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Current Affairs - 17 November 2020

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1.National Epilepsy Day: November 17
  • Every year, the National Epilepsy Day is celebrated on November 17.
  • The day is celebrated to create awareness about epilepsy.
  • Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder. It results in recurrent fits or seizures.
  • The seizures occur due to sudden and excessive discharges occurring in brain cells or neurons.
  • Mostly epilepsy occurs in patients who are over the age of 65 and in children.
2.Japan and Australia poised to sign defence pact to counter China
  • Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, agree to sign a defence agreement on Tuesday in a bid to counter China's growing influence in the South China Sea and over the Pacific island nations.
  • South China Morning Post reported PM Morrison's arrival in Japan on Tuesday where security experts expect him to wind up a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Suga to establish a legal framework for their troops to visit for to conduct military joint operations and training.
  • This defence agreement has taken six years to negotiate and would need to be ratified by lawmakers of both countries.
  • Tokyo and Canberra are seeking closer ties as they worry about Chinese activity in the region, including militarisation in the South China Sea.
Foot Notes:
About Japan:
Prime Minister: Yoshihide Suga 
Capital: Tokyo
Currency: Japanese yen
 
About Australia:
Prime minister: Scott Morrison 
Capital: Canberra
Currency: Australian dollar
 
3.High Commission of India launches Special Edition wrist watches for Mujib Centenary year in Dhaka
  • A limited series of special edition wristwatches was released in Dhaka today for the Mujib Centenary year ‘Mujib Borsho’. The special edition watches was released by the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader and the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami 
  • The wrist watches in this limited edition series bear the images of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his signature representing the timelessness of the message of Bangabandhu and its eternal relevance.
  • Bangladesh is celebrating the birth centenary year of its founder president and Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The government of Bangladesh has declared the period from March 17, 2020, to March 26, 2021 as the Mujib Borsho marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu.
Foot Notes:
About Bangladesh:
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Bangladeshi taka
Prime Minister: Shiekh Hasina

4.Bharat Biotech starts Phase III trials of COVAXIN
  • Bharat Biotech has announced commencement of Phase III trials of COVAXIN yesterday. The Phase III trials will involve 26,000 volunteers across India, conducted in partnership with ICMR. It is the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India.
  • This is India’s first phase 3 efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, and the largest phase III efficacy trial ever conducted in India. The trial has been registered at www.ctri.nic.in and approved by the Drugs Controller General of India.
  • COVAXIN has been evaluated in 1000 subjects in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogencity data. Volunteers who wish to participate in this trial should be adults over 18 years of age.
  • COVAXIN, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research - National Institute of Virology. This indigenous, inactivated vaccine is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 bio-containment facility.
Foot Notes:
About Bharat Biotech:
Founder: Dr. Krishna M. Ella
Founded: 1996
Headquarters: Hyderabad
Executive director: Dr. V Krishna Mohan
 
5.DIPAM inks agreement with World Bank for advisory services on asset monetization
  • Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) signed an agreement with World Bank on Monday. Under the agreement, World Bank is to provide advisory services to DIPAM for asset monetization, said Ministry of Finance in an official release. DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetization of non-core assets of government CPSEs under strategic disinvestment or closure and enemy property of the value of Rs 100 crore and above. DIPAM has a framework for monetizing non-core assets.
  • Under the agreement, World Bank is to provide advisory services to DIPAM for asset monetization.
  • DIPAM is mandated with facilitating monetization of non-core assets of government CPSEs under strategic disinvestment or closure and enemy property of value of Rs. 100 crore and above.
  • DIPAM has a framework for monetizing non-core assets.
6.Second phase of Malabar exercise begins in northern Arabian Sea
  • The navies of India, the US, Australia and Japan on Tuesday began the second phase of the Malabar naval exercise in the northern Arabian Sea involving two aircraft carriers and a number of frontline warships, submarines and maritime reconnaissance aircraft, officials said.
  • The major highlight of the four-day exercise is participation of Indian Navy’s Vikramaditya carrier battle group and the Nimitz strike group of the US Navy. The USS Nimitz is the world’s largest warship.
  • The first phase of the Malabar exercise took place in the Bay of Bengal from November 3 to 6 and featured a number of complex drills including anti-submarine and anti-air warfare operations.
Foot Notes:
About US:
Capital: Washington, D.C.
President: Joe Biden
Currency: US dollar 
 
7. IIT Guwahati formulates efficient “pincer” catalytic systems that transform biomass wastes into valuable chemicals
  • A research team of IIT Guwahati has formulated efficient “pincer” catalytic systems that transform biomass wastes into valuable chemicals. Tiny amounts of these “pincer catalysts” repeatedly convert large amounts of industrial waste such as glycerol into lactic acid and hydrogen 
  • Official sources said that such catalysts also efficiently convert bioethanol, a low-energy density fuel, into high-energy density butanol. The conversion of valuable intermediates such as glycerol and ethanol, produced during the processing of biomass, into industrially useful chemicals has elicited much interest worldwide.
8.Sonu Sood appointed as the State Icon of Punjab by Election Commission
  • Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has been appointed as the state icon of Punjab by Election Commission.
  • The announcement was made on the Twitter handle by the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab. It read, "The real hero of people is now the state icon of Punjab - Sonu Sood"
  • The "Happy New Year" actor has helped several migrants amid the coronavirus lockdown by arranging foods and shelters for the people.
  • Earlier, Penguin Random House India had announced that the "Dabangg" actor will be penning an autobiography that will chronicle his experiences during the pandemic. The book will be co-written by Meena Iyer.
  • The autobiography will be titled as "I Am No Messiah."
Foot Notes:
About Punjab:
Capital: Chandigarh
Governor: V. P. Singh Badnore
Chief Minister: Amarinder Singh
 
9.Sports Ministry sanctions Rs 10 lakh for the treatment of hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh
  • Sports Ministry has sanctioned Rs 10 lakh towards thetreatment of hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh, who is suffering from a chronic kidney ailment and is currently on dialysis. 
  • The money, sanctioned under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons, was given to his wife Shivjeet Singh.
  • Mr. Singh, who was the coach of the Indian Hockey team, was an outstanding hockey player who represented India at various international events, including the 1988 Summer Olympics.
  • He was also a member of the Indian Hockey team that won the Asian Cup in 2007.
Foot Notes:
About Sports Ministry:
Minister: Kiren Rijiju
 
10.SpaceX Crew Dragon launches 4 astronauts to space station in 1st operational flight for NASA
  • SpaceX successfully launched its first operational space taxi flight for NASA Sunday, as a shiny white Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies above Kennedy Space Center here in Florida. 
  • The rocket lifted off from NASA's historic Pad 39 here at 7:27 p.m. EDT (0027 GMT on Nov. 16) carrying four astronauts in a Crew Dragon capsule to orbit, and then returned to Earth for a drone-ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • SpaceX's Crew-1 Dragon, called Resilience, is bound for the International Space Station (ISS), but instead of the traditional crew supplies and research experiments its cargo variant normally carries, this spacecraft carried a different type of cargo into space: three NASA astronauts, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
Foot Notes:
About SapceX:
Founder: Elon Musk
Founded: 6 May 2002
CEO: Elon Musk 
Headquarters: Hawthorne, California, United States
About NASA:
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Founded: 1 October 1958, United States
Administrator: Jim Bridenstine
 
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