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Type: Prelims Only

  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    TB diagnostic kit ‘Truenat’

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: TrueNat

    Mains level: Not Much

    ‘Truenat’, a diagnostic machine used to test drug-resistant TB has now been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting Covid-19 tests.

    Truenat

    • The Truenat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnosis TB in one hour as well as testing for resistance to the drug rifampicin.
    • This test for TB uses a sputum sample taken from each patient.
    • It is a small battery operated device which requires minimal training and is usable even in smaller settings such as the Primary Health Centre.
    • It uses a chip-based technology and takes just up to 60 minutes for a test, screening or confirmatory.

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  • Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

    Assamese Gamosa 

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Assamese Gamosa

    Mains level: Not Much

    The COVID-19 pandemic has made the Assamese gamosa, a decorative cotton towel, evolve from memento to mask.

    Gamosa

    • The Gamosa is an article of significance for the people of Assam.
    • It is generally a white rectangular piece of cloth with primarily a red border on three sides and red woven motifs on the fourth (in addition to red, other colors are also used).
    • Although cotton yarn is the most common material for making/weaving gamosas, there are special occasion ones made from Pat silk.

    Types

    • Assam has traditionally had two types of gamosas the uka and the phulam.
    • The uka or plain kind is used to wipe sweat or dry the body after a bath.
    • The phulam is decorated with floral motifs to be gifted as a memento or during festivals such as Bihu.

    Significance

    • Cultural historians say the gamosa came to symbolise Assamese nationalism in 1916 when the Asom Chatra Sanmilan, a students’ organisation was formed, followed by the Assam Sahitya Sabha, a literary body.
    • Wearing the phulam gamosa around the neck became a standard for cultural identity.
    • Thegamosa’s graph as a symbol of protest rose during the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation from 1979 to 1985.
    • The gamosa staged a comeback as a political statement with the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act from mid-December 2019.

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  • Innovation Ecosystem in India

    [pib] “Samadhan” Challenge

    PIBPrelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: SAMADHAN Challenge

    Mains level: NA

     

    A mega online challenge – SAMADHAN – has been launched to test the ability of students to innovate.

    “Samadhan” Challenge

    • The Innovation Cell of the Ministry of HRD and All India Council for Technical Education in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris has launched this online challenge.
    • Under the challenge, the students and faculty will be motivated for doing new experiments and new discoveries and provide them with a strong base leading to spirit of experimentation and discovery.
    • The students participating in this challenge will search and develop such measures that can be made available to the government agencies, health services, hospitals and other services for quick solutions to the Coronavirus epidemic and other such calamities.
    • Apart from this, through this challenge, work will be done to make citizens aware, to motivate them, to face any challenge, to prevent any crisis and to help people get livelihood.

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  • Capital Markets: Challenges and Developments

    Euro Zone ‘Coronabonds’

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Coronabonds, Eurozone

    Mains level: Not Much

    The coronavirus pandemic has revived the acrimonious debate between euro zone countries about jointly issuing debt through instruments called Coronabonds.

    Coronabonds

    • Coronabonds are proposed debt instruments amongst EU member states, with the aim of providing financial relief to Eurozone countries battered by the coronavirus.
    • They aim to meet healthcare needs and address the deep economic downturn that is set to follow.
    • The funds would be mutualised and supplied by the European Investment Bank, with the debt taken collectively by all member states of the European Union.
    • The euro zone jointly issues debt through its bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, which borrows on the market against the security of its paid-in and callable capital provided by euro zone governments.

    Back2Basics

    What is Eurozone?

    • The Eurozone officially called the euro area is a monetary union of 19 of the 27 European Union (EU) member states which have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender.
    • The monetary authority of the Eurozone is the Eurosystem.
    • It consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    What is Drive-through Testing?

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Drive-through Testing

    Mains level: Coronovirus outbreak and its mitigation

    To work around the challenges of home-based testing in the country, a New Delhi based firm has offered ‘drive-through test’ for COVID-19.

    Drive-through Testing

    • Those who feel sick drive up to a test centre where nurses wearing protective gear collect a nose or throat sample from the car itself.
    • Results are mailed or messaged in a day.
    • This method of mass testing has allowed reduced contact between patients and healthcare workers, thereby lessening the chances of transmission.
    • South Korea has led the world in the number of tests per million to check for coronavirus infection through this method.

    Germany: leading through examples

    • Germany is conducting around 3,50,000 coronavirus tests a week, far more than any other country.
    • It means that more people with few or no symptoms are reported thereby increasing the number of known cases and adequate quarantines.

    Limitations (for India)

    • We have seen so far is that many are uncomfortable with the home collection process.
    • Some people are worried that lab personnel visiting home in full protective gear would scare the neighbours.
    • There are also instances when spouses of some healthcare personnel have separated for a while.

