EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
22nd May 2021
DIPCOVAN
Recently, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has launched the DIPCOVAN.
DIPCOVAN
- It is an indigenously developed antibody detection-based kit.
- It is DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance.
- It is developed by Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- It has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi.
- The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.
Significance of DIPCOVAN
- It can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent.
- It is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens.
- It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases.
- The kit will be very useful for understanding COVID‐19 epidemiology and assessing an individual's previous SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure.
Data Breach in Air India
Recently, the national carrier Air India has notified its passengers of a data breach that occurred at the SITA passenger service system in February 2021.
SITA
- It is a Switzerland-based technology company specializing in air transport communications and information technology.
- The company was started by 11 member airlines in 1949 and now has over 2,500 customers in more than 200 countries.
- The eleven original airlines were Air France, KLM, Sabena, Swissair, TWA, British European Airways Corporation (BEAC), British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), British South American Airways (BSAA), Swedish A.G. Aerotransport, Danish Air Lines, and Norwegian Air Lines.
- It offers services such as passenger processing, reservation systems, etc.
Relation between Air India and SITA
- Air India had entered into a deal with SITA in 2017 to upgrade its IT infrastructure to enable it to join Star Alliance.
- At Air India, SITA also implemented an online booking engine, departure control system, check-in and automated boarding control, baggage reconciliation system and the frequent flyer programme.
Air India data breach
- Air India had said that SITA had flagged a cyber-attack and said it led to the leak of personal data of some of the airline’s passengers.
- The airline said that the cyber-attack that compromised the data of millions of passengers from across the world involved personal data registered between 2011 and 2021.
- It said the breached data included the passenger’s name, date of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, frequent flyer data and credit card information.
Importance of cyber security in aviation sector
- The airline industry in particular is also privy to significant amounts of data generated through new-age technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
- The airline industry gathers vast amounts of data – passengers, flights, aircraft, financial information, and so on.
- The emerging technology presents a critical tool in data protection across the airline supply chain.
- The blockchain essentially removes the human element, thereby reducing the risk of cyber threats while providing end-to-end privacy and encryption.
- The aviation industry must consider tools, technologies, and processes in three critical areas to strengthen their cyber security programs which include:
- Threat and Vulnerability Management
- Identity and Access Management
- Security Crisis and Incident Response
- Early detection and timely prevention of cyber-attacks can only be done with the help of investments in the right tools and qualified and experienced experts.
WhatsApp Privacy Policy vs Government of India
Recently, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has warned WhatsApp once again to roll back its latest update in privacy policy.
New announcement from the government
- The tech and legal experts feel that the new notice from the ministry may be challenged before a court of law.
- It marks the first time that the Ministry has warned WhatsApp of legal action.
- It has said it would pursue all legal options available to it “to protect the sovereign rights” of Indian citizens.
- The Ministry has reiterated that the changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy and the manner of introducing them undermine the sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice for Indian users.
Rift between government and WhatsApp
- The communication between the IT Ministry and WhatsApp on the issue of the updated privacy policy has been going on since January 2021.
- The Ministry had said the updated privacy policy and the subsequent changes enabled WhatsApp and other Facebook companies “to make invasive and precise inferences about users”.
- The Ministry had then sent a set of 14 questions to WhatsApp on the various ways in which it collected data, the permissions and consents it obtained from domestic users, and whether they were different from what it collected from users in other parts of the world.
- The Ministry had also sought to know whether the company conducted any profiling and what was the nature of such profiling.
Option for WhatsApp in India
- WhatsApp is likely to find it difficult to push through the latest privacy policy update.
- WhatsApp will have to explain to the government why it wants to push the update before India comes out with its law on personal data protection.
- WhatsApp has so far maintained that the app is end-to-end encrypted and it does not share any private data with Facebook.
- WhatsApp has said it would not delay the implementation of the privacy policy but it is likely that it will cut back on sending reminders and notices to users and on threats of de-platforming them eventually if they do not accept the new terms.
New York’s Vax and Scratch Programme
Recently, the New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced Vax and Scratch Programme.
Vaccination in the US
- In the US, nearly 280 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far.
- Overall, about 160 million (48.2 per cent of the population) people have received at least one dose and about 126 million (38.1 per cent of the population) people have been fully vaccinated.
- Some states in the country are now adopting strategies that incentivise people to get vaccinated.
Vax and Scratch Programme
- It is a new vaccination programme that will provide free lottery tickets to those individuals over the age of 18 years who choose to get vaccinated from one of the ten state-run sites.
