UTTARAKHAND
Uttarakhand govt gets permit for sand mining, extraction of other minor minerals till June 30
With the state’s coffers running dry due to Covid-19-incduced lockdown, the Uttarakhand government got permission for sand mining and extraction of other minor minerals till June 30 this year to tide over the crisis.
This year in March and April, minor minerals extraction and sand mining could not be conducted and on May 31 the rivers were officially closed for mining.
The permission has been given for mining at seven river stretches, out of which four are in Nainital (Gaula, Kosi, Dabka, Nandhaur/Kailash) and one each at Haridwar (Kotawali), Pauri (Malan) and Chamapawat (Sharda).
INTERNATIONAL
World Blood Donor Day: 14 June
Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD).
The significance of this event is to celebrate and thank all the blood donors in the world who have selflessly donated blood and thus saved a life unknowingly.
It also helps to raise awareness and thus gather more donors to be part of the good deed.
2020 theme: Save Blood Save Lives
NATIONAL
Central Railway launches Robotic ‘CAPTAIN ARJUN’ to intensify screening, surveillance
Railway Protection Force, Pune has launched a Robotic ‘CAPTAIN ARJUN’ (Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice) to intensify the screening and surveillance.
This Robot is launched to screen passengers while they board trains and keep a watch on anti-social elements.
Captain ARJUN is equipped with a motion sensor, one PTZ camera and one Dome Camera.
The Cameras use Artificial Intelligence algorithms to track suspicious and antisocial activity.
It also has an inbuilt siren, motion activated spotlight, with an in-built internal storage for recording in case there is a network failure.
Captain ARJUN does thermal screening and records the temperature in a digital display panel.
Union Agriculture Minister launches ‘Sahakar Mitra’ Internship programme to provide paid internship to youth
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched Sahakar Mitra Internship programme to provide paid internship to youth and ensure availability of assured project loans to young cooperators.
Launching the scheme, Mr. Tomar said that, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), has embarked upon a series of initiatives in the cooperative sector entrepreneurship development ecosystem, through capacity development.
Sahakar Mitra Scheme will provide the young professionals an opportunity of practical exposure and learning from the working of NCDC and cooperatives as a paid intern.
Under the scheme, professionals in disciplines including Agriculture and allied areas, IT, Agri-business, Cooperation, Finance, International Trade, Forestry, Rural Development, Project Management will be eligible for the paid internship.
Loss of smell, taste included as new symptoms of Coronavirus
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued the clinical management protocol for Covid-19.
Loss of smell and loss of taste are included as new symptoms of coronavirus amongst others.
The Health Ministry suggested that investigational therapies and drugs-Remdesivir, Convalescent Plasma Therapy, Tociluzimab and Hydroxychloroquine should only be used in a defined subgroup of Covid patients.
The Health Ministry also suggested that use of Tocilizumab may be considered in patients with moderate disease with progressively increasing oxygen requirements and in mechanically ventilated patients, not improving despite use of steroids.
Govt launches AarogyaPath portal for healthcare supply chain
AarogyaPath, a web based solution for the healthcare supply chain was launched to serve manufacturers, suppliers and customers to effectively deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
This national healthcare supply chain portal will remove supply chain bottlenecks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vision of this initiative is to set up an information management and forecasting database platform at national level.
It will capture demand and supply scenarios for key healthcare needs items.
This public platform will help healthcare users like hospitals, pathology laboratories, research institutes, medical colleges and patients.
It will also provide seamless access to suppliers, manufacturers and importers for prevailing needs and demand related to medical equipment, diagnostic instruments, drugs, Personal Protective Equipment, respiratory assistance devices.
India remains 108th in the FIFA Rankings
India retained in the 108th spot in the latest FIFA world rankings which was revealed for the month of June. India has 1187 points.
Belgium has topped (remains) the FIFA Rankings.
Not many changes were noted in the FIFA ranking as international matches have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The men’s national teams in association football are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest.