Daily Prelims Notes 25 July 2021
- July 25, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
25 July 2021
Table Of Contents
- World Heritage Site
- IMD Alerts
- New sports in Olympics
- Forex reserves
- Study proposed repurposed drugs to treat covid 19
- PDS 70
- Perinatal transmission
Subject: Arts and Culture
Context: A UNESCO commission report in June stated that large-scale infrastructure projects, including the Liverpool Waters residential and office complex as well as the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, would mean a loss of the character of the “maritime mercantile city” of Liverpool
Concept:
- The UK ranks eighth in the worldwide list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. But instead of its previous 32 distinguished sites, there are now only 31.
- Liverpool Waters residential and office complex as well as the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, would mean a loss of the character of the “maritime mercantile city” of Liverpool to lose its recognition
- the reason ,The UN body is currently debating which landscapes, monuments or places should be added to the list of World Heritage Sites in the future,
World Heritage Site
- The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage founded on November 16, 1972,
- The World Heritage Convention encourages the identification protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. It: sets out the duties of States Parties in identifying potential World Heritage sites situated on their territory
- A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by UNESCO for its special cultural or physical significance. The list of World Heritage Sites is maintained by the international ‘World Heritage Programme’, administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
- This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
- India has 38 world heritage sites that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties and 1 mixed site.
Criteria for World Heritage sites
- The main criterion for nomination is that the site must have outstanding universal value.
- The countries themselves apply and this application is then evaluated.
- The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is responsible for recommending cultural sites and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) selects natural sites.
- The two councils make their recommendations. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which is made up of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the convention, then has the final word.
Subject: Geography
Context: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an Orange alert for the districts of Kozhikode, Wayanad and Idukki and a Yellow alert in Thiruvananthapuram, predicting very heavy rains.
Concept:
The Meteorological Department issues alerts from time to time based on some selected colours. According to the Meteorological Department, the choice of these colours for alerts has been decided in collaboration with several agencies.
- Yellow Alert: The Meteorological Department issues Yellow Alert to alert people before heavy rain, storm, flood or such natural calamity. This warning means that there is a possibility of heavy rain of 7.5 to 15 mm. The rain is likely to continue for a few hours after the alert is issued. There is also the possibility of flooding.
- Blue Alert: When there is a possibility of rain with thunderstorms, thunderstorms, then the department often issues a blue alert. During this, there is a possibility of rain and thunder in many areas.
- Orange Alert: According to the Meteorological Department, when there is a possibility of very bad weather due to cyclone and there is a possibility of loss of life and property, then an orange alert is issued. During the Orange Alert, people are advised to stay in their homes. The wind speed in the cyclone can be 65 to 75 kmph. Also, there is a possibility of 15 to 33 mm of rain.
- Red Alert: As is clear from the colourit, red is a danger sign. There is a possibility of heavy loss in red alert. When a cyclone comes with high intensity, such as in the event of heavy rains, the wind speed reaches 130 km per hour or more, then in such a situation a red alert is issued. In red alert, the administration is asked to take necessary steps
Subject: International Relations
Context: The Tokyo Olympics are introducing four new sports — skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing. Each travelled its own unique path to the Games.
Concept:
The epitome of the Olympic motto “citius, altius, fortius” (faster, higher, stronger).
Karate
- The martial art that spread across Japan in the early 20th century and soon became ubiquitous worldwide has been a candidate for Olympic inclusion since the 1970s
- The competition at the famed Nippon Budokan will feature dozens of talented kumite (sparring) competitors in three weight divisions, along with the fascinating precision of kata (forms demonstration, often compared to a floor exercise in gymnastics).
Skateboarding
- An Olympic debut sport recruited by organizers to attract young audiences.
- High-flying tricks and stunts; an astounding age-range, with competitors aged 12 to 47.
Surfing
- The International Surfing Association has been lobbying the International Olympic Committee since 1995, the effort to include the sport dates back to the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm,
Sport climbing
- Climbers scale a 15-meter wall filled with a variety of holds in the lead discipline. Bouldering involves smaller “problems” and dynamic movements. Speed is a race to the top on predetermined holds.
Subject: Economy
Context: Maintaining a winning streak, the forex reserves swelled by $835 million to reach another record high of $612.73 billion in the week ended July 16, 2021, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.
- The FCA a major component of the overall reserves — rose by $463 million to $568.748 billion in the reporting week.
- Foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
- Gold reserves were up by $377 million to $37.333 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.
- The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were up by $1 million at $1.548 billion.
- The country’s reserve position with the IMF declined by $7 million to $5.1 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.
Impact
- The rising forex reserves could bring some comfort to the government as well as the RBI in managing the external and internal financial issues at a time when the economy is facing
- It is a big cushion in the event of any crisis on the economic front and enough to cover India’s import bill for a year.
