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PIB – September 7 , 2019

GS- 2 Paper

Topic covered– Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

Military Medicine for SCO Member States

Context

1st conference of Military Medicine for SCO Member States to be held in New Delhi.

About

  • The first conference on military medicine for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states will be held in Delhi.
  • Military medicine experts of SCO member states discussed on rendering combat medical support, humanitarian assistance during disasters, and measures to improve patient safety.
  • The SCO member states will be represented by senior military medical practitioners. Dialogue Partners Nepal and Sri Lanka will also be sending their delegations to participate in the Conference,
  • It will be the first military cooperation event hosted by India, under the “SCO Defence Cooperation Plan 2019-2020”.
  • India became an SCO member state in 2017.

Aim

  • Its aims are to share best practices in the field of military medicine, capacities building and overcoming of common challenges.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

  • The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.
  • SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
  • It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
  • It was created in 2001.
  • The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003.
  • It is a statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.
  • The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

Objectives

  • Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states;
  • Promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas;
  • Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region;
  • Moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

Member states

Presently, the SCO comprises eight member states-

  1. Kazakhstan,
  2. China,
  3. Kyrgyzstan
  4. Russia,
  5. Tajikistan,
  6. Uzbekistan;
  7. India,
  8.  

Observer states

The SCO counts four observer state-

  1. Afghanistan,
  2. Belarus,
  3. Iran,
  4.  

Dialogue partners

The SCO has six dialogue partners-

  1. Azerbaijan,
  2. Armenia,
  3. Cambodia,
  4. Nepal,
  5. Turkey,
  6. Sri Lanka.

GS- 3rd Paper

Topics Covered– Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

National Animal Disease Control Programme

Context      

PM to launch National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease.

About National Animal Disease Control Programme

  • It is a 100% centrally funded programme, with a total outlay of Rs.12,652 crore from 2019 to 2024.
  • It aims to control Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis by 2025 with vaccination and eventual eradication by 2030.

 About Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)

  • It is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease.
  • It affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids.
  • FMD is not recognised as a zoonotic disease.

Symptoms

  • The virus causes a high fever for two or three days, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness.
  • Other frequent symptoms are depression, hypersalivation, loss of appetite, weight loss, growth retardation and a drop in milk production, which can persist even after recovery.
  • The virus responsiblefor the disease is a picornavirus, the prototypic member of the genus Aphthovirus.

Concerns 

  • Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has severe implications for animal farming.
  • It is highly infectious and can be spread by infected animals through aerosols, through contact with contaminated farming equipment, vehicles, clothing, or feed, and by domestic and wild predators.

Effect on Humans

  • Humans can be infected with foot-and-mouth disease through contact with infected animals.
  • The virus that causes FMD is sensitive to stomach acid, it cannot spread to humans via consumption of infected meat, except in the mouth before the meat is swallowed.
  • Symptoms of FMD in humans include malaise, fever, vomiting, red ulcerative lesions (surface-eroding damaged spots) of the oral tissues, and sometimes vesicular lesions (small blisters) of the skin.

Vaccination

  • Vaccination can be used to reduce the spread of FMD or protect specific animals.
  • Vaccines are also used in endemic regions to protect animals from clinical disease.
  • FMD vaccines must closely match the serotype and strain of the infecting strain.
  • Vaccination with one serotype does not protect the animal against other serotypes,. Currently, there is no universal FMD vaccine.

GS- 3rd Paper

Topics Covered– Awareness in space.

Chandrayaan-2

Context

Chandrayan 2 Mission lost its communication with the Control Centre at the ISRO headquarters.

About Chandrayan 2

  • Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon.
  • It comprises a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan).
  • The Rover Pragyan is housed inside Vikram lander.
  • The mission is an important step in India’s plans for planetary exploration, a program known as Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX).
  • The mission payloads include-
  • Terrain Mapping Camera which will generate a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the entire moon,
  • Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer which will test the elemental composition of the Moon’s surface Solar X-Ray Monitor which will provide solar X-ray spectrum inputs for CLASS.
  • The orbiter will be deployed at an altitude of 100 kilometers above the surface of the Moon.
  • The lander will then separate from the orbiter, and execute a soft landing on the surface of the Moon.

Objective

  • The mission aims to expand our knowledge and understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere.
  • To demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface.

Soft landing on the Moon Surface

  • A soft-landing protects the object from impact, and it ensures that the object is able to carry out further experimentation on the target planet or satellite, mostly with the help of a rover vehicle.
  • Soft-landing on any planetary surface is complicated. For this the Vikram lander was to use five thrusters — four at the corners and one at the centre to make its final descent.
  • Soft landing maintains the required velocity with such thrusters since it is quite difficult as a fine balance among them needs to be maintained.

 South Pole of the Moon

  • The south polar region of the Moon has not received sunlight for billions of years.
  • It is among the coldest spots in the Solar System.
  • According to the ISRO the lunar south pole region ripe to contain tonnes of water and “an undisturbed record” of the Solar System’s origins.

For Prelims-

Project ‘Bal Basera’

Context

Project ‘Bal Basera’ for the welfare of Children of Construction Workers deployed at AIIMS Rishikesh.

Highlights

    • With the support of CPWD, a Crèche (Bal Basera) at AIIMS Rishikesh, a project for the welfare of Children of Construction Workers deployed at the site will be inaugurated.
    • Bal Basera shall accommodate about 35 Children and shall be run by the CPWD OWA.
    • AIIMS Rishikesh Project is being executed by CPWD.

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