UPSC Current Affairs Daily

2021-08-27 13:57:55 Open / Comment

2021-08-27 13:52:04 Delhi will soon inaugurate its first smog tower.

A smog tower is a structure designed to work as a large-scale air purifier, fitted with multiple layers of filters which trap fine dust particles suspended in the air as it passes through them.
Smog towers have been experimented with in recent years in cities in the Netherlands, China, South Korea and Poland.
The fans at the bottom of the tower will suck in polluted air from the top and it will pass through 5,000 filters installed at the bottom and finally release purified air near the ground.
The filters contain electrostatically charged filter media and can capture particles as small as 0.3-10 microns in size.
An electrostatic air filter uses static electricity to give particles a positive charge as they enter the filter. This charge is released as the air continues through subsequent layers of the filter, and results in the particle ultimately getting trapped.
1000 cubic metre of air per second could be purified by the tower.
The smog tower is expected to influence the air quality of more than 1 km in the downwind direction.
The smog tower by helping purify polluted air will help control air pollution in Delhi.
Air pollution in the national capital has been an issue of concern of late. Pollution levels in Delhi increase dramatically during winter posing a serious risk to vulnerable and also healthy populations.
Construction work, industrial and vehicular pollution are the major sources of air pollution. The smoke from stubble-burning in neighbouring states, coupled with unfavourable meteorological conditions, such as calm winds and low temperatures only further aggravate the air pollution in Delhi.

SOURCE: PIB Open / Comment

2021-08-27 13:52:03 Plasmid-DNA is commonly found in bacterial cells and can replicate independently. 
The plasmid-DNA is converted into a viral protein when it enters the human body.
This develops a strong immune response to the virus in the body.
This stops the virus from growing.
If a virus changes its shape, that is, it has a mutation, then this vaccine can be changed in a few weeks.
It is easier to maintain than other vaccines.
It can be stored at 2 to 8 degree temperature.
Even at 25 degree room temperature, it does not spoil. 
Because of this, there is no need of cold chain for its maintenance.
Even for the new variant of the corona, it can be easily modified compared to the other vaccines.

SOURCE: PIB Open / Comment

2021-08-27 13:52:03 The approval for world’s first DNA based ‘ZyCov-D’ vaccine of Zydus Universe is a testimony to the innovative zeal of India’s scientists: PM

Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila is soon going to apply Central Drugs Regulator (DGCI) for emergency approval of the corona vaccine ZyCoV-D.
If approved, it will be the world’s first DNA-based vaccine.
With this, the number of vaccines available in the country will increase to 4.
So far, Serum Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik-V are being used in India.
All three vaccines currently being administered in India are double dose vaccines.
At the same time, there are single-dose vaccines also such as Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik Lite, which may come to India in the coming months.
But the Zykov-D vaccine is different from all these.
Not one or two but three doses of this Indian vaccine will be applied.
During Phase-1 and Phase-2 trials, this vaccine keeps immunity strong for a long time after applying three doses.
However, Cadila is also testing two doses of it.
ZyCoV-D is a needle free vaccine.
It will be fitted with a jet injector.
Jet injectors are widely used in USA and some other countries.
This allows the vaccine to be injected into people’s skin under high pressure.
At the same time, the needle injections that are usually used, fluid or medicine goes into the muscles.
Compressed gas or springs are used for pressure in jet injectors.
This device was invented in 1960.
WHO gave permission for its use in 2013.
Jet injectors have been in widespread use in the US since 2014.
Along with this, it is also used in some countries of Europe, Africa and Asia.
It reduces the pain to the person who is getting it, because it does not go inside your muscle like a normal injection.
The risk of spreading the infection is much less than the needle injection.
Companies like Farmjet, Spirit International, Valeritus Holdings, Injex, Enteris Pharma manufacture jet injectors.
Cadila may apply to DGCI for emergency approval of ZyCoV-D this week.
The data analysis of Phase 3 of the vaccine trial is almost ready.
The company has informed the government about this.
Apart from adults, this vaccine is also being tested on children aged 12 to 18 years.
This vaccine is also being tested on people who already have serious diseases. 
Zydus Cadila is talking about producing 24 crore doses in a year.
The preparation of the company is such that it will come in the market just a few days after getting the approval.
The company will produce 2 crore vaccines every month.
Along with this, talks are also going on with other manufacturers to increase production.
The company will make about one crore doses in the first month.
After this the production will be doubled from next month.
The second dose of ZyCoV-D will be administered 28 days after the first dose.
The third dose will be taken 56 days after the first It is expected that soon the country will get the first vaccine for children.
It is being said that the company may soon trial the vaccine on children aged 5 to 12 years. If the results of the trial are encouraging, then the scope of vaccination can be expanded further.
ZyCoV-D is a DNA-plasmid vaccine.
This vaccine uses genetic material to increase the immunity of the body.
Just as Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines in many countries including the US use mRNA to increase immunity, in the same way it uses plasmid-DNA.
mRNA can also be called messenger RNA, which goes into the body and gives the message to make antibodies against the corona virus.
Whereas, plasmid is a small DNA molecule present in human cells.
This DNA is different from the common chromosome DNA. Open / Comment

