Current Affairs May 7 – GES Reporter

Spiritual Smart Hill Town

Why in News?

Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed between the Oil and Gas PSUs-IndianOil, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and GAIL, and Shri Badrinath Utthan Charitable Trust for Construction and Redevelopment of Shri Badrinath Dham as a Spiritual Smart hill Town.
As per the MoUs, the Oil & Gas PSUs will be contributing Rs. 99.60 crore in the first phase of the developmental activities, including river embankment work, building all-terrain vehicular path, building bridges, beautifying existing bridges, establishing gurukul facilities with accommodation, creating toilet and drinking water facilities, installing streetlights, mural paintings etc.
Char Dham is close to millions of Indians, due to spiritual, religious and cultural reasons.
The Oil and Gas PSUs will not only contribute to the development work of the Badrinath, but are also part of the development of Kedarnath, Uttarkashi, Yamunotri and Gangotri.

PIB

Indian Railways inducts 100th 12000 HP WAG 12 B Locomotive

Why in News?

100th 12000 HP WAG 12 B has been inducted in Indian Railways fleet.
The loco is named WAG 12 B with number 60100. The locomotive is manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).

About

These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horse power electric locomotive.
These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.
The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (Tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 Tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph.
The locomotives can be tracked through GPS for its strategic use through embedded software and Antennae being lifted through the servers on ground through microwave link.
Indian Railways has entered into Procurement cum Maintenance Agreement with Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).
First 12000 HP Made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn Station on 18.05.2020.

PIB

Mandatory online certification of disability

Why in News?

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Government of India has issued Gazette notification SO 1736(E) dated 05.05.2021 making it mandatory for all States/UTs to grant certificate of disability through online mode only using UDID portal w.e.f. 01.06.2021.
The Central Government notified the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 under RPwD Act, 2016 on 15.06.2017. Rule 18(5) mandates the Central Government to appoint a date making it mandatory for the State/UT authorities to issue certificate of disability through online mode.

About

The Central Advisory Board on Disability headed by Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
The UDID project is under implementation since 2016. Concerned authorities of all States/UTs have been imparted training by DEPwD for working on the UDID portal.
It will ensure complete digitization of certification of disability from 01.06.2021, besides providing a viable mechanism for cross-checking genuineness of the certificate to achieve pan-India validity, and simplifying the process for the benefit of Divyangjan.

PIB

‘Miyon ka Bara’

Why in News?

The name of Miyon ka Bara railway station in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur has been changed to Mahesh Nagar after getting an approval from various departments.
Earlier, in August 2018, the name of the village was officially changed from Miyon ka Bara to Mahesh Nagar after residents complained that they were unable to get matrimonial matches for their children as the name gave an impression that it is inhabited by Muslims.
The Union Home Ministry had approved the change of name and conveyed the decision to the Rajasthan government in 2018.
A similar exercise was repeated for renaming the railway station as it is a Union subject.
During the pre-Independence period, the original name of the village was Mahesh Ro Bado and over a time its name changed, giving an impression that it is inhabited by Muslims.

THE HINDU

Sputnik Light

Why in News?

Russia has authorised the use of Sputnik Light — a single dose vaccine against COVID-19.
The move will pave way for the immunisation of a larger number of people in a shorter time frame.
Sputnik Light is the first component — recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26) — of Sputnik V vaccine that has been approved by over 60 countries, including India.
While the two-dose Sputnik V remains the main source of vaccination, Sputnik Light will be “exported to our international partners to help increase the rate of vaccinations in the face of the ongoing fight against the pandemic and new strains of coronavirus.”
According to analyzed data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered, Sputnik Light demonstrated 79.4% efficacy. The efficacy of Sputnik V has been reported at nearly 92%.
India had accorded emergency use authorisation for Sputnik V last month, following which the first consignment, comprising 1.5 lakh doses from Russia, landed on May 1 in Hyderabad.
Indian companies are said to be in discussion with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, the marketing partner for Sputnik V in the country, to get the vaccine for their workforce and families.

THE HINDU

Intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines

Why in News?

The United States recently announced support for waiving intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines, saying extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures.
The US will pursue “text-based negotiations” on the waiver at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Text-based negotiations involve negotiators exchanging texts with their preferred wording and then thrashing out a consensus on the working — a fairly long-drawn affair.
All 164 WTO members must agree on the draft, and any one member can veto it. The European Union, which had earlier opposed the waiver, has now stated its intent to discuss the US-backed proposal.

What does the intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines mean?

