DAILY GK: 28, 29, 30 NOV
1.
NITI AAYOG’S 1ST NATIONAL
MPI 2021
·
NITI (National Institution for Transforming
India) Aayog released its first ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index
(MPI) 2021-Baseline report’ in which Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar
Pradesh (UP) ranked as the poorest state in India.
·
Kerala has lowest poverty across India
(0.71%), followed by Goa (3.76%), Sikkim (3.82%).
2.
WHO DESIGNATES NEW COVID-19 STRAIN, NAMED
‘OMICRON’, AS VARIANTS OF CONCERN
·
World Health
Organisation (WHO) has designated the new, fast-spreading coronavirus
variant, B.1.1.529, which was detected in South Africa named “Omicron”
after a letter in the Greek alphabet, as ‘Variant of Concern(VOC)’.
·
Currently designated
VOCs are, Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), Delta (B.1.617.2), and
Omicron (B.1.1.529).
·
B.1.1.529 variant was
first reported from South Africa on 24th November 2021 and the first known
confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021.
·
Variants of Interest (VOI)
VOI is a SARS-CoV-2 variant with genetic changes which
is known to affect Virus characteristics like transmissibility, disease
severity, Immune Escape, Diagnostic or Therapeutic Escape.