1)Indian Council of Medical Research has revised its advisory on the use of HCQ (Hydroxychloroquine). Under the new advisory guidelines, the HCQ should be given only on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. The advisory was issued after the Joint Monitoring Group held its meeting. The meeting was attended by ICMR, NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control), WHO (World Health Organization) and National Disaster Management Authority.
2)The US President Donald Trump recently announced that USA is to withdraw from Open Skies treaty. The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in 2002. The treaty established an aerial surveillance system for its participants. Both US and Russia are signatories of the treaty. The treaty is considered as one of the most wide-ranging arms control effort that promotes transparency and openness amongst military forces.
3)The policy committee met in an emergency meeting to review the current economic outlook and impacts of COVID-19. The RBI has reduced the repo rate from 4.4% to 4%. It has reduced the reverse repo rate to 3.35%. The RBI also announced that the reduction in policy rate is to be provided as long as the economic growth in the country is to be mitigated. The manufacturing activity in the country has fallen down by 21% post COVID19. Also, the output from core industries has fell by 6.5%.
4)United Nations listed KHUDOL initiative of Manipur as one of the top 10 global initiatives to fight against COVID-19. KHUDOL is an initiative of a NGO called Ya_All. Under the initiative, the NGO provides food, hygiene and health of LGBTQ community, daily wage workers, people with AIDS. The organization mobilized network of 100 volunteers. Through the volunteers the organization distributed 1000 health kits, 1500 condoms and 6500 sanitary pads. Manipur has been creating inclusive safe space for the transgender community. The state has been taking extra care towards the transgenders as compared to other states. Separate rooms and toilets were established for the transgender community.
5)Union Agriculture Minister said that Government of India is promoting Beekeeping as part of its aim to double farmers’ income by 2024. Government has allocated Rs.500 crore towards Beekeeping under the Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan. India is among the world’s top five honey producers. Compared to 2005-06 honey production has risen by 242% and exports shot by 265%. The National Bee Board has created four modules to impart training as part of the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) and 30 lakh farmers have been trained in beekeeping. Government has launched ‘Honey Mission’ as part of ‘Sweet Revolution.’
6)A report on ‘status of persons with disabilities in India during the COVID-19 crisis’, was released by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). Around 67% of them had no access to doorstep delivery of essentials, and only 22% confirmed that they have access to essentials. Around 48% had no access to a government helpline, and 63% had not received the financial assistance for persons with disabilities announced by the Finance Ministry. These and other similar issues could have been taken care of if the ‘Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines’ issued by the Central Government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) had been uniformly enforced across the country.
7)NTPC Ltd. , the PSU under Ministry of Power and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the PSU under Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, have signed a MoU to set up a Joint Venture Company for Renewable Energy business. As per the MoU, NTPC and ONGC will explore the setting up of offshore wind and other Renewable Energy Projects in India and overseas. They shall also explore opportunities in the fields of sustainability, storage, E-mobility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) compliant projects. The MoU will enable both companies to accelerate their footprint in Renewable Energy.
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