Category: Science and Technology Current Affairs

Remdesivir : Remdesivir is an injectable anti-virus. It is injected to prevent replication of the virus. The Remdesivir was created in 2014. It was manufactured on large scale to treat Ebola. Later it was used to treat SARS and MERS. Recently, after the COVID-19 crisis, it has been repurposed for COVID-19 treatment The shortage of […]

DGFT ‘Trade Facilitation’ Mobile App: Union Commerce & Industry Minister launched DGFT ‘Trade Facilitation’ Mobile App for promoting ease of doing business and providing quick access to information to importers/exporters. It has been developed by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), as per the directions of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Trade facilitation App […]

Second Phase Of The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): The second phase of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) will be completed by September 2021, taking India’s total computational capacity to 16 Petaflops. About the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): NSM was announced in 2015, with an aim to connect national academic and R&D institutions with a grid […]

Sputnik V: Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine — Sputnik V — has been recommended for emergency use authorization in India following a meeting of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC). If approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Sputnik V would be the third vaccine to be made available in India after the Serum Institute of […]

Noura al-Matroushi : UAE’s First Woman Astronaut: The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts for its space programme, including the country’s first woman astronaut. Noura al-Matroushi has been identified as the UAE’s first woman astronaut, with her male counterpart as Mohammed al-Mulla. The two will undergo training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in […]

NASA’s Mars Odyssey Spacecraft: NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft marks 20 years of mapping the red planet. NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft launched 20 years ago on April 7, has made it the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet. The orbiter, which takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke’s classic sci-fi novel “2001: A Space […]

B.1.617: The “Double Mutant” Virus: The “double mutant” virus that scientists had flagged last month as having a bearing on the spread of the pandemic in India, has a formal scientific classification: B.1.617. The variant is common in India and has a couple of defining mutations, E484Q and L425R, that enable it to become more […]

African Swine Fever: An outbreak of suspected African swine fever (ASF) has killed 276 domestic pigs in Lunglei district of Mizoram. As a part of the preventive measures, the local authorities have restricted the procurement and supply of pigs from and to the affected area and the district beyond. About African Swine Fever (ASF): ASF […]

2050 Net-Zero Goal: John Kerry, the US President’s Special Envoy on Climate, is currently on a three-day visit to India. One of the objectives of Kerry’s visit is to explore whether India can agree to the possibility of pledging itself to a 2050 net-zero goal. Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Based Portal ‘SUPACE’: The Chief Justice of India (CJI) launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based portal ‘SUPACE’ in the judicial system aimed at assisting judges with legal research. SUPACE is short for Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency. Earlier, the E-Courts Project was conceptualized on the basis of “National Policy […]