Science and Technology
Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about THSTI + about NanoCovax vaccine)
What's the NEWS

• Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), D/o Biotechnology, M/o Science & Technology signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) withThe Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, Vietnam
• After helping Indian companies for the clinical trials/development of vaccines for COVID-19 including Dr. Reddy's (Sputnik), Zydus Cadilla (DNA vaccine), and Biological E, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Department of Biotechnology, M/o Science & Technology, Government of India has entered into a research collaboration with Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company which is developing a new vaccine for COVID-19.
• Ambassador of Vietnam, expressed his gratitude to THSTI, DBT and MEA for extending the support to evaluate the vaccine candidate, NanoCovax developed by Nanogen.

Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)

• It is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.
• It is also an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
• It was set up in 2009 at Gurgaon and is now located in NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Faridabad along with the Regional Center for Biotechnology, Advanced Technology Platforms Center, Small Animal Facility, and Bio-incubator.
• The centre was created to enable faster transition of lab research to market.

THSTI has six intramural centers namely

1. Vaccine & Infectious Disease Research Centre (VIDRC)
2. Pediatric Biology Centre (PBC)
3. Centre for Bio-design & Diagnostics (CBD)
4. Centre for Human Microbial Ecology (CHME)
5. Policy Centre for Biomedical Research (PCBR)
6. Drug Discovery Research Centre (DDRC).

Environment
PM lauds Team Assam for efforts for well-being of single-horned Rhinos

Relevance IN - Prelims ( all about One-horned rhinoceros)
What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister Narendra lauded the Assam government's decision to burn rhino horns, a coveted item among poachers, and said all steps will be taken for the animal's well-being.
• Assam government flamed 2,479 rhino horns, world's largest stockpile destroyed in a single day, to bust a myth that the horns have miraculous medicinal properties.
• The move by the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government is part of an effort to curb poaching of the endangered one-horned Indian rhinoceros.

World Rhino Day - September 22

• Setting a record of sorts on the occasion of World Rhino Day, the Assam government burnt 2,479 rhino horns at a public function to destroy the world's largest stockpile of one-horned rhinoceros in order to bust the myth that they have amazing medicinal value.
• The public ceremony - scheduled at Bokakhat in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as the chief guest - has been publicised as a "milestone towards rhino conservation" aimed at "busting myths about rhino horns".
• The entire process was done in accordance with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 - Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
• Assam presently has an estimated population of 2,640 Indian one-horn rhinos.
• The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is home to more than 2,400 rhinos, while the rest are in Manas and Orang National Parks, and in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The Assam government has decided to set up a Natural History Museum at the Kaziranga National Park where 94 rhino horns, extracted from animals which had died naturally, will be kept and preserved scientifically as heritage pieces for public viewing and academic purposes.
• India is a signatory to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). Thus, it is illegal to sell the horns in the country anyway.
• Assam is home to 71 per cent of the world's one-horn rhino population.

One-horned rhinoceros

• The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List
• Rhino's most important habitat - the alluvial Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands and riverine forest
• The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced its range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.
• Nearly 85% of the global Indian rhinoceros population is concentrated in Assam, where Kaziranga National Park contains 70% of rhino population.

Prelims Factoids
HILSA FISH

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about HILSA fish)
What's the NEWS

• Bangladesh to send 2,000 tonnes of Hilsa fish ahead of Durga Puja
• The Sheikh Hasina-government in Bangladesh has decided to send at least 2,000 tonnes of Hilsa fish to West Bengal.

Know! about HILSA fish

• Hilsa is often tagged as the Queen of Fish for its taste and the Bangladeshi Hilsa, found in River Padma, is considered to be tastier than the ones found in Ganga.
• Bangladesh produces almost 75 percent of the world's Hilsa output
• Bangladesh had banned exports of Hilsa fish in 2012. Over the past three years, it has been lifting the ban around this time of the year and issuing special permission to export the fish.
• Every year during the monsoon, shoals of Hilsa swim several kilometres from the sea into the estuaries and upstream along the rivers for spawning after which they return to the Bay of Bengal.
• The eggs hatch in freshwater and the sub-adult Hilsa swim downstream into the sea. Another lot comes during February-March.
• This migration depends on multiple factors from depth of water at the mouth of rivers, amount of rainfall, river flush and water-pollution among others.
• The Hilsa, being very sensitive, changes its course and swims in the direction where the conditions are favourable.
• If they don't find suitable conditions in Hooghly in West Bengal, they enter Meghna-Padma estuary. Some may even go towards Irrawaddy in Myanmar

Prelims Factoids
2021 CHANGEMAKER AWARD
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Changemaker Award)
What's the NEWS

• Fairooz Faizah Beether of Bangladesh has been chosen for the 2021 Changemaker Award for her work promoting good health and well-being by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Know! about the award

• The Award celebrates an individual who has inspired change using personal experience or from a position of leadership.
• Fairooz Faizah is co-founder of Moner School which is an anonymous online platform active in the field of mental health.
• The Changemaker Award is part of the Goalkeepers Global Goals award instituted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate progress towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN.
• The Goalkeepers is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's campaign to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced by the UN in 2015 to achieve the objectives of ending poverty, fighting inequality and injustice and fixing climate change.

