Anti-Radiation Pills

Image Source - Freepik

Recently, as worries of a nuclear accident at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant increased, the European Union made the preemptive decision to deliver 5.5 million anti-radiation pills to be given to locals.

Radiation Emergency

• Radio-nuclear hazards: These are unintentional or unintended incidents that endanger both people and the environment.
• Such circumstances involve exposure to radiation from a radioactive source and the need for quick action to lessen the danger.
• Anti-radiation pills are also needed to handle such a situation.

Anti-radiation pills

• In cases of radiation exposure, potassium iodide (KI) tablets or anti-radiation pills are known to offer some protection.

• They include non-radioactive iodine, which can aid in preventing the thyroid gland's absorption and subsequent buildup of radioactive iodine.

How do these Pills Work?

• Radioactive iodine spreads through the air after a radiation spill, contaminating food, water, and soil.
• Internal irradiation, also known as internal exposure, is when radioactive iodine penetrates the body and builds up in the thyroid gland.
• The thyroid gland cannot distinguish between radioactive and non-radioactive iodine while producing the hormones that control the body's metabolism.
• This is how potassium iodide (KI) pills achieve "thyroid blocking."
• KI pills ensure that non-radioactive iodine in the medication is quickly absorbed to make the thyroid "full" when taken a short time before or right after radiation exposure.
• When the thyroid is full, it can no longer take in iodine, either stable or radioactive, for the following 24 hours.
• However, KI medications are solely preventative and cannot reverse radiation-induced thyroid damage.
• Thyroid cancer is highly likely to occur once radioactive iodine has been absorbed by the thyroid gland.

Is the method Fool-Proof?

• Anti-radiation medications don't always offer complete security.
• The amount of radioactive iodine that enters the body and how rapidly it is absorbed determine how effective KI is.
• The pills are not suitable for everyone, as well. Those under the age of 40, are advised.

Risk involved

• Thyroid cancer: However, KI tablets are solely preventative and cannot undo radiation-induced thyroid damage.
• Thyroid cancer is highly likely to occur once radioactive iodine has been absorbed by the thyroid gland.

Also, Read - Open Network for Digital Commerce or ONDC

Open Network for Digital Commerce or ONDC

The Open Network for Digital Commerce's development has recently been assessed by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry (ONDC).

Highlights

• Background: Since the alpha debut in five cities in April 2022, ONDC has been doing end-to-end execution testing with a limited user group to better understand their needs.
• Target: In the upcoming weeks, ONDC anticipates a significant rise in the number of network participants to over 30.
• The network will thereafter begin to undergo restricted public beta testing by ONDC.
• The primary goal of ONDC is to help small, non-digital traders take advantage of opportunities provided by the e-commerce ecosystem by helping them become digital.

Why are other forms of e-commerce booming?

• Because they continue to be consumer-focused, the current e-commerce platforms are well-liked.
• Based on their capacity to fulfil order fulfilment commitments, no-questions-asked returns policies, and customer-friendly refunds and cancellations, they have built strong trust in their platforms.
• ONDC will be evaluated in relation to these standards.

About ONDC

• On an open protocol, the ONDC is a network of open technology.
• It is a non-profit organization that will provide a network to let any network-enabled applications find and interact with local digital commerce establishments across industries.
• All currently available digital commerce applications and platforms have the option to voluntarily embrace and join the ONDC network; it is neither an aggregator application nor a hosting platform.
• The purpose is to make it possible for customers to purchase goods from all participating e-commerce sites on a single platform.
• A buyer registered on one participating e-commerce site (such as Amazon) may buy items from a vendor on another participating e-commerce site under the ONDC (for example, Flipkart).
• It was introduced in five cities — Delhi, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong — as part of a test program in April.
• The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is being attempted to be imitated by the ONDC Model in the area of digital payments.
• Beyond the retail industry, the open network concept encompasses all digital commerce categories, such as wholesale, mobility, food delivery, logistics, travel, urban services, etc.
• Features: According to the trade ministry, the foundations of ONDC are to be open protocols for all aspects in the full chain of operations in the exchange of goods and services, comparable to HTTP for information exchange over the internet, SMTPP for email exchange, and UPI for payments.
• Control: The ONDC's goal is to connect buyers, suppliers, payment processors, and logistics providers using open-source specifications and protocols. It will not be owned or controlled by any one organization or platform.
• New Aspect: The ONDC has been designed to be an entity that can operate without daily direction and advice from shareholders or members.
• Financial Independence: Since the company's ability to raise money on its own and maintain a sustainable financial model is tied to the independence of the management, the entity must be financially independent.

Significance of ONDC

• Process standardization: ONDC protocols would bring e-commerce activities including cataloguing, inventory management, order management, and order fulfilment into line with one another.
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) performed outreach and concluded that there is a significant gap between the size of online demand and the capacity of the local retail ecosystem to participate.
• Democratize e-commerce: The ONDC will democratize digital trade by converting it to an open-network paradigm from a platform-centric one.
• Breaking Monopolies: The interests of smaller, less well-off shops are constrained by the dominance of large firms like Amazon and Flipkart. This monopoly will be broken by ONDC.
• Empowerment and Innovation: ONDC will alter all industries, from retail products to food to mobility, by empowering businesses and consumers by shattering silos and creating a unified network that will foster innovation and scalability.
• Level Playing Field: Through dispute resolution and fines, the ONDC regulator, which will shortly be established, will guarantee a level playing field and healthy competition.

