Comprehensive News Analysis - 19 May 2017

In News:

• The Goods and Services (GST) Council agreed on the fitment finalized the tax rates of almost all commodities in the various tax slabs under the new indirect regime to be rolled out on July 1.

Exemption List:

Milk, cereals (unpackaged and unbranded), and jaggery.

In News:

CAG Report:

• The water quality of major rivers and water bodies in Uttar Pradesh is not as per the norms.
• Reason: inadequate sewage and industrial effluent treatment facilities in the state. Malfunctioning of existing treatment facilities was also responsible for the pooor quality of water.
• The BOD (bio-chemical oxygen demand) level and total coliform (which included bacteria that are found in the soil in water that has been influenced by surface water and in human or animal waste) are above the prescribed standard in 12 major rivers and six water bodies for the years 2013-15

Basic Information:

Coliform bacteria:

• Coliform bacteria are defined as rod-shaped Gram-negative non-spore forming and motile or non-motile bacteria which can ferment lactose with the production of acid and gas when incubated at 35–37°C.
• They are a commonly used indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water.
• Coliforms can be found in the aquatic environment, in soil and on vegetation; they are universally present in large numbers in the feces of warm-blooded animals.
• Whilst coliforms themselves are not normally causes of serious illness, they are easy to culture, and their presence is used to indicate that other pathogenic organisms of fecal origin may be present. Such pathogens include disease-causing bacteria, viruses, or protozoa and many multicellular parasites.

Biochemical oxygen demand

• Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, also called biological oxygen demand) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e., demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.
• The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water.
• BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants.

In News:

• A team of 12 doctors at the Pune’s Galaxy Care Laparoscopy Institute (GCLI) successfully completed the highly complex and delicate procedure of India’s first uterine transplant on a woman from Solapur district .
• The woman suffers from congenital absence of uterus and is to be fitted with her mother’s womb to enable her to conceive normally.
• The operations are meant to help women who want to conceive but cannot because they were born without uterus, suffered damage to it or had to have it removed.

Uterus transplant technique:

• Still in its nascent, experimental stage, only a handful of these operations have met with success in other countries, primarily in Sweden.
• Risk involved: Organ rejection.

In news:

• The Army took delivery of two M777 ultralight howitzers from the U.S. under a contract signed in 2016.
• The guns will be put through trials before induction into the Indian arsenal.

M777 howitzers:

• First modern 155-mm artillery guns to be inducted.

Dhanush:

• Dhanush, an upgraded and indigenous version of the Bofors gun, is in the final stage of trials and induction is slated to begin soon.
• Development of a new gun, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), under a public-private partnership (PPP) model jointly by the public and the private sector is progressing well.
• The Bofors guns, which was found effective during the Kargil war, continue to be the mainstay.

In news:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) – presented with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2014.
• The prize was presented to ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar by former Prime Minister and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT) trustee Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Award:

• Trophy made of banded Haematite Jasper, with a portrait of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Jaipur miniature paintings
• Ccash award of 1 crore and a citation.

Why ISRO?

In recognition of its path-breaking achievements, culminating in the Mars Orbiter Mission and its contributions in strengthening international cooperation.

Basic Information:

Indira Gandhi Prize :

• Prestigious award accorded annually by India to individuals or organisations in recognition of creative efforts toward promoting international peace, development and a new international economic order; ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for the larger good of humanity, and enlarging the scope of freedom.
• The prize carries a cash award of 2.5 million Indian rupees and a citation. A written work, in order to be eligible for consideration, should have been published. The panel constituted by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust consists of prominent national and international personalities including previous recipients. The recipients are chosen from a pool of national and international nominees.

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