POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                             

1. Scientists propose Controlled Human Infection Model studies             

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                          

1. Quad to meet: Foreign Ministers of India, US, Japan and Australia     

ECONOMY                                                                                             

1. PACEsetter Fund programme                                                           

2. Tamil Nadu’s new electric vehicle policy                                             

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                       

1. An app to map Ganga water, aquatic life                                           

SECURITY                                                                                             

1. Defence ministry, MHA fight it out over Assam Rifles’ proposed merger with ITBP                                                                             

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Scientists propose Controlled Human Infection Model studies

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is close to finalising projects involving Indian and European scientists to develop new influenza vaccines using a Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM).

Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM) :

• In a Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM), a well-characterised strain of an infectious agent is injected to adult volunteers in order to better understand human diseases,

• These studies play a vital role in understanding how diseases spread, and find new ways to prevent and treat them.

  • It will also help in developing new vaccines for infectious diseases.

• The risk in such trials is that intentionally infecting healthy people with an active virus and causing them to be sick is against medical ethics.

  • It also involves putting human lives in danger.

• The Controlled Human Infection Model(CHIM) are already being employed in vaccine development in the United States, the United Kingdom and Kenya.India is also considering to adopt CHIM.

• Rather than influenza trials,India would likely develop CHIM protocols to study bacterial or viruses residing in the intestine such as cholera or typhoid.

                                                                                                                   Source :- Down To Earth ; The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Quad to meet: Foreign Ministers of India, US, Japan and Australia

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The Foreign Ministers of the four countries are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue(QSD) :

• Quadrilateral Security Dialogue(QSD) is the strategic dialogue between four countries viz. India, United States, Japan and Australia.

• It was originally initiated in 2007 but later disbanded with withdrawal of Australia.It has later revived in 2017.

• The Quad is viewed as four democracies with a shared objective to ensure and support a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

• The concept of quadrilateral cooperation is also linked to China’s emergence as a great power.

  • The fear of China’s growing unilateralism drives major nations to strive to reduce the regional imbalance by banding together.

                                                                                                                                              Source :- Indian Express

ECONOMY

PACEsetter Fund programme

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently awarded grants to the awardees of the second round of PACEsetter fund programme.

PACEsetter Fund Programme :

• The PACEsetter fund was constituted by India and the USA in 2015.

• It is a joint fund to provide early-stage grant funding to accelerate the commercialization of innovative off-grid clean energy products, systems, and business models.

• The funds aim is to improve the viability of the off-grid renewable energy businesses that sell small scale (under 1 megawatt) clean energy systems to individuals and communities without access to grid connected power or with limited/intermittent access.

                                                                                                                                               Source :- Times Of India

Tamil Nadu’s new electric vehicle policy

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• The Tamil Nadu State Government has introduced its first-ever electric vehicle (EV) policy,2019.

  • Tamil Nadu, known as the Detroit of South India, accounts for 6.4% of the electric vehicles sold in the country as of July 31, 2019.

Tamilnadu’s Electric vehicle Policy :

• The policy aims to create a comprehensive Electric Vehicle(EV) ecosystem in the State.

• It has set out a vision to attract ₹50,000 crore in investments and create 1.5 lakh new jobs.

• The policy has provided various concessions to manufacturers of the e-vehicles.

• To encourage start-ups in the EV sector,incubation services will be offered in the form of office space, common facilities and mentoring support.

• An EV Venture Capital Fund will be created to offer financial support to EV start-ups to enable them to scale up their business.

• EV-related and charging infrastructure manufacturing units will be provided 100% exemption on electricity tax till December 2025.

• The government will also provide a higher capital subsidy of 20% of the eligible investment over 20 years in cases where units are engaged in making EV batteries.

                                                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

An app to map Ganga water, aquatic life

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has launched a mobile application “Ganga Data Collector” under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) of Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Ganga Data Collector :

• The app will provide field researchers with a complete data entry solution to monitor the aquatic population in the river.

• Ganga Prahari volunteers and staff of the forest department in 11 states of the Ganga Basin will use this application to collect data related to the quality of water, the presence of different species of fishes, amphibians and reptiles, crocodiles and turtles, dolphins, birds, water level and weather.

• It will help to improve both data visualization and security.

• The Ganga basin covers 11 states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, and Delhi.

                                                                                                                Source :- Indian Express

SECURITY

Defence ministry, MHA fight it out over Assam Rifles’ proposed merger with ITBP

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Context :

• The defence establishment and the Ministry of Home affairs are once again in disagreement over the control of Assam Rifles.

Issue :

• Currently, the administrative control of the Assam Rifles is under the Home Ministry and the operational control is with the Defence Ministry along with the Indian Army.

• The Indian Army has recently expressed deep concern over the home ministry’s decision to seek complete control over the country’s oldest counter insurgency force which has undertaken a number of counter-insurgency operations in the northeast along with the Army.

• The dual leadership has caused administrative problems and many Assam Rifle personnel were being deprived of promotion and allowances at par with Indian army.           

                                                                                                                                      Source :- Times Of India

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