Daily Prelims Notes 15 June 2020

June 15, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Table Of Contents

1. Impact of monsoon on corona virus spread

Subject: Geography/Science and tech

Context:

After the onset of southwest monsoon in India, epidemiologists are studying how monsoon will impact coronavirus spread.

Concept:

Scientists are not sure how the rain might affect virus behavior because of its recent emergence. So the effort is to look for clues in the way other similar viruses behave during the rainy season.
According to epidemiologists, viral disease spread depends on three major factors — seasonal changes in environment (temperature, humidity, sunlight), human behavioural patterns, and intrinsic characteristics of the virus, like its infectiousness, pathogenicity and survival.
Many is of the opinion that it could take several years to determine how novel coronavirus is affected by different seasons. Since respiratory synctial virus infection and other respiratory diseases usually do follow seasonal patterns, carrying out year-round Covid-19 surveillance for several years would be the key to determining its seasonality

Vector borne diseases

Vector-borne diseases are human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria that are transmitted by vectors. Examples: Malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and onchocerciasis.
The burden of these diseases is highest in tropical and subtropical areas, and they disproportionately affect the poorest populations.

2. Tests for Covid-19 in India

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

India is using RT-PCR as standard test for COVID. But recently ICMR approved ELISA test kits for Covid-19 developed by two companies.

Concept:

An ELISA test is of two types depending on the antibodies tested for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM).
IgG detects antibodies developed in later stage of infection, and IgM detects antibodies produced in early stages of infection.
Currently only IgG testing kits have been approved in India.
In India, the ELISA test for Covid-19 is only approved for serosurveys which estimate the proportion of the population exposed to infection and for surveys in high-risk areas and segments like containment zones, immune compromised individuals, and frontline and health workers

ELISA

ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a plate-based assay technique designed for detecting and quantifying peptides, proteins, antibodies and hormones.
In an ELISA, an antigen must be immobilized to a solid surface and then complexed with an antibody that is linked to an enzyme.
Detection is accomplished by assessing the conjugated enzyme activity via incubation with a substrate to produce a measureable product. The most crucial element of the detection strategy is a highly specific antibody-antigen interaction.

Types:

ELISAs can be performed with a number of modifications to the basic procedure: direct, indirect, sandwich or competitive.
The key step, immobilization of the antigen of interest, can be accomplished by direct adsorption to the assay plate or indirectly via a capture antibody that has been attached to the plate.The antigen is then detected either directly (enzyme-labeled primary antibody) or indirectly (enzyme-labeled secondary antibody). The detection antibodies are usually labeled with alkaline phosphatase (AP) or horseradish peroxidase (HRP).
A large selection of substrates is available for performing the ELISA with an HRP or AP conjugate. The choice of substrate depends upon the required assay sensitivity and the instrumentation available for signal-detection (spectrophotometer, fluorometer or luminometer).

RT-PCR

The standard test for COVID-19 so far has been the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
The test involves extracting RNA or ribonucleic acid, the genetic material of the virus, and checking if it shares the same genetic sequence as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. If it is a match, the sample is deemed positive.
It is done after taking nasal or throat swabs of the patient, from which RNA is extracted and converted to DNA, which is then amplified before being checked for confirmation of the virus.

Rapid antibody test

In this person’s plasma is tested for presence of antibodies against the antigen like COVID 19 Virus
Blood has two components, a matrix called plasma and the blood cells. The plasma minus the components of whole blood that cause it to clot is known as serum.
It takes less than 30 minutes.
It is an indirect test because it cannot find the virus, but it can determine if the immune system has encountered it.
But a rapid test involves a high risk of false results — it may detect antibodies against of some other infection and show that the sample is positive for Covid-19.
Hence this test is only used for population surveys. If a person tests positive through a rapid test, he has to undergo a confirmatory RT-PCR test before treatment.
ELISA is more accurate than a rapid test.

True Nat

This is a privately designed test that works on the same principle as RT-PCR, but with a smaller kit and with faster results.
It is small and portable, mostly running on batteries, and provides result within 60 minutes. It involves taking nasal or oral swabs.

3. Raja Parba

Subject: Arts and culture

Context:

Prime minister greeted people of Odisha for Raja Parba celebration.

Concept:

This is a three-day-long festival dedicated to Mother Earth (Bhuma Devi) and womanhood at large.
There’s a story associated with this festival is goddess Earth (Bhuma Devi), the consort of Lord Vishnu, undergoes her menstrual cycle during this period.
The word ‘Raja’ in Odia means menstruation, and it is derived from Rajaswala, meaning a menstruating woman.
Menstruation is considered as a sign of fertility, and therefore, it celebrates femininity and her ability to give birth to another life.
This festival is also associated with the end of the summer season and the arrival of the monsoon. And therefore, it is also associated with agriculture and cultivation related communities and activities.

4. Indian Ocean commission

Subject: IR

Context:

India is looking to post Navy Liaison Officers at the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and also at the European maritime surveillance initiative in the Strait of Hormuz for improved Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).

Concept:

The RMFIC functions under the aegis of the IOC, of which India became an Observer in March 2020 along with Japan and the United Nations.
The Indian Ocean Commission is an intergovernmental organization that was created in 1982 at Port Louis, Mauritius and institutionalized in 1984 by the Victoria Agreement in Seychelles.
The IOC is a regional forum in the Southwest Indian Ocean, comprising five nations — Comoros, France (Reunion), Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.
These five islands share geographic proximity, historical and demographic relationships, natural resources and common development issues.

5. Places of Worship Act

Subject: Polity

Context:

JamiatUlema-I-Hind, a muslimorganisation has moved the Supreme Court seeking impleadment in a plea filed by a Hindu organisation, VishwaBhadra Pujari PurohitMahasangh, which has challenged a provision of the 1991 Places of Worship Act.

Concept:

Passed in 1991, the Act sought to maintain the status quo of the religious shrines as it existed at the time of India’s independence — with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya, which was then under litigation.