Junior Digest

New Delhi, May 1,2021: India has set a grim, global record with 401,993 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said on Saturday.

The total number of those who tested positive for the coronavirus in India has reached 19,164,969, according to the ministry.

Within the same period of time, the death toll has risen by 3,523 to 211,853 people. More than 15.68 million patients have recovered since the start of the epidemic.

According to experts’ estimation based on a mathematical model, India’s coronavirus cases may peak next week between May 3 and 5. “Our belief is that by next week, the daily new cases nationwide would have peaked,” M Vidyasagar, head of a government-appointed group of scientists modelling the trajectory of infections, told media.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data: 28,83,37,385 samples tested up to April 30 for COVID-19. Of these, 19,45,299 samples were tested yesterday.

Since January 16, 2021, a total of 15,49,89,635 people have been administered COVID-19 vaccines across the nation with 27,44,485 doses being given in the last 24 hrs.

The third phase of vaccination for those in the age group of 18-44 years starts today even as several states – Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh – have said they’re running low on stocks. The government, however, has countered them saying 1 crore doses are still available with the states.

Brussels, April 28,2021: The European Parliament on Wednesday ratified the agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom in a 660-5 vote.
The document must now be approved by EU member states to enter into force officially.
The agreement on trade and cooperation was necessary for regulating relations between the UK and the bloc after the end of the post-Brexit transition period, which expired on January 1.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed the ratification of the deal.
“I warmly welcome the @Europarl_EN [EU Parliament] vote in favour of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The TCA marks the foundation of a strong and close partnership with the UK. Faithful implementation is essential,” von der Leyen tweeted.

She was joined by European Council President Charles Michel, who pledged further “constructive” cooperation between Brussels and London.
“I warmly welcome the results of the vote by the @Europarl_EN on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It marks a major step forward in #EU-#UK relations and opens a new era. The #EU will continue to work constructively with the #UK as an important friend and partner,” he wrote on Twitter.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also expressed satisfaction over the approval of the document.
“Great news that the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of our zero tariffs, zero quotas Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Now is the time to look forward to a new relationship with the EU and a more Global Britain,” Johnson said in Twitter.
The United Kingdom officially left the European Union on January 31, 2020, entering a transition period that lasted until December 31 the same year to give both parties time to negotiate further arrangements and tackle several sensitive topics in bilateral relations. After months of tough talks, London and Brussels managed to reach a serviceable arrangement in the nick of time, on December 24.
In the wake of the separation, the bloc immediately imposed full border controls for goods crossing the English Channel to the continent, with the UK manufacturing and fishing industries complaining that the paperwork and the delays are costing money and potential clients.

New Delhi, Apr 30,2021: India registered 3,86,452 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic hit, taking the COVID-19 tally to 1,87,62,976, according to the data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Friday morning.

Besides, the country also saw 3498 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 2,08,330.

It was the third consecutive day when India reported more than 3.5 lakh cases.

On Thursday, the country reported 379,257 cases and 3,645 deaths, which is the highest single-day spike in cases and deaths. On Wednesday, 3,60,960 new infections and 3,293 were recorded.

On a positive front, 2,97,540 people recovered from the virus, taking the total recoveries to 1,53,84,418.

Tokyo [Japan], April 28,2021: The Japanese government, in an annual foreign policy report, has expressed concerns over China’s military expansion and growing activities in the East and South China Seas.
The 2021 edition of the Diplomatic Bluebook released on Tuesday mentioned China’s expansion of military capabilities that lack transparency. The report stressed that growing unilateral actions by Beijing to change the status quo in Asian waters pose ‘strong concerns’ in the region and to the international community, Nikkei Asia reported Kyodo News.
The dragon claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Beijing has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to its concerns over the increasing US military presence in the region as Sino-US tensions escalate.
China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system.

