CIVIL SERVICES ICES SERV MONTHLY L DECEMBER 2020 CIVI FOR Havana Syndrome N World AIDS Day UTIO Passage Exercise India Mobile Congress 2020 OL S Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Migrants Day India International Science Festival 2020 OP First downstream hydropower project Tharu tribals U.P. religious conversion ordinance Organization of Islamic ONE ST Cooperation on Kashmir Smuggling in India Report 2019-20 Honey FPO Programme 3RF Framework Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Summit INDEX PRELIMS Havana Syndrome 1 International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) 8 Passage Exercise (PASSEX) 11 "Go for Zero" policy 16 India International Science Festival 2020 35 GENERAL STUDIES – 1 INDIAN HERITAGE AND CULTURE, HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD AND SOCIETY First downstream hydropower project 39 Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) 42 India Water Impact Summit 43 Iceberg A68 15 GENERAL STUDIES-II GOVERNANCE, CONSTITUTION, POLITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS U.P. religious conversion ordinance 45 Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Kashmir 47 Annual Ranking of Police Stations 49 6th India-CLMV Business Conclave 2020 51 Smuggling in India Report 2019-20 53 Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) 55 Motor Annual Report 56 UNESCO’s 2020 State of Education for India Report 59 Dharma Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020 63 GENERAL STUDIES-III TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, BIO-DIVERSITY, ENVIRONMENT, SECURITY AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT Honey FPO Programme 64 HSN code 69 Liquidity Adjustment Facility 72 Elephant Corridors 76 Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) 77 Plasmodium ovale Malaria 79 CMS-01 83 The ‘Status of Leopard in India 2018’ report 87 Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 (CARO) 88 response mechanism for similar incidents, Current Affairs adding that future incidents might be more DECEMBER 2020 dispersed in time and place, and even more difficult to recognise quickly. Prelims Oriented • However, the committee cannot rule out other possible mechanisms and considers it likely that a multiplicity of factors explains Havana Syndrome some cases and the differences between others. In News • It also does not mention the source and if Recently, in a report by the National Academies of the energy was delivered intentionally, even Sciences (NAS), USA has found directed microwave though it conducted significant research on radiation to be the plausible cause of the Havana microwave weapons. syndrome. Microwave Weapons Havana Syndrome • “Microwave weapons” are supposed to be a • In late 2016, USA diplomats and other type of direct energy weapons, which aim employees stationed in Havana (capital of highly focused energy in the form of sonic, Cuba) reported feeling ill after hearing laser, or microwaves, at a target. strange sounds and experiencing odd • People exposed to high-intensity microwave physical sensations. pulses have reported a clicking or buzzing • The symptoms included nausea, severe sound, as if seeming to be coming from headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep within your head. It can have both acute and problems, and hearing loss, which have long-term effects — without leaving signs of since come to be known as the Havana physical damage. Syndrome. • The more chronic problems suffered by Havana personnel included mainly vestibular processing and cognitive Cannabis Removed problems as well as insomnia and headache. from Dangerous • While the symptoms have resolved for some of the affected employees, for others, the Substances effects have lingered and posed a significant obstacle to their work and affected the normal functioning of lives. In News The United Nations passed a resolution to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from the category of Key Findings 'most dangerous substances'. • Directed pulsed microwave radiation energy • India votes in favour to remove cannabis appears to be the most plausible mechanism from 'most dangerous drugs' list in UN. in explaining the cases of Havana syndrome • Total 27 member states, including India, the among those that the committee considered. US and EU countries, supported the vote, • By calling it “directed” and “pulsed” energy, while 25 nations including China, Pakistan the report leaves no room for confusion that and Russia voted "no". the victims’ exposure was targeted and not • The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs due to common sources of microwave approved a recommendation from the energy. World Health Organization to remove • The immediate symptoms that patients cannabis and cannabis resin from its reported, including sensations of pain and Schedule IV classification under the 1961 buzzing sound, apparently emanated from a Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. That particular direction, or occurred in a specific designation put cannabis and one of its spot in a room. derivatives in a category alongside heroin • It warns about the possibility of future and other opioids. episodes and recommends establishing a CHAHAL ACADEMY, NEW DELHI P a g e 1 | 90 • Substances classified as Schedule IV are a subset of Schedule I drugs. That means not Defence Geo only are they considered to be "highly Informatics Research addictive and highly liable for abuse," they're also labeled as "particularly harmful and of extremely limited medical or In News therapeutic value." The Defence Research Development Organization created new lab for focused research along China, Cannabis Pakistan borders. • The two new labs merged by the • Cannabis, also known as marijuana among government are the Manali-headquartered other names, is a psychoactive drug from Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment the Cannabis plant used primarily for (SASE) and the other is the Delhi-based medical or recreational purposes. Defence Terrain Research Establishment. • Cannabis can be used by smoking, • This new lab will focus on researching vaporizing, within food, or as an extract. terrain and avalanches along the borders • Cannabis has various mental and physical with China from Ladakh to Arunachal effects, which include euphoria, altered Pradesh and Pakistan. states of mind and sense of time, difficulty concentrating, impaired short-term memory and body movement, relaxation, and an Snow and Avalanche Studies increase in appetite. • At high doses, mental effects can include Establishment (SASE) anxiety, delusions (including ideas of SASE is a laboratory of the Defence Research & reference), hallucinations, panic, paranoia, Development Organization. Located near Manali, and psychosis. Himachal Pradesh its primary function is research in the field of snow and avalanches to provide avalanche control measures and forecasting UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs support to Indian Armed Forces. (CND) • CND is one of the functional commissions of Defence Terrain Research the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is the central drug Establishment policy-making body within the United • It was established in 1954. The primary Nations system and has important functions function of the laboratory was to evaluate under the international drug control the deadlines and assess mobility potential conventions. of inaccessible areas. • The mandate of the CND was to assist • It developed reliable systems that predicted ECOSOC in supervising the application of current characteristics various types of international conventions and agreements triangles based on modern techniques. dealing with narcotic drugs. • Also the laboratory developed infrastructure • The CND was additionally assigned the role with the latest techniques related and of the governing body of the United Nations Research. International Drug Control Programme, • The mission of the laboratory was to create which is administered by the United and update Terrain intelligence reports and Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. thematic maps for the users. CHAHAL ACADEMY, NEW DELHI P a g e 2 | 90 BNT162b2 About Vaccine • The Pfizer/BionTech formula is an mRNA vaccine that uses a tiny fragment of genetic In News code from the pandemic virus to teach the Britain becomes first country to approve Pfizer- body how to fight Covid-19 and build BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use and said that it immunity. will be rolled out from early next week. • An mRNA vaccine has never been approved • The joint vaccine, produced by American for use in humans before, with people only pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German receiving them in clinical trials so far. biotech firm BioNTech, had recently • The vaccine must be stored at around -70C claimed trials suggested it works well in and will be transported in special boxes, people of all ages, races and ethnicities. packed in dry ice. Once delivered, it can be kept for up to five days in a fridge. • Pfizer and BioNTech had reported final trial BNT162b2 results that showed its vaccine was 95 per • BNT162b2 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate cent effective in preventing Covid-19. developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and • The vaccine is being manufactured in given by intramuscular injection. BioNTech’s German sites, as well as Pfizer’s • It is an RNA vaccine composed of manufacturing site in Belgium. nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding a mutated form of the spike protein of SARS- CoV-2, and is encapsulated in lipid Medicines and Healthcare products nanoparticles. Regulatory Agency (MHRA) • MHRA is an executive agency of the Details Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which is responsible for