- Herd immunity
As Europe was declared the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak last week, Britain announced Herd immunity, a different strategy to tackle the situation.
About Herd immunity
- It is also referred to as community immunity or herd protection.
- Herd immunity is when a large number of people are vaccinated against a disease, lowering the chances of others being infected by it.
- This is the government’s strategy to minimize the impact of COVID-19 i.e. to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity
- When a sufficient percentage of a population is vaccinated, it slows the spread of disease.
- World Health Organization (WHO) explains it as herd protection of the unvaccinated occurs when a sufficient proportion of the group is immune.
Effects
- The decline of disease incidence is greater than the proportion of individuals immunized because vaccination reduces the spread of an infectious agent by reducing the amount and/or duration of pathogen shedding by vaccines, retarding transmission.”
Topic- GS Paper 2 –Health and issue
Source- PIB
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- Madhya Pradesh Governor orders floor test
Madhya Pradesh's Governor has recently ordered a floor test in the state Assembly to allow the State Government to prove its majority.
About floor test
- A floor test is primarily taken to know whether the executive enjoys the confidence of the legislature.
- It is a constitutional mechanism under which a Chief Minister appointed by the Governor can be asked to prove majority on the floor of the Legislative Assembly of the state.
- As per the Constitution, the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor of the state.
- When a single party secures the majority of the seats in the house, the Governor appoints the leader of the party as the Chief Minister.
- In case the majority is questioned, the leader of the party which claims the majority has to move a vote of confidence and prove the majority among those present and voting.
- The Chief Minister has to resign if they fail to prove their majority in the house.
- This happens both in the parliament and the state legislative assemblies.
- In situations, when there are differences within a coalition government, the Governor can ask the Chief Minister to prove majority in the house.
Composite floor test
- It is the test which is conducted only when more than one person stakes claim to form the government.
- When the majority is not clear, the governor might call for a special session to see who has the majority.
- The majority is counted based on those present and voting. This can also be done through a voice vote where the member can respond orally or through division voting.
- Some legislators may be absent or choose not to vote.
- In division vote, voting can be done through electronic gadgets, ballots or slips.
- The person who has the majority will form the government.
- In case of a tie, the speaker can also cast his vote.
Note: When no party gets a clear majority, the governor can use his discretion in the selection of the chief ministerial candidate to prove the majority as soon as possible.
Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance
Source- PIB
3. Demand and Import of Oil
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas has informed about the Demand and Import of Oil in the Lok Sabha.
Some Statistics
- The consumption of petroleum products in the year 2018-19 was 213.2 MMT.
- The percentage of Import Dependency on Oil based on the consumption of petroleum products during 2018-19 was about 83.8%.
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited
It is a Government of India Special Purpose Vehicle, has established Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) facilities with a total capacity of 5.33 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) at 3 locations, namely
- Vishakhapatnam
- Mangaluru
- Padur (Karnataka)
- As per the consumption pattern of 2017-18, the total capacity is estimated to provide for about 9.5 days of crude oil requirement.
- Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) currently have stock for 64.5 days. Hence, total capacity storage of petroleum products is 74 days.
- Government has given ‘in principle’ approval for establishing two additional SPR facilities with a total storage capacity of 6.5 MMT at two locations namely
- Chandikhol in Odisha (4 MMT)
- Padur in Karnataka (2.5 MMT).
Topic- GS Paper 1 –Economic Geography
Source- PIB
4.Efforts to Boost Defence Sector
The efforts made by the Government to boost the country’s defence sector during the last two years are as follows:
(i)Foreign direct investment
- Recently the FDI Policy has been revised and under the revised policy.
- Foreign Investment is allowed under automatic route upto 49% and above 49% through government route, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology or for other reasons to be recorded.
(ii)Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)
- Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was revised in 2016.
- A new category of procurement ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ has been introduced in DPP-2016 to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipments.
- This category has been accorded topmost priority for procurement of Capital equipment.
- Besides this, preference is being given to ‘Buy (Indian)’ and ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ categories of capital acquisition over ‘Buy (Global)’ & ‘Buy & Make (Global)’ categories.
(iii)“Make” Procedure
- In February 2018 a separate procedure for ‘Make-II’ sub-category has been notified wherein a number of industry-friendly provisions have been introduced.
- This effort of the Government to promote industry participation in indigenous development of defence items has yielded an extremely encouraging response.
- Make-II Procedure for implementation at OFB/DPSUs has also been notified in February 2019.
(iv)Innovations for Defence Excellence Framework
- This framework was launched with the aim to achieve self-reliance and to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace Sector by engaging Industries including MSMEs, startups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia.
(v)Indigenisation policy
- Government has notified a Policy for indigenisation of components and spares used in Defence Platforms in March 2019.
- The objective is to create an industry ecosystem which is able to indigenize the imported components (including alloys & special materials) and sub-assemblies for defence equipment and platforms manufactured in India.
