Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agappe Chitra Magna
Mains level: COVID diagnosis and treatment
Agappe Chitra Magna, a magnetic nanoparticles-based RNA extraction kit has been commercially launched.
The peculiarity of the name ‘Agappe Chitra Magna’ creates a possibility of a prelims question. One may confuse it with any sort of Artform.
Agappe Chitra Magna (ACM) Kit
- The ACM kit is developed by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) and manufactured by Kochi-based Agappe Diagnostics Ltd.,
- It uses innovative technology for isolating RNA using magnetic nanoparticles to capture the RNA from the patient sample.
- The magnetic nanoparticles beads bind to the viral RNA and, when exposed to a magnetic field, give a highly purified and concentrated RNA.
- As the sensitivity of the detection method is dependent on getting an adequate quantity of viral RNA, this innovation enhances the chances of identifying positive cases.
- The commercial launch of the kit is a major step to make India self-reliant in detecting COVID-19 and can help increase the rate of testing and bring down its costs, a crucial step for combating the pandemic.
Significance of the kit
- The commercial launch of the kit is a major step to make India self-reliant in detecting COVID-19 and can help increase the rate of testing and bring down its costs, a crucial step for combating the pandemic.
- The RNA isolation kit will reduce the dependence on imported kits and make COVID testing more cost-effective.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Biogeographic Zones, Etalin Hydro Electric Project
Mains level: India's border infrastructure
A group of conservationists has written to the Environment Ministry seeking rejection of the approved Etalin Hydro Electric Project in the Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Make a note of major dams in India along with the rivers, terrain, major Wildlife sanctuaries and national parks incident to these rivers.
Etalin Hydro Electric Project
- Etalin HEP is a 3097 MW project based on the river Dibang.
- It is envisaged as a run of the river scheme on rivers Dri and Tangon in the Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Dibang is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River which flows through the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
- The project is being executed through the Etalin Hydro Electric Power Company Limited, a JV company of Jindal Power Limited and Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited.
- It is expected to be one of the biggest hydropower projects in India in terms of installed capacity.
Issues with the Project
- The Project falls under the richest bio-geographical province of the Himalayan zone and would be located at the junction of major biogeographic zones like Palaearctic Zone and Indo-Malayan Zone.
- It would involve the clearing of 2.7 lakh trees in “subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest and subtropical rain forests”.
- Underscoring the inadequacy of the Environment Impact Assessment report on Etalin, the conservationists said observations by wildlife officials were ignored.
- These include the threat to 25 globally endangered mammal and bird species in the area to be affected.
Back2Basics: Biogeographic Zones
- A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth’s land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.
- These zones delineate the large areas of the Earth’s surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time.
- They are separated from one another by geographic features, such as oceans, broad deserts, or high mountain ranges that constitute barriers to migration.
- Originally, six biogeographic regions were identified: Palearctic (Europe and Asia), Nearctic (North America), Neotropical (Mexico, Central and South America), Ethiopian/Afrotropic (Africa), Oriental/Indo-Malayan (Southeast Asia, Indonesia) and Australian (Australia and New Guinea).
- Currently, eight are recognised since the addition of Oceania (Polynesia, Fiji and Micronesia) and Antarctica.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS)
Mains level: Not Much
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has relaxed the 25 per cent minimum public shareholding norm and advised exchanges not to take penal action till August 2020 in case of non-compliance.
A statement based question can be asked about the SEBI in the prelim asking-
If it is a statutory or quasi-judicial body ; Scope of its regulation; Appointment of its chairman etc..
What is a Public Shareholding Company?
- A Public Shareholding Company is a company whose capital is divided into shares of equal value, which are transferable.
- Shareholders of a Public Shareholding Company are not liable for the company’s obligations except for the amount of the nominal value of the shares for which they subscribe.
What is MPS requirement?
- The 25 per cent MPS norms were introduced in 2013, whereby no listed company was permitted to have more than 75 per cent promoter stake.
- The rules were aimed at improving liquidity and better stock price discovery by making higher float available with public.
- The average promoter holding in India is among the highest globally.
- Last year, the government had proposed to increase the minimum public float from the current 25 per cent to 35 per cent. It had met with opposition, forcing the government to drop the plan.
Why ease MPS norms?
- The Sebi move is aimed at easing such compliance rules amid the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
- The decision has been taken after receiving requests from listed entities and industry bodies as well as considering the prevailing business and market conditions.
