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Monthly DNA
11 May, 2020
47 Min Read
As part of the Government of India's outreach amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Naval Ship Kesari has departed for Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros, to provide Food Items, COVID related Medicines including HCQ Tablets and Special Ayurvedic Medicines with Medical Assistance Teams embarked, on 10 May 20.
This deployment as ‘Mission Sagar’, is in line with India’s role as the first responder in the region and builds on the excellent relations existing between these countries to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant difficulties.
The deployment is in consonance with the Prime Ministers' vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region ‘SAGAR’ and highlights the importance accorded by India to relations with her neighbouring countries and further strengthens the existing bond.
As part of Mission Sagar, Indian Naval Ship Kesari would enter the Port of Male in the Republic of Maldives, to provide them with 600 tons of food provisions.
India and Maldives are close maritime neighbours with strong and extremely cordial defence and diplomatic relations.
Learn more about the SAGAR initiative and IORA @( https://www.aspireias.com/daily-news/gs-paper-2/SAGAR-programme-Indian-Ocean-Rim-association-IORA )
Source: PIB
Stringency Index
Part of: GS-III- S&T (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)
A Stringency Index created by Oxford University shows how strict a country’s measures were, and at what stage of the pandemic spread it enforced these. As per the index, India imposed its strictest measures much earlier than others.
What is Stringency index?
The Stringency Index is a number from 0 to 100 that reflects these indicators. A higher index score indicates a higher level of stringency.
What it says about India?
Relation between death curve and stringency score:
Oxford provides an overlay of countries’ death curve and their stringency score. Some countries saw their deaths just begin to flatten as they reached their highest stringency, such as Italy, Spain, or France.
In countries such as the UK, the US, and India, the Oxford graphs find that the death curve has not flattened after strictest measures were enforced.
From the highest death count at their strongest measures, the countries compared were France, Italy, Iran, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, US, Turkey, Israel, China, India, and Switzerland.
Other countries with 100 score:
Other countries with a 100 score are Honduras, Argentina, Jordan, Libya, Sri Lanka, Serbia, and Rwanda. India now has the highest number of cases in this set.
What are the six World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations for relaxing physical distancing measures?
Control transmission to a level the healthcare system can manage; the healthcare system can detect and isolate all cases (not just serious ones); manage transfer to and from high-risk transmission zones; and community engagement.
How many countries met these recommendations?
India scored 0.7 (below Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea) because it scored 0 for controlling its cases.
The highest scorers on this index, at 0.9, were Iceland, Hong Kong, Croatia, and Trinidad & Tobago. Oxford found no countries meet the four measured recommendations, but 20 are close.
Source: IE
3D bioprinted cartilage
Source: TH
Wi-Fi Calling
Part of: GS-III- S&T-Cellular technology (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)
What is Wi-Fi Calling?
Wi-Fi Calling is a High Definition (HD) voice service that uses a High Speed Internet connection to let you make and receive calls over a Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi itself operates on a series of standards established by the IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance. The simplest way to make a Wi-Fi call is through a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system. It works by reaching a carrier over the internet connection to establish a phone line.
The benefits of Wi-Fi Calling:
**If you're dropping calls or can't connect due to weak cellular network signal coverage, turn on your device's Wi-Fi Calling feature. Your device then uses a Wi-Fi connection from your home Wi-Fi or a Wi-Fi hotspot you're near so you can make calls as usual. There's no extra charge for Wi-Fi calls.
To be eligible for Wi-Fi Calling, you need to:
Source: Web
Part of: GS-III- Economy (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)
In its guidelines, NDMA said state governments will ensure that off-site disaster management plans of the respective major Accidental Hazard units are up to date and preparedness to implement them is high.
Important points
In case of discovering a COVID-19 positive case, the factories have to prepare accommodation to isolate workers if needed and HR has to help manage the whole process for individual and all travelling employees also to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The NDMA said workers involved in dealing with hazardous material must be skilled and experienced in the field. No compromise on deployment of such workers should be permitted when an industrial unit is opened up, it added.
FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: https://www.aspireias.com/daily-news-analysis-current-affairs/Disaster-Management-in-India
Source: IE
RBI gold reserves up 40.4 tonnes in 2019-20, more than half of total holdings held overseas
Context
The RBI’s total gold reserves were 612.56 tonnes in the preceding fiscal ended March 2019. With the addition of more stocks, the value of gold reserves rose to $30.57 billion (around Rs 2,32,000 crore) by March 2020 from $23.07 billion in March 2019.
News
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought 40.45 tonnes of gold in financial year 2019-20, taking its total holdings of the yellow metal to 653.01 tonnes.
The RBI’s total gold reserves were 612.56 tonnes in the preceding fiscal ended March 2019. With the addition of more stocks, the value of gold reserves rose to $30.57 billion (around Rs 2,32,000 crore) by March 2020 from $23.07 billion in March 2019.
As much as 360.71 tonnes of gold was held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements, while the remaining gold is held domestically, the RBI said in its ‘Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves’.
In value terms (USD), the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves rose from about 5.59 per cent as of March 2019 to about 6.40 per cent by March 2020.
