National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 3rd April 2019

Enzyme to arrest bacteria cell growth discovered

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Scientists at the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) have discovered a new enzyme which helps in breaking cell walls of bacteria and hence, offers a potential for a new drug delivery route to arrest the anti-bacterial resistance through existing antibiotic drugs.

More on the Topic:

• In contrast, the classical antibiotic drugs target the last stage of cell synthesis to prevent cell growth like penicillin that hits the machinery that creates the cell wall — a mesh-like structure of cross-linked sugars and peptides.
• The scientists have been working on how the cell governs the synthetic machinery to build the cell wall in the first place, identified the principal players behind the process and discovered the new mechanism or enzyme through which the cell regulates growth of its wall.
• Other bacteria, too, have the same enzyme working on cell division as the cell wall is fundamental for bacterial growth and division. Therefore, by blocking this ‘scissors enzyme’ from functioning, new ways to target microbes could be found, leading to a new wave of antibiotic drugs.

Source: The Hindu

Adding egg or milk can reduce stunting in young children: study

Topic: Social Justice

In News: Using a novel, non-invasive technique, researchers at St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru measured the digestibility and quality of commonly used complementary foods in young children. They found that mung bean, which is a legume and is considered to be a high-quality protein source, is not as well digested and absorbed as other high-quality food proteins such as egg.

More on the Topic:

• The quality of protein is an important part of a young child’s diet. About 38% of children in India below the age of five years are stunted. One of the reasons for this is that the food consumed by young children are mainly cereal based, which lack quality protein that can be well digested and the content of certain essential amino acids such as lysine is limited.
• The researchers found that the risk of stunting in children aged one-three years (in the NFHS-4 survey) was reduced by 10% when high quality proteins such as egg and milk were consumed along with cereal and pulse combination.
• This food-based reduction of risk can be achieved by adding 200 ml of milk or milk products (including curd), an egg or 45 grams of legume (dal) to the daily diet of the child.
• If these foods are added to the diet of children aged less than two years, the risk of protein inadequacy reduces to 7% for egg, 8% for milk and 11% for legumes (dal).

About causes of Stunting:

• Stunting happens early before children turn three years. While consuming quality protein that contains adequate amounts of digestible essential amino acids does help in reducing the risk of stunting, it cannot completely prevent it. Several other factors including genetics, poverty and sanitation play a role.

Ideal diet for Chlidren:

• Young children’s diet between the age of 1-3 years should contain a minimum of 100 grams of cereal (rice or wheat) and 45 grams of legume per day. Unfortunately, this is not followed in a consistent way anywhere in India.
• The equivalent will be the addition of an egg or 200 ml of milk or milk products to the diet every day, which makes it expensive for many people.
• The researchers measured the essential amino acid digestion of four — rice, finger millet, mung dal and egg — commonly consumed complementary food by children aged below two years. While digestibility of essential amino acids was least for mung dal (65%), it was highest for egg (87%). It was 78.5% and 68% for rice and finger millet, respectively.

Source: The Hindu

WhatsApp launches ‘tipline’ to tackle rumours

Topic: Governance

In News: Whatsapp on Tuesday launched a ‘tipline’ in India using which citizens can submit possible rumours and misinformation for verification, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

More on the topic:

• WhatsApp is working with India-based media skilling startup PROTO for the helpline. It added that this will help create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections for Checkpoint – a research project commissioned and technically assisted by WhatsApp.
• When a WhatsApp user shares a suspicious message with the tipline, PROTO’s verification center will seek to respond and inform the user if the claim made in message shared is verified or not.
• The response, will indicate if information is classified as true, false, misleading, disputed or out of scope and include any other related information that is available.
• “This center can review rumours in the form of pictures, video links or text and will cover four regional languages including Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam, other than English.”
• PROTO will also encourage grass-roots organisations to submit rumours circulating across different regions in India during the election period.

Source: The Hindu

Kandhamal Haldi

Topic: Economy-IPR

In News: Odisha’s Kandhamal Haldi (turmeric), famous for its healing properties, has received GI tag.

