World Thyroid Day 2020 is observed on May 25
World Thyroid Day 2020 is observed on May 25. The thyroid gland situated in the front part of our neck. It produces thyroid hormone which is essential to various metabolic processes of the body. On May 25 the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in cooperation with the European Thyroid Association the Asia-Oceania Thyroid Association and the Latin American Thyroid Society, will make an extraordinary effort to do what we do year-round—focus attention on “the gland” that causes such widespread “dis-ease”. International Thyroid Awareness Week May 25 to 31.
LIC launches modied PM Vaya Vandana Yojana
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (Modified- 2020) Scheme. This plan will be available for sale commencing from May 26 for three financial years – up to March 31, 2023. This scheme can be purchased offline as well as online from LIC of India, it stated. The Union Cabinet had earlier this month extended the PMVVY or Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, which is a social security scheme for senior citizens. LIC is solely authorised to operate this scheme, which works as a Non-Linked, NonParticipating, Pension Scheme subsidised by the Centre.
CSIR-IIIM, RIL to develop RT-LAMP based test for Coronavirus
CSIR-IIIM, Jammu a constituent laboratory of CSIR signed MoU with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to develop and scale-up a new Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) based COVID-19 diagnostic kit. The partnership comes as testing is a vital component in COIVD-19 mitigation. For this project, CSIR has formed five verticals to coordinate various research activities into Digital and Molecular Surveillance, Drugs & Vaccines, Rapid and Economical Diagnostics, Hospital Assistive Devices & PPEs, and Supply Chain and Logistics. COVID-19 RT-LAMP test is a nucleic acid-based test carried out from a nasal/throat swab sample from patients.
REC Ltd partners with TajSATS to provide nutritious meals to frontline healthcare workers
REC Foundation, the CSR arm of REC Limited, has tied up with TajSATS, a joint venture of IHCL and SATS Ltd, to distribute specially-made nutritious meal packets for medical staff in Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. Under this tie-up, every day, 300 food packets are being delivered to the frontline healthcare warriors of New Delhi. Over 18,000 meals will be delivered in New Delhi through this initiative.
Salman Khan Launches His Own Grooming and Personal Care Brand ‘FRSH’
Actor Salman Khan has recently launched his own grooming and personal care brand FRSH and starts from selling sanitisers because it is very essential to do sanitisation and as per the need of the hour, sanitiser is their first product to enter the market. The brand has been co-created by Scentials Beauty Care and Wellness Pvt. Ltd, a beauty brand co-founded by former tennis professional Mahesh Bhupathi. The first product launched under the brand is a sanitiser, considering the importance of hygiene and sanitisation during the coronavirus pandemic. Other products like deodorants, body wipes and perfumes will also be launched soon. These products can be purchased from http://frshworld.com.
RITES signs agreement for acquiring 24% stake in IRSDC
RITES stated it has signed an agreement for acquiring 24% stake in Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) for Rs 48 crore with Rail Land Development Authority and IRCON International being the other equity partners. During this lockdown period, it has been able to successfully deliver the 188 RKM VijaypurPachore Road-Maksi section railway electrification project in Madhya Pradesh.
IIT Mumbai alumnus & IBM scientist Rajiv Joshi named Inventor of the Year
Prolific Indian-American inventor Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious Inventor of the Year award in recognition of his pioneering work in advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence capabilities. Dr Joshi, who is a master inventor with more than 250 patented inventions in the US, works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York. He was presented with the prestigious annual award by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association early this month during a virtual awards ceremony.
WHO announced Human Challenge Trials for Vaccine Development
World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it had selected 8 people out of the several people who step forward to participate in human challenge trials to develop new vaccines for COVID-19. Human challenge trials are trials in which participants are intentionally challenged (whether or not they have been vaccinated) with an infectious disease organism.
DRDO’s RCI develops AI-based Attendance Application
The Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO, here has developed a AI-based Attendance Application (AINA) which allows non-contact based personnel verification, using facial features of the person, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic making it unsafe to use contactbased biometric verification for attendance marking systems. AINA can be deployed with minimal upgradation to the legacy attendance infrastructure with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) readers. AINA can be installed on a normal desktop computer with a GPU based display adapter, a Defence release stated. Existing CCTV cameras can be utilised for capturing facial images. Facial features of several thousands of employees can be stored in the computer since for each employee the facial features are encoded in a small (less than 25 KB) file, the release stated.
UEFAs eEuro 2020 won by Italy
Italy has won UEFA eEURO 2020, beating Serbia in the final to clinch the inaugural virtual European Championship. With the Euro2020 postponed until next summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, the eEuro 2020 finals were conducted this weekend as 16 nations came together to compete in the biggest international virtual soccer championship ever. The 16 teams — who were made up of between two and four gamers from their national efootball team, playing on Konami’s eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 on Playstation 4 — entered the final two-day phase of the competition having been drawn into four groups.
PFC signs MoU with NBPCL to fund 225 MW hydro-electric projects, Multipurpose projects in MP
Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the central PSU under the Ministry of Power and India’s leading NBFC, signed an agreement with Narmada Basin Projects Company Ltd. (NBPCL), a wholly-owned company of Government of Madhya Pradesh on 26 May 2020. The move aims to fund projects worth Rs.22,000 crore for 225 MW hydro-electric projects & multipurpose projects in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
Nitin Gadkari inaugurated Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Chamba Tunnel in Uttarakhand under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode on 26 May 2020. The tunnel was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The major milestone was achieved by BRO by digging up a 440 m long Tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94), Uttarakhand.