- As per the norms, exchanges can impose a fine of up to Rs 10,000 on companies for each day of non-compliance with MPS requirements.
- Besides, exchanges can intimate depositories to freeze the entire shareholding of the promoter and promoter group. This circular will come into force with immediate effect.
Back2Basics: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- The SEBI is the regulator of the securities and commodity market in India.
- It was first established in 1988 as a non-statutory body for regulating the securities market.
- It became an autonomous body on 12 April 1992 and was accorded statutory powers with the passing of the SEBI Act 1992.
- SEBI has to be responsive to the needs of three groups, which constitute the market:
1) issuers of securities
2) investors
3) market intermediaries
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UDAY scheme
Mains level: UDAY scheme, its success and failures
Part of the package announced by Finance Minister was a Rs 90,000-crore liquidity injection into power distribution companies (or discoms).
Practice question:
Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) has failed to turn around the precarious financial position of state power DISCOMs in India. Discuss.
Fiscal push for DISCOMs
- The move is aimed at helping the discoms clear their dues with gencos (or electricity generation companies), who in turn can clear their outstanding dues with suppliers, such as coal miners, easing some of the working capital woes of Coal India Ltd and contract miners.
- This is subject to the condition that the Centre will act as guarantor for loans given by the state-owned power finance companies such as PFC and REC Ltd to the discoms.
Why was this needed?
- The primary trigger is the poor financial condition and revenue collection abilities of most state discoms.
- This is despite several interventions, including a scheme called UDAY that was launched in 2015 to fix the problems of a sector where the upstream side (electricity generation) was drawing investments even as the downstream (distribution) side was leaking.
How do the DISCOMs work?
To understand how the sector works, we have to imagine a three-stage process.
- First stage: Electricity is generated at thermal, hydro or renewable energy power plants, which are operated by either state-owned companies or private companies.
- Second stage: The generated electricity then moves through a complex transmission grid system comprising electricity substations, transformers, and power lines that connect electricity producers and the end-consumers.
- The entire electricity grid consists of hundreds of thousands of miles of high-voltage power lines and millions of miles of low-voltage power lines with distribution transformers that connect thousands of power plants to millions of electricity customers all across the country.
- Third stage: This last-mile link is where discoms come in, operated largely by state governments. However, in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata, private entities own the entire distribution business or parts of it.
Why there is a problem?
- Discoms essentially purchase power from generation companies through power purchase agreements (PPAs), and then supply it to their consumers (in their area of distribution).
- The key issue with the power sector currently is the continuing problem of the poor financial situation of state discoms.
- This has been affecting their ability to buy power for supply, and the ability to invest in improving the distribution infrastructure. Consequently, this impacts the quality of electricity that consumers receive.
There are two fundamental problems here:
1) Lack of competitiveness
- One, in India, electricity price for certain segments such as agriculture and the domestic category (what we use in our homes) is cross-subsidised by the industries (factories) and the commercial sector (shops, malls).
- This affects the competitiveness of the industry.
2) Transmission and distribution losses
- There is the problem of AT&C (aggregate transmission and distribution losses), which is a technical term that stands for the gap in the bills that it raises and the final collection process from end-consumers.
- As a result, the discoms are perennially short of funds, even to pay those supplying power to them, resulting in a cascading impact up the value chain.
Back2Basics: UDAY Scheme
https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/uday-scheme-for-financial-turnaround-of-power-distribution-companies/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: LASER, LIDAR
Mains level: NA
The UN marks the International Day of Light (IDL) — an annual initiative held globally to raise awareness on the critical role played by light-based technologies in everyday life.
The IDL as mentioned in the news creates no scope for a possible prelim question, but the purpose behind its celebration does. i.e. LASER technology. LIDAR is the latest development in the LASER technology. UPSC may puzzle you here by asking the working principle of LIDAR.
International Day of Light (IDL)
- The IDL is administered from the International Basic Science Programme (IBSP) of UNESCO, and its Secretariat is located at the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP) at Trieste, Italy.
- The IDL highlights the contribution of such technologies in various avenues such as science, technology, art, and culture, thus helping achieve the UNESCO goals of education, equality, and peace.
- The day selected, May 16, marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the LASER in 1960 by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman.
