Prelim Bits 25-05-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Sengol

The new building of Parliament will witness the same historic event of vesting the Hon’ble PM with the Sengol.

When India attained independence from the British, a question aroused about the ceremony to symbolise the transfer of power from British to Indian hands.
To signify the transfer of power from one ruler to another, C.Rajagopalachari suggested using a Sengol followed by Cholas.
The Adheenams (Priests) gave the Sengol to Lord Mountbatten first and then took it back in a procession to Jawaharlal Nehru.
On the night of August 14, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru received the 'Sengol' from the priest of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (Mutt) in Tamil Nadu.
A song composed by the 7th-century Tamil saint Tirugnana Sambandar, was played during the ceremony.
This exact moment signifies the independence of India and transfer of its power.
Sengol - The ‘Sengol’ was later kept in a museum in Allahabad.
The Sengol is a historic sceptre which symbolises power.
The recipient of the Sengol has the ‘order’ (‘Aanai’ in Tamil) to rule justly and fairly.
The sceptre measures five feet in length and has a ‘Nandi’ bull on top.
The Nandi, with its unyielding gaze is the beholder of “Nyaya” and symbolising justice.
The word ‘Sengol’ is derived from the Tamil word ‘Semmai’, meaning ‘Righteousness’.
The golden sceptre was crafted by Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, a famous jeweller in the Madras Presidency.
The makers of the sceptre are Vummidi Ethirajulu and Vummidi Sudhakar, both are living in Chennai.

sengol

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Health for All

WHO launches first-ever roadmap to link health with sustainable economic growth at the 76^th World Health Assembly.

WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All launched the first of a kind roadmap during the ongoing 76^th World Health Assembly (WHA).
The Council on the Economics of Health for All launched ‘Health for All: Transforming economies to deliver what matters’ report.
The roadmap focuses on the links between health and sustainable, inclusive and innovation-led economic growth.
The roadmap structures economic activity in a way that will allow us to reach the goal of seeing all people with access to essential health services faster with better result.
WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All was established in November 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It recommended reorienting economies to deliver health for all across four interrelated themes:
Measurement: Valuing and measuring Health for All.
- Valuing and measuring what matters through new economic metrics.
Capacity: Pathways to Health for All.
- How to strengthen dynamic public sector capacity to achieve health for all.
Finance: Investing in Health for All.
- How to finance health for all as a long-term investment, not a short-term cost.
Innovation: Governing Innovation for All.
- how to advance health innovation for the common good;
The Council is currently comprised of 10 members, including the Chair.
The Council is all-female group comprises distinguished economists and area experts.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) is drafting new rules for dealing with pandemics.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) published a ‘zero-draft’ of the pandemic treaty on February 1, 2023.
After five rounds of formal negotiations, the latest 208-page draft of the treaty is still under negotiation.
The WHO already has binding rules known as the International Health Regulations.
These regulations are also being reviewed in the wake of COVID-19.
Genesis - At a Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS) in 2021, member states agreed by consensus to establish an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB).
The purpose of INB is to draft an international instrument for pandemic preparedness and response by the WHO.
The ‘pandemic treaty’ was first proposed by Chile and the European Union (EU).
It has subsequently gained public endorsement by multiple world leaders and the WHO.
The treaty aims to improve preparedness for future pandemics and enhance global cooperation in responding to them.

International Health Regulations

The International Health Regulations was adopted after the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.
In 2005, it set out countries’ obligations where public health events have the potential to cross borders.
These include advising the WHO immediately of a health emergency and measures on trade and travel.
These regulations are still considered appropriate for regional epidemics, such as Ebola but inadequate for a global pandemic.

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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced that for the first time, scientists have strong evidence of a polar cyclone on Uranus.

Uranus is the 7^th planet from the Sun and it takes about 84 years to complete a full revolution.
For many decades, the poles of the planet were not pointed towards Earth.
Since about 2014, scientists have had a better view of Uranus’s pole as it is slightly pointed towards our planet.
Therefore have been able to look deeper into the polar atmosphere.
The Very Large Array in New Mexico observed warm and dry circulation of air at poles, which are signs of strong cyclone.
Polar cyclone in other planets - The evidence of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus shows the dynamic nature of the planet.
It also reiterates the hypothesis that all planets with substantial atmospheres in our solar system show signs of a swirling vortex at the poles, irrespective of whether they are composed of rock or gas.
Apart from Mercury, every planet in the solar system have been identified with cyclones at the pole now.
Mercury does not have a substantial atmosphere to have cyclones.
Uranus cyclone - Unlike Earth, cyclones on Uranus are not formed over water as they don’t have water.
Methane clouds are formed at poles due to circulating winds.
The cyclones on Uranus are locked at the poles and do not drift.
Cyclones in Saturn also exhibit same property of locked to the poles.

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International Transport Forum (ITF) organised 3-days Transport Summit in Leipzig, Germany.

The annual Summit of the International Transport Forum is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers and the premier global transport policy event.
Transport Summit 2023 held at Leipzig, Germany for 3 days.
The event held under the theme of ‘Transport Enabling Sustainable Economies’.
Transport ministers from across 64 member countries of the ITF gathered for the summit.
ITF Transport Outlook 2023 report was released at the summit.
The report says decarbonising transportation can reduce the need for investment in core infrastructure.
Decarbonisation, in turn, can help in achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
International Transport Forum (ITF) is a think tank for transport policy which is administratively integrated with the OECD yet politically autonomous.
ITF organises the Annual Summit of transport ministers.
ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes.

India is not a member of OECD, hence not a member of ITF.

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