current affairs 09 August 2021 (In English)

Thailand bans coral-damaging sunscreen in marine parks.

• Thailand has banned sunscreens containing chemicals that damage coral from all of its marine national parks.
• There are growing concerns that the lotions used for tourist sun protection are harming slow-growing corals.
• Four ingredients commonly found in sun creams have been shown to destroy coral larvae, hinder coral reproduction, and cause reef bleaching.
• Anyone violating the ban could be fined up to 100,000 baht (£2,100).
• Banned lotions are those that contain oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor or butylparaben.

Dhriti Banerjee became the 1st woman director in the 100-year history of the Zoological Survey of India.

• Dhriti Banerjee is a prolific scientist.
• She was doing research in zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology and molecular systematics.
• She will take over the charge of Zoological Survey of India in a week.
• She has served as the coordinator of ZSI's Digital Sequence Information Project since 2012.
• Sharing her experience and achievement, she mentioned that the women scientists at ZSI are conducting regular surveys from the Himalayas to the deep sea examining the diversity of fauna.
• About 60% of new species have been discovered by women scientists.

ISRO will launch an Earth observation satellite "EOS-03" from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on August 12.

• EOS-03 is a state-of-the-art agile satellite which will be placed in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10.
• EOS-03 is capable of imaging the whole country four-five times daily.
• EOS-03 will enable real time monitoring of natural calamities like floods and cyclones.
• EOS-03 will also be capable of monitoring water bodies, crops, vegetation status, forest cover change.

Amazon India launched its 5th fulfillment center in Telangana.

• The new fulfillment center in Hyderabad will have a storage capacity of over 6 lakh cubic feet,
• With a wide selection of products from the large appliances and furniture category.
• The new center will be spread over a floor area of 2 lakh square feet
• And will benefit over 35,000 vendors in the state with access to a large customer base in its online marketplace.

Union Minister Virendra Kumar launched PM-Daksh Portal, PM Daksha Mobile App to promote skill development.

• Pradhan Mantri Daksh and Kushal Sampanna Hitgrahi (PM-Daksh) scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from the year 2020-21.
• Under this scheme skill development training program on up-skilling/re-skilling is being provided to the eligible target groups.
• Both the portal and Mobile App is developed by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with National e-governance division (NeGD).
• The purpose of this portal and app is for male skill development schemes accessible to the target groups of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Safai Karamcharis.