- The LASER is a perfect example of how a scientific discovery can yield revolutionary benefits to society in communications, healthcare and many other fields.
Why is the IDL celebrated?
- In 2015, to raise global awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications, the UN observed the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015).
- The event helped establish links and collaborations between decision-makers, industry leaders, scientists, artists, social businesses, NGOs, and the public at large.
- Following the success of IYL 2015, Ghana, Mexico, New Zealand and Russia placed a resolution before the UNESCO Executive Board supporting the idea of an International Day of Light.
- It was adopted on September 19, 2016, at the Board’s 200th session at the UNESCO HQ in Paris, France.
- The Board decision was endorsed by the UNESCO General Conference at its 39th session on November 7, 2017, and the first IDL was held on May 16, 2018.
Back2Basics: LASER
- A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.
- It is an acronym for “light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.
- The laser stimulates atoms or molecules to emit light at particular wavelengths and amplifies that light, typically producing a very narrow beam of radiation.
- The emission generally covers an extremely limited range of visible, infrared, or ultraviolet wavelengths.
- Many different types of lasers have been developed, with highly varied characteristics.
- A laser is widely used in industrial cutting, surgical removal of tissues etc.
- LIDAR is the most famous application of LASERs.
LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)
- It is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
- It bounces pulsed laser light off the ground, revealing contours hidden by dense foliage.
- These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
- LIDAR systems allow scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural and manmade environments with accuracy, precision, and flexibility.
- A LIDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.
- Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LIDAR data over broad areas.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Baltic Travel Bubble
Mains level: Travel restriction in times of COVID outbreak
The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have opened their borders to one another, creating a coronavirus “travel bubble” with an improvised idea to boost travel into their countries.
Mark the following things on Map:
1. Baltic Sea and its bordering nations
2. Irben Strait
3. Gulf of Riga
4. Gulf of Finland
Baltic Travel Bubble
- The ‘Baltic travel bubble’ aims to facilitate the citizens of these three countries to travel within the region without hassles.
- However, those who are coming from any other than these three countries would be required to follow self-isolation guidelines and stay in quarantine for exactly 14 days.
- During the epidemic, Estonia and Lithuania closed their borders to non-citizens and all three nations placed mandatory quarantines for those entering for reasons related to non-work activities.
- The region has been part of the European Union since 2004 and since 2007 has been a member of the European Schengen Free Travel Area.
Significance of the travel ease
- The Baltic nations have shown trust in each other’s healthcare system and have concluded that they have been able to tackle the coronavirus outbreak efficiently.
- For Asian countries including India, these developments can provide interesting pointers when lockdown relaxations pertaining to travel and flights are being considered.
Bonus: Try this question from CSP 2011
Between India and East Asia, the navigation-time and distance can be greatly reduced by which of the following?
1. Deepening the Malacca straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.
2. Opening a new canal across the Kra isthmus between the Gulf of Siam and Andaman Sea.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Troglomyces twitteri
Mains level: NA
A new species has just been identified on an old image on Twitter. It is named as Troglomyces twitteri.
The species Troglomyces twitteri has something unique in its name. UPSC may ask a straight forward question like – The specie Troglomyces twitteri recently seen in news is a- (a) Algae (b) Fungi (c) Fish (d) Sea Grass …….
Troglomyces twitteri
- Troglomyces twitteri is a type of parasitic fungus.
- It belongs to an order called Laboulbeniales — tiny fungal parasites that attack insects and millipedes.
- These fungi live on the outside of host organisms; in this case, on the reproductive organs of millipedes.
- Laboulbeniales were first discovered in the middle of the 19th century.
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Helicopters of the Chinese Army came close to the border during the face-off with the Indian Army near Pangong Tso Lake in Eastern Ladakh last week.
Keep a watch on some facts related to the Pangong Tso Lake like nearby rivers, passes, Ramsar status etc.
Aircraft restricted near LAC
- As per existing agreements between India and China, operation of fighter aircraft and armed helicopters is restricted to a distance from the LAC.
- According to the Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC in India-China Border Area’ of 1996 combat aircraft (to include fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, military trainer, armed helicopter and other armed aircraft) shall not fly within 10 km of the LAC.
Pangong Tso Lake
- Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m.
- It is 134 km long and extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.
- Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies within the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
- The lake is 5 km wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 sq.km.
- During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
- It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin.