(vi)Defence Corridors
- Government has decided to establish two defence industrial corridors to serve as engines of economic development and growth of defence industrial base in the country.
- They span across Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
(vii)Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti
- This framework aims to provide a boost to the IPR culture in the indigenous defence industry.
Topic- GS Paper 3 –Defence
Source- PIB
5. Mission Solar Charkha
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has launched the Mission Solar Charkha in 2018-19 for implementation of 50 Solar Charkha Clusters across the country.
Objective:
- To ensure inclusive growth by the generation of employment, especially for women and youth and sustainable development through solar charkha cluster in rural areas.
- To boost the rural economy and help in arresting migration from rural to urban areas.
- To leverage low-cost, innovative technologies and processes for substance.
Project Coverage
- The target is to cover 50 solar clusters across the country, whereby approx. 1,00,000 artisans/beneficiaries are to be covered under the various scheme components.
- The scheme shall be implemented in all states of India.
- The geographical distribution of the clusters throughout the country, with at least 10% located in the North Eastern Region (NER), J&K and hilly states, will also be kept in view.
- Special focus will be given to 117 aspirational districts for soliciting project proposals under the scheme.
Current Status
- Till date, 10 projects have been approved under Mission Solar Charkha.
- One Solar Charkha cluster has been identified in Andhra Pradesh.
- The scheme envisages generating direct employment to nearly one lakh persons.
Project Intervention
One cluster of Solar Charkha would involve a maximum subsidy of Rs. 9.599 crore. The scheme would cover three types of project interventions.
- Capital Subsidy for individual and for Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)
- Interest subvention for Working Capital: It is proposed to have a ceiling of 8% of interest subvention on working capital irrespective of the interest rates being charged by the Banks/Financial Institutions for a period of six months.
- Capacity building
Topic- GS Paper 2 –Important Scheme
Source- AIR
6. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for females
Union Minister for Human Resource Development informed Lok Sabha about Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for females.
Related Information
- The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for females in higher education is higher than the National Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER).
- As per All India Survey of Higher Education 2018-19, females constitute 48.6% of the total enrolment in higher education and the Gross Enrolment Ratio for females in higher education at 26.4% is higher than the national GER of boys at 26.3%.
- The Gender Parity Index (GPI) has increased during the last 5 years, from 0.92 in 2014-15 to 1 in 2018-19.
- As per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2018-19, there are 39931 colleges in India, out of which 60.53% are located in rural areas.
- Further, the majority of the colleges provide higher education to both males and females and 11.04% of colleges are exclusively for females.
Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance
Source- PIB
7. Oculudentavis khaungraae: tiny Dinosaurs
Scientists have identified a 100-million-year-old flying dinosaur called Oculudentavis khaungraae encased in amber in Myanmar that may be the smallest yet discovered.
- The preserved skull is just 7.1mm (less than one-third of an inch) long.
- It would have been smaller than the smallest bird alive today, the bee hummingbird.
- Despite its minuscule size, researchers believe it hunted insects, using its sharp teeth and large eyes to home in on prey
Topic- GS Paper 3 –Science and Technology
Source- Indian Express
8. South India’s vultures
The South India Vulture Conservation Group has come up with a blueprint for the conservation of vulture population in five South Indian States.
Conservation Strategy
- Need to restrict the availability of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) for veterinary use.
- NSAIDs had wiped out about 90 % of vulture population and disposal of cattle waste in forest peripheries was still rampant.
- To create a vulture safe zone in each south Indian State.
Conservation Status of Indian Vultures
- White-backed vulture, long-billed vulture, slender-billed vulture and red-headed vulture (out of nine vulture species in India) are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN and also listed in Annexure 1 of the Convention on Migratory Species framework.
- The entire vulture is in the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
- Except for slender-billed vulture, the three other critically endangered species are found in the Moyar valley in the Nilgiris.
Topic- GS Paper 3 –Environment
Source- The Hindu
9. Indian Culture Portal
Minister of State (I/c) of Culture and Tourism has informed the Lok Sabha about the Indian Culture Portal.
About the Indian Culture Portal
- Indian Culture Portal was launched on 10th December 2019 to showcase information about the rich cultural heritage of India across the globe.
- The Indian Culture Portal is available in two languages i.e. Hindi and English.
- The portal will create awareness about both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of India.
- The portal, which comprises mainly of rare books, e-books, manuscripts, artefacts from museums, virtual galleries, archives, photo archives, gazetteers, Indian National Bibliography, videos, detailed accounts of Indian UNESCO World Heritage site.
- It also comprises of musical Instruments of India, write-ups and beautiful pictures on cuisines, festivals, paintings, folk art and classical art from different States of India etc.
Topic- GS Paper 1 –Art and Culture
Source- PIB
UPSC Current Affairs in English PDF 17.03.2020
UPSC Current Affairs in Hindi PDF 17.03.2020
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