Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Editorials are covered separately. HINDU NOTES are available free date wise| CLICK HERE

Ban on oxytocin suspended for one month

News

• The Delhi High Court suspended for a month the Centre’s ban on private companies manufacturing and distributing oxytocin, a drug used to induce labour during childbirth and control bleeding after it.

Beyond News

• A Bench of Justices gave the interim order on pleas challenging the government’s ban, which was slated to come into effect.
• The government in April restricted private companies from manufacturing or supplying the drug to prevent its alleged misuse in the dairy sector, where it was injected into animals to increase their milk production.
• As per the Centre’s notification, the State-run Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL) was solely allowed by the Centre to make the drug meet the country’s needs.
• The court noted that the material placed before it showed that when the decision was taken in February this year to restrict the sale of oxytocin, KAPL was not licensed to manufacture the drug and it was issued one only this April.
• The court was hearing pleas of BGP Products Operations GmbH, a subsidiary of Mylan Laboratories, Neon Laboratories and NGO All India Drug Action Network, which works to ensure access to essential medicines.
• The NGO contended in its plea that it would not be advisable to depend on one company alone, especially when it allegedly has not made the product earlier.

Kerala set to collect funds abroad

News

• The Kerala State government is reaching out across the worldin a massive resource mobilisation drive to generate funds for the post-flood relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction programme.

Beyond News

• Talking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister said the large Malayali diaspora in various countries would have a key role in funding the programme.
• The Loka Kerala Sabha, a government-sponsored platform for expatriate Malayalis, would seek to mobilise the diaspora for the world-wide campaign, along with other Malayali associations.
• State Ministers and senior officials would visit countries such as the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Germany, the US, and Canada to seek funds from non-resident Keralites and other communities.
• Simultaneously, efforts would be made to tap Malayalis in other States as well as within Kerala.
• The Cabinet meeting nominated Ministers to head the resource mobilisation campaign in each district. They would visit the districts from September 13 to 15 and receive contributions from individuals, institutions, and organisations. Prior to the campaign, District Collectors would convene a meeting of Heads of Departments.
• Chief Minister said another campaign would be launched at schools and colleges to collect donations from students.
• Chief Minister said citizens and communities across the world had responded well to the proposed rehabilitation and reconstruction programme for flood victims. The Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund had received a total of ₹1,026 crore, with 4,17,000 donations being made online.

Aadhaar authentication: 13 banks fined face penalties

News

• In an unprecedented move, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) , slapped monetary penalty on 13 banks for violating norms pertaining to authentication of Aadhaar.

Beyond News

• For some banks, the penalties are as high as ₹1 crore. Banks from both public and private sectors were penalised.
• The banks penalised include ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, IDBI Bank, Ratnakar Bank, Karnataka Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank.
• According to UIDAI sources, the measures taken include disincentives against a few authentication user agencies and banks that did not comply with the directions of UIDAI issued under Aadhaar Act/Regulations from time to time.
• UIDAI, in its show-cause notice to the banks, asked them to cite reasons as to why criminal proceedings should not be initiated against them.
• UIDAI said that a few banks were causing inconvenience to the people by not making the minimum stipulated enrolment and updates. Sources said these 13 entities were much short of the enrolment update targets despite repeated requests.
• These banks were accused of sending back people from their premises. UIDAI had directed to set up Aadhaar Enrolment and Update facility inside banks’ premises at a minimum of one out of every 10 branches by August 30, 2017.
• UIDAI also said that the selection of branches for enrolment and update facility will be such that it covers all the district headquarters where it is present, and that there is maximum coverage of blocks in every district.
• UIDAI had also decided keep on hold the eKYC facility of these banks due to non-compliance of its directions. Later, the eKYC facility of 5 banks had been restored, while that of 8 others is under process of restoration subject to compliance.
• Meanwhile, UIDAI relaxed norms for banks on the minimum number of Aadhaar enrolments and updations, till November 1.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Monitoring drains to generate flood alerts

News

• After the floods of 2017 in Bengaluru, KSNDMC is installing sensors at outlets and inlets of major lakes.