- Formerly, Pangong Tso had an outlet to Shyok River, a tributary of Indus River, but it was closed off due to natural damming.
- The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.
- This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the convention.
Back2Basics: India-China Border Dispute
The India-China borders disputes exist between three regions:
1) J&K region
- The Aksai Chin sector which originally was a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is claimed by China as part of its autonomous Xinjiang region.
- After the 1962 war, it is administered by China. It is the second-largest Indo-China border area covering over 38000 sq. km. However, it is uninhabited land.
- While India claims the entire Aksai Chin territory as well as the Shaksgam valley (Indian Territory gifted to China by Pakistan), China contests Indian control over Daulat Beg Oldi (a tehsil in Leh south of Aksai China-it is believed to host the world’s highest airstrip).
2) Sikkim region
- China has recognised India’s sovereignty over Sikkim and had initiated the trade at Nathu La pass.
- However, this is the region where the Doklam standoff took place.
3) Arunachal Pradesh Region
- The Arunachal Pradesh border that China still claims to be its own territory is the largest disputed area, covering around 90000 sq. km.
- It was formally called North-East Frontier Agency.
- During the 1962 war, the People’s Liberation Army occupied it but they announced a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew respecting the international boundary (Mcmahon Line).
- However, it has continued to assert its claim over the territory.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Telia Rumal, Sohrai Khovar painting
Mains level: Not Much
Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting and Telangana’s Telia Rumal were given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry.
This year, many GI tags have been allocated. A few of them to count are- Kashmir saffron, Manipur black rice, Gorakhpur terracotta, Kovilpatti kadalai mittai etc. Check here for more.
Sohrai Khovar painting
- The Sohrai Khovar painting is a traditional and ritualistic mural art being practised by local tribal women in the area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.
- The painting is primarily being practised only in the district of Hazaribagh. However, in recent years, for promotional purposes, it has been seen in other parts of Jharkhand.
- It is prepared during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area.
- Traditionally painted on the walls of mud houses, they are now seen on other surfaces, too.
- The style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.
- In recent years, the walls of important public places in Jharkhand, such as the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, and the Hazaribagh and Tatanagar Railway Stations, among others, have been decorated with these paintings.
Telia Rumal
- Telia Rumal cloth involves intricate handmade work with cotton loom displaying a variety of designs and motifs in three particular colours — red, black and white.
- The Rumal can only be created using the traditional handloom process and not by any other mechanical means as otherwise, the very quality of the Rumal would be lost.
- During the Nizam’s dynasty, Puttapaka, a small, backward village of the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh had about 20 families engaged in handloom weaving, who were patronized by rich families and the Nizam rulers.
- The officers working in the court of the Nizam would wear the Chituki Telia Rumal as a symbolic representation of status.
- Telia Rumals were worn as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indications in India
- A Geographical Indication is used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
- This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
- Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has launched the logo and tagline for the Geographical Indications (GI) of India.
- The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
- The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act) is a sui generis Act for protection of GI in India.
- India, as a member of the WTO enacted the Act to comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
- Geographical Indications protection is granted through the TRIPS Agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Spirulina Groundnut Chikki
Mains level: NA
The Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute, CFTRI has developed Spirulina groundnut Chikki that can provide micro-nutrients and boost the immunity of people during this time of the pandemic.
Beware, the Chikki so mentioned has no GI tag. What makes it significant is the Spirulina, a photosynthetic bacteria, which is suitable for human consumption.
Spirulina Groundnut Chikki
- It is a snack that provides good micro-nutrients.
- It has used Spirulina as well as the tasty, nourishing groundnuts to prepare Chikki that is rich in micro-nutrients such as Vitamin A, Beta Carotene and easily digestible algal proteins.
- Other nutritious snacks of CFTRI such as Nutri mango fruit bar and cardamom flavoured water is also part of the food items supplied to the migrant labourers.
- The mango bar is rich with carbohydrates, carotene, Vitamin C and Zinc to improve the immunity.
- Cardamom flavoured water with traditional herbs to have immune booster qualities.
What is Spirulina?
- Spirulina is an organism that grows in both fresh and saltwater.
- It is a type of cyanobacteria, which is a family of single-celled microbes that are often referred to as blue-green algae.
- It is used as a dietary supplement or whole food. It is also used as a feed supplement in the aquaculture, aquarium, and poultry industries.
