1. How many lamps are present in the "UV Blaster” developed by DRDO?
a. Five
b. Four
c. Three
d. Seven
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• An Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection tower has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• It will help in the chemical-free and rapid disinfection of high infection-prone areas. The UV Blaster will be helpful in the disinfection of high tech surfaces such as computers, electronic equipment, and other forms of gadgets in laboratories and offices. These are the items that are not suitable for disinfection through chemical methods.
• The product will also be useful for the areas with a large flow of people such as metros, airports, shopping malls, hotels, factories, offices, etc.
• The tower is known as ‘UV Blaster’ which is a UV based area sanitizer.
• The equipment has six lamps each with 43 watts of UV-C power at 254 nm wavelength for 360-degree illumination. For a room of about 12 x 12 feet dimension, the disinfection time is about 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 400 square feet area by positioning the equipment at different places within the room.
• It is designed and developed by the Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC).
• LASTEC is a Delhi based premier laboratory of DRDO and the equipment was developed along with the help of New Age Instruments and Materials Private Limited, Gurugram.
2. Peter Ebdon announced retirement recently. He is related to which of the following sports?
a. Snookers
b. Table tennis
c. Cricket
d. Badminton
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Former World Snooker Champion Peter Ebdon has announced his retirement from professional snooker.
• He has announced his retirement after suffering from various neck and back injuries.
• Peter Ebdon was the winner of 2002 World Snooker championship when he defeated Stephen Hendry in an 18-17 final thriller. He also ended as a runner up in the championship for the record two times in his professional career of 29 years. He also won the UK Championship in 2006.
3. Which city has emerged as the hub for manufacture of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), accounting for nearly 50% of the production?
a. Bengaluru
b. Pune
c. Lucknow
d. Mumbai
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• The capacity to produce coveralls in the country has been ramped up to more than one lakh units a day, according to an official press release.
• Bengaluru has emerged as the hub for manufacture of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), accounting for nearly 50% of the production.
• Other places that have a large number of approved production units are Tiruppur, Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ludhiana and Bhiwandi. Large-scale garment units in Bengaluru had taken to PPE coverall production in a big way. Some of these companies, that have scale of manufacturing, have invested in additional machinery as well.
4. Which is the first country to receive RT-PCR Covid-19 test kits from India as a gift?
a. Bangladesh
b. Nepal
c. Sri Lanka
d. Pakistan
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• India has handed over third tranche of emergency medical assistance to Bangladesh to help the country in containing the spread of COVID-19.
• The supply consists of 30,000 RT-PCR Covid-19 test kits.
• These RT-PCR test kits are domestically manufactured in India by 'My Lab Discovery Solutions Private Limited' and is widely used in India for Covid-19 detection.
• Bangladesh is the first country to receive these test kits from India on priority, which reflects the importance of Dhaka to New Delhi.
• The test kits were brought to Bangladesh in an Indigo cargo flight and dispatched to the Institute of Epidemiological Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
• The first tranche of Indian emergency medical assistance containing 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head caps was handed over to Bangladesh on March 25 while the second one consisting of 50,000 sterile surgical latex gloves and 1,00,000Hydroxychloroquine medicine tablets arrived here on April 26.
5. Who was heading the UGC committee to look into the issues related to examinations and academic calendar?
a. Professor RC Kuhad
b. Professor Nageshwar Rao
c. Professor Anita Dongre
d. Professor Vaneet Vashisht
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Professor RC Kuhad, former member UGC and Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Haryana, was given the responsibility to look into the issues related to examinations and academic calendar.
• The committee had submitted its report.
• A meeting was held via video conferencing at the University Grants Commission (UGC) to discuss the report of expert committee and guidelines on exams, academic calendar for universities, the report of expert committee on promoting online education and suggestive implementation plan on its recommendations in view of Covid-19.
• Both reports, guidelines and implementation plan were discussed at length during the meeting and some suggestions were given by the Commission members. After appropriately incorporating all the suggestions given by them, UGC will soon issue the guidelines for universities and colleges.
