Daily Current Capsules

24th September 2020

Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Brucella abortus S19Δ per vaccine
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Brucella abortus S19Δ per vaccine + about Brucellosis )+ Mains ( GS III Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing + achievements of Indians in science & technology
What's the NEWS

• A Technology License Agreement (TLA) ceremony on "Brucella abortus S19Δ per vaccine" developed by ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) was held recently

• The technology was developed by the scientists of ICAR-IVRI, it is collaboration between ICAR and DBT
• The vaccine has great demand in India and will be of immense help in the national control programme on brucellosis.
• The vaccine has DIVA capability meaning that it can differentiate between naturally infected and vaccinated animals.

• Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases worldwide and also endemic in India causing huge economic losses to dairy industry due to infertility, abortion, birth of weak offsprings and reduced productivity.

• In India, calf-hood vaccination is practiced using live attenuated B. abortus S19 strain for control of the disease.
• B. abortus S19 strain is a very strong immunogen and provides lifelong immunity.
• However, this vaccine strain has several drawbacks
• To overcome some of these drawbacks, a modified strain of B. abortus S19 has been developed at ICAR-IVRI.
• The vaccine candidate was developed under DBT funded "Brucellosis network program".
• In the process of modifying the S19 strain, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure of the organism was altered through deletion mutation.
• The newly developed strain was named as B. abortus S19Δper.
• Vaccine potential of S19Δper has been evaluated in experimental small animal model and also in buffalo calves.

• These vaccines, also termed as marker vaccines, induce an immune response which is different from that induced by natural infection.
• Marker vaccines are based on deletions mutants of wild-type pathogens, subunit vaccines and inactivated whole virus vaccines.
• The DIVA immune response can be detected by companion diagnostic tests such as enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
• The main advantage of DIVA vaccines and their companions test is the possibility to distinguish between infected and vaccinated animals.

• In order to promote potential technology solutions for enhancing farm mechanization with special emphasis on women friendly equipments, a hackathon named "KRITAGYA" has been planned by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP).
• ICAR is organizing KRITAGYA- Ag-Tech Hackathon to promote innovation in farm mechanization- A joint initiative by NAHEP and Agricultural Engineering Division.

• Students, faculties and innovators/entrepreneurs from any university / technical institution across the country can apply and participate in the event in the form of a group.
• Participating students can collaborate with local start-ups, students from technology institutes, and can win Rs. 5 lakhs, Rs 3 lakhs and Rs. 1 lakh as first, second and third prize.
• The development and promotion of women friendly equipments through innovative technology solutions and right collaborations with stakeholders would play an important role in enhancing the farm productivity and profitability
• This event will give an opportunity to the students, faculties, entrepreneurs, innovators and other stakeholders to showcase their innovative approaches and technology solutions to promote farm mechanization in India.

• The ICAR commenced NAHEP, a Government of India and World Bank project, in November 2017 with the overall objective to support the National Agricultural Research and Education System in providing more relevant and better quality education to the students.

• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), M/o Commerce and Industry, has given permission to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to introduce ISO Tank Containers for movement of Liquid Oxygen for domestic transport.

• The proposal to introduce ISO Tank Containers for domestic movement was initiated by DPIIT after a consultation meeting with cryogenic oxygen manufacturers.
• In this context, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) has devised the module for receipt of online applications from the stake holders to expeditiously grant the permissions for ISO Tank Containers for oxygen.

• ISO Tank is a tank container built to the ISO standard (International Organisation for Standardisation).
• ISO tanks are designed to carry liquids in bulk.
• The tank is made of stainless steel and is surrounded by various types of protective layers.
• ISO tanker can carry 20 MT of liquid oxygen.
• Since they can carry huge amount of Oxygen at one go, ISO containers will help to translocate sufficient Oxygen to areas where required.

• Liquid oxygen is a cryogenic liquid. Cryogenic liquids are liquefied gases that have a normal boiling point below -130°F (-90°C). Liquid oxygen has a boiling point of -297°F (-183°C).
• Because the temperature difference between the product and the surrounding environment is substantial-even in the winter-keeping liquid oxygen insulated from the surrounding heat is essential. The product also requires special equipment for handling and storage.
• Oxygen is often stored as a liquid, although it is used primarily as a gas. Liquid storage is less bulky and less costly than the equivalent capacity of high-pressure gaseous storage.

• It is a department formed by Government of India under Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Its objective is to administer Explosives Act 1884,Explosive Substance Act, Petroleum (Production) Act 1934, Inflammable substance Act 1952 and Environment Protection Act 1986 to control import, export, transport, storage and usage of explosive materials, flammable materials, pressure vessels, cryogenic vessels, design and installation of all necessary and relevant infrastructure etc.
• PESO is a regulatory authority with autonomous status.
• The authority framed various rules like Petroleum Rules 2002, Explosive Rules 2008, Gas Cylinder Rules 2002, Static & Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) 2016, Ammonium Nitrate Rules, Calcium Carbide Rules 1987, Cinematographic Films Rules, 1948 etc.

• Laser Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) was successfully test fired from MBT Arjun Tank at KK Ranges, Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S) Ahmednagar
• In these tests, the ATGM successfully defeated a target located at 3 km.

• Laser guided ATGMs lock and track the targets with the help of laser designation to ensure precision hit accuracy.
• The missile employs a tandem HEAT warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles.
• It has been developed with multiple-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from gun of MBT Arjun.
• Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE) Pune in association with High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) Pune, and Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE) Dehradun have developed the missile.

• International Energy Agency (IEA), in collaboration with NITI Aayog, presented a ‘Special Report on Sustainable Recovery'
• Part of IEA's flagship World Energy Outlook series, the report proposes a number of actions that could be taken over the next three years to revitalize economies and boost employment while making energy systems cleaner and more resilient.

• The IEA's report, prepared in cooperation with IMF, details energy-focused policies and investments that could help boost economic growth, create jobs and put emissions into structural decline while making energy systems lower-cost, secure and resilient.
• IEA's Sustainable Recovery Plan has a very useful role in guiding governments, businesses, technologists and other key decision-makers.
• The report mentions key sectors for creating jobs: electricity, transportation, buildings, industry and sustainable biofuels and innovations.
• A combination of policy actions and targeted investments will offer huge benefits to the economy and generate jobs.
• The measures highlighted in the report remains the sovereign choice of the country.

• IEA is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
• The IEA acts as a policy adviser to its member states, but also works with non-member countries, especially China, India, and Russia.
• The Agency's mandate has broadened to focus on the "3Es" of effectual energy policy: energy security, economic development, and environmental protection.
• The latter has focused on mitigating climate change.
• The IEA has a broad role in promoting alternate energy sources (including renewable energy), rational energy policies, and multinational energy technology co-operation.
• IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year's net imports.