Current Affairs Apr 21 – GES Reporter

MoU between the India and Bangladesh

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has given its ex post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Director General of Trade Remedies, Republic of India and the Bangladesh Trade & Tariff Commission, People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
On the establishment of a framework of cooperation in the area of trade remedial measures signed on 27th March, 2021 at Dhaka.

Objectives

The primary objective of the MOU is to promote cooperation between the two countries in the area of Trade Remedies, covering the broad activities related to exchange of information, undertaking capacity building activities and activities in accordance with various provisions of World Trade Organization in the area of anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures in bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh.
The MOU seeks to foster better cooperation between the relevant authorities of both the countries so as to discourage unfair trade practices and promote rule based bilateral trading between the two countries.

PIB

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

Why in News?

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved a fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ).

Impact:

The MRA intends to develop mutually beneficial relationship in the best interest of members, students and their organizations and is expected to provide an opportunity to the ICAI members to expand their professional horizons and to foster working relations between the two accounting institutes.
The two accountancy institutes will have an opportunity to play the leadership role in addressing new challenges facing the profession in a globalized environment.

Benefits:

The engagement between the two Institutes is expected to result in greater employment opportunities for Indian Chartered Accountants and also greater remittances back to India.

Implementation strategy and Targets:

The MoU provides for mutual recognition of qualification of members of other body, who have achieved membership by completing the Examination, professional program and practical experience membership requirements of the two parties.

Background:

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of India, The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949′, to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), emerged from the merger of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants in October 2014.

PIB

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Why in News?

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Administrative Council for Economic Defense of Brazil (CADE).
Section 18 of the Competition Act, 2002 permits CCI to enter into any Memorandum or arrangement with any agency of any foreign country for the purpose of discharging its duties or performing its functions under the Act.

Accordingly, CCI has entered into the following six MoUs:

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), USA
Director General Competition, European Union
Federal Antimonopoly Service, Russia
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and
Competition Bureau, Canada and
BRICS Competition Authorities.

PIB

Exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through coal gasification

Why in News?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for the formulation of exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through coal gasification route by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).

Objectives

The project shall improve availability of fertilizer to farmers thereby boosting development of eastern region and will save transport subsidy for supply of urea in eastern part of the country.
It would assist in reducing Urea imports to the tune of 12.7 LMT per annum leading to savings in foreign exchange.
The project would help development of infrastructure like roads, railways water, etc. providing major boost to economy in the eastern part of the country including promoting ancillary industry.
The project will also provide New business opportunity in form of ancillary industries in the catchment area of the project.
Coal gasification plants are strategically important as coal prices are non-volatile and coal is abundantly available.
Talcher plant shall also reduce dependence on important Natural Gas for production of urea leading to reduction in LNG import bill.

Background

Talcher Fertilizers Ltd. (TFL) is a Joint Venture Company of four PSUs namely Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), GAIL (India) Ltd. (GAIL), Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) which was incorporated on 13th November, 2015.

PIB

Real-time Monitoring Of Himalayan Glacial Catchments

Why in News?

Satellite-based real-time monitoring of Himalayan glacial catchments would improve understanding of flood risk in the region and help inform an early flood warning system that could help curb disaster and save human lives, says a recent study.
This should be the future strategy to reduce loss of human lives during glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), said a study carried out by scientists from IIT Kanpur.
Temperature and the numbers of extreme rainfall events are rising at an increased rate because of climate change. Suitably called Earth’s “Third Pole”, the Himalayan region is home to the largest ice mass outside of the planet’s Polar Regions.
The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at a faster rate creating new lakes and expanding the existing ones.
Besides, the rising temperatures and extreme precipitation events make the region increasingly prone to a variety of natural hazards, including devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
GLOFs occur when either a natural dam containing a glacial lake bursts or when the lake’s level suddenly increases and overflows its banks, leading to catastrophic downstream destruction.
The surge of meltwater in mountain streams is most commonly caused by cloud-burst events during the monsoon season (June–July–August) time frame.

PIB

Project Kuiper satellites

Why in News?

