Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 6th April 2022

NEWS

Stand-up India scheme was launched by the Indian government completed six years recently

STAND UP INDIA

Launched on 5 April 2016

The offices of SIDBI and NABARD shall be designated Stand-Up Connect Centres

WHY –

• Promote entrepreneurship at the grass-root level of economic empowerment and job creation
• Seeks to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to the underserved sector of people such as SCs, STs and Women Entrepreneurs

OBJECTIVE - Facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one SC or ST borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a Greenfield enterprise

WHO ARE ELIGIBLE

• SC/ST and/or women entrepreneurs; above 18 years of age.
• Loans under the scheme are available for only Greenfield project.
• Borrower should not be in default to any bank or financial institution.
• In case of non-individual enterprises at least 51% of the shareholding and controlling stake should be held by either an SC/ST or Woman entrepreneur

HOW ARE VARIANTS CREATED

• SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is an RNA virus which evolves by accumulating genetic errors in its genome, produced when the virus infects a person and makes copies of itself inside the host’s cells.
• Also called mutations, errors are by-product of replication of SARS-CoV-2 inside the cell and may be carried forward as the virus continues to infect people
• When viruses having a specific set of errors or mutations infect a number of people, this forms a cluster of infections descending from a common parental virus genome and is known as a lineage or a variant of the virus
• The PANGO network, an open global consortium of researchers from across the world, provides a system for naming different lineages of SARS-CoV-2

WHAT IS A RECOMBINANT VARIANT

Process through which a virus increases its genetic diversity

Recombination

• Occurs when, in extremely rare situations, two different lineages of the virus co-infect the same cell in the host and exchange fragments of their individual genomes which generates a descendent variant having mutations that occurred in both the original lineages of the virus
• Happens in a variety of other viruses, including those that cause influenza, as well as other coronaviruses
• Occur typically in situations where two or more lineages of SARS-CoV-2 may be co-circulating in a certain region during the same time period

ARE RECOMBINANT VARIANTS MORE DEADLY?

There is little evidence to suggest that recombinant lineages have a varied clinical outcome compared to the currently dominant Omicron variant, although preliminary data from the U.K. health security agency suggests a transmission advantage over the Omicron variant. It is certain at this point in time that more data will be needed to ascertain the impact of these lineages on the epidemiology of COVID-19

WHAT ARE THE METHODS THROUGH WHICH RECOMBINANTS ARE IDENTIFIED

• Identifying and tracking recombinant lineages for SARS-CoV-2 is a challenging task. This would require specialised tools and the availability of primary (or raw) data for genome sequences as similar variant combinations could also arise from inadvertent errors in sequencing or analysis as well as contamination of sequencing experiments.
• A cluster of recombinant genomes can be designated a lineage name by the PANGO network if it can be confirmed that samples in the cluster have a common origin and descend from two individual lineages of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, there should be at least 5 genomes in the public domain belonging to the cluster, indicating an ongoing transmission of the lineage
• Furthermore, screening the sequencing data of these samples should show no signs of contamination and meet the definition of a recombinant.

WAY FORWARD

• Since re-combinations are extremely rare occurrences, it is unclear how and why the viruses recombine
• It is, therefore, important to track recombination of SARS-CoV-2 lineages because it may lead to the generation of a viral lineage that is better at infecting people or transmitting from host to host
• Regardless of the consequences that recombination events may have on the evolution of the virus, monitoring circulating SARS-CoV-2 genomes for evidence of recombination will not only help gain a better understanding of the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 but will also be able to give one a heads up, if a more “concerning” variant of the virus were to emerge.

NEWS

Scientists at Pune’s Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology were able to detect the presence of IgG antibodies against Nipah virus infection (NiV) in 51 bats that were captured from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

DETAILS

• Nipah virus (NiV) is one of the priority pathogens with a pandemic potential. Though the spread is far slower than SARS-CoV-2, case fatality is the biggest concern
• The fruit bats of genus Pteropus are identified to be the main reservoir of the Nipah virus causing annual outbreaks in Malaysia, Bangladesh and other countries in South-East Asia including India
• However, three incidences of NiV infections in humans in Kerala which is far distant from the known “Nipah belt” in consecutive years with no identified intermediate animal host or confirmed mode of entry into human population warrants the heightened need of constant surveillance of NiV in bats, animals and humans

WHAT IS NIPAH

• Zoonotic virus transmitted from animals to humans
• First broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999
• First appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep.
• Transmitted to people from animals and can also be passed on through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person
• Fruit bats are considered to be a natural reservoir of the virus
• Symptoms include acute encephalitis and respiratory illnesses
• Currently, there are no vaccines for both humans and animals. Intensive supportive care is given to humans infected by Nipah virus.

NEWS

The government introduced The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha

DETAILS

• The Bill seeks to amend The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005
• Provide against the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems in line with India’s international obligations
• The 2005 Act prohibited the manufacturing, transport, and transfer of weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

• The expression wad used first by the leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1937 to refer to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian fascists in support of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War
• While there is no single, authoritative definition of a WMD in international law, the expression is usually understood to cover nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons
• According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, “A weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.”

India’s 2005 WMD Act defines

• “Biological weapons” as “microbial or other biological agents, or toxin of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes; and weapons, equipment or delivery systems specially designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict”
• “Chemical weapons” as “toxic chemicals and their precursors” except where used for peaceful, protective, and certain specified military and law enforcement purposes; “munitions and devices specifically designed to cause death or other harm through the toxic properties of those toxic chemicals”; and any equipment specifically designed for use in connection with the employment of these munitions and devices

CONTROL OVER USE OF WMD

• The use of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons is regulated by a number of international treaties and agreements
• Among them are the Geneva Protocol, 1925, that banned the use of chemical and biological weapons; and the Biological Weapons Convention, 1972, and Chemical Weapons Convention, 1992, which put comprehensive bans on the biological and chemical weapons respectively
• India has signed and ratified both the 1972 and 1992 treaties. There are very few non-signatory countries to these treaties, even though several countries have been accused of non-compliance

• Amara Sullia uprising gets due recognition on its 185th anniversary. The Amara Sullia Rebellion (also called Kalyanappana Katakayi or Amara Sulya Raitha) was an armed uprising against the British government organized by the people of Arebhashe and Tulunadu that took place in 1837, twenty years before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857
• The Gangaur festival is celebrated in Rajasthan and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and West Bengal. It is one of Rajasthan’s most important festivals and is observed with great fervour across the state
• On 5th April National Maritime Day is celebrated across the country annually. This day has been dedicated to maritime trade’s role in the development of the country’s economy, and also the country’s strategic location as well as the role in global trade
• The International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) has been launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with the objective of enhancing air connectivity from India’s certain states with some selected international destinations so as to promote socio-economic growth.