- An increase in the forex kitty could also help strengthen the rupee against the US dollar
5. Study proposed repurposed drugs to treat covid 19
Subject: Science and Technology
Context:
The repurposed drug, an antihelminth originally used to treat tapeworm infection, was found to show promise in an exploratory study undertaken by Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR) and Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InSTEM) along with Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu.
Concept:
What is Drug repurposing (profiling)?
- Drug repurposing (also known as drug repositioning) is a strategy for discovering new uses for approved and investigational drugs that are beyond the scope of the original medical indication.
- This approach offers several advantages over developing a novel drug for a given indication
Advantages of repurposing drugs
Notably, the drug repurposing approach benefits from the fact that approved medicines and several discarded compounds have already been tested in humans and comprehensive information is available on their pharmacology, dose, possible toxicity and formulation. Drug repurposing has numerous advantages over conventional drug discovery approaches, including:
- Considerably cuts research and development (R&D) costs.
- Reduces the drug development timeline, as various existing compounds have already demonstrated safety in humans, it does not require Phase 1 clinical trials.
- Potential for reuse despite evidence of adverse effects and failed efficacy in some indications.
Some of the examples of repurposed drugs are Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir / Ritonavir(not successful)
Due to soaring drug prices and the slow pace of drug discovery and development, repurposing existing drugs to treat diseases other than their originally approved indication is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition. Such drugs will likely soon capture a significant portion of the pharmaceutical industry.
Subject: Science
Context: Scientists for the first time have spotted a moon-forming region around a planet beyond our solar system
Concept:
The researchers used the ALMA observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert to detect the disc of swirling material accumulating around one of two new-born planets seen orbiting a young star called PDS 70, located 370 light years from Earth. (A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion km)
PDS 70
- It’s a Jupiter-like world surrounded by a disc of gas and dust massive enough that it could spawn three moons the size of the one orbiting Earth.
- More than 4,400 planets have been discovered outside our solar system, called exoplanets.
- No circumplanetary discs had been found until now because all the known exoplanets resided in “mature” – fully developed – solar systems, except the two infant gas planets orbiting PDS 70.
- In our solar system, the impressive rings of Saturn, a planet around which more than 80 moons orbit, represent a relic of a primordial moon-forming disc,
- The orange-coloured star PDS 70, roughly the same mass as our Sun, is about 5 million years old.
- The two planets are even younger. Both planets are similar (although larger) to Jupiter, a gas giant.
- It is PDS 70c a moon-forming disc was observed
- Birth of a moon Stars burst to life within clouds of interstellar gas and dust scattered throughout galaxies. Leftover material spinning around a new star then coalesces into planets, and circumplanetary discs surrounding some planets similarly yield moons.
- The dominant mechanism thought to underpin planet formation is called “core accretion,”
Core accretion
- Core accretion occurs from the collision and coagulation of solid particles into gradually larger bodies until a massive enough planetary embryo is formed (10-20 Earth masses) to accrete a gaseous envelope.
- A scenario where, small dust grains, coated in ice, gradually grow to larger and larger sizes through successive collisions with other grains.
- This continues until the grains have grown to a size of a planetary core, at which point the young planet has a strong enough gravitational potential to accrete gas which will form its atmosphere.
Subject: Science and Tech
Context: A study published in the journal Indian Paediatrics has claimed that Covid-19 can be transmitted from an infected mother to a baby during the perinatal period.
Concept:
Perinatal transmission is defined new-born testing positive in the RT-PCR test for Covid-19 in the first 72 hours after birth and can include transmission that may have occurred in the uterus or during birth.
Findings
- The study also suggests increased morbidity in infected infants, with a significant correlation with premature births, indicating at the possibility of increased risk of premature labour in Covid-positive pregnant women.
- The study also found that SARS-CoV-2 positive new-borns are more likely to be symptomatic, more likely to have respiratory symptoms, and other neonatal morbidities but no significant increase in mortality was seen.
- Covid-19 positive neonates were five times more likely to be symptomatic compared to Covid-19 negative neonates and twice more likely to need resuscitation.
- Respiratory distress, pneumonia, sepsis, seizures, septic shock, jaundice and other morbidities were significantly higher in Covid-19 positive intramural neonates compared to those who tested negative.
- The World Health Organization (WHO), however, recommends that neonates should be roomed-in with mother and exclusively breastfed while following precautions to limit the spread infection to neonates.
Horizontal transmission Vs Vertical transmission
- In horizontal transmission, viruses are transmitted among individuals of the same generation, while vertical transmission occurs from mothers to their offspring.
- Vertical transmission refers to the transmission of an infection from a pregnant woman to her child.
- It can be antenatal (before birth), perinatal(weeks immediately prior to or after birth) or postnatal (after birth).
- This is of grave concern not just because it can potentially cause a newborn to be very sick, but also because the mechanism of how and when this happens is not always very clear
- Among infections of which vertical transmission has been known to happen are HIV, Zika, rubella and the herpes virus.
- In fact, one of the biggest worries about the Zika outbreak a couple of years ago was the possibility of babies being born with birth defects.