Daily Current Affairs : 4th June

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Revised draft National Education Policy
2. CCR5 Mutation
3. Genetically altered Chicken
4. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
5. Nilekani Panel
6. Purchase Managers Index
7. Monkey pox
8. Facts for Prelims : Udchalo

1 . Revised draft National Education Policy

Context : The clause recommending mandatory teaching of Hindi in all schools was dropped from the draft National Education Policy after the Union government faced an intense backlash from Tamil Nadu and protests from some other States.

About the Issue

• The controversy was regarding languages from class 6 onwards. The Original draft had the following regarding languages:
  • Students who wish to change one of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6, so long as the study of three languages by students in the Hindi-speaking States would continue to include Hindi and English and one of the modern Indian languages from other parts of India, while the study of languages by students in the non-Hindi-speaking States would include the regional language, Hindi and English.
• The draft bill had met particularly strong opposition in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which has always resisted the “imposition” of Hindi.

Revised Draft

• The revised draft — uploaded by the Human Resource Development Ministry on Monday morning — retains the recommendation to introduce a three-language formula from Class 1 onwards, merely having removed the clause stipulating the specific languages that students must choose.
• Revised draft read as follows
  • Students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages (one language at the literature level) in their modular Board Examinations some time during secondary school.

2 . CCR5

Context : People with a DNA mutation that reduces their chance of HIV infection may die sooner, according to a study that suggests tinkering with a gene to try to fix one problem may cause others.

About CCR5-Delta 32 Mutation

• C-C chemokine receptor type 5, also known as CCR5 or CD195, is a protein on the surface of white blood cells that is involved in the immune system as it acts as a receptor for chemokines.
• HIV uses the CCR5 protein to enter immune cells, but it can’t latch on to cells that carry the delta 32 mutation.
• The genetic mutation, ∆32 (Delta 32), refers to a missing 32-base-pair segment in the CCR5 gene.
• This mutation interferes with the localization on the cell surface of the protein for which CCR5 codes, thwarting HIV binding and infection.
• Hence when CCR5 is working normally, it lets certain cells of the immune system display a protein on their surfaces. HIV has co-opted that protein to use as a doorway to infect those cells. The mutation prevents that protein from appearing, and so reduces the risk of HIV infection.
• IciStem, a consortium of European scientists studying stem cell transplants to treat HIV infection, has a database of 22,000 donors with this HIV-resistant mutation.
• About 1% of people of Northern European descent, mainly Swedes, are born with a mutation known as CCR5-delta 32, which “locks ‘the door’ which prevents HIV from entering into the cell
• This is only going to work if someone has a virus that really only uses CCR5 for entry.
• Patient would still be vulnerable to a form of HIV called X4, which employs a different protein, CXCR4, to enter cells.

3 . Genetically Altered Chicken

Context : Scientists in Britain have used gene-editing techniques to stop bird flu spreading in chicken cells grown in a lab – a key step towards making genetically-altered chickens that could halt a human flu pandemic.

About the Findings

• Researchers prevented the virus from taking hold by deleting a section of chicken DNA inside lab-grown cells.
• Scientists targeted a specific molecule inside chicken cells called ANP32A.
• Researchers found that during an infection, flu viruses hijack this molecule to help replicate themselves.
• Researchers used gene-editing techniques to remove the section of DNA responsible for producing ANP32A. They found the virus was no longer able to grow inside cells with the genetic change.
• The next step will be to try to produce chickens with the genetic change. No birds have been produced yet

About Bird flu

• Bird flu viruses infect birds, including chickens, other poultry, and wild birds such as ducks. Usually bird flu viruses only infect other birds. It is rare for people to get infected with bird flu viruses, but it can happen.
• Two types, H5N1 and H7N9, have infected some people during outbreaks in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and parts of Europe.
• Most of the people who get bird flu have had close contact with infected birds or with surfaces that have been contaminated by the birds’ saliva, mucous, or droppings.
• It is also possible to get it by breathing in droplets or dust that contain the virus.
• Rarely, the virus has spread from one person to another. It may also be possible to catch bird flu by eating poultry or eggs that are not well cooked.