- Just like plants, cyanobacteria can produce energy from sunlight via a process called photosynthesis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Toda embroidery
Mains level: Not Much
Many women and indigenous Toda artisans from the Nilgiris are producing thousands of stylish, embroidered masks for local residents, police, and sanitary workers.
Recently, the Assamese Gamosa was in new. Now the Pukhoor Embroidery has made it into the list. Keep a note of all such handicrafts. We can expect a match the pair based prelim question.
Toda Embroidery
- The Toda Embroidery, also locally known as “pukhoor” is an artwork among the Toda pastoral people of Nilgiris, in Tamil Nadu, made exclusively by their women.
- The embroidery, which has a fine finish, appears like a woven cloth but is made with the use of red and black threads with a white cotton cloth background.
- Both sides of the embroidered fabric are usable and the Toda people are proud of this heritage.
- This handicraft product is listed as a geographically tagged product and is protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act (GI Act) 1999.
Related facts
- The local terms used to describe the embroidery work are ‘kuty’ or ‘awtty’ meaning “stitching” and ‘kutyvoy’ meaning the embroidered piece.
- The materials used in this work are roughly woven white cloth, woollen black and red threads with use occasionally of blue threads and manufactured needles.
- The designs developed relate to nature and the daily cycle of life.
- The patterns used in Toda embroidery do not cover many floral motifs but generally cover celestial bodies (like Sun and Moon), reptiles, animals, and horns of buffaloes, made in crimson and black colours.
- Rabbit ears are a constant depiction on the boundary of the embroidered cloth. Another common design in the form of black triangles in a box design is done in honour of their first priest.
- Women who do embroidery consider their work as a “tribute to Nature”.
- As a traditional garment, it is worn by both men and women at all ceremonial occasions and also at funerals. Elderly people of the community wear this cloth daily.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GK Gokhale
Mains level: Gokhale and his contribution in freedom struggle
The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his birth anniversary.
These days, personality-based prelims questions are quite prevalent.
Q.) He wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shri Krishna; stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was – (CSP 2018)
a) Aurobindo Ghosh
b) Bipin Chandra Pal
c) Lala Lajpat Rai
d) Motilal Nehru
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915)
- Gokhale was a liberal political leader and a social reformer during the Freedom Movement.
- Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress (INC) and the founder of the Servants of India Society.
- Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and for social reforms.
Gokhale and INC
- Gokhale became a member of the INC in 1889, as a protégé of social reformer MG Ranade.
- He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions.
Quest for political reforms
- Gokhale’s mentor, justice M.G. Ranade started the Sarvajanik Sabha Journal.
- Gokhale’s deposition before the Welby Commission on the financial condition of India won him accolades.
- He played a leading role in bringing about Morley-Minto Reforms (1909), the beginning of constitutional reforms in India.
Servants of India Society
- In 1905, when Gokhale was elected president of the INC and was at the height of his political power, he founded the Servants of India Society.
- It aimed to specifically further one of the causes dearests to his heart: the expansion of Indian education.
- The Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest, and among its many projects organised mobile libraries, founded schools, and provided night classes for factory workers.
Involvement in the government
- In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council.
- He was also elected to the Imperial Council of the Governor-General of India as a non-officiating member representing Bombay Province.
Mentor to Gandhi
- Gokhale was famously a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in the latter’s formative years.
- In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa at Gandhi’s invitation.
- As a young barrister, Gandhi returned from his struggles and received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians.
- By 1931, Gandhi emerged as the leader of the Indian Independence Movement. In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide.
His literary works
- In 1908, Gokhale founded the Ranade Institute of Economics.
- He started the English weekly newspaper, The Hitavad (The people’s paper).
- He also published a daily newspaper titled Jnanaprakash, which allowed him to voice his reformist views on politics and society.
With inputs from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopal_Krishna_Gokhale
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ELISA Test, Antigen, Antibodies
Mains level: Not Much
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.
Our thumb rule suggests that the ELISA test is being used only for the diagnosis of HIV infection. Right?
But the ELISA test is a broader term to diagnose antibody-antigen interaction after certain virus infection to a person. UPSC can test your basic knowledge of core biology with a question based on this concept.
What is ELISA test?
- ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a plate-based assay technique designed for detecting and quantifying substances such as peptides, proteins, antibodies and hormones.
- Other names, such as enzyme immunoassay (EIA), are also used to describe the same technology.
