Emergency use authorisation۔
US
drug maker Moderna said it was applying for emergency use authorisation for its
Covid-19 vaccine. In India, Serum Institute of India, which is trialing a
version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, has informed that, it expects to
seek emergency use authorisation within the next two weeks.
Vaccines
require approval of a regulatory authority before they can be administered.
However, in emergency situations like COVID-19, regulatory authorities have
developed mechanisms to grant interim approvals to vaccines and medicines. Till
the completion of final trials EUA allows medicine or vaccine to be used on
public.
India’s
drug regulations do not have provisions for an EUA, and process for receiving
one is not clearly define dor consistent.
In
India, regulatory authority concerned for this is Central Drugs Standard
Control Organisation.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Roshni Act.
There
are allegations related to irregularities in the implementation of Jammu and
Kashmir States Land (vesting of ownership to the occupants) Act, also known as
Roshini Act, which has now been declared null and void.
About the Act:
It
envisaged the transfer of ownership rights of state land to its occupants,
subject to the payment of a cost, as determined by the government.
Revenue
generated was to be spent on commissioning hydroelectric power projects, hence
the name Roshni.
It
is a high-level dialogue among media organisations from Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa that aims to establish an efficient coordination
mechanism among BRICS media and advance innovation-driven media development.
Representatives
called for the five nations to work together to jointly combat fake news in the
pandemic era.
Solution proposed:
Rigorous
fact-checking and investigation by well-trained teams of journalists.
Deployment
of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, in fight against disinformation,
especially large-scale online harms.
4).
Iran’s Parliament ratifies strategic measure for the removal of sanctions bill.
It
is aimed at revitalizing Iran’s nuclear activities.
This
bill was passed after failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
to fulfill Iran’s interests and in the wake of assassination of Iranian
scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
JCPOA
was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group — U.S., U.K., France,
Russia, China and Germany.
It
was signed to stop Iran from producing its own nuclear weapons, and set up a
framework to which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium.
IFSCA gets membership of International Association of
Insurance Supervisors.
The
International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has got membership
of International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).
With
this membership IFSCA would have access to IAIS’s global network and would be
able to exchange ideas and information with other global regulators.
It
was established in 1994, the IAIS headquartered in Switzerland.
It
is a voluntary membership organisation of insurance supervisors and regulators
from more than 200 jurisdictions, constituting 97 per cent of the world’s
insurance premiums.
Damaru Inspired Lattice.
IIT
Kanpur researchers have demonstrated how with the use of a micro-structured
hour-glass shaped meta structure in the lattice unit, one can get a wider
variation of propagation and stop bands. The hour-glasses are developed in the
Smart Materials Laboratory of IIT Kanpur using additive manufacturing.
Lattice
based meta-structures have shown tremendous application in electro-magnetic and
sonic wave absorption which could in principle create ‘invisibility’ of an
object either in optical or in acoustic domain.
Existing
lattice and crystal based phononic materials have however, practical
limitations in terms of customizability and hence, they can be generally used
in a narrow band of frequency.
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)
The
Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) has been selected as a ‘Milestone’
facilityby the U.S.-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE).
GMRT:
•
The GMRT located near Pune is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic
radio telescopesof 45-metre diameter, observing at metre wavelengths.
•
It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
•
At the time it was built, it was the world’s largest interferometry array
offering a baseline of up to 25 kilometres (16 mi).
•
Astronomers from all over the world regularly use this telescope to observe
many different astronomical objects such as HII regions (interstellar atomic
hydrogen that is ionized), galaxies, pulsars, supernovae, and Sun and solar
winds.
A significant Feat:
•
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to
advancing technology in all areas related to electrical and electronics
engineering.
•
The IEEE Milestones programme honours significant technical achievements which
have a global or regional impact. This is only the third such IEEE ‘Milestone’
recognition for an Indian contribution.
•
The previous two Indian IEEE Milestones were for the pioneering work done by
Sir J.C.
