[CA/News] May 10, 2020 Headlines

MAY 10, 2020
coir geo textiles The Coir Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IIT Madras. The memorandum aims to set up a Centre of Excellence for Coir Applications. Under the MoU, the Centre of Excellence is to extend the research work of the coir sector with the support of IIT Madras. The MoU will extend the use of Coir Geo Textiles. The Coir Geo Textiles are used to prevent soil erosion in river embankments, slopes and mine slope stabilization. The Coir Geo Textiles can also be used in low volume rural roads as re-enforcement material. jharkhand: bans pan masala The Jharkhand state government issued an order banning the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of Pan Masala containing Magnesium Carbonate in the state for a period of one year. With this, Jharkhand became the third State in India to do so after Maharashtra and Bihar. SHRAMIK TrAINS Subsequent to the Ministry of Home Affairs order regarding movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places by special trains, Indian Railways had decided to operate “Shramik Special” trains. These trains will carry the migrant workers stranded in different metro cities to their respective hometowns. COVID – 19 cases in india crossed 60000 The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases neared 60,000  (Maharashtra alone had crossed 20, 000) and the death toll crossed 2000 mark. While large numbers of cases continued to get detected in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, among other places, experts have warned the numbers may rise further in the coming days due to the ongoing movement of lakhs of migrant workers being facilitated by trains and buses to help them reach their native places and because of a large number of Indians stranded abroad, along with expatriates, being brought back in special flights. TAMIL NADu moves supreme court for opening tasmac shops The Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order for closure of state-run liquor outlets on grounds of violations of COVID-19 guidelines, arguing that it would lead to "grave losses" in revenue and complete halt in commercial activities.	human monoclonal antibodies The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under its New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) is to develop human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs). These antibodies will neutralise COVID-19 virus in patients. The CSIR on one side is fighting hard against COVID-19 through its own researches. On the other side, it is also working and supporting industries and public sector units that are coming up with solutions to COVID-19. One such initiative is developing “hmAbs”. favipiravir & phytopharmaceutical Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) begins its clinical trials on Favipiravir and Phytopharmaceutical. Apart from Favipiravir and Phytopharmaceutical, the CSIR is also working on native herbs as biological medicine. The DGCI (Drug Controller General of India) has approved the clinical trials to be conducted by the CSIR. Favipiravir is commonly used in China and Japan and also in other countries to treat influenza. ********************************* Second Sunday of May month is observed as “Mother’s Day” ********************************* c. rangarajan committee Tamil Nadu government has constituted a 24-member high-level committee, headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan, to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors of the economy. Finance Secretary S Krishnan will be the coordinator of the committee, which will submit its report to the government within three months.  The panel will assess the impact of the lockdown, additional costs and implication due to social distancing, and precautionary measures to be undertaken. The panel will also assess the impact of the crisis on the State government’s fiscal situation. [Click for More details....] TAMIL NADU opposes electricity act Strongly opposing the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, Chief Minister Mr. Edappadi K Palaniswami said certain amendments would take away the powers of the state government and urged the Centre to keep them in abeyance till issues relating to it are thoroughly discussed with the states after the pandemic subsides. He said that, the draft bill also seeks to take away the power of the state government in deciding the constitution of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, which is against the federal principles of the Constitution.
Prepared by K. M. Senthil Kumar