- In an ELISA, an antigen must be immobilized on 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 measurable product.
- The most crucial element of the detection strategy is a highly specific antibody-antigen interaction.
What are antibodies?
- An antibody is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells that are used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
- There are five immunoglobulin classes (isotypes) of antibody molecules found in serum: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE and IgD.
- They are distinguished by the type of heavy chain they contain.
Application of ELISA
- Presence of antigen or the presence of antibody in a sample can be evaluated
- Determination of serum antibody concentrations in a virus test
- Used in the food industry when detecting potential food allergens
- Applied in disease outbreaks- tracking the spread of disease e.g. HIV, bird flu, common, colds, cholera, STD etc
Significance
- Robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of the population exposed to infection.
- The test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours.
- Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at the district level as the ELISA kit has an 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.
Limitations
- Since the ELISA test is based on the detection of antibodies, it can only help in knowing if the person has been previously infected by a coronavirus.
- It takes one-three weeks for the antibodies to develop in response to infection.
- So, if a person who has been recently infected by the virus is tested during the window period (the time taken to develop antibodies) the result will turn out to be negative.
- But a repeat test after a couple of weeks will indicate the true infection status.
How it is different from the PCR test?
- While the RT-PCR, which detects the RNA of the coronavirus, enables detection of current infection, it will not be useful if the testing is carried out days after the infection clears as the virus will no longer be present.
- However, antibodies developed in response to the coronavirus infection will be present in the blood for a longer duration and hence the ELISA test can help detect past infection.
- The maximum time the antibodies will be present in the body is not known for coronavirus.
Back2Basics: Reverse Transcriptase – Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test
- It uses a technique that creates copies of a segment of DNA. ‘Polymerase’ refers to the enzymes that make the copies of DNA.
- Kary Mullis, the American biochemist who invented the PCR technique, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993.
- The ‘chain reaction’ is how the DNA fragments are copied, exponentially — one is copied into two, the two are copied into four, and so on.
- However, SARS-COV-2 is a virus made of RNA, which needs to be converted into DNA. For this, the technique includes a process called reverse transcription.
- A ‘reverse transcriptase’ enzyme converts the RNA into DNA. Copies of the DNA are then made and amplified.
- A fluorescent DNA binding dye called the “probe” shows the presence of the virus. The test also distinguishes SARS-COV-2 from other viruses.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Florence Nightingale
Mains level: Not Much
The 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, falls tomorrow on May 12.
Personality based questions sometimes find their way in the Prelims. For example:
Q) A recent movie titled The Man Who Knew Infinity is based on the biography of – (CSP 2016)
(a) S. Ramanujan
(b) S. Chandrasekhar
(c) S. N. Bose
(d) C. V. Raman
Who was Florence Nightingale?
- Nightingale (1820-1910), who had considerable mathematical skills, is credited with being the first healthcare professional to use data to show that infection control improves health outcomes.
- Through her career, she stressed a practice that is relevant as ever today — handwashing.
Nurse and mathematician
- Her signature effort came during the Crimean War (1854-56), when she answered a government call for nurses and took a posting in Turkey.
- This is where she earned the name ‘Lady with the Lamp’, for walking around patients’ beds at night, holding a lamp. Here she did her pioneering work with statistics.
- When she arrived, diseases such as cholera and typhus were rife in the hospitals.
- Nightingale collected data, calculated the mortality rate, and showed that an improvement of sanitary methods would reduce the number of deaths.
- The mortality rate dropped from 60% to 42.7% by February 1855, and to 2.2% by the spring.
- She used her data to create graphics, the most famous of which is a polar area diagram (pictured) that used areas to represent variations in death rate.
- The blue wedges from the center of the circle represent area for the deaths from Preventable or Mitigable diseases, the red wedges measured from the center is deaths from wounds, & the black wedges measured from the center is the deaths from all other causes.
- The blue wedges, representing death by sickness, are far bigger than those representing wounds.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mapping: Islands in the Pacific
Mains level: Not Much
Approximately four months after COVID-19 was first detected, the South Pacific Islands have not yet reported any cases of the infectious disease.
Closely observe the map. Note important islands. UPSC may shift its traditional focus from middle east/central asia to this region. These days, Pacific and Indo-Pacific region carry a decent importance.
We can expect MCQs asking to arrange these islands in north-south / east-west direction.
