EU approves its first vaccine for common respiratory virus RSV

• The shot, called Arexvy, is made by British drugmaker GSK and is designed to protect people aged 60 and over.

Respiratory syncytial virus

• It is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.
• It seriously infects infants and older adults.
• It is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States.
• The complex molecular structure of the virus and safety concerns with previous vaccine attempts had stymied efforts to successfully develop a shot.

Virus

• A virus is an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat.
• It cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself.

NPPA expands price control to 23 additional drugs

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority

• It was established to fix and revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs, and formulations and to enforce prices and availability of the medicines in the country, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995.
• Nodal Ministry: It is an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
• It is an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• Functions
  • To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
  • To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
  • To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps
  • To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations
  • To undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals
  • To recruit/ appoint the officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and procedures laid down by the Government
  • To render advice to the Central Government on changes/ revisions in the drug policy
  • To render assistance to the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.

India logged 31 million new diabetes patients in 2019-21

Diabetes

• It is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
• Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.
• It is a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD).
• Types of Diabetes
  • Type 1 Diabetes: It is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction stops your body from making insulin.
  • It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults.
  • Type 2 Diabetes: In this condition the human body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults).
  • Gestational Diabetes: It develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes.
  • Prediabetes: With prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

Uttar Pradesh state government has decided to gift GI-tagged Gulabi meenakari handicrafts to the visiting delegates from G20 nations.

Gulabi meenakari handicraft

• It is one of the rarest crafts in India that is practised in the by lanes of Varanasi, near Gai Ghat.
• It is an art form from Persia and involves colouring the surface of metals by fusing different colours.
• This art was brought to the city of Varanasi by Persian enamellists during the Mughal era around the early 17th century.
• The word ''mina'' is the feminine form of the Persian word ''Minoo'' and means ''heaven''.
• It refers to the azure colour of heaven.
• In Varanasi, it is practised on jewellery and home decor items.
• Minakari work uses very simple tools like salai (an etching tool), kiln, metal palette, mortar and pestle, kalam (a tool used to apply enamel), brass dye, small scrubbing brush, forceps and takala (a needle-like tool to apply colours).
• This craft can be found popularly in three forms
  • Ek Rang Khula Meena in which only gold outlines are exposed and a single transparent colour is used.
  • Panch Rangi Meena in which the five colours of red, white, green, light blue and dark blue are used
  • Gulabi Meena in which pink is the dominant colour.
• Varanasi is highly popular for Gulabi Minakari.

Piped potable water across India will avert 4,00,000 diarrhoea deaths, finds WHO

Jal Jeevan Mission

• It is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
• It is based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission.
• Nodal Ministry: Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Jal Shakti Mantralaya.
• Strategy:
  • This Mission focuses on integrated demand and supply side management of water at the local level, including creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse in agriculture.
  • The Mission will converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across the country.
• Funding Pattern:
  • 50:50 between Centre and States
  • 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States.
  • In case of UTs, 100% funding is provided by the Central government.

Army signs pact for procurement of ''tactical LAN radio''

• It is the second contract that the Army has firmed up under the framework of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).

Tactical LAN Radio

• It is a state-of-the-art high-bandwidth backhaul wireless radio equipment for the provisioning of reliable and failsafe communication.
• The LAN radio solution offers an enhanced range of communication and embedded frequency hopping mechanism to preclude chances of interception.
• It provides long-range point-to-multipoint high-bandwidth communication.
• The system also incorporates enhanced safety features and can operate continuously for 48 hours on a single-set basis, without any breakdown.

iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence)

• It is the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), launched in April 2018.
• Aim: To achieve self-reliance and foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia.
• iDEX has partnered with leading incubators in the country to provide hand holding, technical support and guidance to the winners of iDEX challenges.
• iDEX will be funded and managed by a ‘Defence Innovation Organization (DIO)’ which has been formed as a ‘not for profit companyas per Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 by the two founder members, i.e., Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) - HAL & BEL.
• iDEX will function as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities, while DIO will provide high-level policy guidance to iDEX.
• Under iDEX, financial support is provided to start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators, and Partner Incubators through DIO.

