Turkey announces lockdown from April 29 to curb COVID-19
•Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 27, 2021 announced a full lockdown in the nation from April 29, 2021 till May 17th to curb coronavirus infections.
•This marks the country’s strictest measure since the pandemic began. During the lockdown, all businesses will have to close unless otherwise stated by the interior minister.
•The supermarkets will stay open except on Sundays. Besides this, permission will be needed for intercity travel. All schools will also switch to online learning.
•The main aim is to daily infections to 5,000. The number of infections and deaths have risen in the country after it lifted partial restrictions in March 2021.
•Turkey has so far recorded over 4.6 million coronavirus infections and 38,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
DRDO to set up 500 Medical Oxygen Plants within 3 months
•India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to set up 500 Medical Oxygen Plants within 3 months under the PM CARES Fund. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed that the Medical Oxygen Plant technology developed by DRDO for On‐Board Oxygen Generation for Tejas Light Combat Aircraft will now help is easing the medical oxygen crisis that has enveloped the country following the massive spike in COVID-19 infections across the nation.
•The Minister said that DRDO will use its technology to generate much-needed oxygen for COVID-19 patients and this is expected to overcome the current crisis.
•The oxygen plant has been designed for a capacity of 1,000 litres per minute (LPM) and it can cater to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 LPM and charge 195 cylinders per day.
•The DRDO has set the target of setting up 125 oxygen plants per month and this way, 500 are expected to be installed within 3 months. Medical oxygen has proven to be critical for treating severe COVID-19 patients who witness a dip in their oxygen levels due to the infection.
Saudi Arabia to join ‘Net Zero Producers Forum’ on climate change
•Saudi Arabia will soon join the United States, Canada, Norway, and Qatar in forming ‘Net Zero Producers Forum’ for oil and gas producers lead discussions on how to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
•Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest crude exporter. It will now be a part of the new platform, which will discuss ways to achieve net zero carbon emission targets to limit global warming.
•Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said in the past that the kingdom aims to reduce its carbon emissions by generating 50 percent of the country's energy from renewables by 2030.
Ethnic Karen guerrillas claim to have captured Myanmar army base near Thailand border
•Ethnic Karen guerrillas claimed on April 27, 2021 that they have captured a Myanmar army base near the border with Thailand. This is a morale-boosting action for those opposing the military's takeover of the nation's civilian government in February.
•Myanmar’s military later retaliated by staging airstrikes on villages in territory controlled by the Karen forces, as per guerrilla spokesman. The number of casualties are not known.
•The KNU, which controls territory in eastern Myanmar near the Thailand border, is a close ally of the resistance movement against the military takeover that led to the ousting of the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Its armed wing is called the Karen National Liberation Army.
US President Joe Biden calls massacre of Armenians during First World War as genocide
•US President Joe Biden has called the massacre of Armenians during the First World War as genocide. He is the first US president to describe the atrocities as genocide.
•The US President’s statement comes at a time when the Armenians are commemorating the start of the mass killings. On the occasion, President Biden said that they remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit to preventing such an atrocity from occurring ever again.
•The massacre had taken place when the Ottoman Empire was ruling the region, which is the forerunner of modern-day Turkey. The Ottoman Turks, while accusing Christian Armenians of treachery after suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of the Soviet Union began deporting them in large numbers to the Syrian desert and elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were massacred or they died from starvation or disease.
•Though Turkey acknowledges the atrocities but rejects the term genocide.
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