Important Current Affairs 8th October 2019

NATIONAL:

Centre launched eDantseva website.

• Centre launched the e-Dantseva website and mobile application, the first-ever national digital platform, on oral health information and knowledge dissemination. It was launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on 7 October in New Delhi.

e-DantSeva:

e-DantSeva is the first-ever national digital platform. It aims to provide oral health information both in the form of a website and mobile application.

Aim:

It aims to create awareness among the significance of maintaining optimum oral health. It will also equip them with the tools and knowledge to do so, including awareness of the nearest oral health service facility.

e-DantSeva provides oral health information that were gathered from scientific resources and connects the public to timely advice for managing any dental emergency or oral health problem.

Developed by:

e-DantSeva initiative was developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with AIIMS and other stakeholders.

Other launches:

♦ The Union minister released the Braille booklet and Voice over on Oral Health Education for the visually impaired individuals

♦ Also, oral health posters for pregnant women and children were released

INTERNATIONAL:

US Astronauts Complete 1st of 5 Power Upgrade Spacewalks.

• Two NASA astronauts have successfully wrapped up a seven-hour and one minute spacewalk, marking the completion of the first of the five spacewalks to upgrade the station's power systems this month.

The replacement of nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries on the far end of the station's port truss, Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan of NASA concluded their spacewalk at 2.40 pm EDT on Sunday.The astronauts were also able to accomplish get-ahead tasks, including the removal of an additional nickel-hydrogen battery, originally scheduled for the second spacewalk.

These new batteries provide an improved power capacity for operations with a lighter mass and a smaller volume than the nickel-hydrogen batteries.

Mr Morgan and Ms Koch are scheduled to venture outside again for another spacewalk to continue the battery replacements on the first of the two power channels for the station's far port truss

The next spacewalks dedicated to the battery upgrades are scheduled on October 16, 21 and 25.

The battery spacewalks, the second half of this sequence of spacewalks will focus on repairs to the space station's Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

The Dates for those spacewalks are still being discussed, but they are expected to begin in November.

The Space station crew members have conducted 219 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory.

WTO to host first World Cotton Day celebrations in Geneva.

• World Trade Organisation, WTO will host the first World Cotton Day (WCD) celebrations in Geneva . This event stems from the application by the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) to the United Nations General Assembly for its official recognition of a World Cotton Day, reflecting the importance of cotton as a global commodity.

The five-day event of World Cotton Day being observed at Geneva beginning today. The plenary session will be attended by heads of states, heads of international organisations and executives from the private sector.

World Cotton Day will celebrate the many advantages of cotton, from its qualities as a natural fibre, to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and consumption. World Cotton Day will also serve to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world because cotton is important to least developed, developing and developed economies worldwide.

The World Cotton Day launch will give more than 30 countries exposure to producers, processors and businesses and more than 400 participants will be celebrating cotton in Geneva with thousand more around the world.

A cotton exhibition is also being held where TEXPROCIL, Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will be setting up their stalls.

A sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi made out of cotton will be displayed to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) will be displaying India’s high quality cotton textiles at the exhibition.

HEPC will be displaying hand woven products from prominent clusters of India and will also have a live demonstration of the charkha by Pitta Ramulu, National Awardee weaver. The charkha will be donated to the WTO after the event.

Cotton is a global commodity that is produced all over the world and a single tonne of cotton provides year-round employment for five people on average. Cotton is a drought-resistant crop ideal for arid climates, it occupies just 2.1 per cent of the world’s arable land, yet it meets 27 per cent of the world’s textiles need. In addition to its fibre used in textiles and apparel, food products are also derived from cotton-like edible oil and animal feed from the seed.

World Trade Organisation WTO

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Membership: 164 member states

Founded: 1 January 1995

DAYS:

October is observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

• The month of October is observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month every year. The annual campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease. It also helps to increase attention and support for awareness, early detection, and treatment as well as palliative care of this disease.

World Health Organization (WHO) aims to promote breast cancer control programmes as part of national cancer control plans.

IARC Globocan 2008 reports say that about 1.38 million new cases and 4,58,000 deaths from breast cancer every year. It is most common in both developing and developed countries.

Lack of awareness:

Currently, there is no sufficient knowledge of the causes of breast cancer. Because of the lack of awareness, early detection of the disease remains the cornerstone of breast cancer control. By early detection, adequate diagnosis and treatment there is a high chance that breast cancer can be cured. The majority of deaths, around 269 000, that occur in low- and middle-income countries, where most women with breast cancer are diagnosed in late stages. This is mainly due to the lack of awareness of early detection and barriers to health services.

India celebrated its 87th Air Force Day on 8th October.

• India celebrated its 87th Air Force Day on 8th October 2019. The year 2019 is special because the Indian Air force received the first of 36 long-awaited Rafale fighter jets. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a visit to France will receive the fighter jets.

IAF is conducted a spectacular air display ceremony will take place at the Hindon Air Force base near Delhi. IAF showcased its Chinook and Apache helicopters for the first time. Both these helicopters were acquired from the United States and inducted within the last few months. The Air Force Day 2019 will be celebrated in the presence of IAF chief Birender Singh Dhanoa and senior officials of the three armed forces.

Indian Air Force (IAF):

Founded on: 8 October 1932

Headquarters: New Delhi

Part of: Indian Armed Force

Motto: Touch the Sky with Glory

Chief of the Air Staff (CAS): Air Chief Marshal RK Singh Bhadauria

Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS): Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora.