Current Affairs in Short: 10 November 2020

Centre releases Rs 6,195 crore to states as revenue deficit grants

•The central government on November 10, 2020 released Rs 6,195 crore as the eight equated monthly installment of post-devolution revenue deficit grants to 14 states. 
•The 14 states included Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
•Kerala has received the highest amount from this batch of grants at Rs 1,277 crore followed by Rs 952 crore to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 638 crore to Punjab.
•The latest grant comes after the finance ministry recently released Rs 6,000 crore to 16 states and three Union Territories as part of the second tranche of the special window for goods and services tax (GST) compensation shortfall.

National Expert Group on COVID-19 in dialogue with all vaccine manufacturers

•The national expert group on COVID19 vaccine administration has conducted dialogues with all vaccine manufacturers including domestic manufacturers and foreign manufacturers, confirmed Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
•He stated that during the dialogue, the expert group looked at the status of development of their vaccines and at regulatory approvals where have they progressed. 
•The group also engaged in dialogue over logistical requirements, if the vaccines are to be stored at a temperature ranging from 2 to minus 90 degrees.

US President Donald Trump fires Defence Secretary Mark Esper

•US President Donald Trump has sacked US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper. The President announced the same through a post on his Twitter account. 
•Trump informed that Director of National Counterterrorism Center Christopher Miller will assume the charges of the Acting Defence Secretary immediately.
•The President thanked Mark Esper for his service and said that he has been terminated. The President added saying that Christopher Miller will do a great job.
•Trump is yet to concede defeat after US Presidential Elections 2020 declared Joe Biden as the winner of the Presidential race. 

Israel to send first delegation to Sudan to firm up normalisation of ties

•Israel plans to send its first delegation to Sudan on November 15 to firm up normalisation of ties announced under the US-brokered peace deal on October 23, 2020. 
•Sudan recently followed the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to become the third Arab nation in the last two months to agree to establish formal ties with Israel. 
•The decision came after the nation was removed by the Trump administration from the US list of terrorism sponsors. 

BioNTech to price vaccine below market rates

•BioNTech, the first in the race to produce evidence of a working COVID-19 vaccine, is planning to price its vaccine below the typical market rates. It would also differentiate pricing between countries or regions.
•The vaccine is being co-developed with Pfizer and it is yet to win regulatory approval. The firm’s strategy head Ryan Richardson said that the price tag of the vaccine would reflect the financial risks that its private-sector investors have incurred.
•The move to price the vaccine well below typical market rates reflects the firm’s goal to ensure broader access to the vaccine across the world.
•BioNTech’s vaccine was on November 9, 2020 shown to be 90 percent effective, based on preliminary trial results.

PM Narendra Modi to unveil life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda at JNU campus 

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be unveiling a life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda at the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University on November 12, 2020 through video conferencing. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will be present on the occasion.
•The Prime Minister has always said how the ideals of Swami Vivekananda are relevant as much today as they were during his lifetime. 
•The philosophy and the mission of Swami Vivekananda has inspired millions of people across the globe. The life-size statue aims to pay tribute to the religious leader’s ideas and thoughts.