2021-08-26 19:45:36 Environment static and current affairs


Click Here To Join Open / Comment

2021-08-26 14:18:02 #ENVIRONMENT

■ Tauktae,Yaas and planning for the next to come

The severe cyclones, Tauktae and Yaas, which battered India earlier this year, made landfalls on the country’s western coast, Gujarat, and the eastern coast, Odisha.

With a rise in the frequency of devastating cyclones, India needs to look at long-term mitigation measures.

● Tropical Cyclones:

Tropical cyclones are violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas and move over to the coastal areas bringing about large-scale destruction due to violent winds (squalls), very heavy rainfall (torrential rainfall), and storm surge.

They are irregular wind movements involving the closed circulation of air around a low-pressure center.

This closed air circulation (whirling motion) is a result of rapid upward movement of the hot air which is subjected to Coriolis force.

The low pressure at the center is responsible for the wind speeds.

The cyclonic wind movements are anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere (This is due to Coriolis force).

The cyclones are often characterized by the existence of an anticyclone between two cyclones.

Tropical cyclones occur around the equator at 5 ° – 30 °, but also have varying names depending upon where in the world they form.

An average tropical cyclone can travel about 300 to 400 miles a day, or about 3,000 miles before it dies out.

● India’s Cyclone Disaster Management Initiatives:

National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project India initiated this project to undertake structural and non-structural measures to mitigate the cyclone’s effects.

The aim of the project is to protect the vulnerable local communities from the impact of cyclones and other hydro-meteorological calamities.

The World Bank is providing financial assistance for this project.

It is being implemented by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA.)

● Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project

In August 2019, a draft of Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for integrated coastal management was released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC.)

Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) – The CRZ Notification 2018 and 2019 bring new reforms w.r.t sustainable development of coastal areas.

IMD’s Colour Coding of Cyclones

It is a weather warning that is issued by the IMD to aware people ahead of natural hazards.

The four colours used by IMD are Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.

Recently, in December 2020, IMD’s DG announced the introduction of a dynamic and impact-based cyclonic warning system. IMD will work with NDMA, INCOIS and various state governments to successfully introduce this system.

● Regional names for Tropical Cyclones:

Indian Ocean - Cyclones

Atlantic - Hurricanes

Western Pacific and South China Sea - Typhoons

Western Australia - Willy-willies

● Essential steps:

First, it is imperative to improve the cyclone warning system and revamp disaster preparedness measures.

Second, the Government must widen the cover under shelterbelt plantations and help regenerate mangroves in coastal regions to lessen the impact of cyclones.

In addition, adopting cost-effective, long-term mitigation measures, including building cyclone-resilient infrastructure such as constructing storm surge-resilient embankments, canals and improving river connectivity to prevent waterlogging in low-lying areas are important.

Third, installing disaster-resilient power infrastructure in the coastal districts, providing concrete houses to poor and vulnerable households, and creating massive community awareness campaigns are essential.

Finally, healthy coordination between the Centre and the States concerned is essential to collectively design disaster mitigation measures.

It is only such a collective mitigation effort by the Centre and States that can help reduce the fiscal burden of States and also be effective in minimising disaster deaths.