4 . Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Context : India on Monday slammed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation after it announced a Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir.

About OIC

• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents.
• The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world. It endeavors to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.
• The Organization was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco in 1969 following the criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
• In 1970 the first ever meeting of Islamic Conference of Foreign Minister (ICFM) was held in Jeddah which decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Jeddah headed by the organization’s secretary general.
• Although India was part of the initial negotiations for the OIC in the 1960s, it was never included in the 50-year-old, 56-member group, mainly due to Pakistan’s opposition.
• In 2018, Bangladesh and Turkey called for reform in the OIC and granting India observer status, but have yet to make progress on that.
• The OIC Observer states, or states with large Muslim populations at present are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic (CAR), Thailand, Russia and ‘Northern Cyprus’.

5 . Nandan Nilekani committee

Context : To encourage digital payments, the Nandan Nilekani committee has suggested a host of measures, including elimination of charges, round-the-clock RTGS and NEFT facility, and duty-free import of point-of-sales machines.

About the Recommendations

• Committee which was appointed by the RBI, had submitted its suggestions on promoting digital payments
• The panel has suggested that there should be no convenience fee on payments made to government agencies by customers and recommended that payment systems use machine-driven, online dispute resolution systems to handle complaints.
• The committee recommends that the RBI and the government put in place an appropriate mechanism to monitor the digital payment systems and make aggregated information based on blocks, and PIN code, available to all players on a monthly basis, so that they can make the necessary adjustments
• Keeping in mind that digital transactions result in larger balances with the bank, the panel felt customers must be allowed to initiate and accept a reasonable number of digital payment transactions with no charges.

6 . Purchase Manager’s Index

What is Purchase Managers Index?

• PMI or a Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator of business activity — both in the manufacturing and services sectors.
• It is a survey-based measures that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.
• It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.

What are its implications for the economy? 

• The PMI is usually released at the start of the month, much before most of the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth becomes available. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
• Economists consider the manufacturing growth measured by the PMI as a good indicator of industrial output, for which official statistics are released later. Central banks of many countries also use the index to help make decisions on interest rates 

PMI for India

• For India, the PMI Data is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by Markit Economics (for the US, it is the ISM).

PMI for Manufacturing Sector

• The variables used to construct India’s PMI for manufacturing sector are: Output, New Orders, Employment, Input Costs, Output Prices, Backlogs of Work, Export Orders, Quantity of Purchases, Suppliers‟ Delivery Times, Stocks of Purchases and Stocks of Finished Goods. Similar variables are used for the construction of services PMI. A manufacturing PMI and a services PMI are prepared and published by the two.
• The Nikkei and Markit economics websites says that PMI data are based on monthly surveys of carefully selected companies.

PMI for Service Sector

• The Nikkei India Services PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in around 350 private service sector companies.
• The index tracks variables such as sales, employment, inventories and prices. A reading above 50 indicates that the services sector is generally expanding; below 50 indicates that it is generally declining. 

7 . Monkeypox

About Monkeypox

• Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
• Monkeypox is a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. 
• With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, it has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus
• The monkeypox virus is mostly transmitted to people from various wild animals such as rodents and primates, but has limited secondary spread through human-to-human transmission.
• The virus is transmitted to those in close contact through secretions of the respiratory tract and skin lesion
• Typically, case fatality in monkeypox outbreaks has been between 1% and 10%, with most deaths occurring in younger age groups.
• There is no specific treatment or vaccine available although prior smallpox vaccination was highly effective in preventing monkeypox as well.

8 . Facts for Prelims

Udchalo

• Initiative is undertaken to make wounded soldiers, who are now confined to wheelchairs, self-reliant,
• ‘UdChalo’ is a travel portal, that caters for the personal travel of the military and paramilitary forces personnel by aggregating defence fares and getting exclusive discounts. The Army’s Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) has joined hands with UdChalo with an aim to empower the disabled military veterans.
• These wounded soldiers will work in shifts for two hours a day and will be paid Rs. 5,000 a month