Govt to utilise PACS as ‘drone entrepreneurs’ for spraying fertilisers

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)

• These are village-level cooperative credit societiesthat serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure.
• These are headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.
• Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or DCCBs, that operate at the district level.
• These DCCBs work with PACS, which deals directly with farmers.
• Individual farmers are members of the PACS, and office-bearers are elected from within them. A village can have multiple PACS.
• The main function of the PACS is to provide short and medium-term purpose loans to its members.
• Other functions include:
  • Supplying of agricultural inputs including seeds, fertilisers, insecticides, etc.
  • Maintaining the supply of the light machinery for the agricultural purpose.
  • Providing marketing facilities that could enhance the sale of their agricultural products.
  • Promote savings habits among its members.

Sonowal launches ''Sagar Samriddhi'' system to track dredging activity

Sagar Samriddhi

• It is an online dredging monitoring system.
• The new system aims to tighten the monitoring regime for dredging contracts and also focus on monetising dredged material.
• It is part of the government’s efforts to expedite the ‘Waste to Wealth’ initiative.
• This system has been developed by National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) the technological arm of MoPSW.
• The new technology brings marked improvement against the old system of the Draft and Loading Monitor (DLM) system.
• All future monitoring at the major ports in the country will be done through the Sagar Samriddhi monitoring system, which will help in project implementation and cut costs.
• The system will aid in daily and monthly progress visualisation, monitor dredger performance and downtime monitoring, and keep track of location data.
• The system will bring in synergy among multiple input reports like daily dredging reports, and the pre and post-dredging survey data before processing and producing real-time dredging reports.

Dredging

• Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbours, and other water bodies.
• It is a routine necessity in waterways around the world because sedimentation—the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream—gradually fills channels and harbours.

Earth''s neighboring star Betelgeuse unexpectedly got 50% brighter —part of a weird process that will end in the dying star going supernova

Betelgeuse

• Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star that forms the left shoulder of the constellation of Orion.
• It is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and one of the largest stars ever discovered.
• The star is approximately 650 light-years from Earth.
• It is one of the largest known stars, measuring more than 700 million miles (1.2 billion kilometres) in diameter, 764 times as large as the Sun.
• It is known for its periodic dimming and brightening up.

Supernova

• A supernova is the name given to the cataclysmic explosion of a massive star.
• They are the largest explosion that takes place in space.
• A star can go supernova in one of two ways:
  • Type I supernova: Star accumulates matter from a nearby neighbour until a runaway nuclear reaction ignites.
  • Type II supernova: Star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses under its own gravity.
• It can emit more energy in a few seconds than our sun will radiate in its lifetime of billions of years.
• They''re also the primary source of heavy elements in the universe.
• On average, a supernova will occur once every 50 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way.

Punjab aims to bring 5 lakh acres under DSR method this paddy sowing season

Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) method

• DSR, also called the ‘broadcasting seed technique’, is a water-saving method of sowing paddy.
• Seeds are directly drilled into the fields in this method.
• This saves groundwater, as opposed to the traditional water-intensive method, under which rice seedlings are transplanted from a nursery to waterlogged fields.
• With DSR technique, farmers must sow paddy only after pre-sowing (rauni) irrigation and not in dry fields. Further, the field should be laser levelled.
• Advantages:
  • No significant reduction of yield under optimal conditions;
  • Savings on irrigation water by 12-35% under efficient water management practices;
  • Reduces labour and drudgery by eliminating seedling uprooting and transplanting;
  • Reduces cultivation time, energy, and cost;
  • No plant stress from transplanting;
  • Faster maturation of crops;
  • Lower GHG emissions;
  • Mechanised DSR provides employment opportunities;
  • Increases total income by reducing the cost of cultivation;
• Current Constraints:
  • Higher seed rates;
  • Seeds exposed to birds and pests;
  • Weed management;
  • Higher risk of lodging;
  • Risk of poor or non-uniform crop establishment;