SOURCE - THE HINDU Open / Comment

2021-08-26 14:17:37 Tiwa tribe

Tiwa also known as Lalung is indigenous community inhabiting the states of Assam and Meghalaya and are also found in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
They are recognized as a Scheduled tribe within the state of Assam. But they still do not benefit the ST status in the state of Meghalaya.
They are divided into 2 sub-groups- Hill Tiwa and Plains Tiwa which have contrasting cultural features:
Hill Tiwa: They live in the westernmost areas of Karbi Anglong district. They speak a Tibeto-Burman language. In most cases, the husband goes to live in her wife's family settlement (matrilocality), and their children are included in their mother's clan. One-half of them follow their traditional religion. It is based on the worship of local deities. The other half has been converted to Christianity since the 1950s.
Plains Tiwa: They live on the flatlands of the Southern bank of the Brahmaputra valley. The vast majority speak Assamese as their mother tongue. Their descent system is patrilineal. Their religion shares many elements with Assamese Hinduism but remains specific.
They practice Jhum or shifting cultivation, where the land is first cleared of any vegetation that is later set on fire (slash-and-burn). The result is a more fertile soil that is freshly enriched with potash, all the more useful for a bountiful crop.
The main festivals of the Tiwa tribes are: Three Pisu (Bihu), Borot utsav, Sogra phuja, Wanchuwa, Jonbeel Mela, Kabla, Langkhon Phuja and Yangli Phuja.
Pig is a staple part of their diet and their culture. Open / Comment

2021-08-26 14:17:37 Wanchuwa festival

This festival is celebrated by Tiwa tribesmen to mark their good harvest.
It comes with songs, dances,a bunch of rituals and people clad in their native attires.
The people of Tiwa tribe associate the bountiful harvest with the higher power from nature. This takes the form of pigs' skulls and bones which act as deities and are preserved through many generations.
People do plenty of make up in the form of paste made of rice powder. They participate in dance with this make up.
With bamboo sticks in hand, the people proceed to rhythmically beat the rice powder, and occasionally pause to move around the circle.
Tiwas pray for a bountiful harvest as well as protection from pests and natural calamities. Open / Comment

2021-08-26 14:17:36 DRDO develops Advanced Chaff Technology for Indian Air Force

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF)
It is against hostile radar threats.
Defence Laboratory Jodhpur, a DRDO laboratory developed the advanced Chaff material and chaff cartridge-118/I in collaboration with High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), a Pune based laboratory of DRDO, meeting qualitative requirements of IAF.
The Indian Air Force has started the process of induction of this technology after completion of successful user trials. 
In today’s electronic warfare, survivability of fighter aircraft is of prime concern because of advancement in modern radar threats.
To ensure survivability of aircraft, Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS) is used which provides passive jamming against Infra-Red and radar threats.
Chaff is a critical defence technology used to protect fighter aircraft from hostile radar threats.
The importance of this technology lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for ensuring safety of the fighter aircraft.
The technology has been given to the industry for production in large quantities to meet the annual rolling requirement of the Indian Air Force.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has lauded DRDO, IAF and the industry for indigenous development of this critical technology, terming it as one more step of DRDO towards ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ in strategic defence technologies.

SOURCE: PIB Open / Comment

2021-08-26 14:17:36 Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launches Defence India Startup Challenge 5.0

Defence India Startup Challenge has been launched by the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), Defence Innovation Organisation(DIO) with support from the Ministry of Defence and Atal Innovation Mission.
Aim: To support Startups/MSMEs/Innovators to create prototypes and/or commercialize products/solutions in the area of National Defence and Security.
DISC 5.0: The fifth edition of DISC will have more challenges than the first four DISC editions taken together.
This challenge is meant to achieve self-reliance and foster innovation and technology development across the defence and aerospace sectors.
This challenge was launched by Ministry in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission.
It was launched with the aim of providing support to Startups, MSMEs and Innovators to create prototypes or commercialize products and solutions in the fields of National Defence and Security.
Under the DISC, 35 problem statements were launched comprising of 13 from Services and 22 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).
35 statements were launched from Armed Forces and OFB or DPSUs for the resolution by startups & innovators.
These statements are areas like situational awareness, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, non-lethal devices, aircraft-trainer, 5G network, Drone SWARMS, underwater domain awareness, and data capturing.
iDEX initiative
iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) initiative is to achieve self-reliance and promote the development of innovation & technology in India’s Defence and Aerospace sectors. PM Modi had launched iDEX in April 2018.
iDEX has been successful at bridging the gap between talent and demand in the country while offering a strong foundation of R&D, and innovation to the industry.
iDEX will be supporting 5 times more startups over the next 5 years to complete procurement procedures in a timely manner, accelerate progress, and reduce costs.
iDEX4fauji is another similar initiative that offers opportunities to service personnel to showcase their talent in the fields of Defence innovation and technology.

SOURCE: PIB Open / Comment