Gains or losses on valuation of foreign currency assets and gold due to movements in the exchange rates and/or price of gold are booked under a balance sheet head named the Currency and Gold Revaluation Account (CGRA).
The balances in CGRA provide a buffer against exchange rate/gold price fluctuations.
During the half-year period under review, reserves followed an increasing trend from $445.11 billion as of October 2019 to $481.26 billion by February 2020. Thereafter, reserves decreased to $477.81 billion as of March 2020, the RBI report said.
Out of the reserves, $263.4 billion is invested in securities abroad and $147.5 billion is deposited in other central banks. The RBI has the mandate to invest up to $5 billion in bonds issued by the India Infrastructure Finance Company (UK) Ltd.
As of March 2020, the amount invested in such bonds stood at $1.86 billion.
World Gold Council (WGC)
According to the World Gold Council (WGC), headquartered at London, central banks of UAE (7 tonnes), India (6.8 tonnes), Kazakhstan (2.8 tonnes) and Uzbekistan (2.2 tonnes) increased their official gold reserves in the January-March period.
While central bankers around the globe were focused on the measures needed to contain the economic impact of COVID-19, the need for robust, liquid and diversified international reserves was apparent. And positive net purchases of gold confirm that it remains an important component of those reserves, WGC said.
Turkey added 72.7 tonnes in the March quarter, boosting gold reserves to 485.2 tonnes, 29 per cent of its total reserves. It was by far the largest buyer during the quarter, having also been the leading buyer in 2019, accounting for 50 per cent of the last quarter’s global total.
The Central Bank of Russia — the largest gold buyer since the end of 2005, the start of its 14-year buying streak — announced that it would suspend its gold buying programme from April 1.
Balances in CGRA a buffer against price fluctuations Gains or losses on valuation of foreign currency assets and gold due to movements in the exchange rates and/or price of gold are booked under a balance sheet head named the Currency and Gold Revaluation Account (CGRA). The balances in CGRA provide a buffer against exchange rate/ gold price fluctuations.
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Source: IE
Covid’s vitamin D link
Context
A new study has found an association between low average levels of vitamin D and high numbers of Covid-19 cases and mortality rates across 20 European countries.
The research, led by scientists from UK’s Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, is published in the journal Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is known to modulate the response of white blood cells, preventing them from releasing too many inflammatory cytokines (part of the body’s immune response to fight infections).
And the SARS-CoV2 virus is known to cause an excess of pro-inflammatory cytokines, called a cytokine storm.
Vitamin D has been shown to protect against acute respiratory infections, and older adults, the group most deficient in vitamin D, are also the ones most seriously affected by Covid-19.
Studies
The new study shows that Italy and Spain, both of which have experienced high Covid-19 mortality rates, have lower average vitamin D levels than most northern European countries.
This, the researchers said, is partly because people in southern Europe, particularly the elderly, avoid strong sun, while skin pigmentation also reduces natural vitamin D synthesis.
The highest average levels of vitamin D are found in northern Europe, due to the consumption of cod liver oil and vitamin D supplements, and possibly less sun avoidance.
Scandinavian nations are among the countries with the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and mortality rates per head of population in Europe, ARU said in a statement on the new research.
Source: IE
Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser (DRUVS).
Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) premier lab, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), has developed an automated contactless UVC sanitisation cabinet, called Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitiser (DRUVS).
It has been designed to sanitise mobile phones, iPods, laptops, currency notes, cheque leaves, challans, passbooks, paper, envelopes, etc.
The DRUVS cabinet is having contactless operations which is very important to contain the spread of the virus.
The proximity sensor switches clubbed with a drawer opening and closing mechanism make its operation automatic and contactless.
It provides 360-degree exposure of UVC to the objects placed inside the cabinet. Once the sanitisation is done, the system goes in sleep mode hence the operator need not wait or stand near the device.
NOTESCLEAN
The RCI has also developed an automated UVC currency sanitising device, called NOTESCLEAN.
Bundles of currency notes can be sanitised using DRUVS, however, disinfection of each currency note using it will be a time-consuming process.
For that purpose, a sanitising technique has been developed, where one has to just place the loose currency notes at the input slot of the device.
It picks the notes one by one and makes them pass through a series of UVC lamps for complete disinfection.
Source: PIB
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.
ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune is the apex laboratory of the country with state-of-art infrastructure and expertise for research in virology. NIV’s competent scientific team successfully isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus from laboratory-confirmed patients in India. This in turn has paved the way for the development of indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2.
While real-time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of the population exposed to infection.
The scientists at ICMR-NIV, Pune have enthusiastically worked to develop and validate the completely indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection for SARS-CoV-2.
The test was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity.
Benefits of IgG ELISA test
The test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours.
ELISA-based testing is easily possible even at the district level as the ELISA kit has inactivated virus.
There are also minimal bio-safety and bio-security requirements as compared to the real-time RT-PCR test.
The test has the advantage of having much higher sensitivity and specificity as compared to the several rapid test kits which have recently flooded the Indian market.