Environment
WHO tightens global air quality norms

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the updated global air pollution standards)
What's the NEWS

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its first-ever update since 2005 has tightened global air pollution standards in a recognition of the emerging science in the last decade that the impact of air pollution on health is much more serious than earlier envisaged.
• The move doesn't immediately impact India as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) don't meet the WHO's existing standards.
• The government has a dedicated National Clean Air Programme that aims for a 20% to 30% reduction in particulate matter concentrations by 2024 in 122 cities, keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.

Know! about the global air quality norms

• The upper limit of annual PM2.5 as per the 2005 standards, which is what countries now follow, is 10 microgram per cubic metre. That has now been revised to five microgram per cubic metre.
• The 24-hour ceiling used to be 25 microgram but has now dropped to 15.
• The upper limit of PM10, or particulate matter of size exceeding 10 microgram, is 20 microgram and has now been revised to 15, whereas the 24-hour value has been revised from 50 to 45 microgram.
• The new guidelines meant that among 100 global cities, Delhi's annual PM2.5 trends in 2020 was 16.8 times more than the WHO's revised air quality guidelines, while Mumbai's exceeded eight-fold, Kolkata's 9.4, Chennai's 5.4, Hyderabad's 7 and Ahmedabad's 9.8.
• Every year, exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths and result in the loss of millions more healthy years of life.

Resolution on air quality and health 2015

• In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on air quality and health, recognising air pollution as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases
• These guidelines, taking into account the latest body of evidence on the health impacts of different air pollutants, are a key step in that global response

Social Justice
Ministry of social justice organises meeting with officials of J-K, Ladakh for implementation of National Trust Act
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about National Trust Act, 1999) + Mains ( GS II Social issues)
What's the NEWS

• Ministry of social justice organises meeting with officials of J-K, Ladakh for implementation of National Trust Act

Know! about National Trust Act, 1999

• The 'National Trust Act', 1999' was established for the welfare of persons affected by 4 types of specific disabilities.
• These 4 specific disabilities are: Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
• Provision was made for the formation of a 'National Trust' by this Act.
• National Trust is a statutory body.
• It's nodal ministry is the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• The National Trust has been established mainly to discharge two fundamental duties (legal and welfare).

Specific Objectives of the National Trust :

• To build an inclusive society that values human diversity.
• To enable persons with disabilities to have full participation in rights and opportunities freely, with dignity.
• To ensure equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation in society for persons with disabilities.
• To provide support to registered organizations for providing services based on the needs of persons with disabilities.
• Developing a process of trusteeship and appointment of guardians of persons with disabilities.

Prelims Factoids
Super-Hydrophobic Cotton Composite

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about metal-organic framework (MOF)
What's the NEWS

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has developed a super-hydrophobic cotton composite with a metal-organic framework (MOF) capable of cleaning marine oil spills.

Know! about Metal-Organic Framework

• It is a kind of water-repellent material and can absorb oil from oil-water mixture.
• It's separation efficiency is between 95% and 98%.
• They are crystalline, composed of a three-dimensional (3D) network of multidimensional organic molecules suitable for solid phase extraction.
• It can be reused at least 10 times. Therefore, due to this, the oil spilled from the oil spill can be recovered more and more.
• It can effectively absorb both heavy and light oil which is easy, cost effective and reusable.

Benefits

• It will reduce environmental water pollution.
• It is cost effective. Such low cost materials will reduce the production cost of materials for large-scale synthesis for real applications.

Laws related to oil spills in India

• National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan, 1996 : To deal with situations of oil spill and its consequent environmental damage

Prelims Factoids
Govt amends ammonium nitrate rules to curb pilferage

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ammonium nitrate and about the new rules)
What's the NEWS

• The government has amended the rules for ammonium nitrate to curb its pilferage, introduce fire-fighting provisions as well as improve ways to handle and store the chemical in the light of lessons learnt from the deadly Beirut explosion that killed about 140 people.
• Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate was stored at Beirut's port for six years that detonated in August 2020, wreaking death and destruction.
• Ammonium nitrate can explode in two ways. First, it may come into contact with an explosive mixture. Second, heat can be generated by fire and then explosion due to the massive oxidation process.
• In this context, this decision is proposed from the point of view of security.

Know! about the New Rules

• Ammonium nitrate received at the ports should be transferred to the warehouses located 500 meters away from the port area.
• Auction of confiscated ammonium nitrate will be allowed.
• Ammonium nitrate will be imported only in bag form.
• Adequate fire fighting facilities in the storage and handling areas and the floor of the storage and handling areas need to be improved as necessary.
• The time for disposal (including enquiry, decision to grant or refuse) of the application for seeking 'No Objection Certificate' from District Authority or Director General of Mine Safety has also been reduced from six months to three months.

Ammonium Nitrate

• It is a colourless, odourless crystalline substance, highly soluble in water.
• It is used in agricultural fertilizers / for the production of 'aesthetic gases' and 'cold packs' / in commercial explosives in mining and construction
• It is the main component of the explosive structure 'ammonium nitrate fuel oil'.
• Pure ammonium nitrate is not explosive by itself.
• To make ammonium nitrate explosive, a primary explosive or a detonator such as RDX or TNT is required.
• Ammonium nitrate fuel oil is used as the main explosive in many 'Improvised Explosive Devices' (IEDs) used by terrorists around the world.
• Manufacture, conversion, bagging, import, export, transport, possession for sale or use of Ammonium Nitrate in India comes under Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012.
• Industrial license is required for its manufacture under the Industrial Development and Regulation Act, 1951.

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