Amazon has secured an agreement with space launch firm, United Launch Alliance (ULA), to support the deployment of its Project Kuiper satellites.
As Amazon’s first launch partner, ULA’s nine Atlas V launch vehicles will help deploy some of Amazon’s broadband satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO).
The company plans to use “multiple launch vehicles and launch partners” to support the deployment of all the 3,236 broadband satellites approved by the US Federal Communication Commission.
ULA’s Atlas V holds a 100% success rate in more than 85 launches that include NASA missions like the launch of the Perseverance Rover to Mars and OSIRIS-REx, which travelled to the asteroid Bennu and is bringing a small sample back to Earth for study.
Its small, low-cost customer terminal for Project Kuiper, capable of delivering speeds up to 400 Mbps.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to bring Starlink service to most parts of the globe by the end of 2021, and everywhere by next year.
The aerospace company also wants to connect Starlink service to moving vehicles such as ships, planes and trucks.

THE HINDU

Eastern India most vulnerable to climate change

The greenest part of India is the most vulnerable to climate change, a study by two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has revealed.
Along with Chhattisgarh in central India, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal — all in the eastern part of the country — are the eight most vulnerable States that require prioritisation of adaptation interventions.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala are among seven States that are the least vulnerable but there’s more to it meets the eye.
The vulnerability indices (VIs) for these States range from the lowest of 0.419 for Maharashtra to 0.468 for Uttarakhand.
The report on ‘Climate vulnerability assessment for adaptation planning in India using a common framework’ was conducted in 2019-2020 across 29 States “considering the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir”.
It was part of a capacity building programme under the National Mission on Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.
The major drivers for the vulnerability of all the States included lack of forest area per 1,000 rural population, lack of crop insurance, marginal and small operational land holding, low density of health workers, low participation of women in the workforce, yield variability of food grains, and a high proportion of the population below the poverty line.
Jharkhand, with the highest VI of 0.674, topped the list of States most vulnerable to climate change. Among the drivers of its vulnerability is the high incidence of vector-borne diseases, high yield variability of food grains, and low road and rail density.
Some of Jharkhand’s drivers were found relevant for second-placed Mizoram. But while this northeastern State had the highest density of healthcare workers per 1,000 people, less than 8% of them were found to be doctors.
The primary issue with Odisha, which took the third spot, was the prevalence of marginal and small operational landholdings.
60% of 612 districts (covering the same geographical area as the current 718) assessed are in Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand, in that order. Of these districts most vulnerable to climate change, 24 are in Assam with Karimganj topping the list.
The Climate Change Program of SPLICE (Strategic Programs, Large Initiatives and Coordinated Action Enabler) Division of the Department of Science and Technology coordinated the report in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland.

THE HINDU

Oral drug Molnupiravir

Why in News?

An orally administered antiviral drug initially developed to treat influenza can significantly decrease novel coronavirus levels in hamsters, holding out promise of a pill to combat COVID-19.
MK-4482, also called Molnupiravir, was effective when provided up to 12 hours before or 12 hours after infection with SARS-CoV-2.
The drug can also decrease damage it causes to lungs.
The researchers noted that MK-4482 has been shown to inhibit the replication of other related human coronaviruses, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in mouse models.

THE HINDU

Arackar Licanantay

Why in News?

Scientists studying Chile’s parched Atacama desert, the world’s driest, have discovered the remains of a previously unknown species of dinosaur that millions of years ago lived among lush greenery in what is now a moonscape of rock and sand.
Chilean geologist unearthed the remains of Arackar licanantay, which means “Atacama bones” in the Kunza language, 75 kilometers south of the desert city of Copiapó. The so-called titanosaur had a small head and long neck and tail, as well as an unusually flat back compared with others like it.
Recent paleontological studies suggest Arackar lived amid flowering plants, ferns and palm trees during the Cretaceous period 66-80 million years ago. Parts of the Atacama today, by contrast, have gone without rain for one hundred years and support little plant or animal life.
The discovery of a titanosaur on the west side of South America’s Andes Mountains is rare, though several species have been found in Argentina and Brazil, further east.
Arackar also appears smaller in size compared with some other titanosaurs. The Argentinosaurus, discovered on the east side of the Andes in neighbouring Argentina, was more than four times as long.