The report also cited China’s human rights abuses in its Xinjiang region and the crackdown on Hong Kong as issues of concern.
The Asian giant has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by bundling them out to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and forcing the community to undergo re-education or indoctrination.
Referring to Japan’s inclusion into a grouping with the United States, Australia and India – known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) – the report said the framework’s visions have gained international support, and Japan will seek to cooperate with more countries through bilateral and multilateral dialogues, Nikkei Asia reported.
As for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s postponed state visit to Japan, the bluebook said that Tokyo and Beijing should focus on containing the coronavirus pandemic for the time being and are not ready to discuss rescheduling.
It also said that the Japan-US alliance “continues to serve as the cornerstone of Japan’s diplomatic and security policies and its significance has grown more than ever in the face of growing uncertainties in the region’s security environment”.
The report explained the outcome of the in-person summit talks earlier this month between Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden in detail.

Hyderabad, Apr 28 ,2021: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will set up 380 Medical Oxygen plants within three months under PM CARES Fund.

The Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP) technology developed by DRDO for On‐Board Oxygen Generation for LCA, Tejas by DEBEL, DRDO will now help in fighting the current crisis of Oxygen for the COVID-19 patients.

The Oxygen plant is designed for a capacity of 1000 liters per minute. The system caters to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 LPM and can charge 195 cylinders per day.

Transfer of Technology has been done to M/s Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Bengaluru, and M/s Trident Pneumatics Private Limited, Coimbatore, who will be producing 380 plants for installation across various hospitals in the country.

About 120 plants of 500 liters per minute capacity will be produced by industries working with the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, belonging to CSIR, a DRDO release here said on Wednesday.

Oxygen is a very important clinical gas in health care centers and hospitals for treatment of COVID‐19 Patients. Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP) technology is capable of generating oxygen with 93±3% concentration which can be directly supplied to hospital beds or can be used to fill medical oxygen cylinders.

It utilizes Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technique and Molecular Sieve (Zeolite) technology to generate oxygen directly from atmospheric air.

MOP technology will be useful to provide oxygen supply during Corona Pandemic in hospitals in urban and rural areas. Hospitals will be able to generate on-site medical oxygen, in a cost-effective manner with this oxygen plant rather than depending upon sourcing it from other places.

The installation of this plant helps in avoiding hospital dependency on scarce oxygen cylinders especially at high altitudes and inaccessible remote areas. MOP has already been installed at some of the Army sites in the North East and Leh-Ladakh Region.

The plant complies with International Standards like ISO 1008, European, US, and Indian Pharmacopeia. Site preparation for 5 plants to be installed in Delhi/NCR region has already been initiated.

DRDO has initiated fabrication of 380 numbers Medical Oxygen Plants with the release of Supply Orders for 332 numbers on M/s Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Bengaluru, and http:48 numbers on M/s Trident Pneumatics Private Limited, Coimbatore with a target of producing 125 plants per month under PM CARES Fund.

With this, it is expected that 380 Medical Oxygen Plants will be installed within three months.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh appreciated DRDO for using the MOP technology to generate much-needed oxygen for COVID-19 patients will help in overcoming the present crisis.

Secretary DDR&D & Chairman DRDO, Dr. G Satheesh Reddy has assured the support of DRDO for the use of the technology by hospitals and other health agencies.

April 29,2021: Nearly all of the world’s glaciers are losing mass – and at an accelerated pace, according to a new study that experts said painted an “alarming picture”.

The research published on Wednesday in the science journal Nature provides one of the most wide-ranging overviews yet of ice mass loss from about 220,000 glaciers around the world, a major source of sea-level rise.

Using high-resolution imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite from 2000-2019, a group of international scientists found that glaciers, with the exception of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets which were excluded from the study, lost an average of 267 gigatonnes of ice per year.

A gigatonne of ice would fill New York City’s Central Park and stand 341 metres (1,119 feet) high.

The researchers also found that glacier mass loss accelerated. Glaciers lost 227 gigatonnes of ice annually from 2000 to 2004, but that increased to an average of 298 gigatonnes each year after 2015.

The melt was significantly impacting sea levels by about 0.74 millimetres a year, or 21 percent of overall sea-level rise observed during the period.

