UAE begins COVID -19 vaccinations in Abu Dhabi
•The United Arab Emirates has launched COVID-19 vaccinations in its capital city, Abu Dhabi. Health officials announced this on December 14, 2020. This comes days after UAE approved the vaccine by Chinese drug giant Sinopharm.
•The gulf nation is one of the first countries across the world to start widespread vaccination. The United Kingdom had become the first to roll out a vaccination campaign after it gave emergency approval to the COVID vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
•Besides UAE, Bahrain has also officially registered the vaccine for public use. Both the gulf nations had witnessed the third phase of clinical trials of the Sinopharm vaccine. The vaccine was previously approved for emergency use for frontline health workers.
•The residents of Abu Dhabi can book an appointment through the Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA) hotline to get free vaccination.
Dr Carolina Arajuo conferred Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians 2020
•Dr Carolina Arajuo was honoured with the Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians for the year 2020. Dr. Arajuo is a mathematician from the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics in Rio de Janerio.
•She is the first non-Indian women mathematician to receive the prize. The Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians is conferred every year to young mathematicians, who are less than 45 years of age, for conducting outstanding research in a developing country.
•The award is presented in the memory of Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician who had made significant contributions to number theory, mathematical analysis, infinite series and continued fractions. The award is presented by the International Centre of Theoretical Physics located in Italy.
US President Trump not to get COVID Vaccine first?
•US President and the White House staffers would not be among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This was informed by US President Donald Trump on December 13, 2020.
•Twitter tweeted saying that the people working at the White House should receive the vaccine later in the programme, unless deemed necessary. This clarification came after it was reported that the Trump administration had a plan to prioritise vaccination of those working closely with the President.
•The President also confirmed that he is not scheduled to take the vaccine but will be looking forward to doing so at the appropriate time. This news came days after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States.
Health Minister releases 5th National Family Health Survey for 17 states, 5 UTs
•Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan released the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS) on December 12, 2020. The survey comprises detailed information on population, health and nutrition for India and its states and union territories.
•The Health Ministry stated that it is a globally important data source and is comparable to Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) Programme of 90 other countries on several key indicators. It can be used for cross country comparisons and development indices.
•The present National Family Health Survey NFHS is being conducted on 6.1 lakh sample households. The first phase of the survey comprises results of 17 states and five union territories.
•The states and UTs include Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Mizoram, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
Indian defence forces get authorisation to stock weapons for 15-day intense war
•The Indian government has authorised the defence forces to stock weapons and ammunition that will last them for 15 days in case of an intense war. The authorisation comes amid India's border conflict with China.
•With this, the Indian Defence forces are expected to spend over Rs 50,000 crore for the acquisition of defence equipment and ammunition from both local and foreign sources.
•The authorisation was given to increase the weapon and ammunition reserves to minimum 15-I levels from the existing 10-day stocking is to prepare the defence forces for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan.
-1760351359720.jpg)
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation