Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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New Delhi brims with ‘Look East’ vibes

News:

• Symbolism and ceremony will mark the 25th year commemorative summit of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership, but officials say security issues in the Indo-Pacific will be the focus of discussions among the 10 leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Beyond News:

• “Maritime Cooperation & Security”, the theme during the Leaders’ Retreat, will find “prominent mention” in the joint statements.
• The leaders will be hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for lunch, followed by the traditional “Retreat” where leaders will meet informally for two hours.
• On Friday, they will officiate as joint chief guests at the Republic Day parade.

Three ‘C’s:

• The ASEAN-India joint statement, on the theme of “Shared Values and Common Destiny” will focus on the “three Cs of connectivity, commerce and culture”, along with the issues of maritime security, cybersecurity and cooperation on fighting terrorism, according to an official briefing ahead of the summit.
• Among them is the Rohingya issue, with the repatriation of refugees from Bangladesh being delayed after many including the UN cited a lack of guarantees for their safety in Myanmar.
• However, the ASEAN-India grouping may find the issue too sensitive to broach in any formal way with Aung San Suu Kyi.
• India’s difficulties with the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will also be on the agenda for talks, as most ASEAN countries are keen to conclude the negotiations by 2018-end.

First India-designed vaccine passes WHO test News

• For the first time, a vaccine conceived and developed from scratch in India has been “pre-qualified” by the World Health Organisation.

Beyond News

• The Rotavac vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited last year, was included in India’s national immunization
• To be “pre-qualified” means that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and South America.
• While several vaccines from India have been pre-qualified, this is the first that was entirely developed locally and, according to experts, is a sign that there is a credible industrial, scientific and regulatory process in place to develop vaccines in India.

Rotavac vaccine

• The Rotavac vaccine protects against childhood diarrhoea caused by the rotavirus and was built on strain of the virus isolated at the the All India Institute of Medical Sciences over 30 years ago.
• The Pune-based Serum International also has developed a rotavirus vaccine called Rabishield that has also been included in India’s immunisation programme.
• Rotavirus is responsible for an estimated 36% of hospitalisations for childhood diarrhoea around the world and for an estimated 200,000 deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

India ranks 177 out of 180 in Environmental Performance Index

News

• India is among the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018, plummeting 36 points from 141 in 2016, according to a biennial report by Yale and Columbia Universities along with the World Economic Forum.

Beyond News

• While India is at the bottom of the list in the environmental health category, it ranks 178 out of 180 as far as air quality is concerned.
• Its overall low ranking — 177 among 180 countries — was linked to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air pollution categories.
• The report was released on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Findings in the Report

• It said deaths attributed to ultra-fine PM2.5 pollutants have risen over the past decade and are estimated at 1,640,113 annually in India.
• The report said that,despite government action, pollution from solid fuels, coal and crop residue burning, and emissions from motor vehicles continue to severely degrade the air quality for millions of Indians.
• The 10th EPI report ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across 10 categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality.
• The EPI said air quality remains the leading environmental threat to public health.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

New ‘smart windows’ can darken when heated, produce electricity

News

• Scientists have discovered a new material for next-generation smart windows that not only darken automatically when the sun is too bright but also convert solar energy into electricity.

Beyond News

• Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in the US found a form of perovskite that works well as a stable and photoactive semiconductor material that can reversibly switch between transparent and opaque state.
• It can essentially change from one crystal structure to another when we slightly change the temperature or introduce a little water vapour.
• When the material changes its crystal structure, it changes from transparent to non-transparent.
• Its unique properties, high efficiency rates, and ease of processing have made it one of the most promising developments in solar technology in recent years.
• The material is triggered to transition from transparent to non-transparent by applying heat.

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