Current Affairs in Short: 3 December 2020

India, US sign agreement to enhance cooperation in IP examination and protection

•India and the US have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-operate on intellectual property examination and protection for the next 10 years and strengthen the IP systems in both countries.
•The agreement was signed between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Union Commerce Ministry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The USPTO was represented by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Andrei Iancu and India was represented by DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra during a virtual meeting on December 2, 2020. 
•The agreement will help strengthen the intellectual property (IP) systems of both nations, urging further innovation and growth. An earlier MoU between India and the US expired around 9 years ago. The present agreement will cover the next 10 years.

IAF test-fires indigenous, Russian air defence missiles

•The Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a massive exercise between November 23 and December 2, 2020, in which it test-fired its air defence missiles including the indigenous Akash air defence system and Russian Igla handheld launchers.
•The Akash Missile System was test-fired along with the Russian short-range missiles. The missiles engaged with the Maneuverable Expendable Aerial Target (MEAT), providing near realistic training to the combat crew.
•The IAF continues to hone its operational capabilities with an eye on the prevailing security situation as the country continues to face the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to prioritise senior citizens

•A team of medical experts in the UK informed on December 2, 2020 that senior citizens will be prioritised during the distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the country. This comes after the United Kingdom (UK) authorised the use of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
•The vaccine will be first given to senior citizens, who are more susceptible to dying from the virus such as residents in care homes for older adults and care home workers. Following that those who are 80 years of age and above and frontline workers will be prioritised. 
•Then those 75 years of age will be prioritised, followed by those 70 years and above, alongside those who are extremely vulnerable because of specific health conditions.
•As per experts, under phase 1 of vaccine distribution, almost 90-99 percent of people who are at risk of dying from COVID-19 are expected to be covered.

Twitter expands hate speech policy to include language targetting race, ethnicity

•Twitter on December 2, 2020 expanded its hateful speech rules to include language that dehumanizes people on the basis of race, ethnicity and national origin.
•Twitter had earlier in 2019 banned speech that dehumanizes others based on religion or caste and had later updated the rule in March 2020 to add age, disability and disease to the list of protected categories.
•Twitter had reportedly planned to add new categories to its hate speech policy over time after testing to ensure it can consistently enforce updated rules.

Maharashtra Government approves proposal to rename all residential colonies with caste-based names

•Maharashtra cabinet on December 2, 2020 approved a proposal seeking to rename all residential colonies having names based on caste. 
•With this, all residential colonies with names such as Brahman-wada, Mahar-wada, Dhor-vasti, Bouddh-wada, Mali-galli and Mang-wada will be given new names such as Samata Nagar, Bhim Nagar, Jyotinagar, Shahunagar and Kranti Nagar.
•Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aslam Sheikh said that these caste-based colonies were established during the British rule to divide people and it has been now decided to rename them after people who undertook social service for the country.
•Names based on caste generally indicate that members of a particular community living in the area. Hence, the Maharashtra state government took the decision to rename these localities to maintain social harmony and national unity.