HIMACHAL PRADESH

• Himalayan states to have disaster mitigation fund

 

• A two-days regional workshop on challenges of disaster-risk reduction in hill towns of the North-Western Himalayas concluded.

 

• The discussions were held on disaster mitigation and preparedness and improving disaster response and recovery for the Himalayan states.

 

• It was decided that a mitigation fund would be created for the states. It was stressed to have a risk-sensitive land-use planning for all urban hill stations and mapping of active faults over the Himalayan regions needed to be carried out for micro-level assessments. It was suggested to strengthen the early warning systems across the states for natural disasters.

INTERNATIONAL

• Google achieves ‘quantum supremacy’

 

• Google has officially announced that it has achieved quantum supremacy with its advanced processor that was able to surpass the world’s most powerful supercomputer.

 

• Google says that its 54-bit Sycamore processor was able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years.

 

• The search giant has made the details of its research public for the scientific community to fully scrutinize its achievement.

 

• India jumps 14 places on World Bank’s Ease of Doing business ranking

 

• India has jumped 14 places to take the 63rd position on the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking.

 

• The country was 77th among 190 countries in the previous ranking.

 

• In its Doing Business 2020 report, the World Bank commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country.

 

• India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices.

 

• New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong topped the list this year.

 

·       White bellbird is the worlds loudest bird

 

• Researchers from the University of Massachusetts in the U.S. have found that the White Bellbirdsare theloudest bird in the world. They also found that the mating songs by the white male bellbird cause sound of thrice the decibels (dB) than the Screaming Piha during the mating period. The screaming Piha held the record by making the loudest call of around 125 dB. 

 

• The white bellbird or Procnia albus is a bird species in the familyCotingidae. The bird is found in Guianas forest, Venezeula, Pará of Brazil. The male birdis white in colour, and the female is olive with yellowish streaks in colour.

 

NATIONAL

• Ayurveda Day 2019: 25 October

 

• The fourth Ayurveda Day is being organised on October 25 at National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

 

• Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India decided to celebrate Ayurveda Day every year on the day of Dhanvantari Jayanti (Dhanteras) since 2016.

 

• On this occasion, Ministry also facilitates 3-4 Ayurveda experts with ‘National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award’ comprising of citation, trophy (Dhanwantari Statue) and a cash reward of rupees five lakh.

 

• National Unity Day to be celebrated on Oct 31

 

• National Unity Day will be celebrated on 31st of this month to mark the birth anniversary of Ironman Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

 

• Preparations are in full swing to celebrate the day in a grand manner.

 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kevadia in Gujarat to pay homage to the great leader at the Statue of Unity.

 

• To celebrate the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, celebrations will be held in more than 600 districts of the country.

 

·       Centre launched the 1st National Protocol on Snow Leopard Population Assessment

• Centre launched the First National Protocol on Snow Leopard Population Assessmentin India on 23 October. It was launched by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Shri Prakash Javadekar on the International Snow Leopard Day at the inaugural session of the 4th steering committee meeting of the GSLEP Program – Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program. 

 

• The government is conducting the Snow Leopard enumeration of the Nation for the first time

 

• The protocol was developed by scientific experts in association with the Snow Leopard States/ Union Territories (UTs) namely, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunanchal Pradesh.

 

·       Centre launched Indradhanush 2 to cover low immunization pockets

• The central government launchedIndradhanush 2 to coverlow immunization pockets. 

 

• The Mission has been scheduled to be launched on31 October by the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the Pulse Polio Program.

 

• Under Mission Indradhanush 2.0, the Union Health Ministry will carry out a massive immunization program in the areas that are identified as low immunization pockets.

 

• The Ministry has identified 271 districts across the nation and 652 blockslocated in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

 

• The total vaccination program is dedicated for children up to 2 years of age and for all pregnant women.

 

• Vaccines of 12 various kinds are included under the mission. 10 out of the 12 vaccine categories will be used nationwide, and the other two vaccines will be put under sub-vaccination levels.

 

• The two vaccines that are placed under the sub-vaccination level are for diseases like Japanese Encephalitisand the Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which occurs in high-end endemic areas.