UPSC Prelims News 11 November 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 11 November 2022

Measles

Context: The Union government has deployed a team to Mumbai to control measles outbreak.

About Measles:

• Cause: The disease is caused by a single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus. It is a member of the genus Morbillivirus in the Paramyxoviridae family.
• Symptoms: It is characterized by high fever, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. Red rash begins to appear after 14 days of exposure.
• Vulnerable groups: Infants and children, adults below 20 years, pregnant women and immune system compromised individuals.
• Spread: Measles is highly contagious. The virus is spread by direct contact with infectious droplets when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes.
• Mortality: Children are most vulnerable to measles. One to three children out of 1,000 will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.
• Prevention and treatment: Measles can be prevented with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
  • There is no specific antiviral therapy treatment for measles. Supportive care will help relieve symptoms.

Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterization and Evaluation (SPACE)

Context: DRDO has launched the hull module of the Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterization and Evaluation (SPACE) facility.

More on the News:

• The facility will be operational at Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) in Kochi.
• SPACE is a state-of-the-art testing and evaluation facility for sonar systems developed for use by the Indian Navy across various platforms, including ships, submarines and helicopters.
• Development: SPACE facility is based on the concept, design and requirement projected by NPOL and has been built by L&T Shipbuilding, Chennai.
• The facility will be used mainly for evaluating sonar systems, allowing for quick deployment and easy recovery of scientific packages such as sensors and transducers.
• Significance: SPACE has unique designed submersible platform, which can be lowered up to depths of 100 meters using a series of synchronously operated winches.

Transport4All Challenge Stage-2 and Citizen Perception Survey 2022

Context: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs virtually launched the Transport4All Challenge Stage-2 and Citizen Perception Survey 2022.

About Transport 4 All Challenge:

• It is an initiative that aims at enhancing the mobility experience of citizens.
• The Challenge focuses on digital innovation and invites cities, citizens, and innovators to join hands to develop contextual digital solutions to improve public transport to better serve the mobility needs of all citizens.
• The Stage-2 is opened to Startups for developing solutions to Transport problems in 46 participating cities.

About Citizen Perception Survey:

• It is launched under Ease of Living Index-2022 for 264 cities to capture citizens’ feedback about their city.
• It is an initiative to undertake a transparent and comprehensive assessment of cities based on cross-city outcomes across major sectors.
• Citizen Perception Survey was first conducted in 2020.

Atal New India Challenge (ANIC)

Context: Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched Woman centric challenges under phase-II of the 2nd edition of the Atal New India Challenge (ANIC).

About ANIC’s Woman Centric Challenges:

• Keeping in mind that “a woman is an architect of society”, ANIC’s Woman centric challenges address the major issues faced by woman from all spheres of life.
• These include driving women hygiene through innovation, innovations to improve women’s safety, professional networking opportunities for women, innovations that make working mothers’ life better, and easing the life of Rural Women.

About the Atal New India Challenge (ANIC):

• ANIC is an initiative by AIM, NITI Aayog targeted to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance through a grant-based mechanism of up to INR 1 crore.

About the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM):

• It is a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog launched in 2016 to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• Objectives:
  • To develop new programs and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy
  • Provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders
  • Create awareness and create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation ecosystem of the country.
• Initiatives under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM):
  • Atal New India Challenge
  • Atal Incubation Center
  • Atal Tinkering Lab
  • Mentor India
  • Aatmanirbhar Bharat ARISE – Atal New India Challenge (ANIC) Program
  • Atal Community Innovation Centre

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