9Th December 2020 Currents Affairs Analysis by Iastoppers' Editorial Team | 2020-12-09 17:00:00
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www.iastoppers.com 9th December 2020 Currents Affairs Analysis By IASToppers' Editorial Team | 2020-12-09 17:00:00 Polity & Governance Historical truths must be depicted without encouraging hatred or enmity, says SC The judgement was passed against the FIRs that were filed against a T.V. news anchor for alleged remarks on Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in a news show. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 1/27 www.iastoppers.com The Supreme Court verdict: Court accepted that the historical truth may be relevant or important factor but it must be depicted without in any way disclosing or encouraging hatred or enmity between different classes or communities. Truth may be a subjective element, making it one person’s relative truth over another’s. Cultural value system, historical experiences, lived realities of social system and hierarchies determine how individual perceives the truth. Free speech has empowered those who were marginalised and discriminated, and thus it would be wholly incorrect and a mistake to assume that free speech is an elite concept and indulgence. We must condemn and check any attempt at dissemination of discrimination on the basis of race, religion, caste, creed or regional basis. Social harmony and tolerance for hateful can be achieved by self restraint, institutional check and correction, self regulation or through mechanism of statutory regulations. Penal threat alone which can’t help us achieve and ensure equality between groups. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 2/27 www.iastoppers.com Dignity of citizens of all castes, creed, religion and region is best protected by the fellow citizens belonging to non-targeted groups and even targeted groups. In a polity committed to pluralism hate speech can’t contribute to the democracy rather it repudiate the right to equality. Objective of criminalizing hate speech is to protect dignity, ensure political and social equality between different identities and groups regardless of caste, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, linguistic preference etc. Dissent and criticism of the elected government’s policy, when puissant, deceptive or even false would be ethically wrong, but would not invite penal action. Other SC cases involving matter of hatred: K A Abbas vs Union of India, 1970 Ebrahim Suleiman Sait v. M C Mohammed and Another, 1980 [Ref: Indian Express] Government Schemes & Policies Invest India wins the UN Investment Promotion Award 2020 The United Nations (UNCTAD) has declared Invest India as the winner of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award. Invest India won the award in recognition of the breadth of the services and information that it has offered the Indian investment community since the onset of the pandemic. About Invest India: Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India. It is set up as a joint venture company between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry (35% equity), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) (51% equity), and State Governments of India (0.5% each). Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 3/27 www.iastoppers.com It is a not-for-profit, single window facilitator, set up in 2009 for prospective overseas investors as well as aspiring Indian investors. It acts as the first point of reference for investors in India. Objectives: To provide sector-specific and state-specific information to a foreign investor. To assist in expediting regulatory approvals, and offer hand-holding services. To assist Indian investors to make informed choices about investment opportunities overseas. To provide aftercare services that include initiating remedial action on problems faced by investors by involving the Government Departments concerned. Make in India campaign / program is managed by Invest India. About Investment Promotion Award: It is declared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The award recognizes the outstanding achievements and best practices of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) across the globe. About UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development): UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964. Objective: To maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis. To formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. Members: 195 member States India is one of the founding members of the organization. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Reports published by UNCTAD: Trade and Development Report World Investment Report The Least Developed Countries Report Information and Economy Report Technology and Innovation Report Commodities and Development Report [Ref: PIB] Issues related to Health & Education Three Covid-19 vaccine developers seek emergency use approval in India Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 4/27 www.iastoppers.com Three vaccine developers have now made applications to the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) seeking emergency use approval for their Covid-19 vaccines which are still under trials. Vaccine candidates seeking emergency approval: COVISHIELD: Pune-based Serum Institute of India has sought approval for its version of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. It is in phase- 3 trials in India. BNT162b2: It is developed by Pfizer. It has sought an approval to use it here based on the results of the trials conducted in the US. COVAXIN: Bharat Biotech is developing a vaccine, Covaxin, in collaboration with National Institute of Virology, an ICMR institute in Pune. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 5/27 www.iastoppers.com It has recently started phase-3 trials. Regulatory provisions for approval of vaccines in India: Clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines, and their approvals, are governed by the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019. New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019: It provides for the ‘accelerated approval process’ in several situations like current pandemic. Accelerated approval process means granting approval to a drug that is still in clinical trials provided drug has meaningful therapeutic benefits. It can be granted to the drugs intended for treatment of serious or life threatening conditions or disease of special relevance to the country and address unmet medical needs. Note: There is no provision whether data from a trial conducted in another country can be considered while assessing an application for accelerated approval to a drug or vaccine to be used in India. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 6/27 www.iastoppers.com How different are Indian regulations from those elsewhere? US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has issued very specific guidelines for approval of Covid19 vaccines. Emergency use authorisation can be considered only after sufficient data from phase-3 trials are generated. Application cannot be made on the basis of data only from phase-1 or phase-2 trials. Preliminary phase-3 data should show at least 50% effectiveness in preventing the disease, and that this data must be generated from more than 3,000 trial participants. Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Within the CDSCO, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) regulates pharmaceutical and medical devices. CDSCO works under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 7/27 www.iastoppers.com [Ref: Indian Express] Organochlorines may be behind Eluru mystery illness A ‘mystery disease’ has left 450 patients in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh with seizures, nausea, dizziness and headaches. Among tentative reasons being blamed are organochlorides. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 8/27 www.iastoppers.com About Organochlorides Organochlorines (OC) are a group of chlorinated compounds that belong to the class of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with high persistence in the environment. Almost 40 per cent of all pesticides used belong to the organochlorine class of chemicals as they are relatively cheaper. Examples, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), aldrin and dieldrin. OC insecticides were earlier used to control malaria and typhus. OC can cause several adverse effects in the central and peripheral nervous system. As a result, several such chemicals were banned in some developed countries. How do these pesticides reach people? People can be exposed to OCs through- Accidental inhalation if they are in an area where such pesticides were used or sprayed. Ingested through fish, dairy products and other fatty foods, which can get contaminated. Accumulate in the environment. Persistent and move long distances in surface runoff or groundwater. In the mid-1970s in India, OCs resulted in widespread reproductive failure among birds. They laid eggs with thin shells that cracked before hatching. Copyright © 2021 IASToppers. All rights reserved. | Page 9/27 www.iastoppers.com How can these pesticides affect human health? Exposure to OCs for- Short period: convulsions,