Prelims Factoids
Thiruvalluvar Day

What's the NEWS

• On the birth anniversary of the legendary Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar, Prime Minister has paid tributes to the great Thiruvalluvar on Thiruvalluvar Day.
• The great Thiruvalluvar's birth anniversary is celebrated annually on January 15 to mark his immense knowledge, wisdom and contributions to Indian literature.

• Thiruvalluvar Day has celebrated and honours the poet Valluvar on January 15 since 1935.
• The poet lived in the 4^th century BCE and is best known for his couplets on ethics, love, political and economic matters.
• His famous work is Thirukkural, which includes 1330 couplets called Kurals.
• These are divided into 133 sections with 10 couplets each. The text is based on 'dharma, artha and karma.'
• It is believed that he lived in Mylapore town after he was born under a tree, in the neighbourhood of Chennai.
• A temple was built in the early 16^th century within the Ekambareshwar complex in honour of Tiruvalluvar, who is also commonly Valluvar.
• A 133-foot statue also stands at Kanyakumari to honour the great philosopher.
• He was chosen as the greatest historical figure in the Tamil language by Tamil scholars unanimously. His birthday coincides with Pongal celebrations in Tamil Nadu.

• The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways made the driver airbag a compulsory fitment on all Motor vehicles of category M1 (motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats, in addition to the driver's seat), manufactured on and after 1^st July, 2019 in order to ensure the driver's safety.
• An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system which interferes between the driver and the vehicle's dashboard during a collision, thereby preventing serious injuries.
• The Ministry mandated implementation of the front Air bag for the person occupying the front seat, other than the driver, in all M1 category vehicles w.e.f 01^st January 2022.
• In order to enhance the safety of occupants of the motor vehicle against lateral impact, it has been decided to enhance safety features by amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.
• A draft notification has been issued on 14^th January 2022, which mandates that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after 1st October 2022, shall be fitted with two side/side torso air bags,

• Any inflatable occupant restraint device that is mounted to the seats or side structure of the vehicle interior, and that is designed to deploy in a side impact crash to help mitigate primarily torso injury and/or occupant ejection, for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions.

• Any inflatable occupant restraint device that is mounted to the side structure of the vehicle interior, and that is designed to deploy in a side impact crash or rollover to help mitigate primarily head injury and/or occupant ejection for the persons occupying the outboard seating positions.

• India confirmed a $400 million currency swap with Sri Lanka while deferring another $500 million due for settlement to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), in a move aimed at helping the island nation witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis.
• RBI assistance includes deferring the payment of $500 that Sri Lanka owes to the ACU, a regional initiative with the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
• India's assistance follows a request from Sri Lanka during Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's visit to New Delhi in December, for emergency financial assistance, including Lines of Credit for importing essentials and a currency swap to boost Sri Lanka's draining foreign reserves.

• Sri Lanka is facing a severe dollar crunch that economists say might lead to a default on external debt and create a food shortage in the imports-reliant nation.
• Colombo must service over $7 billion outstanding debt in 2022, including bond repayments of $500 million in January and $1 billion in July.
• In July 2020, the RBI extended a similar swap facility - of $400 million - to help Sri Lanka cope with the impact of the first wave of the pandemic, and later provided a three-month roll over until February 2021, when the Central Bank of Sri Lanka settled it.
• The recent announcement on RBI assistance includes deferring the payment of $500 that Sri Lanka owes to the ACU, a regional initiative with the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Significantly, India's confirmation of the swap comes a week after the two countries signed a long-pending agreement on jointly developing the strategically located Trincomalee oil tank farm along the north-eastern coast of the island.

Know! about Currency Swap

• In the swap arrangement, a country provides dollars to a foreign central bank, which, at the same time, provides the equivalent funds in its currency to the former, based on the market exchange rate at the time of the transaction.
• The parties agree to swap back these quantities of their two currencies at a specified date in the future, which could be the next day or even two years later, using the same exchange rate as in the first transaction. In Sri Lanka's case, it's more than two years.
• The RBI also offers similar swap lines to central banks in the SAARC region within a total corpus of $2 billion.
• India already has a $75 billion bilateral currency swap line with Japan, which has the second highest dollar reserves after China.
• These swap operations carry no exchange rate or other market risks, as transaction terms are set in advance. The absence of an exchange rate risk is the major benefit of such a facility.
• This facility provides the country, which is getting the dollars, with the flexibility to use these reserves at any time in order to maintain an appropriate level of balance of payments or short-term liquidity.

Prelims Factoids/Location in NEWS
Siachen Glacier

Know! all about Siachen

• The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends.
• The glacier lies between the Saltoro Ridge immediately to the west and the main Karakoram range to the east. The Saltoro Ridge originates in the north from the Sia Kangri peak on the China border in the Karakoram range.
• The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, is currently under the administration of India since 1984. Pakistan controls the region west of Saltoro Ridge, far away from the glacier.
• The glacier's melting waters are the main source of the Nubra River in the Indian region of Ladakh, which drains into the Shyok River. The Shyok in turn joins the 3000 kilometre-long Indus River which flows through Pakistan. Thus, the glacier is a major source of the Indus.
• At 76 km long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world's non-polar areas.
• Siachen and Sir Creek have long been termed "low hanging fruits" in the past for resolution between India and Pakistan and the two countries have held 13 rounds of Defence Secretary-level talks on Siachen, the last one in June 2012.

Prelims Factoids
Baricitinib and Sotrovimab

What's the NEWS

• The World Health Organization (WH0) has recommended two drugs, baricitinib and sotrovimab, for treatment of Covid-19.

• Baricitinib, which is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, has been "strongly recommended" for patients with severe or critical Covid-19 in combination with corticosteroids.
• It is part of a class of drugs called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that suppress the overstimulation of the immune system.
• It is an oral drug, and provides an alternative to other arthritis drugs called Interleukin-6 receptor blockers, recommended by WHO in July 2021.

Sotrovimab

• Sotrovimab, developed by GlaxoSmithKline with US partner Vir Biotechnology Inc, is an investigational monoclonal antibody for use in treating conditions caused by coronavirus.
• The WHO has conditionally recommended its use for treating mild or moderate Covid-19 in patients who are at high risk of hospitalisation.
• These include patients who are older, are immunocompromised, and have underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension and obesity, and are unvaccinated.
• The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) too has approved an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 in patients above 12 years.

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