Current affairs 09 April 2024

India's First Homegrown CAR T-Cell Therapy.

• President Droupadi Murmu launched India’s first indigenously-developed CAR T-cell therapy for cancer treatment.
• The therapy, named NexCAR19, was developed by IIT Bombay and the Tata Memorial Centre.
• CAR T-cell therapy, or Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy, is a type of immunotherapy that uses the body’s own immune cells to fight cancer.

World’s first refrigerator that cools with artificial muscles.

• A team of researchers at Saarland University and the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology (ZeMa) has developed the world’s first refrigerator cooled with artificial muscles made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy.
• The technology is based on a simple principle of removing heat from a space by stretching wires and releasing them again.

Chess player Vidit Gujrathi win over world No 3 Hikaru Nakamura.

• Vidit Gujrathi beats world No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in their second-round match of the 2024 Candidates in Toronto, Canada.
• Gukesh Dommaraju beat compatriot Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
• The trio are the first three Indian men after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to have qualified for the prestigious World Championship tournament.

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Najmi Waziri appointed as head of committee to protect Delhi's forests.

• Delhi High Court appoints retired Justice Najmi Waziri as head of a committee to protect Delhi's forests.
• He was retired from Delhi High Court in July 2023.
• Justice Waziri is famously known as the Green Judge for his orders to increase green cover in Delhi.
• According to one estimate, over one lakh trees were planted across the capital through orders passed by Justice Waziri.

Yulia Navalnaya to receive German democracy prize.

• The late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia will receive the Freedom Prize of the Media from a leading German forum.
• The prize is presented each year at the Ludwig Erhard Summit.
• Russian politician and former chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov received the award in 2023.
• Volodymyr Zelensky and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev also received the award.