- The ten sites located in New York City, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Western New York regions with either the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine or the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
- These scratch-off lottery tickets have a maximum prize of $5 million and a minimum prize of $20.
Status of the vaccination campaign in New York
- The state has vaccinated nearly 63 per cent (9,907,926) of the population over the age of 18 years.
- 51 per cent (10,174,323) of the total population of the state has received at least one dose.
- While 42.9 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated, 53.5 per cent of the population in the 18 plus age group is fully vaccinated.
AIM-ICDK Water Innovation Challenge
Recently, the NITI Aayog has announced that AIM-ICDK Water Innovation Challenge concludes with great success.
AIM-ICDK Water Innovation Challenge
- It is a part of Indo-Danish bilateral Green strategic partnership.
- It is a joint initiative of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and Innovation Center Denmark (ICDK).
- It was placed to identify promising innovators from India, who could represent and form the Indian participation in the global Next Generation Water Action program.
Features of AIM-ICDK Water Innovation Challenge
- It saw innovation submission from 400+ applicants and eventually identified a total of 10 Indian teams including 6 Student teams and 4 startup teams from across the country.
- The student and startup teams were invited to present their ideas in following challenge areas:
- Digital water management solutions,
- Solutions for monitoring and prevention of leakage in city water supply,
- Waste water management across rural belts and urban settlements,
- Rainwater harvesting in rural and urban settlements, and
- Safe and sustained drinking water
- The global program saw participation of 11 startup teams, 4 from India, 3 from Denmark, 2 from Kenya and 2 from Ghana.
- The startup teams competed at International level for the Innovation awards at Next Generation Water Action finals.
Significance of AIM-ICDK Water Innovation Challenge
- The initiative aims to identify Innovative & next-gen solutions to solve proposed challenges in collaboration with corporate and public partners.
- The initiative will engage young talent from leading universities and innovation hubs across the nation to build their skills and apply their technical disciplines.
- The winners of the challenges shall be a part of the Indian team for the Next Generation Water Action.
GI certified Gholvad Sapota
Recently, a consignment of Dahanu Gholvad Sapota from Palghar district of Maharashtra was shipped to the United Kingdom in a major boost to exports of Geographical Indication (GI) certified products.
GI certified Gholvad Sapota
- The GI certification of Ghovad Sapota is held by Maharashtra Rajya Chikoo Utpadak Sangh.
- It is believed that the unique taste is derived from calcium rich soil of Gholvad village.
- The Dahanu Gholvad Sapota, sourced from the authorized GI users, were sorted and graded from the APEDA assisted and registered packhouse facility.
Cultivation of Sapota
- Sapota is grown in many states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
- Karnataka is known to be the highest grower of the fruit, followed by Maharashtra.
Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
Recently, a new point-of-care test has been found to be highly sensitive in the rapid diagnosis of Kyasanur forest disease (KFD).
New Point-of-Care Test
- It has been developed by ICMR-National Institute of Virology.
- It would be beneficial for the diagnosis of KFD as the outbreaks mainly happen in remote areas, where there is lack of well-equipped sample handling and laboratory testing facilities.
- It would be useful in quick patient management and controlling further spread of the virus.
- The ICMR-NIV, Pune, collaborated with Molbio Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, Goa, which has developed the microchip-based Truenat TM KFD Point of Care Test (PoCT).
- It includes a battery-operated PCR analyser, which is a portable, lightweight and universal cartridge-based sample pre-treatment kit and nucleic acid extraction device that aid in sample processing at the point of care.
Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
- It was first identified in Kyasanur forest of Shimoga district in Karnataka during an investigation of monkey mortalities in 1957.
- The disease is caused by a Kyasanur Forest disease virus, which primarily affects humans and monkeys.
- Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV) is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae.
- It is characterised by chills, frontal headache, body ache, and high fever for five to 12 days with a case fatality rate of 3 to 5 per cent.
- Hard ticks (Hemaphysalis spinigera) are the reservoir of KFD virus.
Transmission of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
- The transmission to humans may occur after a tick bite or contact with an infected animal, most importantly a sick or recently dead monkey.
- No person-to-person transmission has been described.
- Large animals such as goats, cows, and sheep may become infected with KFD but play a limited role in the transmission of the disease.
- These animals provide the blood meals for ticks and it is possible for infected animals with viremia to infect other ticks, but transmission of KFDV to humans from these larger animals is extremely rare.
- There is no evidence of disease transmission via the unpasteurized milk of any of these animals.
Diagnosis of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
- It can be made in the early stage of illness by molecular detection by PCR or virus isolation from blood.
- The serologic testing using enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay (ELISA) can be performed.
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