Which South Pacific islands have recorded cases of COVID-19?
- Fiji recorded its first case of COVID-19 on March 19.
- Guam, a territory of the US in the South Pacific, witnessed an outbreak among the staff of the US navy.
- New Caledonia also recorded its first COVID-19 cases in mid-March, with links to overseas travel.
- The Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Nauru have no recorded cases of COVID-19.
What impact will COVID-19 have on Pacific island nations?
- A widespread outbreak of COVID-19 will have a disastrous impact on these island nations.
- Although these islands are popular with tourists, the outer islands and rural villages are home to indigenous populations.
- Most of these areas have a very basic infrastructure for healthcare, with larger hospitals and medical centres located in bigger towns.
- Even in everyday circumstances, these small medical centres struggle due to the lack of medical supplies.
- The socio-cultural factors, like the prevalence of large families in this region, also make the individuals susceptible to community transmission.
- There is also a lack of access to running water, making sanitation difficult.
- Environmental factors like the seasonal tropical cyclone that swept through the region in April, led to the displacement of hundreds of people in the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sal Forest Tortoise
Mains level: NA
A recent study by ecologists in the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, has found that the area designated as a protected area network has only a small overlap with the actual habitat of Sal forest tortoise. Over 90% of the potential distribution of the species falls outside the current protected area’s network.
What you should focus on?
On map, identify areas where Sal forest tortoise are found.
Revise the map of various Forest system of India and their characteristics as well.
Also…..Is tortoise a mammal or an amphibian?…..or something else??
Sal Forest/ Elongated Tortoise
- Also known as the elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), the sal forest tortoise, recently assessed as Critically Endangered, is heavily hunted for food.
- It is collected both for local use, such as decorative masks, and international wildlife trade.
- The Sal forest tortoise is widely distributed over eastern and northern India and Southeast Asia.
- It is one of the only four land tortoises found in India. It is legally protected under Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as amended up to 2006.
- According to the IUCN, the population of the species may have fallen by about 80% in the last three generations (90 years).
About Sal Forest
- It is a forest type dominated by a single plant species, commonly known as Sal tree (Shorea robusta).
- It belongs to the category ‘Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest’.
- The distribution of Sal forests is controlled by the conditions of topography, geology, and soil.
- Sal forests are mainly distributed in the South and Southeast Asia, occurring along the base of Tropical Himalayas from Assam to Punjab, in the eastern districts of Central India, and on the Western Bengal Hills.
Also read the complete series on-
Natural Vegetation and Wildlife- Part 1 | An Overview of Natural Vegetation Types Found in India
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arribadas, Olive Ridley Turtles
Mains level: Not Much
Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles began at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery, a major nesting site of these marine turtles.
Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles is a very celebrated news every year. Also make sure to look at the Rivers system in the region from the map above.
Olive Ridley Turtles
- The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
- In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
- The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
- The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Special feature: Mass nesting
- They are best known for their behaviour of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
- Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
- They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
- They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary
Mains level: Not Much
A rare Black Panther was spotted in the Netravali WLS in South Goa.
There are many WLS and National Park in the tiny state of Goa. Unlike others, they rarely find any mention in news. Here a quick revision for you.
Make sure to locate them on map.
-
Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary,
-
Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary,
-
Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary,
-
Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary,
-
Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary,
-
Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary,
-
Anshi National Park.
Black Panther
- Black Panther or Black Leopard is a color variant of spotted Indian leopards, reported from densely forested areas of south India, mostly from the state of Karnataka.
- A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of any Panthera, particularly of the leopard (P. pardus) in Asia and Africa, and the jaguar (P. onca) in the Americas.
- They are also known as the ghost of the forest.
About Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary
- Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located in South-Eastern Goa, India.
- It constitutes one of the vital corridors of the Western Ghats and covers an area of about 211 sq.km.
- Netravali or Neturli is an important tributary of River Zuari, which originates in the sanctuary.
- Forests mostly consist of moist deciduous vegetation interspersed with evergreen and semi-evergreen habitat; there are also two all-season waterfalls in the sanctuary.
- The Gaur or Indian Bison, Malabar giant squirrel, four-horned antelope or chousingha, leopard, black sloth bear along with a host of other predators and herbivores find home in the sanctuary.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: African Swine Fever
Mains level: Not Much
- Amid the coronavirus pandemic, another disease outbreak is affecting thousands of animals in Assam.
