SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY –  2014

(Daily answer writing challenge)  –  200 Words

Q.No1. „The recent outbreak of „Ebola Virus‟ has wider implications for national

security of a country‟. One of the questions that used to be addressed is the

preparedness of a country for such epidemic. Do you think India is prepared for

such outbreaks?

ANS:

India being a vast country, preparedness for an Ebola epidemic must be formulated.

As many as 45,000 Indians are either living or working in and around the epicenter of

this deadly disease. Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, where reported deaths

are more than 1,300 since the outbreak of the disease.

With Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the WHO working together to

ensure the preparedness measures shall be put into place. Proactive measures are

 being discussed and implemented which includes –  

(i) In-flight announcements prior to landing, informing passengers to self-report at

immigration

(ii) Government has set up facilities at airports and ports to manage travelers showing

any kind of symptoms like fever, headache, muscle pain, bleeding etc

(iii) Those showing symptoms will be under observation for up to four weeks

(iv) State authorities are given instructions to designate hospitals with isolation wards

and to stock protective equipment

(v) An Ebola helpline has been formed for public, seeking any information on signs

and symptoms

(vi) Educating and communicating people to raise awareness about Ebola needs to be

done. Informing people about Ebola will help in controlling public fear and anxiety

Q.No.2. Comment on the India‟s performance in achieving „Millennium

Development Goals.‟ 

ANS:

Millennium declaration of 8 goals, 12 out of 18 targets and 35 indicators relating to

these targets constitute India's statistical tracking instrument for the MDGs.

Goal 1: India is worst in terms of eradicating extreme poor in South Asia. India

accounts for 1/3rd of the world's extremely poor.

Goal 2: Even though the chance of a girl from scheduled tribe area completing 12th is

less than 1%, India has almost touched the universal school enrollment.

Goal 3: Gender equality and women empowerment still lagging behind by a huge

margin as can be seen from the share of women employment in private sector and

Parliament.

Goal 4: India accounts for the highest number around 1.4 million children deaths.

However, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal performed significantly better in reducing

child mortality rates.

 

 

Goal 5: India accounts for a quarter of the world maternal deaths, which is mainly due

to a low percentage of births attended by skilled personnel, under-nutrition, poor birth

sanitation, poor education.

Goal 6: Prevalence of HIV/AIDS among pregnant women aged 15-24 years and

spread of Malaria and TB are in the declining trend.

Goal 7: In terms of environmental sustainability, forest areas are reducing, open

defecating still prevalent. However, access to drinking water has been in the

increasing trend.

Goal 8: Tele-density, Internet subscribers with cooperation of private sector, and

making availability of all the benefits of new technologies are in the positive track.

Q.No.3. “Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to public health”. Explain.

What are the steps taken by global institutions and governments to curb this

menace?

ANS:

“Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to public health”.  

Disease causing organisms and bacteria would become resistant if the consumption of

drugs are high and improperly used, easy availability of antibiotics creates a situation

where resistant microorganisms and bacteria are becoming more common and reduces

the effect of antibiotics on humans.

It is also evident that a world without antibiotics would be impossible. Treatment of

Cancer and Diabetes as well as organ transplant would be nearly impossible to carry

out.

The result can be seen in the form of infections, TB, malaria, pneumonia and

gonorrhea, which has become resistant to all known drugs.

Global institutions and Govt. of India are taking various measures and steps, which

are as mentioned below -

(i) Priorities are given on preventing infections from occurring, such as with better

hygiene and by improving access to sanitation and clean water.

(ii) Curbing or stopping the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

(iii) Government of India introduced a tougher rule that prohibits medical stores from

selling 24 key antibiotics without a doctor's prescription.

(iv) Doctors need to prescribed antibiotics only when it is essential or required.

 

 

Q.No.4. Write a note on Ethanol Blending Program of India. What are the

advantages and disadvantages of EBP?

ANS:

A percentage (5% in India) of ethanol is mixed with petrol giving gasohol or ethanol

fuel, which is used as an alternative to petrol. Ethanol is produced from sugarcane

molasses.

In India, it is made compulsory to blend 5% ethanol with petrol, but oil companies

have achieved only 1.37%. It can be blended to 10% without modifying the engine.

Countries like the US is using up to 20 per cent ethanol, whereas in Brazil it is 51%.

Advantages:

(i) It reduces India's dependence on oil imports. By blending up to 10% ethanol,

around 80 million liters of petrol could be saved annually, which will ultimately help

in reducing inflation.

(ii) Reduction in Carbon monoxide emission by 30%, which will directly help in

reduction of respiratory problems and other diseases caused by air pollution.

(iii) Direct impact could be seen in sugarcane industry. Since ethanol is a by-product

of sugarcane, farmers will get a profitable deal.

Disadvantages:

At present, sugar mills prefer to sell molasses to alcohol manufacturers because of

higher profit margin. So, less raw material available for ethanol production. If

Government has to import ethanol to implement compulsory 5% blending, which will

result in disturbance of petrol retail price unless government fix an import price for

ethanol.

Q.No.5. What are the possible environmental and health impact of biomedical

wastes? Mention the steps taken by government to deal with the problem of

accumulating biomedical waste.

ANS:

Biomedical wastes are mainly used syringes, dressing materials etc. including human

anatomical wastes coming from laboratories, hospitals, and public health centres.

(i) Since these waste materials are of those hospital wards, where patients with

contagious diseases were treated. If dumped anywhere may get mixed with the water

supply sources, which will cause an outbreak of water borne diseases. This will

ultimately affect the marine ecosystem as well as animals and human beings.

(ii) Scavengers who rummage through these wastes are at high risk of getting infected

with Hepatitis B and D, which can be fatal.

To deal with the prevalent biomedical waste, government is taking various steps such

as

 

(i) Border posts to step up scrutiny of all trucks coming from another states for

 biomedical wastes. A ban on entry of trucks is needed.

(ii) The IMA urged the government to install separate biomedical waste collection

units in all streets and corners and sensitize the public to dispose the waste

accordingly.

(iii) Periodical inspection of hospitals and healthcare institutes should be made

compulsory. Proper action should be taken if found guilty.

(iv) Stringently enforcing de-segregation of wastes in healthcare institutions and a

nodal medical officer to supervise the process.

(v) New regulation with stringent penal provisions needs to be called for.