DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

03^rd December 2021

. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	Details of the Paika Rebellion	Prelims & Mains
2.	What is the Graded Response Action Plan	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Smart Cities Mission	Prelims & Mains
4.	What is the ‘Zero FIR’ Concept	Prelims & Mains
5.	About Genome Sequencing	Prelims & Mains
6.	About the ZyCoV D Vaccine	Prelims Specific
7.	About the North Atlantic Treaty Organization	Prelims Specific

 

1 – DETAILS OF THE PAIKA REBELLION: 

GS I

Topic – Modern Indian History

• Current Importance:
• For a brief while in 1857, the Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 in Odisha, widely regarded as the first movement for independence, shook the foundations of British power in the eastern region of India.
• The year 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the greatest revolts in the history of eastern India, which was brutally suppressed.
• Who were the Paikas, and where did they come from:
• Paikas were essentially the Gajapati rulers of Odisha’s peasant militias, who served as military advisors to the monarch during wartime while farming during peacetime.
• A Brief History of the Uprising:
• The Marathas governed Odisha until 1803, when the second Anglo-Maratha War compelled them to surrender much of their territory to the British East India Company.
• The Paikas were subjected to repression after British government was established in Odisha.
• They were stripped of their regular social rank and their estates were stolen from them.
• Under the British, the Paikas were subjected to severe mistreatment by revenue collectors, as well as the loss of their property.
• About the Uprising:
• The Rebellion Paikas, commanded by Baxi Jagabandhu, the hereditary head of the Gajapati King of Khurda (a kingdom near Puri), rose in revolt in March 1817, receiving support from tribals and other sections of society.
• The Paikas set fire to police stations, administrative offices, and the treasury during their march to Khurda, destroying British symbols of power.
• The Paikas had the support of Rajas, zamindars, village rulers, and simple peasants.
• The insurrection spread quickly to other parts of the province.
• The British were taken aback and attempted to retake lost territory, but the insurgent Paikas met them with fierce resistance.
• The Paikas, on the other side, were eventually defeated by the British.
• The Paikas escaped into the dark woods of Odisha for several years, waging guerrilla warfare.
• After a series of defeats, Paika chieftain Bakshi Jagabandhu surrendered to the British in 1825 and lived as a prisoner in Cuttack till his death in 1829.
• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 8

2 – WHAT IS THE GRADED RESPONSE ACTION PLAN

GS III

Topic – Environmental Conservation related issues

• The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) entails the following:
• In response to the Supreme Court’s order in the matter of M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India (2016) regarding air quality in the National Capital Region of Delhi, the Graded Response Action Plan has been prepared for implementation under different Air Quality Index (AQI) categories, namely Moderate & Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.
• A new category, “Severe+ or Emergency,” has been added.
• The Plan was notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change in 2017.
• When air quality deteriorates, it specified protocols to be followed.
• Because the plan is incremental, when the air quality goes from “Poor” to “Very Poor,” both components of the plan must be implemented.
• It prevents PM10 and PM2.5 levels from surpassing the AQI’moderate’ grade at the national level.
• Implementation:
• The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority compelled governments to implement GRAP measures till 2020. (EPCA).
• The EPCA was decommissioned in 2020, and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) was established in its place.
• CAQM is a statutory authority in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh that supervises and oversees numerous efforts to improve air quality, as well as the underlying remedial approach.
• Additional strategies to combat the threat of air pollution include:
• In 2016, the Supreme Court imposed a 1% EPC on diesel cars with displacements of 2000cc and greater in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
• In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered vehicles entering Delhi to pay an Environmental Compensation Charge (ECC).
• Source – The Hindu – 3/12/21 – Page Number 3

3 – ABOUT THE SMART CITIES MISSION:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions

• About the Mission:
• It’s an innovative programme run by the Indian government’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that aims to increase economic growth and improve people’s quality of life by encouraging local development and leveraging technology to deliver smart outcomes for citizens.
• Goal:
• Encourage cities that provide basic infrastructure, a reasonable quality of life for their citizens, a clean and sustainable environment, and Smart Solutions adoption.
• Focus:
• Create a repeatable model that may serve as a beacon for other ambitious cities, focusing on sustainable and fair development as well as compact regions.
• Strategy:
• A city-wide initiative involving the adoption of at least one Smart Solution.
• Coverage and Timeframe:
• Beginning in the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 and ending in the fiscal year (FY) 2019-20, the Mission will operate in 100 cities for five years.
• In terms of funding, it is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• India Smart Cities Awards 2020:
• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has released them to commemorate the six-year anniversary of the central government’s three urban development initiatives:
• Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Transformation (Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Transformation)
• Smart Cities Mission (SCM)
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
• The following are the results of several states and cities:
• Uttar Pradesh was the most popular state, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Surat (Gujarat) shared the prize for their overall progress.
• Ahmedabad won the ‘Smart Cities Leadership Award,’ while Chandigarh won the ‘Union Territory Award,’ and Indore won the “Innovative Idea Award.”
• The following were the criteria used to rank the states and cities:
• Social features, governance, culture, urban environment, sanitation, economy, built environment, water, and urban mobility were all elements considered by the government.
• A sustainable business strategy for Integrated Command and Control Centres and innovation in Covid-19 management for the pandemic year were also required for the awards.
• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 9

4 – WHAT IS THE ‘ZERO FIR’ CONCEPT:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions

• A Zero FIR means that a police complaint can be filed at any police station (independent of the occurrence’s location or the jurisdiction of the station in question) and then transferred to the appropriate station.
• It grants cops the power to investigate a case if a FIR was filed within the territorial jurisdiction of the police station where the incident occurred.
• The SHO of a concerned Police Station is unable to continue the investigation of the case if a FIR is not filed within the territorial jurisdiction of that Police Station, according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the FIR must be filed with a Police Station with territorial jurisdiction to act over the case.
• However, in the case of significant crimes, where there is a possibility of tampering with evidence and the crime is particularly heinous, this imposes certain practical limitations.
• If a person goes to the police station to report his friend’s murder, for example (cognizable offence). This type of scenario needs prompt police intervention. The police cannot assert that the matter is outside of their jurisdiction in such cases.
• In Satvinder Kaur versus State (Government of Delhi) Case, the Supreme Court declared that the police may investigate a crime that does not fall under their jurisdiction.
• If the investigating officer determines after preliminary investigation that the cause of action for filing a FIR did not arise within his territorial jurisdiction, he must submit a report and forward the case to the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence, along with all evidences, in accordance with CPC statutory regulations. The information is subsequently forwarded to the appropriate police station.

• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 3

5 – ABOUT GENOME SEQUENCING:

GS II

Topic – Biotechnology and related issues

• The Purpose of Genome Sequencing
• Genome sequencing determines the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of Adenine, Cytosine, Guanines, and Thymine that make up an organism’s DNA.
• Details of the Human Genome:
• The Human Genome is a collection of DNA sequences that make up the human genome.
• It has 23 chromosome pairs and around 3 billion DNA base pairs.
• Humans have 24 chromosomes, comprising 22 autosomal chromosomes and the X and Y chromosomes, which determine sex.
• In roughly decreasing order of size, chromosomes 1-22 are numbered.
• A total of 46 chromosomes are found in somatic cells, including one copy of each parent’s chromosomes 1-22, as well as an X chromosome from the mother and either an X or Y chromosome from the father.
• Between 20,000 and 25,000 human protein-coding genes are predicted to exist.
• As genome sequence quality and gene finding technology have improved, the number of human genes has been lowered from prior estimates of 100,000 or more, and it is projected to continue to shrink.
• The significance of Genome Sequencing:
• The sequencing of the genome is an important step towards learning about it.
• For scientists, the genome sequence will be a useful shortcut, allowing them to discover genes much more quickly and easily. A genome sequence does contain some information about where genes are located, even if scientists are still trying to grasp these clues.
• Scientists also believe that being able to analyse the entire genome sequence will aid their understanding of how the genome functions as a whole—how genes interact to control an organism’s growth, development, and maintenance.
• Finally, because genes only make up roughly a quarter of the DNA in the genome, scientists will be able to investigate the parts of the genome that aren’t genes if they have the whole genome sequence. This includes regulatory regions that control how genes are turned on and off, as well as long amounts of “junk” DNA that has yet to be identified what it means.
• Details of the Human Genome Project:
• The Human Genome Project is a project that aims to map the human genome.
• The Human Genome Initiative was an international research project that intended to determine the sequence of the human genome and identify the genes that it contained. The initiative was a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy.
• It was a 13-year, taxpayer-funded project that began in 1990 with the intention of discovering the entire euchromatic human genome’s DNA sequence in 15 years.
• The Human Genome Project has proven to be a huge success. Not only did this work usher in a new era in medicine, but it also led to significant breakthroughs in the sorts of technology used to sequence DNA.
• The goal of personalised medicine today is to use information about a person’s genes, including their nucleotide sequence, to develop better and safer treatments.
• Her2/neu and Breast Cancer Treatment Response, as well as CYP450 and Antidepressant Response, have all evolved as a result of the Human Genome Project.

• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 2

6 – ABOUT ZyCoV – D VACCINE:

Prelims Specific Topic

• ZyCov – D Vaccine Information:
• The vaccine is only available to people between the ages of 12 and 19.
• ZyCov – D is administered using a needle-free applicator.
• It is available in three different dosages. On the 28th and 56th days after the initial dose, it is given.
• The fee is Rs 376.
• It has been proven to work 66.6 percent of the time.
• The vaccine was created by Cadila Healthcare, an Indian pharmaceutical company.
• It is made in the following manner:
• It was made with the help of plasmid DNA.
• It was made from a piece of DNA from a virus that had been weakened or killed, in basic terms.
• When this DNA fragment is transmitted into the body, the human immune system learns how to respond to the virus. The plasmid is made in E Coli cells.
• ZyCov – D is known as a needle-free vaccine for the following reasons:
• Because ZyCov – D is injected by a jet injector,
• A jet injector is a type of injecting syringe.
• Here, a very fine stream of high-pressure liquid penetrates the skin’s top layer.
• This allows the medication to reach the underlying tissues of the epidermis.
• This method is preferred to the use of needles.
• This is because the vaccinations are carried across the plasma membrane and nuclear membrane of the cell in this method.
• Traditional methods, on the other hand, result in minimal immunogenicity.
• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 10

7 – ABOUT THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION:

Prelims Specific Topic

• The United States, Canada, and a number of Western European countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on April 4, 1949, to provide collective defence against the Soviet Union under the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty).
• Brussels, Belgium is home to the company’s headquarters.
• NATO is a political and military alliance whose major goals are to defend its members collectively and to keep the North Atlantic region democratically stable.
• According to NATO’s Article V, “an attack against one ally is viewed as an attack against all allies,” “an attack against one ally is recognised as an attack against all allies.”
• Forces of NATO: NATO has a military and civilian headquarters as well as an integrated military command structure, but it only has a few forces and assets that are entirely its own.
• The majority of forces remain under full national command and control until member countries agree to take up NATO-related operations.
• NATO Decisions: Because all decisions are reached by consensus, a “NATO decision” reflects the collective views of all 30 member countries.

• Source – The Hindu – 03/12/21 – Page Number 11