26.05.21 Daily [Andhra Pradesh] APPSC Current Affairs

The recentsero-surveyconducted by the Andhra Pradesh health department in April has found that nearly 59% of those surveyed had developedantibodiesagainst Covid-19.
Of the 46,991Covid-19 samplesextracted from the general population, 27,869 samples turned out to be positive for antibodies. According to experts, this can be corroborated by the fact that the state recorded a 25-30% case positivity rate for several days in the second wave.

The urban population was found to be more exposed to the disease than their rural counterparts. While the survey projected antibodies against the Sars-CoV-2 virus in about 62% urban males and 66% urban females, it was 56.1% in rural males and 57.6% in rural females.

The sero conversion rate in the three different vaccinated groups is over 77%. The officials conducted the survey on nearly 6,300 people who have already received two vaccine doses.
Altogether, 78.8% of the samples taken from rural females in West Godavari turned to be positive for the novel coronavirus. Similarly, 78.5% of the urban female study subjects were found to have developed antibodies against the disease in Chittoor district.

The earlier state-wide sero survey conducted by the AP health department, in two phases, found that about 20% of the 5.4 crore population of the state developed antibodies for the SARS-CoV-2, the Covid-19 causing virus.

The government has set up a panel of state ministers for better valuation of services ofcasinos,online gamingportal and race courses for levying goods and services tax (GST).

The seven-member panel, convened by Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, will also examine whether any change is required in the legal provision for better means of valuation of these services.

It will also examine the administration of such valuation provisions and if an alternative means of valuation is recommended.

The panel would also look into the impact of such valuation on other similarly placed services like lottery.

The Ministry of Power has decided to establish a National Mission to promote the use of biomass in coal-fired thermal power plants.

Increase the level of co-firing from the current 5% to higher levels in order to have a greater share of carbon neutral power generation from thermal power plants.

Conduct R&D in boiler design to handle the higher levels of silica and alkalis in biomass pellets.

To make it easier to overcome constraints in the supply chain of bio mass pellets and agro- residue, as well as their transport to power plants.

Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, a 1985 batchIPSofficer serving as CISF DG, on Wednesday took charge as theCBIdirector.

TheCentral Bureau of Investigationwas working without a regular chief for over three months afterRishi Kumar Shuklacompleted his two-year tenure on February 3.

Jaiswal, ex-Maharashtra DGP and former Mumbai top cop, was the seniormost officer in the panel.