The IP waiver might open up space for production of Covid vaccines with emergency use authorisations (EUA) — such as those developed by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson and Bharat Biotech — on a larger scale in middle-income countries.
Most production is currently concentrated in high-income countries; production by middle-income countries has been happening through licensing or technology transfer agreements.
Ramping up production capacities will be a lengthy process — a reason being cited by pharmaceutical companies against the move. Most analysts expect this to take at least a few months; it is likely the agreement will be targeted by the WTO’s next ministerial conference in end-November.
The US support for an IP waiver stems from a proposal by India and South Africa in the WTO last year. That proposal had, however, called for a waiver on all Covid interventions, including testing diagnostics and novel therapeutics.

What was the earlier proposal from India and South Africa?

In October 2020, India and South Africa had asked the WTO to waive certain conditions of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement that could impede timely access to affordable medical products to combat Covid-19.
The countries had asked the TRIPS Council to recommend, “as early as possible”, a waiver on the implementation, application and enforcement of four sections in the second part of the agreement.
These sections — 1, 4, 5, and 7 — pertain to copyright and related rights, industrial designs, patents, and the protection of undisclosed information.
The proposal had said that developing countries “especially”, may face institutional and legal difficulties when using flexibilities available in the TRIPS Agreement.

What are patents and IP rights?

A patent represents a powerful intellectual property right, and is an exclusive monopoly granted by a government to an inventor for a limited, pre-specified time.
It provides an enforceable legal right to prevent others from copying the invention. Patents can be either process patents or product patents.
A product patent ensures that the rights to the final product is protected, and anyone other than the patent holder can be restrained from manufacturing it during a specified period, even if they were to use a different process.
A process patent enables any person other than the patent holder to manufacture the patented product by modifying certain processes in the manufacturing exercise.
India moved from product patenting to process patenting in the 1970s, which enabled India to become a significant producer of generic drugs at global scale, and allowed companies like Cipla to provide Africa with anti-HIV drugs in the 1990s.
But due to obligations arising out of the TRIPS Agreement, India had to amend the Patents Act in 2005, and switch to a product patents regime across the pharma, chemicals, and biotech sectors.

How immune system blankets coronavirus with antibodies

Why in News?

When someone is infected with SARS-CoV-2, their body produces antibodies against the virus.
Scientists have now come up with the most complete picture yet is coming into focus of how these antibodies work to neutralise the part of the virus responsible for causing infection.

Previous Research

Previous research focused on one group of antibodies that target the most obvious part of the coronavirus’s spike protein, called the receptor-binding domain (RBD).
Because the RBD is the part of the spike that attaches directly to human cells and enables the virus to infect them, it was assumed to be a primary target of the immune system.
But, testing blood plasma samples from four people who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infections, the researchers found that most of the antibodies circulating in the blood — on average, about 84% — target areas of the viral spike protein outside the RBD — and, apparently, for good reason.
Many of these non-RBD-directed antibodies act as a potent weapon against the virus by targeting a region in a part of the spike protein located in what would be the umbrella’s canopy called the N-terminal domain (NTD).
These antibodies neutralise the virus in cell cultures and were shown to prevent a lethal mouse-adapted version of the virus from infecting mice.
The NTD is also a part of the viral spike protein that mutates frequently, especially in several variants of concern.
This suggests that one reason these variants are so effective at evading our immune systems is that they can mutate around one of the most common and potent types of antibody in our arsenals.

Carrot Leaves

The call to reduce food waste has grown louder in the time of climate change. One of the obvious yet overlooked examples of wasted food potential is the carrot (Daucus carota).
Carrot Leaves have potential to increase food diversity for human beings, not to mention their huge nutritional value.
Carrot leaves, just like the roots, are rich in vitamin A. Carbohydrates and protein account for 60 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of the leaves’ dry weight.
The leaves have potassium that lowers blood pressure, supports metabolism and prevents osteoporosis.
They also contain calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. Given that they are rich in natural antioxidants, carrot-green extracts are often added to commercial food products.
Carrot seeds too have medicinal value: they contain estrogen and were used in some cultures as an effective method of contraception. Lebanese folklore mentions the use of carrot seed oil from wild plants in cancer treatment — modern research proves this. The oil also has anti-ageing properties and features in skin-care products.

Consume with care

Carrot leaves should be eaten in moderation, as they contain alkaloids, just like other green leafy vegetables. Alkaloids are a part of the plant’s defence mechanism against insects and microbial attacks, but they taste bitter.
Consuming too much might trigger an allergic reaction, nausea or food poisoning. It might be judicious not to eat them too often in a season.

DTE

Lumpy Skin Disease among cattle

Why in News?

The Bihar government sounded an alert and issued an advisory recently about the likely spread of lumpy skin disease (LSD), a viral illness that causes prolonged morbidity in cattle and buffaloes.
The disease is characterised by mild fever for two-three days followed by the development of stiff, round nodules on the skin all over the body of cattle and buffaloes.
Symptoms may include lesions in the mouth, pharynx and respiratory tract, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, reduction in milk production in lactating cattle for several weeks, abortion, infertility and sometimes, death.
Veterinarians said infected animals often recover within three weeks of treatment with anti-allergy and antibiotic medicines.
The morbidity rate in LSD is 10-20%, while the mortality rate is up to 5%.
LSD is not transmitted to humans.
It can spread from an affected bovine to another through direct contact or via insects such as ticks, flies and mosquitoes.