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    Pink Supermoon/ Paschal Moon

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Pink Supermoon

    Mains level: NA

    A supermoon is all scheduled to show up in the sky on April 7. It would be the biggest and brightest full moon of 2020.

    Pink Supermoon

    • According to NASA, a supermoon takes place when a full moon is at its closest to the Earth.
    • When the full moon appears at perigee (closest point from the earth) it is slightly brighter and larger than a regular full moon — and that is what we call a “supermoon.”
    • They are called Supermoons because they are 7 per cent bigger and 15 per cent brighter, compared to an average full Moon.
    • The moon will not be originally pink in colour. It got its name from the pink wildflowers – Wild Ground Phlox – that bloom in the spring and are native to North America.
    • It is also called Paschal moon because, in the Christian calendar, this is used to calculate the date for Easter – the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday.

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Tropical Butterfly Conservatory

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Tropical Butterfly Conservatory

    Mains level: Significance of butterflies for ecosystem

    The Tropical Butterfly Conservatory Tiruchirappalli (TBCT) has been developed in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli to create awareness among the public about the importance of the butterfly and its ecology.

    Tropical Butterfly Conservatory

    • The TBC is located in the Upper Anaicut Reserve Forest, sandwiched between the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers in Tiruchirappalli.
    • It was inaugurated during November 2015 at Tiruchirappalli with the objective of propagating the importance of butterflies and conserving the biodiversity of the district through environmental education.
    • It  is spread over 27 acres and is considered to be Asia’s largest butterfly park.
    • The park has an outdoor as well as indoor conservatory, a ‘Nakshatra Vanam’ and a ‘Rasi Vanam’ in addition to a breeding lab for non-scheduled species.
    • So far, about 109 butterfly species have been observed here.

    Conservation measures

    • Eggs of non-scheduled butterfly species are collected and bred in captivity in the in-house incubation laboratory by keeping them in ventilated plastic containers with the leaves of host plants as feed.
    • After attaining the transformation of larva (caterpillar) and pupa (transition), the adult butterfly finally comes out with gorgeous colours and at this stage they are released into the natural habitat.
    • Non-scheduled butterfly species are bred and released by the park authorities into their natural surroundings.

    Significance of butterflies

    • Butterflies are known for their intrinsic, aesthetic, educational, scientific, ecological, health and economic values.
    • As butterflies form an important part of nature’s food web, it is very essential to protect the species for ecological balance.
    • They play a key role in the pollination of plant species, the global food chain depends on their well-being.

    Various threats

    • The major threats to butterfly diversity are destruction, degradation and fragmentation of their habitats, grazing, fires and application of pesticides and weedicides in agricultural and urban ecosystems.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Maldives

    Operation Sanjeevani

    Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Operation Sanjeevani

    Mains level: India-Maldives Relations

    An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft o delivered 6.2 tonne of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives under Operation Sanjeevani.

    Operation Sanjeevani

    • At the request of the govt. of Maldives, the IAF aircraft activated Operation Sanjeevani and lifted these medicines from airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai before flying to the Maldives.
    • Among other things, these medicines include influenza vaccines, anti-viral drugs such as lopinavir and ritonavir — which have been used to treat patients with COVID-19 in other countries.
    • The flights are being operated on commercial basis following demands from pharmaceutical companies and their intermediaries and will carry cargo on inbound as well as outbound flights.
    • The cargo operations will help the airline earn some revenue at a time there is a ban on passenger flights and the entire fleet is grounded.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    BCG vaccine

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: BCG Vaccine

    Mains level: Coronovirus and the hunt for its vaccine

    According to a  US-based research, a combination of reduced morbidity and mortality could make the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination a “game-changer” in the fight against novel coronavirus.

    What is BCG Vaccine?

    • Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB).
    • In countries where TB or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended in healthy babies as close to the time of birth as possible.
    • In areas where tuberculosis is not common, only children at high risk are typically immunized, while suspected cases of tuberculosis are individually tested for and treated.

    How can TB vaccine help fight COVID-19?

    • The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria.
    • This is called an adaptive immune response, because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it.
    • Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen.
    • Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine may also boost the innate immune system, first-line defenses that keep a variety of pathogens from entering the body or from establishing an infection.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    [pib] CCI Green Channel Route

    PIBPrelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: CCI Green Channel

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has received a request for merger of a company following green channel combination route.

    What is a Green Channel Route?

    • In a bid to facilitate mergers and acquisitions (combination) in the country, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has taken inspiration from the customs department and established a ‘green channel’.
    • Every Combination above a certain threshold, seeking to be sanctioned has to necessarily pass the CCI scanner in order to be approved.
    • The CCI characterizes the ‘green channel’ as an automatic system of approval for Combinations wherein the Combination is deemed to be approved upon filing the notice in the format prescribed.
    • The ‘green channel automatic approval upon notification route’ is a right step by CCI towards the propaganda of ease of doing business in India.

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