to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys.
- Theme: ‘Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere’.
- As per the World Health Organisation, kidney diseases are responsible for almost 1.5 per cent of the current global burden of disease and for 2.1 per cent of the total deaths.
- It is the 12th leading cause of death globally.
NATIONAL
- ECI to launch cVIGIL on 18th March
- Election Commission of Indiahas developed cVIGIL, a mobile app, for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. ‘cVIGIL’ stands for ‘Vigilant Citizen’. It is expected to be launched on 18th March 2019. It will be available on Google Playstore. Complaints regarding the model code of conduct and violations can be lodged in during election time.
- To lodge a complaint, a voter should download the app from Google Play Store. Photos and two-minute video clippings regarding the violation including threatening of voters, causing enmity between voters on caste and religious lines, character assassination of candidates, can be uploaded via the app. Complainants also have the option to remain anonymous. Within 100 minutesof filing the complaint, the complainant will receive feedback on the action taken.
- RBI to inject rupee liquidity through Forex swap
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)has decided to inject rupee liquidity into the system through long-term foreign exchange buy/sell swap, a first-of-its-kind instrument, used for liquidity management.
- The RBI would conduct dollar-rupee buy/sell swap auction of$5 billion for a three-year tenor on March 26. The U.S. dollar amount mobilised through this auction would also reflect in RBI’s foreign exchange reserves for the tenor of the swap while also reflecting in RBI’s forward liabilities.
- This move of RBI can lower the dependence onopen market operations (OMO) which have been a significant amount of the overall borrowing as higher OMOs can distort the rates curve.
- ECI to launch Observer App
- The Election Commission of India (ECI)is to launch the Observer App, a mobile application, that will help poll observers to submit reports.
- The poll observers will get all theimportant notifications and alerts through the ‘Observer App’. It will also help them get their deployment status and download the ID card.
- As the observers will be involved in real-time disposal of cases of violation of the Model Code of Conduct and expenditure received through another mobile application ‘cVIGIL’,those details will also be available on the ‘Observer App’.
- DRDO successfully test fired Man Portable Anti-tank Guided Missile
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) in the desert ranges of Rajasthan.
- The MPATGM is a third-generationanti-tank guided missile (ATGM) comes loaded with a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead. It has a maximum engagement range of about 5 kilometers.
- The indigenously developed missile has features like a state-of-the-art imaging infrared radar seeker with integrated avionics.
- IIT Kharagpur Inks MoU With C-DAC For High Performance Computing Facility & Data Center
- The IIT Kharagpur has signed an MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)to set up a Petaflop high performance computing facility.
- It also includes setting up a data center funded under the National Supercomputing Mission.
- PetaFlop is the measurement of computing power based on the frequency of mathematical calculations that can be done per second.
- Setting up of the 1.3 PetaFlop high performance computing facility and data center is going to change the face of computation-based research and development in India.
- India to host U-17 Women’s Football World Cup in 2020
- India will host the Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup in 2020.
- This was announced by the President of International Football Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino after the council meeting in Miami, USA.
- This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017.