DTE

High mineral prices could slow down transition to clean energy

High mineral prices could delay the global transition to clean energy as the demand for metals in solar panels, wind turbines and batteries outstrips supply, the International Energy Agency has warned.
A lack of investment in new mines risks substantially increasing the cost of producing clean energy technologies and hampering the effort to meet the world’s climate goals, the IEA says in its new report The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions.
The agency has called on governments to assist in developing copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth projects, as reaching the goals of the Paris climate agreement would mean a quadrupling of mineral demand by 2040.
Prices of commodities have rallied this year as demand for clean technologies has increased. Lithium demand in particular is set to grow more than 40 times if nations hope to meet the goals of the Paris agreement.
Electric car sales jumped 41% last year to about 3m globally but the IEA points out that an EV requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car. Additionally, an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired power plant.
Australia has moved to take advantage of this global shortfall in mineral supply, with the government declaring rare earths a critical mineral in 2019, and explicitly giving its support to mining companies planning to explore and develop.
After a spike in lithium prices in 2016, Australia increased its lithium reserves by 70% in 2017 alone and has now become one of the world’s largest producers.

THE GUARDIAN

Cutting methane emissions is quickest way to slow global heating

Slashing methane emissions is vital to tackling the climate crisis and rapidly curbing the extreme weather already hitting people across the world today, according to a new UN report.
In 2020 there was a record rise in the amount of the powerful greenhouse gas emitted by the fossil fuel industry, cattle and rotting waste. Cutting it is the strongest action available to slow global heating in the near term.
Methane emissions could be almost halved by 2030 using existing technology and at reasonable cost.
Achieving the cuts would avoid nearly 0.3C of global heating by 2045 and keep the world on track for the Paris climate agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C. Methane cuts also immediately reduce air pollution and would prevent many premature deaths and lost crops.
Methane is 84 times more powerful in trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and has caused about 30% of global heating to date. But it breaks down in the atmosphere within about a decade, unlike CO2, which remains in the air for centuries.
The surge is partly due to the increased use of fossil fuels, especially gas produced by fracking.
The report produced by the UN and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition found that 42% of human-caused methane emissions come from agriculture, mostly from burping livestock, its manure, and paddy fields. Intentional and unintentional leaks of methane from fossil fuel drilling sites, coalmines and pipelines produce 36% of the total and waste dumps cause another 18%.
The report found feasible and cost-effective methane cuts of 60% could be made from fossil fuel operations by stopping the venting of unwanted gas and properly sealing equipment. Waste sites could cut about 35% by reducing the organic waste sent to landfill sites and through better sewage treatment.
The gas causes ground-level ozone pollution and a cut of 45% by 2030 would prevent 260,000 early deaths a year.
Ozone also damages crops and the methane cut would prevent 25m tonnes of wheat, rice, maize and soy being lost annually.

THE GUARDIAN

Using hydrogen fuel risks locking in reliance on fossil fuel

Using hydrogen-based fuels for cars and home heating risks locking in a dependency on fossil fuels and failing to tackle the climate crisis, according to a new analysis.
Fuels produced from hydrogen can be used as straight replacements for oil and gas and can be low-carbon, if renewable electricity is used to produce these “e-fuels”. However, the research found that using the electricity directly to power cars and warm houses was far more efficient.
The analysis estimated that hydrogen-based fuels would be very expensive and scarce in the coming decade.
Therefore, equipment such as “hydrogen-ready” boilers could end up reliant on fossil gas and continue to produce the carbon emissions driving global heating.
Few sectors such as aviation, shipping, steel and some chemicals are extremely hard to electrify. The researchers said hydrogen-based fuels would be needed for these by 2050, when the world needs to have reached net zero emissions. But they said enormous investment in technology and fast-rising carbon taxes would be needed to achieve this.
Renewable electricity production is increasing rapidly as costs tumble. But it still makes up a small proportion of all energy used, which is mostly provided by coal, oil and gas.
Using the electricity directly is efficient, but requires investment in new types of car and heating systems.
Using the electricity to create hydrogen from water and then using carbon dioxide to manufacture other fuels can produce “drop-in” replacements for fossil fuels. But the new study concludes this cannot work on a large enough scale to tackle the climate emergency in time.
The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, calculated that producing and burning hydrogen-based fuels in home gas boilers required six to 14 times more electricity than heat pumps providing the same warmth.
This is because energy is wasted in creating the hydrogen, then the e-fuel, then in burning it. For cars, using e-fuels requires five times more electricity than is needed than for battery-powered cars.

THE GUARDIAN