Challenges with ONDC

• The long-term threat to local firms: Local businesses may eventually be squeezed out of the network due to their inability to compete with the discounts, specials, and other lucrative deals being made by well-known e-commerce players.
• Lack of discussion of network liability for defective products: The strategy paper makes no mention of network liability for problems with transactions, the delivery of subpar goods, or poor service experienced by customers.
• The application of current laws is unclear: Additionally, it is unclear whether current e-commerce rules apply to the network.

Way Forward

• By implementing clear procedures for returns, refunds, and cancellations, the ONDC must build consumer trust by establishing effective systems for resolving customer complaints.
• A paradigm shift is required from an operator-driven, monolithic platform-centric approach to an interoperable, decentralised network powered by facilitators.
• The policies should be implemented at the network level.

Also, Read - International Whale Shark Day

International Whale Shark Day

Save the Whale Shark Campaign was recently launched in Mangaluru by the Delhi-based nonprofit Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) along the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Lakshadweep.

International Whale Shark Day is celebrated on August 30, 2022, with the slogan "The Future of Sharks: Guardians of Our Seas."

Save the Whale Campaign

• In cooperation with the Forest and Fisheries Departments of Karnataka, Kerala, and the Lakshadweep administration, the campaign will run along the coastal regions of these three states as well as the Lakshadweep islands.
• The effort also attempts to lessen the number of fishermen who accidentally entangle whale sharks in fishing nets while releasing them.
• For further conservation efforts, a mobile application has been created to track whale shark sightings and rescues.

Key Points related to Whale Shark

• The largest fish on Earth and a foundational species in marine ecosystems is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus).
• It can reach a maximum length of 18 meters and a maximum weight of 21 tonnes.
• They are ovoviviparous, which means they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs, and they can become sexually mature at about age 10.
• Habitat: Fish, squid, and other tiny animals are the main food sources for whale sharks, which live in tropical oceans.
• India: The whale shark may be found all along the coastline of India.
• However, the Gujarat coast is home to the largest whale shark gathering.
• Beyond Gujarat: WTI, with the help of the IUCN, undertook a survey along the west coast (excluding Gujarat) during 2012–2013 and discovered that the Lakshadweep Islands had the second-highest number of whale shark sightings after the Gujarat coast.
• Additionally, most reports of whale shark strandings and landings come from Kerala.
• Status: Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List, Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972.
• Largely Depleted according to the IUCN Green Status Assessment.
• Getting unintentionally tangled in fishing nets is a major danger facing these plankton feeders.
• Most fishermen are aware that whale sharks can be caught in their Protection: To reduce this mortality, make sure that whale sharks caught in fishing nets are released right away.
• Sensitization of the key target group, which is the fishermen, is required for this.

Initiatives:

• For the past 20 years, WTI has been operating a program in Gujarat that has allowed fishermen to release 852 whale sharks into the Arabian Sea.

Goal:

• The primary objective of this project is to eliminate whale sharks’ accidental catch in fishing nets by voluntary whale shark release.
• The marine fishers in these two states and on the island of Lakshadweep are the focus of this program nets.
• However, they use trawls to search the ocean floor for grouper, mackerel, shrimp, and lobster.
• It's always possible that they'll unintentionally catch a whale shark as well.
• Rising Plastic Debris: The increase in plastic waste in the oceans is a significant environmental issue with far-reaching effects.
• This filter-feeding megafauna is especially vulnerable because of its feeding habits.
• Protection: To reduce this mortality, make sure that whale sharks caught in fishing nets are released right away.
• Sensitization of the key target group, which is the fishermen, is required for this.

Also, Read - Rising Greenhouse Gas

Tibetan Democracy Day

Image Source - Tibetan parliament

The Tibetan people who live in exile in India celebrate the anniversary of the creation of their democratic regime on September 2.

About Tibetan Democracy Day

• It is commonly referred to as Mangsto Duchen (Mangsto: democracy; Duchen: occasion) inside the neighbourhood.
• It heralds the establishment of the democratic system in exile in Tibet.
• The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, is at the centre of the democratic system of Tibet, which oversees more than 15,000 refugees worldwide.
• However, no nation has formally acknowledged the CTA.

Major Milestones on the road to the development of the Tibetan democratic system

• The first elected members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile took their oaths in Bodh Gaya on September 2, 1960, one year after thousands of Tibetans were compelled to escape their homeland. This marked the beginning of the Tibetan democratic system.
• The Tibetan constitution was adopted by the Dalai Lama in 1963, and it was founded on democratic principles and universal values. Subsequently, the first female legislators were elected.
• The CTA's highest authority, Kashag, named September 2 to be the day Tibetan democracy was established in 1975.
• The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission was founded the following year, educating the exile population to the three pillars of democracy, and the Charter of the Tibetans in Exile was enacted in 1991.
• The announcement by the Dalai Lama that he would take on a position of semi-retirement signified a significant change in the political and cultural landscape of the Tibetan people.

The CTA's official position in India

• India regards the Dalai Lama as a venerated spiritual leader and a distinguished visitor, but it does not support Tibetans' involvement in politics.
• India adheres to the "One China" policy and does not see the need to frequently restate it.

Also, Read - Vostok Exercise 2022