England to tour Pakistan for first time in 16 years
•The England team will make their first visit to Pakistan in 2021, for the first time in 16 years. This was confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
•The ECB confirmed the tour on November 17, 2020 following an invite by the PCB for a short tour in 2021.
•Pakistan will be hosting host England for two T20Is in Karachi on October 14 and 15, 2021 ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in India. England’s team will arrive in Karachi on October 12 and both teams will depart for India on October 16 for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the end of the series.
•England had last toured Pakistan in 2005 when they had played five ODIs and three Tests. The subsequent series between the two teams was held in the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2015.
India to tour England in August 2021 for 5-match Test series
•England will host team India for a five-match Test series in August 2021. This was confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on November 18, 2020.
•The first test will begin on August 4 and the last test will conclude on September 14. The five tests will be played at Trent Bridge, Lord's, Emerald Headingley, the Kia Oval and Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground.
•The ECB has set out plans to host several international series across men's, women's, and disability cricket in 2021.
ICMR advises against indiscriminate use of Convalescent Plasma Therapy
•The India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on November 18, 2020 advised against the indiscriminate use of Convalescent Plasma Therapy (CPT) saying that it should be avoided as it does not reduce the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients.
•The apex medical research body issued Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on plasma therapy after it conducted an open-label phase II multicentre randomised controlled trial (PLACID Trial) across 39 hospitals in India on the use of convalescent plasma in the management of moderate COVID-19 cases.
•After the trial, the top medical research body concluded that the plasma therapy did not lead to a reduction in progression to severe COVID-19 or all-cause mortality in the group that received the plasma as compared to the group that did not receive it.
•ICMR said in its new advisory that PLACID is the world's largest pragmatic trial on CPT conducted in 464 moderately ill laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 affected adults in real-world setting wherein no benefit of use of CPT could be established.
•The ICMR also pointed out that similar studies conducted in China and the Netherlands also confirmed that there was no significant benefit of CPT in improving clinical outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
US President Trump orders withdrawal of 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan, Iraq
•United States President Donald Trump on November 17, 2020 ordered the Pentagon to withdraw 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by mid-January 2021. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller made the announcement for the same.
•With the withdrawal, the US Defense Department will reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 and the number of forces in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500 by January 15. The decision will come into effect just days before Trump leaves the White House.
•The Trump administration and the Taliban had signed an agreement in February 2020 that called for the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan if the terror group upholds its counterterrorism commitments such as denying safe haven or any kind of support to Al Qaeda.
•However, since the signing of the agreement, the Taliban has stepped up its attacks against the Afghan forces, which US officials have repeatedly condemned as threatening the peace process.
•The withdrawal order comes a week after Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and replaced him with Miller.
Forest Rights Act implemented in Jammu and Kashmir
•The Forest Rights Act has been implemented in Jammu and Kashmir.
•The act recognises the rights of forest-dwelling communities for the first time in the Union Territory.
•The Jammu and Kashmir government has set the deadline for completing ‘Record of Forest Rights’ till March 31, 2021.
Delhi CM convenes all-party meeting at 11 am tomorrow
•Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has called an all-party meeting at 11am tomorrow to discuss the COVID19 situation in the national capital.
•The Delhi CM had visited Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in the national capital earlier today to review the ICU bed situation there. He assured that though there is an increase in COVID-19 cases in Delhi but there are enough beds available now.
•Speaking on ICU bed shortage, Kejriwal stated that there is a shortage of ICU beds but in the next few days, more than 600 ICU beds will be added in the hospitals of Delhi.
•He said that the central government has assured to provide 750 beds more beds at the DRDO facility.
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