Make in India initiative
ICMR has partnered with Zydus Cadila for mass-scale production of the ELISA test kits. After development at ICMR-NIV, Pune, technology has been transferred for mass-scale production to Zydus Cadila, which is an innovation-driven global healthcare company.
Zydus has proactively taken up the challenge to expedite the approvals and commercial production of the ELISA test kits so that they can be made available for use at the earliest. The test is named “COVID KAVACH ELISA”. This is a perfect example of “Make in India” in record time.
Source: PIB
Here are some facts on Microdot Technology:
In India
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a draft notification to make microdots mandatory in vehicles.
The move is aimed at making India free from vehicle thefts and spurious spare parts.
Source: TH
Source: TH
Source: PIB
Source: TH
Source: TH
China began the mining of combustible ice (natural gas hydrates) The trial mining was conducted at a depth of 237-304 meters undersea in the Shenhu sea (PT) area, about 320 kilometres southeast of Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province. China has set two world records in terms of the total gas output
Cobra Lily The incredibly rare Arisaema translucent, more commonly known as the cobra lily, was recently rediscovered in the western Nilgiris after 84 years. They can be found only in a small area measuring less than 10 square kilometres in the Nilgiris. The Toda tribals of the Nilgir
Vaquita Porpoise With an estimated 30 or fewer individuals remaining, the vaquita porpoise — the world's most endangered marine mammal — may go extinct by 2018 if no action is taken to save them, a new study warns. Known as the 'panda of the sea' because of
Solibacillus kalamii Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the foremost lab of NASA for work on interplanetary travel, discovered the new bacteria on the filters of the International Space Station (ISS) and named it Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late President. Even as it orbits the earth so
Turtle – Threats In an attempt to raise awareness on conservation of tortoise and turtles, and on illegal trafficking, May 23 is celebrated as World Turtle Day. In addition to smuggling, turtles face a variety of man-made issues that threaten their existence. One major threat, as with
UN releases commemorative postage stamp on anniversary of eradication of smallpox Part of: GS-II- International organisation (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN's postal agency have released a commemorative postage stamp today on the 40th anniversary of t
Monkeypox Virus Singapore recently reported the first ever case of the Monkeypox Virus, a rare virus similar to the human smallpox. About Monkeypox Virus: What is It? Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is an orthopoxvirus that causes a viral disease with symptoms in humans si
Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia)-Murder Hornet The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) has arrived in North America. This insect has attacked honeybees: it crawls into hives and rips off the heads of bees in large numbers—making its supervillain nickname, “murder hornet,”
Tamil Nadu to introduce an online application for RTI Part of: GS-II- Governance (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) Applications seeking documents under the Right to Information (RTI) Act can now be filed online in Tamil Nadu. A Government Order issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrativ
Right to Information Part of: GS-IV- Ethics (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) Historical Background The right to information gained power when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 providing everyone with the right to seek, and receive, information and ideas t
FAME – NATIONAL ELECTRONIC MOBILITY MISSION Part of: GS-III- Economy-Automobile (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) The government of India notified FAME India Scheme [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India] for implementation with effect from 1st April 20
Vehicle scrappage policy soon The vehicle scrappage policy is likely to be finalised soon to boost the automobile sector. The Minister of Road Transport and Highways also said that his ministry has fixed a target to build highways worth Rs. 15 lakh crore in the next two years. Important&n
China’s experimental spaceship works normally in orbit China's new-generation spaceship launched earlier in the week is working normally in orbit after completing a series of planned operations The experimental spaceship was launched without crew by China's new large carrier rock
Slower growth and a tighter fiscal By, C. Rangarajan is former Chairman, the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India. D.K. Srivastava is Chief Policy Advisor, EY India and former Director, Madras School of Economics. The views expressed are pers
Shaping India’s response in a global hinge moment By, Shivshankar Menon is a former National Security Adviser. A longer version of this argument appeared in “India’s Foreign Affairs Strategy”, Brookings India Impact Series, May 2020 New Geopolitical situation in Asai Pa
Dilution of labour laws Introduction At a time when everyone is awaiting an early end to the health and economic crisis caused by the global pandemic, the interests of labourers and workers are once again set to be sacrificed. Labour Jurisdiction
Phase-2 trial with three drugs offers hope Introduction A phase-2 trial involving participants with mild to moderate coronavirus (COVID-19) illness found no detectable virus within an average seven days of starting treatment with a three-drug regimen compared with 12 days in people in the cont
A decent exchange-Barter System in Fiji Introduction Karl Marx thought, about a century-and-a-half ago, that society moved from primitive communism, through various forms and structures of inequality, to communism proper. Economic systems moved forward, resolving their contradictions and creat
Lockdown air: less NO2, same PM2.5 and more urban ozone Introduction While traffic pollution has been falling, the lockdown may be leading to the generation of a dangerous pollutant, urban ozone, which can cause airway inflammation in humans. The research is specific to the UK. It has been
India can absorb shocks of pandemic; take the lead in reshaping Global order The writer is a former ambassador, and currently the director general of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Part of: GS-II- Global World Order (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) Th
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