Daily Prelims Notes 19 November 2020

November 19, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Polity

Context: The office of the Registrar-General of India (RGI) has said the schedule of the National Population Register (NPR) is being finalised and the information about the expected date of the first phase of Census 2021 is not available.

Concept:

National Population Register

It is a list of “usual residents of the country”.
A “usual resident of the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at least the last six months, or intends to stay in a particular location for the next six months.

Legal Provisions:

The NPR is being prepared under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
It is mandatory for every “usual resident of India” to register in the NPR.

Background:

The data for the NPR was first collected in 2010 along with the house listing phase of Census 2011.
In 2015, this data was further updated by conducting a door-to-door survey.
However, with the use of Aadhaar as the key vehicle for transfer of government benefits in the last few years, the NPR has taken a backseat.

Scope:

The NPR exercise is conducted at the local, sub-district, district, state and national levels.
The NPR will collect both demographic data and biometric data. Biometric data will be updated through Aadhar details.
In the 2010 exercise, the RGI had collected only demographic details.
In 2015, it updated the data further with the mobile, Aadhaar and ration card numbers of residents.
For the 2020 exercise, it has dropped the ration card number but added other categories.

NPR and the NRC:

Unlike the NRC, the NPR is not a citizenship enumeration drive, as it would record even a foreigner staying in a locality for more than six months.
With the government insisting that the NRC would be implemented across the country, the NPR has raised anxieties around the idea of citizenship in the country.
All this is happening in the backdrop of the NRC in Assam which has excluded 19 lakh among the 3.3 crore who had applied.
NRC countrywide would only happen on the basis of the upcoming NPR.
After a list of residents is created (i.e. NPR), a nationwide NRC could go about verifying the citizens from that list.

2. PLASMA THERAPY

Subject: Science & tech

Context: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has warned against indiscriminate use of convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) for treating COVID-19.

Concept:

Plasma is the liquid part of the blood.
Convalescent plasma, extracted from the blood of patients recovering from an infection, is a source of antibodies against the infection.
The therapy involves using their plasma to help others recover.
For Covid-19, this has been one of the treatment options.
The donor would have to be a documented case of Covid-19 and healthy for 28 days since the last symptoms.

3. GENOME SURVEY

Subject: Science & tech

Context: To better understand the genomic variation in the strains of SARS-CoV-2 in the State, the Kerala government has tied up with the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) for a survey.

Concept:

Genome sequencing is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of Adenine, Cytosine, Guanines, and Thymine that make up an organism’s DNA.
This could demonstrate the utility in identifying apparently unconnected outbreaks and evidence to design or validate policy interventions—like strict quarantine of foreign travellers.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) allows parallel Genome sequencing, resulting in the generation of Giga bases of data in a short amount of time.

Benefits :

Using NGS an entire human genome can be sequenced within a single day.
The genome sequencing (NGS) machines when used optimally and with appropriate modifications, can substantially detect the possible presence of the virus even in several instances where the traditional RT-PCR tests miss out on them.
The genome method can read a bigger chunk of the virus genome and thereby provide more certainty, unlike the RT-PCR test that identifies the SARS-CoV-2 virus by exploring only specific sections of the virus.

4. STORAGE OF VACCINE

Subject: Science & tech

Context: A week after Pfizer announced encouraging results of its mRNA vaccine based on an interim analysis of a large Phase-3 trial that is underway, data from the Phase-3 trial of the vaccine of the U.S.-based Moderna revealed very encouraging results.

Concept:

More than the marginally better efficacy of the Moderna vaccine compared with the Pfizer vaccine, the striking difference lies in better thermostability at relatively higher temperatures.
The stability of the Moderna vaccine at -20°C for up to six months, 2°C-8°C for 30 days, and at room temperature for up to 12 hours will be critical for the broad roll-out of the vaccine in most countries.
In contrast, Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine requires storage at -70°C to -80°C, which makes vaccine shipping and storage logistics a nightmare even in developed countries.
Ready availability of vaccine(stable at high temperature) from Moderna increases the probability of wider access in most countries when millions of doses are manufactured.
Most districts in India that are under the universal immunisation programme already have facilities to store huge volumes of the oral polio vaccine at -20°C.
Hence, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine can be made available in most parts of the country as it remains stable for 30 days at 2°C-8°C. However, no vaccine manufacturer in India has tied up with Moderna to make the vaccine in India.

Indian Alternative:

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited, a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited, is also developing a mRNA vaccine. It has completed animal trials and may soon begin human clinical trials.
The vaccine has been found to be stable for more than 45 days at 2°C-8°C.
Apparently, Gennova was very clear from the beginning that a mRNA vaccine that requires extremely cold storage facilities will not be feasible for India and hence worked on a novel technology platform that will allow the vaccines to remain stable at higher temperatures.

5. DEEMED FORESTS

Subject: Environment

Context: Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh announced in the Assembly that the state government would soon declassify 6.64 lakh hectares deemed forests in the state (nearly 67%) and hand it over to Revenue authorities.

