SC nod for Central Vista inauguration
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II Polity and Governance, Parliament
Why in news?
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the foundation stone laying ceremony of a new parliament building to go ahead as scheduled on December 10 after the government gave an undertaking to keep in abeyance the construction or demolition of buildings and the shifting of trees in the Central Vista area for now.
Key details
- The SC expressed displeasure with the government for aggressively continuing with the construction, demolition and shifting of trees even as questions concerning the legality of the Central Vista project were in court.
- The court said to the government, we thought that we are dealing with a prudent litigant and defernce will be shown… we have shown deference to you and expected that you will act in a prudent manner. The same deference should be shown to the court and there should be no demolition or construction.
- Mehta, representing the government, after receiving the instructions from the government, apologised to the court and gave an undertaking that no physical changes would be made to the area.
- Solicitor General stated that there will be no construction activity of any nature on the concerned site, nor demolition of any structure would be done , including the further translocation of trees will be kept in abeyance, until the pronouncement of judgement in all these cases.
Feluda test to start in Delhi in 10 days
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II and III Social Justice and Science & Technology
Why in news?
The Delhi government has decided to conduct a part of the total COVID-19 tests in the city using Feluda paper strip test. It is expected to start within a week to 10 days.
Key details
- FELUDA is the acronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay.
- It uses indigenously developed CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
- According to CSIR, the test matches accuracy levels of RT-PCR tests, considered the gold standard in the diagnosis of Covid-19, has a quicker turnaround time and requires less expensive equipment.
- It is also the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the virus.
- The Feluda test is similar to a pregnancy test strip that will just change colour upon detection of the virus and can be used in a simple pathological lab.
- The Cas9 protein is bar-coded to interact with the SARS-CoV2 sequence in the patient’s genetic material.
- The Cas9-SARS-CoV2 complex is then put on the paper strip, where using two lines (one control, one test) makes it possible to determine if the test sample was infected.
- It is the first such indigenous test kit to be developed in India based on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology.
- CRISPR is a gene editing technology, which replicates natural defence mechanisms in bacteria to fight virus attacks, using a special protein called Cas9.
- CRISPR-Cas9 technology behaves like a cut-and-paste mechanism on DNA strands that contain genetic information. The specific location of the genetic codes that need to be changed, or edited, is identified on the DNA strand, and then, using the Cas9 protein, which acts like a pair of scissors, that location is cut off from the strand
Only organic farming allowed in Lakshadweep
Paper:
Mains: G.S. III Environment and Ecology, Agriculture
Why in news?
After Sikkim, Lakshadweep is the first Union Territory to become 100 per cent organic as all farming is carried out without the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, providing access to safer food choices and making agriculture a more environment-friendly activity. The ministry of agriculture has declared the island as organic.
Key details
- Lakshadweep can benefit much from marketing organic products such as desiccated coconut and coconut milk. The organic tag will allow farmers to realize a premium for the farm produce.
- Coconut is the only major crop on the islands. There are eight lakh coconut trees that produce 11 crore coconuts in a year. Besides, horticulture crops such as brinjal, spinach, Banana, Drumstick, Pumpkin, Chillies, Snake Gourd, Cucumber, Beans, Ladyfinger, Ridge Gourd, Papaya, Watermelon are grown but in very small quantities.
- As per data,1500-2000 tons of vegetables are grown through natural processes. The coconut palms are grown under natural surroundings. As per data, there are 12450 farmers in the island.
- The coral island has been certified as the 100 percent organic on the eve of 55 formation day of the UT on November 1.” Actually one third of its area was documented and certified as Organic since 2012 as per US/EU standards for organic coconut farming but the department of agriculture was struggling to bring 100 percent area under the certification owing to one or the other reasons.
- Now the central sector scheme of Paramparagath Krishi Vigas Yogana launched by the central government and the financial assistance earmarked for Lakshadweep under this scheme became a breakthrough for farmers of this territory.
- India’s smallest Union Territory Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 36 islands with an area of 32 sq km. It is a uni-district Union Territory and comprises 12 atolls, three reefs, five submerged banks and ten inhabited islands. The islands comprise 32 sq km. The Capital is Kavaratti and it is also the principal town of the UT.
S., China dominate arms market: report
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II International Relations, Defence and Security, Arms race
Why in news?
A report by SIPRI research institute said, U.S. and Chinese companies dominated the global arms market in 2019, while West Asia made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers.
Key details
- S. arms industry accounted for 61% of sales by the world’s “Top 25 “ manufacturers last year, ahead of China’s 15.7%.
- Total sales by the “Top 25” rose by 8.5% to $361 billion, or 50 times the annual budget of the UN’s peacekeeping operations.
- Six U.S. companies and three Chinese firms were in the top 10, rounded out by Britain’s BAE Systems in seventh spot.
- China and the U.S. are the two biggest states in terms of global arms spending.
- The U.S. has dominated the market for decades, but for China – whose companies’ sale rose by almost 5% in 2019 – this increase corresponds to the implementation of reforms to modernise the PLA underway since 2015.
- S. companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics clinched the top five spots, while China’s AVIC, CETC and Norinco held spots six, eight and nine. U.S. group L3Harris Technologies was in 10th place.
- Europe remains a bit dispersed… but if we combine the European companies together we could have European companies the same size as U.S. and Chinese manufacturers.
- For the first time, a company from the West Asia made it into the “Top 25” : EDGE, of the UAE.