• The Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated the 2nd TCGA 2020 conference in New Delhi recently.

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)

• It is a landmark cancer genomics program that molecularly characterized over 20,000 primary cancer and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types.
• This joint effort between the US- National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute began in 2006, bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines and multiple institutions.
• Over the years, TCGA generated over 2.5 petabytes of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data.
• The data, which has already led to improvements in the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer, will remain publicly available for anyone in the research community to use.

Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA)

• On similar lines, the establishment of an ‘Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA)’ has been initiated by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by CSIR, Government of India in which several government agencies, cancer hospitals, academic institutions and private sector partners.

• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recently issued an advisory on Advertisements on Online gaming, fantasy sports and others.
• It has asked all the broadcasters that the guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India, ASCI are complied with.

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

• It is a self-regulatory voluntary organization of the Advertising Industry established in 1985 to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in Advertising.
• It is committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers.
• ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc.
• The Consumer Complaints Council is ASCI's heart and soul.
• It is the dedicated work put in by this group of highly respected people that has given tremendous impetus to the work of ASCI and the movement of self- regulation in the advertising.

• The United Kingdom has recently become the first country in the world to approve of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE.
• The British regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), says the vaccination, which claims to offer up to 95 per cent protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe for roll out.

• India in September 2020, has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct as an observer which is expected to provide it a strategic heft in the Indian Ocean region.

The Djibouti Code of Conduct/Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA)

• It is a regional maritime security cooperation agreement established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2008.
• It was initially focused on piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean Region, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
• It was later extended to cover environmental issues as well in 2017.
• It comprises 19 member states adjoining the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the East coast of Africa.
• India has joined Japan, Norway, the UK and the US as observers of the grouping.
• India's joining of the grouping comes at a time China has been making concerted efforts to expand its military influence in the Indian Ocean Region.

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Dispute

• The conflict between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD); Egypt voiced concern over its water share.
• In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam.
• In 2019, Egypt blamed Addis Ababa for hindering a final agreement concerning a technical problem, calling for mediation.
• Ethiopia is responsible for the failure of reaching a comprehensive agreement with the Nile downstream countries [Egypt and Sudan] regarding the operation and the filling of its dam.
• Another round of tripartite negotiations between Foreign Ministers and Water Ministers of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) kicked off recently.

• Going ahead with its plan to shift the Rohingyas from Cox's Bazar refugee camp, the Bangladesh government has recently started the process of relocating them to the newly developed facility at the Bhashan char Island.
• International Human Rights groups are opposing the relocation of Rohingyas to the Bhashan Char.
• They demand independent assessment of the liveability on the Bhashan char by the UN and humanitarian agencies before the process is started.

Bhashan char

• It is an uninhabited island where the government of Bangladesh has made shelter houses for one lakh Rohingya refugees at an estimated cost of Tk. 2,300 crore.
• The environmentalists say that the Bhashan char falls in an ecologically fragile area prone to floods, erosion and cyclones.
• Currently more than a million Rohingya are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing the military crackdown in the Rakhine province of Myanmar in August 2017.

Operation Trident

• Under Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank three vessels near the Pakistani port city of Karachi in 1971 war.
• The stars of the mission were the then-recently acquired Soviet Osa missile boats, fitted with 4 SS-N-2 (P-15) Styx missiles.
• INS Kiltan, Katchall, Nipat, Nighat and Veer sank PNS Khaibar killing 222 Pakistani sailors, and PNS Muhafiz killing 33 Pakistani sailors.
• Operation Trident resulted in the first use of anti-ship missiles in the region as well as the first sinking of naval vessels during hostilities in the region since World War II.
• The Navy plans to celebrate 2021 as ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ as part of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the victory in the 1971 war.

Minimum Support Price

• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The CACP projects three kinds of production cost for every crop, both at state and all-India average levels.

1. ‘A2’ - Covers all paid-out costs directly incurred by the farmer in cash and kind on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, hired labour, leased-in land, fuel, irrigation, etc.
2. ‘A2+FL’ - Includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family labour.
3. ‘C2’ - It is a more comprehensive cost that factors in rentals and interest forgone on owned land and fixed capital assets, on top of A2+FL.

• CACP considers all costs in a comprehensive manner which is based on the methodology recommended by Expert Committees from time to time.
• CACP considers both A2+FL and C2 costs while recommending MSP.
• CACP reckons only A2+FL cost for return. However, C2 costs are used by CACP primarily as benchmark reference costs.

Cultured Meat

• Plant based meat is made from plant sources such as soy or pea protein, while cultured meat is grown directly from cells in a laboratory.
• It aims to offer alternatives to traditional meat products that could feed a lot more people, reduce the threat of zoonotic diseases, and mitigate the environmental impact of meat consumption.
• In terms of cellular structure, cultured or cultivated meat is the same as conventional meat, except that cultured meat does not come directly from animals.
• Cultivated meat is created in clean facilities, that don’t have the risk of contamination by pathogens such as salmonella and E coli, which may be present in traditional slaughterhouses and meat-packing factories.
• It does not require antibiotics either, unlike animals raised for meat, thereby reducing the threat posed to public health by growing antibiotic resistance.

Cannabis Drug

• According to the WHO, cannabis is a generic term used to denote the several psychoactive preparations of the plant Cannabis sativa.
• The major psychoactive constituent in cannabis is Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
•  The WHO says that cannabis is by far the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug in the world.
• India was part of the voting majority, along with the US and most European nations whereas China, Pakistan and Russia were among those who voted against.
• In India, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, illegalises any mixture with or without any neutral material, of any of the two forms of cannabis i.e. charas and ganja or any drink prepared from it.

Hessell-Tiltman Prize

• PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize is an annual award given for non-fiction book of specifically historical content.
• PEN stands for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists, is one of the world's oldest human rights organisations championing the freedom to write and read.
• It is the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' association with 145 centres in more than 100 countries.
• The award is given in the memory of Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman, a member PEN Literary Foundation.
• Entries for the award are required to be works of high literary merit and it should have not primarily written for the academic market.