Concept:

The Supreme Court, in a Dec 12, 1996 judgement, had broadened the definition of forest to include not just land classified as forest under forest or revenue departments, but also those that are forests according to the definition of a forest.
It had then also asked states to form committees to identify forests, irrespective of the nature of land ownership or whether they are notified, recognised or classified in a time-bound manner.
There are forests that are notified either with the forest department or revenue department.
Then there are those areas that are like forests but are neither recorded, nor notified. The Supreme Court had ordered that the states identify and classify these as deemed forests.
Deemed forests are already a legal category of forests in some states and they are not defined according to the dictionary definition.

6. LVB FAILURE

Subject: Economy

Context: Reserve Bank of India decision to impose a 30-day moratorium on Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd (LVB) and put in place a draft scheme for its amalgamation with DBS Bank India has raised concerns about the safety of the financial system.

Concept:

The RBI said the financial position of the Chennai-based LVB, which has a network of 563 branches and deposits of Rs 20,973 crore, has undergone a steady decline, with continuous losses over the last three years eroding the bank’s net-worth.
The RBI, which put a cap of Rs 25,000 on withdrawals, has assured depositors of the bank that their interest will be protected.
The combined balance sheet of DBS India and LVB would remain healthy after the proposed amalgamation, with Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) at 12.51% and Common Equity Tier-1 (CET-1) capital at 9.61%, without taking into account the infusion of additional capital.
The RBI had earlier this year bailed out Yes Bank through a scheme backed by State Bank of India and other banks.
One safety net for small depositors is the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), an RBI subsidiary, which gives insurance cover on up to Rs 5 lakh deposits in banks.
The RBI and the government have often assured that the financial system is safe and sound, but a spate of failures have the potential to affect the confidence of depositors.

7. CHAPARE VIRUS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: While governments, scientists and health experts across the world struggle to contain a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks, researchers at the US’ CDC are now studying the chapare virus to see if it could eventually pose a threat to humankind.

Concept:

The biggest outbreak of the ‘Chapare virus’ was reported in 2019, when three healthcare workers contracted the illness from two patients in the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

What is the Chapare virus?

The Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) is caused by the same arenavirus family that is responsible for illnesses such as the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
Arenaviruses like the Chapare virus are generally carried by rats and can be transmitted through direct contact with the infected rodent, its urine and droppings, or through contact with an infected person.
It causes a hemorrhagic fever much like Ebola along with abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, skin rash and pain behind the eyes.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a severe and life-threatening kind of illness that can affect multiple organs and damage the walls of blood vessels.
The rodent species, in which Chapare viral RNA was identified, is commonly known as the pigmy rat and is found across Bolivia and in several of its neighbouring countries.
Since there are no specific drugs to treat the disease, patients generally receive supportive care such as intravenous fluids.

8. Gurudwara Reform Movement and SGPC

Subject: History

Context: There have been no SGPC elections for the last nine years and the leadership has failed to act on the report about the 328 missing copies of Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Scripture ).

Concept:

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (or SGPC) is an organization in India responsible for the management of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in three states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh and union territory of Chandigarh.
SGPC also administers Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
The SGPC is governed by the chief minister of Punjab.
The SGPC manages the security, financial, facility maintenance and religious aspects of Gurdwaras as well as keeping archaeologically rare and sacred artifacts, including weapons, clothes, books and writings of the Sikh Gurus.

The Singh Sabha Movement

The Singh Sabha Movement was founded at Amritsar in 1873 with a two-fold objective, to make available modern western education to the Sikhs, and to counter the proselytising activities of Christian missionaries as well as the Brahmo Samajists, Arya Samajists and Muslim maulvis.
For the first objective, a network of Khalsa schools was established by the Sabha throughout Punjab.
In the second direction, everything that went against the Gurus’ teachings was rejected, and rites and customs considered to be consistent with Sikh doctrine were sought to be established.

Gurudwara Reform Movement

The Akali movement (also known as Gurudwara Reform Movement) was an offshoot of the Singh Sabha Movement.
It aimed at liberating the Sikh gurudwaras from the control of corrupt Udasi mahants.
The government tried its repressive policies against the non-violent non-cooperation satyagraha launched by the Akalis in 1921 but had to bow before popular demands.
The government passed the Sikh Gurudwaras Act in 1922 (amended in 1925) which gave the control of gurudwaras to the Sikh masses to be administered through Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) as the apex body.
The Akali Movement was a regional movement but not a communal one.

9. OZONE THERAPY

Subject: Science & tech

Concept:

Ozone Therapy, a branch of Naturopathy, has emerged a promising alternative medicine therapy to support diabetes treatment with oxygenation.
Ozone improves oxygen delivery to the tissues, resulting into improved circulation and helps in reducing insulin resistance by correcting oxidative stress. It gives better sugar control and also has better infection control.
When Ozone therapy is administered, the body improves oxygen metabolism. Ozone improves ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), which is the primary carrier of energy in cells regulation.
Thus, ozone targets improve the energy for the cell and maintain the cellular redux balance.
Experts believe that Ozone Therapy can be a holistic treatment for a multi-organ level cure for diabetes rather than only treating blood sugar levels.
Existing diabetes management practices are limited to control blood sugar only.
Medical ozone therapies come as a promising useful resource in targeting the root cause of the problem, helping patients in augmenting their mitochondrial functions, reforming their desired genetic expressions and in restoration of their microbiome.