Beyond News

• While the civic body is slowly rebuilding the network, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) is in the process of installing sensors that could send alerts if major, vulnerable Storm Water Drains (SWDs) overflow.
• KSNDMC is in touch with a local manufacture to supply more than 25 of these sensors, which will be installed in places which civic officials have identified as vulnerable to flooding.
• These sensors will be put at outlets and inlets of major lakes, which tend to overflow, as well as important SWDs. They will measure water levels, and can send out alerts to officials and residents if the drains are liable to overflow.
• The sensors are expected to be installed within a month.
• KSNDMC sees this as an important cog in the flood alert system. Coupled with data from their 36 telemetric weather stations and rain gauges, the system can be a guidance for civic officials to prioritise their disaster preparedness.
• The city, in effect, is a pilot to test whether such a system can be extended to other urban sprawls where flooding is a frequent phenomena during monsoons. This is part of a three-year project, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), which recognises ‘the technological solution’.
• A key part of the project is to create an urban flood model that simulates hydrologic and hydraulic behaviour using high-resolution terrain data, inundation maps, and analyse vulnerable zones. Eventually, a control unit for pre- and post-flood management will be created along with a mobile app, states the project brief.
• However, there are challenges to surmount, particularly as the models are being scaled from two relatively small microsheds to the entire city.
• It is a complex process, even to apply it to one (of the three) valley system in the city. High-resolution terrain data is needed, and a lot of other variables need to be looked at to fine-tune this model to the expanse of the city.

Monsoon ailments claim 6, leptospirosis biggest killer

News

• Rainwater-related ailments have claimed the lives of six people in Mumbai, including two minors, in the past two weeks: three succumbed to dengue, one to malaria and two to leptospirosis.

Beyond News

• The last is emerging as this season’s biggest killer, having claimed 11 lives so far. In comparison, there have been only four dengue-related and two malaria-related deaths.
• A civic health official said, Cases begin increasing from September, when the weather is favourable for dengue-spreading aedes mosquito to breed. There is no specific treatment for dengue, and patients have to be treated symptomatically. People should be aware and seek medical help if symptoms arise.
• After the deaths, a house survey, rodent-control measures, fogging and larvicidal measures were carried out in those areas, and elsewhere.

Space station reports leak, but crew is safe

News

• Astronauts scrambled to patch a tiny hole in a Russian capsule that was allowing air to leak from the International Space Station. NASA and Russian space officials stressed the six astronauts were in no danger.

Beyond News

• The leak was detected, possibly from a micrometeorite strike when it caused a small drop in cabin pressure. It was traced to a hole about 2 millimeters across in a Soyuz capsule docked at the space station.
• The crew taped over the hole, slowing the leak. Later, the two Russian spacemen put sealant on a cloth and stuck it over the area, while their colleagues took photos for engineers on the ground. Flight controllers, meanwhile, monitored the cabin pressure while working to come up with a better long-term solution.
• Mission Control outside Moscow told the astronauts to let the sealant dry overnight and that more leak checks would be conducted .
• The makeshift repairs seem to have stabilized the situation, at least for now, officials said. Earlier, flight controllers tapped into the oxygen supply of a Russian cargo capsule to partially replenish the atmosphere in the station.
• The leaking Soyuz one of two up there arrived at the orbiting lab in June with three astronauts. It’s their ride home, too, come December, and also serves as a lifeboat in case of an emergency. A NASA spokesman said it was premature to speculate on whether the three might have to return to Earth early if the leak, even as small as it is, cannot be stopped.
• The hole is located in the upper, spherical section of the Soyuz, which does not return to Earth, according to NASA. The 250-mile-high outpost is home to three Americans, two Russians and one German. Orbital debris is a constant threat, even the tiniest specks.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS