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Director's message Dear Aspirants, At the outset, I would like to wish you and your families a very happy and prosperous new year 2021. Though the year 2020 began on a very bright note all over the world with lots of hopes and expectations on all fronts, it was short lived as the outbreak of once in a centuries rare pandemic COVID19 engulfed the entire globe affecting every aspect of human life which not only resulted in millions of deaths, but also completely crippled the economies rendering millions jobless and never seen before recession. Most of the Countries went into complete lockdown to slowdown the spread of the deadly Virus and Scientists and Doctors worked tirelessly to produce a suitable vaccine to insulate the mankind from this Pandemic reported to have originated from Wuhan Province in China. While some countries claimed discovery of vaccine and has gone public about it, the Virus continues to rage in most of the advanced countries in Europe, USA, Japan etctriggering a second wave compelling some of the countries to once again declare a lockdown to arrest the spread and loss of precious lives. However, India scripted history by developing appropriate vaccine and undertaking mass vaccination of the entire population based on certain criteria. January 16, 2021 will go down as a red letter day in the Indian medical history as the Prime Minister of India launched a mega vaccination drive. Two ‘Made in India’ vaccines, COVISHIELD and COVAXINE developed and produced indigenously by Indian Scientists and Researchers are being administered to 3 Crore frontline COVID WARRIORS in the first Phase followed by the rest thereby covering the entire population in a phased manner, which can be termed as ‘ Mother of all vaccinations’ in India in the recent history. Though US and China have managed to inoculate about 3,00,000 people in a single day weeks after they began, India is expected to reach the tally on the first day itself by inoculating 3,00,000 potential recipients across 3,006 centres with over 16 million doses already at hand. Such a herculean task couldn’t have been possible without scientific knowledge, institutional experience and manufacturing might coupled with robust planning and weeks of logistical preparations. Numerous vaccination sites were identified and demarcated, storage facilities checked and readied, an electronic platform coded into place and long lists of potential recipients drawn up. Each of these aspects is meant to address the initial challenges that other countries seem to have struggled with-of ready stock, local-level delivery sites, coordination and records and knowing whom to vaccinate first. Since different Covid-19 vaccines require different temperatures and different handling procedures, cold chain facilities, including equipment and procedures used in transport and storage, are a critical aspect before they are eventually administered to the masses. For example, some of the vaccines undergoing phase III trials now must be stored at temperatures as cold as minus 94 degrees Celsius. So, what is a cold chain? What are the issues in Covid-19 distribution? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), ‘cold chain’ is a system of storing and transporting vaccines at recommended temperatures from the point of manufacture to the point of use. Thus, a cold chain involves three major components of infrastructure: planes, trucks and cold storage warehouses. Without a proper cold chain facility, vaccines face the risk of being exposed to temperatures outside the recommended range, resulting in reduction of potency and wastage. According to a report by the International Air Transport Association’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics, 25 per cent of vaccines are degraded by the time they arrive at their destination while temperature errors cause losses around $34.1 billion annually. Vaccines are delicate products that can be damaged in excessive heat, light, or cold. A temperature-controlled 'cold' supply chain is crucial to their transport and storage, especially in a vast, hot country like India. In anticipation of the arrival of a vaccine for Covid-19, the government identified and prepared additional cold chain storage facilities for the expected enormous volumes that will be needed to inoculate the entire population. With hospitals expected to be the initial sites where the first vaccines would be administered, several of them lack ultra cold freezers since most drugs and vaccines don’t need them. The chickenpox vaccine is one of the few shots that needs to be stored frozen while flu vaccines require only refrigeration. Besides, a number of other components like vials, stoppers, gauze, alcohol swabs, syringes are also required in huge quantities to inoculate the masses. India, which has the capacity to manufacture more than 2 billion units of these vials, is being tapped by international players for supplies. India has more than 27,000 cold chain points of which 750 are located at the district level and above. The rest are located below the district level, according to government data. Dispelling all apprehensions and rumours regarding the efficacy of the vaccine and its possible reactions among the recipients, various prominent persons among the front line workers like Doctors set an example by being the first to get the COVID-19 Vaccine jab. However, the efficacy of the vaccine will be felt only after receiving the second dose for which the Hon’ble PM of India made an appeal to all the Citizens of the Country not to miss the second dose. While the launch of mega vaccination drive by the PM is a milestone in India’s fight against COVID-19, there is no room for complacency as most of the western countries are going through second wave with new variants of COVID-19 afflicting the people in England and Africa. The UK and South African virus variants have changes in the spike gene consistent with the possibility that they are more infectious," says Prof Lawrence Young at the University of Warwick. Though the discovery of vaccination is a great breakthrough in the mankind’s fight against the rare virus, the basic protocols like social distancing, wearing face masks and hand sanitisation still needs to be followed till the pandemic curve is completely flattened all over the world while simultaneously restoring normal day to day economic activities to pre COVID-19 days. Best wishes. K. Rajendra Kumar IPS (Retd.) Table of Content 1. NATIONAL…………………………………………………. (01 – 33) 1.1 Helmet Standards 1.2 Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 1.3 SCO Online International Exhibition 1.4 Lakshadweep And Andaman And Nicobar To Meet 100 Percent. Energy Needs Through Renewable Energy 1.5 Marcos 1.6 Ramayan Cruise Tour 1.7 AADI Mahotsav 1.8 “CHILD-FRIENDLY” Police Station Launched In Pune 1.9 Roshni Act 1.10 Honey Mission 1.11 Theremin Instrument 1.12 World Malaria Report 2020 1.13 Consent For Contempt 1.14 Interfaith Marriage 1.15 NISARG GRAM 1.16 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 1.17 Government announces list of 10 best performing police stations in India 1.18 Common entrance test for Vasrities 1.19 Hypothermia 1.20 National common mobility card 1.21 Monpa handmade paper 1.22 PM-JAY SEHAT 1.23 Umba Village In Ladakh Electrified 1.24 Thoubal Multipurpose Project 1.25 Financial Grants Distributed To Namghars 1.26 RVNL Marathwada Rail Coach Factory 1.27 US Plans to set up a Nuclear Reactor On Moon 1.28 V Ramagopal Rao Committee Constituted 1.29 India’s First Driverless Metro 1.30 ZOMI Ethnic Group 1.31 Swachhata Abhiyan APP 1.32 RAHIM’S TOMB 1.33 Lok Virasat, a festival of films on folk art and painting 1.34 No rules notified for Citizenship Amendment Act, clarifies government 1.35 Health Minister seeks help of journalists in eradicating Tuberculosis by 2025 1.36 Indian Navy refits Maldivian Coast Guard Ship CGS Huravee 1.37 Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches Nafed’s Honey FPO Programme 1.38 ‘PM Modi and his Government's Special Relationship with Sikhs’ Book released on the occasion of Gurupurab 1.39 When is the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare observed? 1.40 PM inaugurates six-lane widening project of the Varanasi-Prayagraj section of NH-19 1.41 Dighawara-Bandikui of railway route between Ajmer to Delhi has been electrified 1.42 National Education Policy 2020 upholds reservation policy 1.43 India records largest reductions in malaria cases in South-East Asia 1.44 Prime Minister to virtually inaugurate Agra Metro Rail project on December 7 1.45 APEDA and NABARD sign MoU for agriculture development 1.46 Vice President Venkaiah Naidu releases commemorative postage stamp in honour of Ex- PM IK Gujral 1.47 Cabinet approves Atmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana 1.48 Eligibility 1.49 Inner-Line Permit 1.50 Two child policy 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS …………………………(34 – 52) 2.1 India-Vietnam Leaders’ Virtual Summit 2.2 Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) 2.3 India-Bangladesh Virtual Summit 2.4 Israeli government collapses, elections likely to be held in March 2021 2.5 Singapore's street food added to UNESCO heritage list 2.6 UK's new mutated coronavirus strain highly infectious: UK PM orders lockdown. 2.7 Nepal Parliament dissolves, President announces dates for polls in 2021 2.8 US FDA plans to give authorisation to Moderna for emergency use 2.9 India, Iran and Uzbekistan to hold talks today on joint use of Chabahar port 2.10 UNESCO to launch international prize in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman 2.11 Climate Ambition Summit: India to exceed Paris Agreement targets, says PM Narendra Modi 2.12 Israel-Morocco peace deal 2.13 China activates nuclear-powered Artificial Sun 2.14 OPEC + 3.

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