1.Science and Technology
Nobel Prize in Physics announced for 2020
The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2020 was announced
The prize was divided, one half was awarded to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity.
The other half was jointly shared by Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.
Quick Fact: The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.
2.Miscellaneous
Wildlife week: 2nd-8th October
Wildlife Week is annually celebrated across India between 2nd to 8th October.
The week aims to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of India.
The week is celebrated under the theme RoaR (Roar and Revive) – Exploring Human-Animal Relationships.
The Indian Board of Wildlife was constituted and the idea of Wildlife Week was conceptualised in 1952 to raise the awareness about the long term goals of protecting the wildlife of India.
Quick Fact: The first Wildlife Week was observed in 1957.
3.National Affair
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs united with Swiggy To Take Street Food Vendors online
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Swiggy, in order to take the street food vendors online.
The initiative has been taken under the PM Svanidhi Scheme.
The programme was launched in five cities: Chennai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Delhi and Varanasi.
On the first day, around 250 vendors were taken on-board from the five cities.
Quick Fact: The MoHUA-Swiggy scheme is valid till March 2022.
4.Conferences and Summits
12th BRICS Summit scheduled on 17 November virtually
The 12th BRICS Summit is scheduled on 17th November 2020 via video conferencing.
The Summit will be held under the Chairmanship of Russia.
This is the first time in the history of the BRICS that the meeting will be held virtually, owing to the global COVID pandemic.
The five-member BRICS are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Quick Fact: The theme of the Meeting of BRICS countries is “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.
5.Science and Technology
C-DAC to commission ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is to commission India’s largest High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer, ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’.
The supercomputer is to have 210 AI Petaflops.
It is to be based on the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD.
The computer is to use NVIDIA Next Generation technology, C-DAC software stack and Cloud platform.
Quick Fact: The first super computer was “Param Shivay” built under the National Supercomputing Mission by C-DAC.
6.Person in News
Lifetime achievement award presented to Ratan Tata by IACC
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) has presented the lifetime achievement award to business icon Ratan Tata.
The award was presented to him for his pioneering role in the Business Relations of India-USA and for his lifetime achievement in Global Leadership.
The award was announced in the virtual event of IACC called “COVID Crusader Award-2020”.
This is the 1st time IACC has conferred the Lifetime Achievement award to any individual.
Quick Fact: The India National President of IACC is Purnachandra Rao Surapaneni.
7.Science and Technology
e-Learning Hub for Villagers to be launched by IIM, Kozhikode
The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode will be launching an e-learning hub and library as a pilot project for villagers in Mavoor.
Mavoor village is one of the villages that has been adopted by the institute under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).
Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan (UBA) is a flagship programme by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The programme aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5 villages, so that institutions can contribute to the economic and social development of the village communities using their knowledge base.
Quick Fact: IIM Kozhikode has adopted a total of five villages namely Mavoor, Kuttikkattoor, Narikkuni, Puthur and Puthuppadi of Kozhikode under the UBA initiative.
8.Miscellaneous
Puducherry airport becomes first 100% solar-powered airport
The Puducherry airport has become the first airport under the Airports Authority of India (AAI) which is entirely solar-powered.
It has a 500KWp ground-mounted solar power plant.
The power plant was commissioned on 2nd October 2020.
The cost of the plant is about Rs 2.8 crore.
Quick Fact: Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (UT) is Dr Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister is V. Narayanasamy.
