28 November 2024

• Polity: The 75th anniversary of the Constitution was observed on 26 November. As of 2024 India's Constitution has 448 articles and 12 schedules.
• OPCW: The Indian Chemical Council received the 2024 OPCW-The Hague Award at the 29th session of the OPCW Conference of States Parties.
• Health: The WHO's International Pathogen Surveillance Network granted nearly 2 million dollars to 10 projects for pathogen genomic surveillance.
• Defence: The Eklavya platform for continuous military education was launched by the Army Chief.

GS area: International Relations, Defence

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons held its 29th Conference of States Parties.

• OPCW: Established 1997. Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. Member states: 193.
• Nobel Peace Prize: Awarded to the OPCW in 2013 for its work in eliminating Syria's declared chemical weapons stockpile.
• OPCW-The Hague Award 2024: Given to the Indian Chemical Council.
• Indian Chemical Council (ICC): Founded 1938. Represents India's chemical industry, which is worth approximately 220 billion dollars. Runs the Responsible Care programme for safety, health and environmental standards.
• Chemical Weapons Convention: The treaty that established the OPCW. Adopted 1993, entered into force 1997. Bans the production, stockpile and use of chemical weapons.

Static linkage: International organisations, arms control, chemical weapons.

GS area: Polity, Modern History

The 75th anniversary of the Constitution's adoption prompted enumeration of landmark constitutional amendments.

• 1st Amendment (1951): Added the Ninth Schedule to protect land reform laws from fundamental rights challenges.
• 7th Amendment (1956): Reorganised states on linguistic lines following the States Reorganisation Act.
• 42nd Amendment (1976): "Mini constitution." Added socialist, secular and integrity to Preamble. Added Fundamental Duties. Created Directive Principles supremacy over certain fundamental rights (later partly reversed).
• 44th Amendment (1978): Reversed several Emergency-era changes. Restored the right to property as a legal right (not fundamental).
• 61st Amendment (1988): Lowered voting age from 21 to 18.
• 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992): Constitutionalised Panchayati Raj and urban local self-government.
• 86th Amendment (2002): Made primary education a fundamental right (Article 21A).
• 101st Amendment (2016): Introduced GST.
• 103rd Amendment (2019): EWS reservation of 10 per cent.

Static linkage: Constitutional amendments, polity, modern history.

GS area: Health, International Relations

The WHO's International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) awarded nearly 2 million dollars to 10 projects.

• IPSN: Led by the WHO's Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
• Focus: Strengthening pathogen genomic surveillance in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).
• Why it matters: Pandemic pathogen variants often originate in or first spread through LMICs with weak surveillance. Early detection at source is critical.
• Funders: UN Foundation, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome Trust.
• Genomic surveillance: Sequencing pathogen DNA/RNA from patient samples to track mutations, variants and spread.

Static linkage: Pandemic preparedness, WHO, global health governance.

GS area: Defence, Governance

The Chief of Army Staff launched the Eklavya platform for continuous professional military education.

• Developer: Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N).
• Purpose: Digital library and learning platform for army personnel. Provides access to military journals, research papers and doctrine documents.
• "Knowledge Highway": A curated digital resource database for professional military education.
• Alignment: Part of the Army's "Decade of Transformation" vision and "Year of Technology Absorption" theme.
• Launched by: General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff.

Static linkage: Defence modernisation, military education, digital governance.

GS area: Science and Technology, Health

Wockhardt, an Indian pharmaceutical company, developed nafithromycin as a new antibiotic for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.

• Condition treated: Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP).
• Efficacy: Ten times more effective than azithromycin (current standard treatment).
• Dosing: A three-day course (compared to five days for azithromycin).
• Developer: Wockhardt, supported by BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council).
• Regulatory status: Pending CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) clearance as of November 2024.
• Significance: CABP is a leading cause of pneumonia mortality. A shorter, more effective treatment course improves patient compliance and reduces hospital stays.

Static linkage: Pharmaceutical industry, healthcare, science and technology.

• New Pamban Bridge: India's first vertical-lift railway sea bridge, connecting Rameswaram Island to Mandapam in Tamil Nadu. Total length: 2.078 kilometres with 99 spans. The central span lifts vertically to allow tall vessels to pass. Features electromechanical control interlocked with train signalling.
• Biomedical Waste Management Rules: India enacted biomedical waste rules in 1998, amended in 2016 and 2020. Colour-coded containers: yellow (pathological, cytotoxic), red (contaminated recyclables), blue (glass), white (sharps). Treatment methods include incineration, autoclaving, microwaving and chemical disinfection.
• Lothal, Gujarat: Harappan-era site built around 2200 BCE. The southernmost major Indus Valley Civilisation site. Features the world's earliest known dockyard. Excavated 1955-1960 by S.R. Rao. On UNESCO Tentative World Heritage List (2014). A National Maritime Heritage Complex of 3,500 crore rupees is under development.