9 July 2024, The Hindu
Indigenous HPV vaccine, the rhetoric and the reality
Page 6
GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- India’s public health sphere was subject recently to a one-sided discourse on how vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) prevents cervical cancer and consequent death.
- Interestingly, it is not proven beyond doubt that HPV causes cervical cancer, as only a couple of strains out of 200 strains that infect humans are somehow ‘associated’ with ‘precancerous lesions’.
- Most of the women who die of cervical cancer are HPV positive, but most of the men and women who are HPV positive do not get virus-induced cancer, let alone die due to it.
Renewed hope
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GS 2: issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- After a decade of acrimony, the return to cordial relations between the governments and Chief Ministers of the two Telugu-speaking States is welcome.
- At stake are the futures of heavily intertwined and socially cohesive communities of two large economies contributing significantly to India’s GDP and employment numbers.
- The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, N. Chandrababu Naidu and A. Revanth Reddy, respectively, not only remained cordial throughout the two-hour long meeting in Hyderabad last week but also proposed a well-thought-out three tier-mechanism to resolve all outstanding issues since the creation of Telangana in 2014.
- The first tier is a committee of top administrative officials, three members from each State, which would meet at regular intervals and attempt resolutions of as many disputes as possible.
A moderate voice for Sri Lankan Tamils
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GS 2: International Relations- India and its neighbourhood
- The recent passing of R. Sampanthan, a veteran leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Sri Lanka, has created a vacuum in the political leadership of the Tamils, who are yet to exit the trauma of the civil war that ended 15 years ago.
- Sampanthan may not have been able to achieve great progress in the resolution of the Tamil question, but he was seen as a stabilising force, especially in the post-civil war years. He engaged with everyone, including the Sinhalese leadership.
- A follower of S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, who founded the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) in 1949, Sampanthan was first elected in 1977 to the Sri Lankan Parliament as one of the 17 MPs of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), which included the ITAK.
- This coalition swept the parliamentary poll in Tamil constituencies on the plank of a separate state.
- The 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom led to an exodus of Tamils to India, which drew New Delhi into the ethnic problem.
- The nature of India’s involvement changed when Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister, after her assassination in 1984.
What are new provisions for police officers?
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.
- The new criminal laws have become effective from July 1. SOPs have been issued by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to guide police officers in implementing the new provisions.
- The officer in-charge of a police station cannot refuse to register an FIR on the basis of lack of jurisdiction or disputed jurisdiction.
- He is legally bound to register (popularly known as a zero FIR) and transfer such a case to the respective police station.
- Though this practice was followed earlier too, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) now has a direct provision under Section 173; non-registration of FIRs may attract penal action under various sections.
What are the laws preventing tree felling in Delhi?
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- On June 26, a Vacation Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) directed the Delhi government and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to take effective steps to enhance the national capital’s green cover amidst the extreme heat wave.
- According to the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ (ISFR) published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Delhi has the largest forest cover among seven major megacities, with 195 sq. km, followed by Mumbai (110.77 sq. km) and Bengaluru (89.02 sq. km).
- Delhi’s forest cover constitutes 13.15% of its geographical area, while its tree cover spans 147 sq. km (9.91%).
- Despite extensive urban development, the city’s overall green cover (forest and tree cover) has increased from 151 sq. km (10.2%) in 2001 to 342 sq. km (23.6%) in 2021.
In an electric vehicle, what is regenerative braking?
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- The impulse to be sustainable — driven by the incessant pressure to lower our emissions — often manifests as lowering consumption and increasing reuse alongside reforms like tweaking consumer behaviour.
- Electric vehicles are the site of many of these changes, aided by state-led incentives and subsidies.
- Regenerative braking is an important mechanism in these vehicles that increases their energy use efficiency.
- Braking is the mechanism by which an automotive vehicle in motion slows down.
- A vehicle moving faster has more kinetic energy than a vehicle moving slower, so the process of braking removes (mostly) kinetic energy from the vehicle.
- The law of energy conservation means this removed energy has to go somewhere.
Murmu urges citizens to take proactive measures for nature
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- President Droupadi Murmu on July 8 called upon people to take proactive measures at their own level to complement efforts initiated by government and international organisations for protection and conservation of environment.
- Ms. Murmu shared her reflections as she walked along the beaches of Puri.
- The President is in Puri to attend the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath.
Films should not misrepresent people with disabilities: SC
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GS 2: mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections.
- Creative freedom of a filmmaker under Article 19(1)(a) “cannot include the freedom to lampoon, stereotype, misrepresent or disparage those already marginalised”, the Supreme Court said Monday while laying down a “framework of portrayal of persons with disabilities in visual media that aligns with the anti-discrimination and dignity-affirming objectives of the Constitution as well as the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016”.
- The ruling came on a plea, which stated that the Hindi film Aankh Micholi misrepresented disabled persons and violated their constitutionally protected rights and the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the RPwD Act.
- The plea also challenged the January 15, 2024 Delhi HC order dismissing the petition, which highlighted instances in the trailer and the film misrepresenting certain medical conditions and the use of derogatory terms for characters, who are PwDs.
Hurdles in importing diamonds pose a quantum block to research ambition
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- Customs Department’s decision on who can and cannot import diamonds is taking some of the lustre off the National Quantum Mission (NQM), a ₹6,000-crore initiative, which may allow India take the lead in the emerging field of quantum technologies.
- Quantum technology is a broad term, much like ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ or ‘nano-technology’, and applicable to multiple avenues of research.
- It hinges on being able to exploit the ‘quantum-mechanical’ properties of matter inside the atom and develop entirely new kinds of computers, sensors and encryption systems that – proponents say – will make our existing devices primitive in comparison.