THE HINDU

Need Only One Vaccine Dose

Why in News?

People who have recovered from Covid-19 had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA vaccine dose, but little immune benefit after the second dose.

Findings

The researchers findings suggest that only a single vaccine dose may be needed to produce a sufficient antibody response.
The team found that those who did not have Covid-19 did not have a full immune response until after receiving their second vaccine dose, reinforcing the importance of completing the two recommended doses for achieving strong levels of immunity.
The researchers said their findings suggest that only a single vaccine dose may be needed to produce a sufficient antibody response.
The team found that those who did not have Covid-19 did not have a full immune response until after receiving their second vaccine dose, reinforcing the importance of completing the two recommended doses for achieving strong levels of immunity.
This study investigated how memory B cell responses differ after vaccination in people who previously experienced infection, compared to those who have not had Covid-19.
Previous Covid-19 mRNA vaccine studies on vaccinated individuals have focused on antibodies more than memory B cells.
Memory B cells are a strong predictor of future antibody responses, which is why it’s vital to measure B cell responses to these vaccines.
This effort to examine memory B cells is important for understanding long-term protection and the ability to respond to variants.

Vaccine that targets multiple coronaviruses

Why in News?

Using a new platform, scientists have developed a Covid-19 vaccine that they say could offer protection against not only existing and future strains of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but also other coronaviruses.

How it’s different

It involves synthesising DNA that directs the production of a piece of the virus. This can instruct the immune system how to mount an immune response against the virus.
The vaccine, targets a part of the virus’s spike protein called the fusion peptide. This compound is essentially universal among coronaviruses, and has not been observed to differ at all in the many genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from around the world.
Other Covid-19 vaccines do not appear to be specifically targeting the fusion peptide.
Most vaccines in development target either the entire spike protein, or just the receptor binding domain (RBD).
While antibodies against the RBD can provide good neutralising activity, there can be mutations in the RBD that decrease somewhat the effectiveness of the antibodies.
The virus has evolved to be able to continue to live even in the presence of an immune response.

How it works

There are other vaccines that instruct the creation of a part of the virus. For example, mRNA vaccines such as those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both in use in the US, deliver mRNA (messenger RNA) carrying instructions for creating the spike protein of the coronavirus.
The idea is that when the real virus attacks, the immune system will recognise the spike and mount a response.
In the new platform, once DNA encoding for the fusion peptide has been synthesised, it is inserted into another small circle of DNA, called a plasmid, which can reproduce within bacteria.
The DNA plasmid is introduced into bacteria; this technique uses the bacteria E coli.

Oxygen Therapy

Why in News?

The ongoing second surge in Covid-19 cases has seen a huge rise in the demand for supplemental oxygen.

When does a Covid-19 patient need oxygen support?

A small proportion of Covid-19 patients need oxygen support, when shortness of breath progresses to a more acute condition.
Most patients with Covid-19 have a respiratory tract infection, and in the most severe cases their symptoms can include shortness of breath.
In a small proportion of such cases, this can progress to a more severe and systemic disease characterised by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

How does Covid-19 trigger shortness of breath?

Shortness of breath occurs because of the way Covid-19 affects the patient’s respiratory system.
The lungs enable the body to absorb oxygen from the air and expel carbon dioxide.
When a person inhales, the tiny air sacs in the lungs — alveoli — expand to capture this oxygen, which is then transferred to blood vessels and transported through the rest of the body.
Respiratory epithelial cells line the respiratory tract. Their primary function is to protect the airway tract from pathogens and infections, and also facilitate gas exchange. And the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can infect these epithelial cells.
To fight such infection, the body’s immune system releases cells that trigger inflammation. When this inflammatory immune response continues, it impedes the regular transfer of oxygen in the lungs. Simultaneously, fluids too build up.
Both these factors combined make it difficult to breathe. Low levels of oxygen triggered by Covid-19 are inflammatory markers, which include elevated white blood cell counts and neutrophil counts.