PRELIMS NEWS
- Paper-strip virus test to be out soon: Vardhan
The issue in news
Union Health Minister has said that the Ministry would soon roll out the FELUDA paper-strip test for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis.
FELUDA has been developed by the CSIR-IGIB and approved by the Drug Controller General of India for a commercial launch.
The test showed 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity.
- FELUDA has been so named because technically it is an acronym and stands for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay.
- the scientist who developed the test with his team, named it after the famous fictional Bengali sleuth created by Satyajit Ray, Feluda.
Advantages:
- The test can achieve accuracy levels of traditional RT-PCR tests, with quicker turnaround time, less expensive equipment, and better ease of use.
- It is a futuristic technology that can also be configured for the detection of multiple other pathogens in the future.
- While the RT-PCR test’s price is capped at Rs.4500 in private labs, the FELUDA test could cost just about Rs.500.
- It is very easy to use, like the strip pregnancy tests which are available over the counter widely. The test is also highly accurate.
- BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA
The issue in news
A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 Km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana till August, 2020. Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the same date.
Main points
- The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken up detailed review of NHs network.
- It has given overall investment approval for Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I Scheme for development of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 Km residual NHDP stretches) at an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 Crore.
- Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country.
- This will be done by development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.
- Jayaprakash Narayan and Nanaji Deshmukh Jayanti
The issue in news
Prime Minister of India payed tribute to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Nanaji Deshmukh, on their Jayanti.
Main points
Jayaprakash Narayan (JP):
- He was influenced by Gandhian ideology and the Marxist ideas in the USA .
- he joined the Indian National Congress in 1929 and played an important key role in the formation of the Congress Socialist Party
- In 1948, he left the Congress Party and initiated an anti-Congress Campaign. he formed the Praja Socialist Party (PSP). In 1954, he devoted his life exclusively to the Bhoodan Yajna Movement, of Vinoba Bhave, which demanded land redistribution to the landless.
- He advocated a program of social transformation which he termed ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ (total revolution) in 1974 against corruption in public life through Total revolution against Indira Gandhi Regime as she was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court.
- Jayaprakash Narayan was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna (1999) award
Nanaji Deshmukh:
- Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh, affectionately called Nanaji Deshmukh (1916 – 2010) was a social activist and political leader.
- Nanaji Deshmukh was a long-time RSS member and a founding member of the Jan Sangh. He later became a part of the Janata Party and Bharatiya Janata Party.
- He was considered one of the architects of the Jai Prakash Narain movement against Emergency in 1974, and was also instrumental in the formation of Janata Party government in 1977.
- He was a member of the sixth Lok Sabha between 1977 and 1979, and nominated to Rajya Sabha by the then NDA government in 1999.
- As a social activist, he worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance esp. in around 500 villages in Chitrakoot.
- He set up the Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh, which is considered the country’s first rural university.
- Deshmukh was the main force behind social activist Jayaprakash Narayan’s agitation for total revolution.
- He started a chain of Saraswati Vidya Mandir schools throughout India.
He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019.
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