Current Affairs in Short: 24 September 2021

India elected as External Auditor to IAEA

•India on September 24, 2021, was elected as the External Auditor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India has been elected for a term of five years from 2022-2027. This was informed by the Permanent Mission of India in Vienna, Austria.

BJP MLA Ratan Chakraborty takes charge as Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly

•Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ratan Chakraborty on September 24, 2021, took charge as Speaker of Tripura Assembly. Chakraborty was elected almost three weeks after Rebati Mohan Das submitted his resignation to Deputy Speaker Biswabandhu Sen on September 2, 2021.

•Nomination papers of Chakraborty were submitted on September 23, 2021, following which he was elected unopposed. Chakraborty is the 2^nd speaker of the Tripura Assembly in the past 3.5 years.

•Ratan Chakraborty is a BJP MLA from the Khayerpur constituency in West Tripura. He has been a minister as well in 1988-93 during the regime of Congress.

ICMR drops Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin drugs from COVID treatment

•The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-COVID19 National Task Force Joint Monitoring Group dropped the Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Ivermectin drugs from revised clinical guidelines for the management of adult COVID19 patients.

•The new guidelines suggest a moderate use of other drugs like Remdesivir in select moderate or severe COVID19 patients on supplemental oxygen within 10 days of onset of symptom. The guidelines suggested using Tocilizumab only for severe COVID19 patients within 24-48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

•The guidelines suggested that moderate COVID19 patients with SpO2 levels between 92 to 96 per cent may take Methylprednisolone injection and Anticoagulation medicine. The injection of 1-2 mg is to be administered in two doses for 5 to 10 days.

Delhi begins 6^th Sero-survey from September 24

•The Delhi government on September 23, 2021, approved the 6^th round of Sero-survey to begin from September 24. Delhi Health Ministry stated that 28,000 samples from 272 wards will be collected in the 6^th Sero-survey.

•The 6^th Sero-survey will be conducted in collaboration with 3 NGOs namely United Way Bengaluru, ATE Chandra Foundation, and IDFC Foundation.

•In a Sero-survey, blood samples of humans are collected to detect the presence of antibodies of COVID19. If a person had been infected and got cured of the infection, then the sero-survey report of that patient will come positive for antibodies.

•As per ICMR, sero-surveys helps in ascertaining the proportion of the population in a state that got exposed to COVID19 infection including asymptomatic individuals. Appropriate public health interventions are implemented on the basis of the results of the level of sero-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

•The 5^th Sero-survey in Delhi was carried out in January 2021. The survey suggested that 56.13 per cent of the population in the capital had developed COVID19 antibodies.

World’s highest electric vehicle charging station opens in Himachal Pradesh

•The world’s highest electric vehicle charging station was inaugurated on September 23, 2021, at 500 ft in Kaza of Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh to promote a sustainable environment.

•Two women drove electric scooters from Manali to Kaza to promote a clean and green environment and to bust the myth that long-distance journeys cannot be covered on electric vehicles.

•All the products including the chargers used for the world’s highest electric vehicle charging station in Himachal Pradesh are made in India.