Bose
to demonstrate the generation and reception of radio waves in 1895 (recognised
in 2012), and for the Nobel Prize-winning (in 1930) ‘scattering of light’
phenomenon observed by Sir C.V. Raman in 1928.
Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOSP).
A
brain electrical oscillation signature profiling (BEOSP) test will be conducted
on the convicts of the alleged rape and murder in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.
BEOSP Test:
•
BEOSP also known as brain fingerprinting is a neuro-psychological method ofinterrogation
in which the accuser’s participation in the crime is investigated by studying
their brain’s response.
•
The BEOSP test is carried out via a process known as an electroencephalogram,
conductedto study the electrical behaviour of the human brain.
• Under this test, the consent of the accused is first taken and they are then made to wear caps with dozens of electrodes attached to them.
•
The accused are then shown visuals or played audio clips related to the crime
to check if there is any triggering of neurons in their brains which then
generate brainwaves.
•
The test results are then studied to determine the participation of the accused
in a crime.
What Differentiates a BEOSP Test
from a Polygraph or a Lie Detector?
•
The BEOSP procedure does not involve a question-answer session with the accused
and is rather a neuro psychological study of their brain.
•
In a polygraph test, the accused person’s physiological indicators are taken
into account which includes blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration and skin
conductivity.
•
While a person might be able to control their pulse rate and BP even in times
of distress, a BEOSP test
Can
these Tests be Admitted as Evidence?
•
Not as a standalone, a/c to the 2010 Supreme Court judgment in the Selvi v. State
of Karnataka case.
•
The bench observed that narco analysis, polygraph and brain mapping tests
cannot be forced upon any individual without their consent and the test results
cannot be admitted solely as evidence.
•
However, any information or material discovered during the tests can be made
part of the evidence, observed the Bench.
Virat Kohli becomes fastest. cricketer to score 12,000
ODI runs.
India
captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday became the fastest cricketer to score 12,000
ODI runs, breaking a record held by legendary compatriot Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli,
who needed 23 runs for the landmark coming into the match, touched the figure
in his 242nd innings when he took a single off Sean Abbott in the 13th over of
the India innings.
In
comparison, it took Tendulkar 300 games to get there.
The
32-year-old Indian captain was playing in his 251st ODI and averages close to
60 in the format with 43 hundreds and 59 half centuries. He made his debut in
2008.
Tendulkar
scored 18426 runs from 463 ODIs between 1989 and 2012 at an average of 44.83
with the help of 49 hundreds and 96 half centuries.
Focus on mains
Tussle between Executive and Judiciary.
The
Andhra Pradesh High Court has “virtually taken over the executive functions of
the State” the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Government told the Supreme Court
recently.
What is the Separation of Power?
•
The separation of power is part of governing of a state in which the components
of state like legislative, executive and judiciary remain independent with each
other so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the
other branches. It is also a part ofindependent of judiciary.
•
Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government
responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising
the core functions of another.
The
intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and
balances.
•
Although the Constitution of India does not provide strictly for the separation
of powers, these articles provide a General Guideline:
✓ Article 121 & 211:
It, in a way, provides for the separation of the legislature and the judiciary.
This article states that the conduct of justice or the way a judge discharges
his duties of any Court cannot be discussed in the legislature (state or
union).
✓ Article 122 & 212:
This article is aimed at keeping the judiciary (the law interpreting body) and
the legislature (the law-making body) separated. It does so by stripping the
judiciary of any power to review and question the validity of proceedings that
take in alegislature or the Parliament.
✓ Article 361: This article
separates the judiciary and the executive. It states that the
President
or any governor of any state is not answerable to any court in the country for
actions and activities are taken in performance/exercise of the powers and
duties of their office.
Functional
Overlapping Amongst the Organs of Government:
•
While separation of powers is key to the workings of Indian Government, no
democraticsystem exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute
lack of separation ofpowers.
•
Every organ is, in a way, overlapped in its practical functioning with the
other two organs of the Government. This overlapping enables the organs to act
as a check on each other without too much interference.
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