• CSIR is leading the fight against Covid-19 by supporting new ideas and projects from other academic and industries through its flagship New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) program.

• CSIR through NMITLI program has approved a project towards development of human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) that can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in patients.
• This project on generation of neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies as a therapeutic strategy will be implemented by a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary team.
• The project aims to generate hmAbs to SARS-CoV-2 from convalescent phase of COVID-19 patients and select high affinity and neutralizing antibodies.
• The project also aims to anticipate future adaptation of the virus and generate hmAbs clones that can neutralize the mutated virus so that could be readily used for combating future SARS-CoV infections.
• BBIL will be the commercial partner and responsible for subsequent development and commercialization of the hmAbs generated.

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched ‘Ayush Kavach-Covid' app to help people get health remedies which can be useful in fight against COVID-19. The app has been developed by AYUSH ministry

• The ‘Ayush Kavach-Covid' App will provide s for measures to boost immunity based on natural resources.
• The app is designed to tell users how commonly available kitchen ingredients such as tulsi, clove and cinnamon can be used to enhance the body's immunity to fight against COVID-19.
• It also offers users the opportunity to seek advice from experts.

• The Union Health & Family Welfare Ministry launched the ‘AYUSH Sanjivani' App and two AYUSH based studies related to COVID-19 situation
• The ‘AYUSH Sanjivani ' mobile app, which has been launched , will help to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies and measures among the population and its impact in prevention of COVID 19.
• It is developed by Ministry of AYUSH and MEITY and shall reach out to a target of 50 lakh people.

• A Stringency Index created by Oxford University shows how strict a country's measures were, and at what stage of the spread it enforced these.
• An index created by the University of Oxford quantifies that India imposed its strictest measures much earlier than others.
• The Stringency Index has found that India indeed had one of the strongest lockdown measures in the world - at a 100 score since March 22.

• It is among the metrics being used by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker.
• The Tracker involves a team of 100 Oxford community members who have continuously updated a database of 17 indicators of government response.
• These indicators examine containment policies such as school and workplace closings, public events, public transport, stay-at-home policies.
• The Stringency Index is a number from 0 to 100 that reflects these indicators. A higher index score indicates a higher level of stringency.
• It provides a picture of the stage at which any country enforced its strongest measures.
• Oxford provides an overlay of countries' death curve and their stringency score.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Kailash-Mansarovar yatra route - geographical locations)
What's the NEWS

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed construction of 80 km road stretch that connects Dharchula (Uttarakhand) to Lipulekh (China Border), popularly known as Kailash-Mansarovar yatra route.

• The Darchula-Lipulekh road is an extension of Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road.
• It originates from Ghatiabagarh and terminates at Lipulekh Pass, the gateway to Kailash Mansarovar.

• In this 80 kilometre road, the altitude rises from 6,000 to 17,060 feet.
• Now with the completion of this road link, the yatra could be completed in one week compared to 2-3 weeks it took earlier.
• With the completion of this project, the arduous trek through treacherous high-altitude terrain can now be avoided by the pilgrims of Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.
• At present, the travel to Kailash-Mansarovar takes around two to three weeks through Sikkim or Nepal routes.
• Lipulekh route had a trek of 90 Km through high altitude terrain and the elderly yatris faced lot of difficulties.

• The Kailash-Mansarovar road alignment is along the Kali river, which is the boundary between India and Nepal.
• The end point of road is at Lipulekh Pass, a tri-junction of India, China and Nepal.
• To access Kailash through Sikkim, China and India opened the Nathu La border point in 2015.
• Through here, pilgrims travel by bus from the border without the ordeal of trekking and travelling on horse back.
• Thousands of pilgrims in various batches undergo the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through different routes.
• The yatra is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the journey beyond the International Border is overseen by Chinese authorities.

• The other two road ways via Sikkim and Nepal are along. They entailed approximately 20 per cent land journeys on Indian roads and 80 per cent land journeys in China.
• With the opening of Ghatiabgarh-Lipulekh road, this ratio has been reversed.
• Now Pilgrims to Manasarovar will traverse 84 per cent land journeys on Indian Roads and only 16 per cent land Journeys in China.

• An IIT-Delhi startup named ‘Nanosafe Solutions' has launched an antimicrobial and washable face mask that can be reused up to 50 launderings.

• The mask has been designed to maximize durability and dimensional stability, so that the mask can be reused 50 times.
• This is the first fabric based antimicrobial face mask launched in India, which is washable and reusable along with very high Bacterial Filtration Efficiency
• NSafe mask is a highly engineered triple-layered product consisting of - inner hydrophilic layer for comfort, middle layer having antimicrobial activity and outer most layer having water and oil repellent behaviour.
• NSafe mask has 99.2 per cent bacterial filtration efficiency (at 3 microns) and complies with ASTM standards of breathability and splash resistance.

Prelims Factoids
The Resistance Front (TRF)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about The Resistance Front (TRF)
What's the NEWS

• Kashmir's new militant group, The Resistance Front (TRF) - which J&K Police say is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) - has kept security forces in the Valley on their toes.

Know! about TRF

• The TRF, from being a non-entity in Kashmir, has now become a considerable security threat and its emergence could be part of a strategy to escalate violence in the union territory.
• In a recent encounter security forces have killed five TRF militants, three of them being local youths.
• The emergence of the outfit even prompted the J&K administration to mention it as one of the reasons for the continued ban on high-speed internet.

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