Glaciers tend to have a faster response to climate change compared with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and are currently contributing more to sea-level rise than either individual ice sheet, scientists said.

The study could fill important gaps in understanding ice mass loss, leading to more accurate predictions, said co-author of the study Robert McNabb, a remote sensing scientist at Ulster University in the United Kingdom. Previous studies looking at individual glaciers only account for about 10 percent of the planet, he said.

Scientists have long warned that warming temperatures driven by climate change are eating into glaciers and ice sheets around the world, contributing to higher sea levels that threaten the world’s populous coastal cities.

Global thinning rates, different than volume of water lost, doubled in the last 20 years and “that’s enormous,” said Romain Hugonnet, a glaciologist at ETH Zurich and the University of Toulouse in France who led the study.

Shrinking glaciers are a problem for millions of people who rely on seasonal glacial melt for daily water and rapid melting can cause deadly outbursts from glacial lakes in places like India, added Hugonnet.

“Ten years ago, we were saying that the glaciers are the indicator of climate change, but now actually they’ve become a memorial of the climate crisis,” said World Glacier Monitoring Service Director Michael Zemp, who was not part of the study.

Some glaciers in Alaska, Iceland, the Alps, the Pamir Mountains and the Himalayas were among the most impacted by melting, researchers found.

“Those areas are seeing a rapid pace of glacier melt that could be fairly worrying,” McNabb said.

“We get this increase in melt and that actually increases the availability of water that comes in these rivers … but the problem is, after a period of time, that stops increasing and then decreases fairly rapidly,” he added.
Human emission leading cause

While the study did not delve into the cause of the glacial retreat, rising temperatures widely believed by scientists to be the result of human emissions were inevitably leading to more ice loss, McNabb said.

“It’s hard to separate the fact that the temperature is what is causing the melt with the fact that humans are, by and large, causing the increase in temperature,” he said.

Once glacial ice melts, it could take decades or centuries to regrow because it must pile up year after year, scientists said.

The study reiterates that the world must bring down global temperatures to slow ice loss, said Twila Moon, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center who was not involved in the study.

“I have no expectation, in all honesty, that even substantial action to reduce our emissions and control the Earth’s temperature rise is going to grow our glaciers,” Moon said. “We’re at a point where we’re trying to keep as much ice as possible and slow that rate of loss,” she added.

While researchers identified instances where melt rates actually slowed between 2000 and 2019, like Greenland’s east coast, they attributed that to a weather anomaly that led to higher precipitation and lower temperatures.

McNabb said the study’s overall picture was one of “fairly rapid” ice mass loss, with no indication it would change soon, but there is still time to put the brakes on melt by reducing emissions.

“When you see something like this where glaciers are losing mass, it’s getting faster, that sounds really bad,” he said. “But there’s something that we can do here, we need to act.”

Washington [US], April 29,2021: Michael Collins, the NASA astronaut”>astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, has died at age 90 after battling cancer.
His family shared the news Wednesday after his passing on Collins’ Facebook page.
“We regret to share that our beloved father and grandfather passed away today, after a valiant battle with cancer,” the statement read.

“He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side. Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility, and faced this, his final challenge, in the same way. We will miss him terribly. Yet we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did. We will honour his wish for us to celebrate, not mourn, that life,” the statement added.
NASA, where Collins spent seven years of his career as an astronaut”>astronaut, mourned the passing of the Apollo 11 astronaut”>astronaut.
“We mourn the passing of Apollo 11 astronaut”>astronaut Michael Collins, who piloted humanity’s first voyage to the surface of another world. An advocate for exploration, @AstroMCollins inspired generations and his legacy propels us further into the cosmos,” NASA tweeted.
Collins was born in Italy, became an Air Force pilot, then an astronaut”>astronaut in the Gemini program, CNN reported.
He was the third American to perform a spacewalk, according to NASA. Including the Apollo 11 mission, Collins logged 266 hours in space, NASA said.