More on the Topic:

• The golden yellow spice, named after the district where it is produced, has been cultivated since time immemorial and is known for its medicinal value.
• Turmeric is the main cash crop of tribal people in Kandhamal. Apart from domestic use, turmeric is also used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes.
• More than 60,000 families (nearly 50% of Kandhamal population) are engaged in growing the variety. The crop is sustainable in adverse climatic conditions.

About GI tag:

• A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country).
• India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 has come into force with effect from 15 September 2003.
• GIs have been defined under Article 22(1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS) Agreement .

Source:The Hindu

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Saubhagya

Topic: Government Schemes

In News: Almost every willing household in India now has a legitimate electricity connection. The household electrification scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or Saubhagya, has been implemented at an unprecedented pace.

More on the Topic:

• The efforts under Saubhagya have come upon decades of hard work preceding it. The enactment of the Electricity Act, in 2003, and the introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, in 2005, expanded electrification infrastructure to most villages in the following decade. But the rollout of the Saubhagya scheme, in 2017, gave the required impetus to electrify each willing household in the country.
• Despite such massive efforts, the battle against electricity poverty is far from won. The erection of electricity poles and an extension of wires do not necessarily mean uninterrupted power flow to households.
• By tracking more than 9,000 rural households, since 2015, across six major States (Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal), the Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity Survey of States (ACCESS) report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), has highlighted the gap between a connection and reliable power supply.
• While the median hours of supply increased from 12 hours in 2015 to 16 hours a day in 2018, it is still far from the goal of 24×7. Similarly, while instances of low voltage and voltage surges have reduced in the last three years, about a quarter of rural households still report low voltage issues for at least five days in a month.

Way Forward:

• In order to achieve 24×7 power for all, we need to focus on three frontiers. First, India needs real-time monitoring of supply at the end-user level. We achieve what we measure. we currently have no provision to monitor supply as experienced by households.
• Second, discoms need to focus on improving the quality of supply as well as maintenance services.
• Finally, the improvement in supply should be complemented with a significant improvement in customer service, which includes billing, metering and collection.

About Soubhagya scheme:

• The scheme covers both urban and rural households. Under it, free electricity connections are provided to below poverty line (BPL) households, while other households have to pay ₹500 for the connection.This is recoverable by the power distribution company in 10 instalments along with the electricity bills.
• The scheme envisages electricity connection for each household by drawing a service cable from the nearest electricity pole to the home, installing an energy meter, and wiring for a single light point with an LED bulb and a mobile charging point.
• In case a pole is not available, a new one is erected with a conductor and associated accessories. For remote and inaccessible areas, electricity is provided through solar panels and five LED lights, one DC fan and one DC power plug can be used. Repair and maintenance for five years is also part of the scheme.

Model Mains Question: Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity Survey of States (ACCESS) report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), has highlighted the gap between a connection and reliable power supply. Suggest the possible solutions for mitigating the issue.

Source:The Hindu

Cafe Scientifique

Topic: Government Policies

In News: Café Scientifique’ is the first of its kind initiative in the State of Kerala aimed at popularising Science.

More on the Topic:

• Café Scientifique is a grassroots public science initiative based on the French Café Philosophique model.Originating in England, the concept quickly gained popularity and was adopted by other countries.
• Similar but independent events have also sprung up in many cities using variations of the ‘Café Scientifique’ or ‘Science Café’ monikers.
• The organisers are planning to organise meetings of science enthusiasts in the district every month at a café or a convenient place, where one or more scientists are invited to talk to the public about new developments in science.
• The project is also aimed at making science relevant, powerful and important to the public, especially the younger generations.
• Various topics such as universe, climate change, evolution, genetics and human-animal relations will be discussed in every monthly gathering.

Source: The Hindu

Ground Water in Mars

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: According to a recent study, Mars may have an active groundwater system deep below the surface and could be feeding surface streams in some areas on the Red Planet.

More on the Topic:

• It is to be noted that the presence of a deep-water lake on Mars under its south polar ice caps was detected in 2017.
• A new study determines that groundwater likely exists in a broader geographical area than just the poles of Mars.
• There are possibilities for an active system, as deep as 750 meters, from which groundwater comes to the surface through cracks in the specific craters.

Source: The Hindu