- Since February, over 2,900 pigs have died in the state due to African Swine Fever (ASF), which does not affect humans but can be catastrophic for pigs.
- This is the first time that an ASF outbreak has been reported in India.
As Flu is nowadays a lot in news, keep a tab on them for prelims. Be it the Swine Flue, African Swine Fever or even H5N1.
African Swine Fever (ASF)
- ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute hemorrhagic fever.
- The disease has a case fatality rate (CFR) of about 100 per cent.
- Its routes of transmission include direct contact with an infected or wild pig (alive or dead), indirect contact through ingestion of contaminated material such as food waste, feed or garbage or through biological vectors such as ticks.
- The disease is characterized by the sudden deaths of pigs.
- Other manifestations of the disease include high fever, depression, anorexia, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin, vomiting and diarrhoea among others.
How did the current outbreak start?
- As per the latest update issued by FAO, the current outbreak of ASF has affected China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Republic of Korea and Indonesia among others.
- In China, the first ASF outbreak was confirmed in August 2018 and since then more than 1 million pigs have been culled in the country.
- ASF came into India through Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh and then into Assam, the state with the highest population of pigs in the country.
How is ASF different from swine flu?
- Swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs, which is caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pig populations.
- While the swine flu causing virus leads to a high number of infections in pig herds, the disease is not as fatal and causes few deaths. Specific swine influenza vaccines are available for pigs.
- The swine flu viruses are spread among pigs through close contact and through contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs.
- Symptoms include fever, depression, coughing, discharge from the nose and eyes, eye redness or inflammation.
Vaccines availability
- As of now, there is no approved vaccine, which is also a reason why animals are culled to prevent the spread of infection.
- It is important that determination of ASF is made through laboratory testing and it is differentiated from Classical Swine Fever (CSF), whose signs may be similar to ASF, but is caused by a different virus for which a vaccine exists.
- Even so, while ASF is lethal, it is less infectious than other animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease.
What is the impact ASF will have on pig farmers?
- Pig farmers in Assam describe the outbreak as a “double whammy” since the COVID-19 lockdown was already impacting sales negatively.
- The outbreak has ruined the prospect of the Northeastern states as a hub for the export of pork products.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Luhman 16A, Binary star system
Mains level: Not Much
A group of international astrophysicists have identified cloud bands on the surface of Luhman 16A, one of a pair of binary brown dwarfs in the Vela constellation.
Space terminology has gained importance in prelims. The Luhman 16A coupled with few more examples of space concepts like binary star and dwarf star are discussed in this newscard.
Luhman 16A
- Luhman 16 is a binary star system, the third closest system to the Sun after Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s star.
- At a distance of about 6.5 light-years from the Sun, this pair of brown dwarfs referred to as Luhman 16A and Luhman 16B orbit each other, casting a dim light.
- Brown dwarfs are also called failed stars because their masses are intermediate to the largest planets and the smallest main sequence stars.
- Their masses being too small, they are unable to sustain fusion of their hydrogen to produce energy.
- It is believed that some of the more massive brown dwarfs fuse deuterium or lithium and glow faintly.
The cloud band over Luhman
- The group, by using the Very Large Telescope at European Southern Observatory, Chile, found that Luhman 16A had band-like clouds in its atmosphere, whereas the same was not true of Luhman 16B.
- Many astronomers detected polarization of brown dwarfs.
- But what is special in the newest study of Luhman 16 is that the researchers have found the actual structure of the clouds — that they form bands over one of the pair.
- Understanding the cloud system over a brown dwarf can shed light on the pressure, temperature and climate on the surface of the celestial body.
Why it has made into a headline?
- The researchers have used an idea put forth nearly two decades ago by Indian astrophysicist Sujan Sengupta, who works at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.
- Sengupta had propounded the light emitted by a cloudy brown dwarf, or reflected off an extrasolar planet, will be polarized.
- He then suggested that a polarimetric technique could serve as a potential tool to probe the environment of these objects.
Back2Basics: Binary Star System
- A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common barycenter.
- Systems of two or more stars are called multiple star systems.
- These systems, especially when more distant, often appear to the unaided eye as a single point of light, and are then revealed as multiple by other means.
- Binary star systems are very important in astrophysics because calculations of their orbits allow the masses of their component stars to be directly determined.
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