RBI Divestment
Category: Economy
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has divested its entire stake held in National Housing Bank (NHB), the regulator for housing finance companies, and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to the government.
- The govt now which holds 100% in these entities.
- RBI had 100% shareholding in NHB.
- RBI had 72.5% stake in Nabard.
- Divestment of RBI’s stake in NABARD and NHB has its basis in the recommendation of Narasimham Committee II.
INC-22 forms
Category: Economy
- The Centre is likely to extend the deadline and relax the rules for the disclosure norms it had set for companies in an attempt to weed out shell companies.
- The govt had in February notified a set of forms, including INC-22, which required companies incorporated on or before December 31, 2017 to provide details regarding the location of their offices, directors, and proof of business.
- The start-up community in particular raised concerns about the form saying that many of the requirements — including a photo of the exterior and interior of the office, and one with a director standing in front of the nameplate — were extremely onerous and unviable. The main problem, they said, was that many start-ups operated out of co-working spaces. Hence, taking such photographs would be unviable.
Magic Milk
Category: Sc & tech
- Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) have isolated an anti-microbial protein found in the milk of an egg-laying mammal.
- The protein promises to serve as an alternative to antibiotics used on livestock.
- Echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters, are unique egg-laying mammals found only in Australia and New Guinea.
- Their young hatch from eggs at a very early stage of development and depend completely on mother’s milk.
- But the mammary glands of the echidnas are devoid of nipples, forcing the young ones to lick milk from the mother’s body surface and potentially making them vulnerable to micro-organisms.
- However, the milk of the echidna has a protein that can puncture the cell membranes of multiple bacterial species, thus destroying the source of infection.
- There are ways to produce the protein in large quantities using E. coli. It can then be used to fight infections.
- There is a rise of superbugs due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics by the animal husbandry industry to raise livestock. The superbugs can cause mastitis, an infection of the mammary gland, in dairy animals.The protein from echidna milk is effective against mastitis-causing bacteria.
Medical Drone Service by Ghana
Category: International
- Ghana launched a fleet of drones to carry medical supplies to remote areas.
- The drones are part of an ambitious plan to leapfrog problems of medical access in a country with poor roads. “
- The drones are planned to ferry 150 different medicines, blood, and vaccines to more than 2,000 clinics serving over 12 million people — roughly 40% of the population.
- Delivering of blood and medicine began in Rwanda in 2016, a country dubbed the “land of a thousand hills” where access to many villages by road is difficult.
Marsquake
Category: Sc & tech
- NASA’s InSight lander has picked up a gentle rumble at Mars, believed to be the first marsquake ever detected.
- We finally have proof that Mars is still seismically active.
- Mars is not nearly as geologically active as Earth and, like our moon, lacks tectonic plates.
- By analysing marsquakes, scientists hope to learn more about how rocky planets are formed.
Tummy Timetables
Category: International
- The United Nations released its first-ever recommendations on physical activity for children under five.
- For infants under one, the WHO recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day including prone position — or tummy time — for those not yet mobile.
- For children between one and two years old, WHO recommends three hours of physical activity each day.
- And for children aged three to four, three hours of daily physical activity should include at least an hour of “moderate to vigorous” movement.
