Lifeline Express, Cancer, Railways - GS questions based on daily current affairs

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• The radioactive decay of strontium-90 generates a significant amount of heat. It is used as a heat source in many Russian/Soviet radioisotope thermoelectric generators, usually in the form of strontium titanate.
• Sr-90 finds use in industry as a radioactive source for thickness gauges.
• Sr-90 finds extensive use in medicine as a radioactive source for superficial radiotherapy of some cancers. Controlled amounts of Sr-90 and Sr-89 can be used in treatment of bone cancer.
• It is also used as a radioactive tracer in medicine and agriculture.

ANSWER: G Protein

Explanation:
A team of researchers has come up with an artificial protein that may block malignant properties of cancer cells as well as correct certain birth defects.

The findings may lead to identifying new molecular targets suitable for therapeutic intervention.

Cells in the human body need to communicate with each other to function properly. This is accomplished by a molecular mechanism called signal transduction and its dysregulation leads to human disease.

A group of molecules called G proteins act as a signalling mechanism that enables cells to change their behaviour when they are activated by surface receptors.

According to the researchers, the G proteins can be activated via alternative mechanisms independent of surface receptors that also impact normal cell behaviour and pathogenesis.

Scientists have engineered an artificial protein that when expressed in cells can specifically blunt receptor-independent G protein activation and subsequent changes in cell behaviour.

They have implemented this to block malignant properties of cancer cells and to correct birth defects associated with the aberrant dysregulation of cellular communication.

The clinical implications for this discovery are indirect - since the engineered protein cannot be delivered to patients - it does represent a significant advance in the identification of a new class of molecular targets in cancer or neonatal malformations.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Two US scientists whose work has contributed to creating immunological treatments for cancer are among the winners of this year’s Balzan Prizes, recognising scholarly and scientific achievements.

Another winner is economist Bina Agarwal, a professor at the University of Manchester, who was recognised in the gender studies category for her “heroic” work studying women’s contributions to agriculture in India.

James Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Robert Schreiber of the Washington University School of Medicine were cited for their work on antibody treatments that has increased the survival of patients with metastatic melanoma.

The Balzan Foundation awards two prizes in the sciences and two in the humanities each year, rotating specialities to highlight new or emerging areas of research and sustain fields that might be overlooked elsewhere.

Recipients receive 750,000 Swiss francs (₹5 crore), half of which must be used for research, preferably by young scholars or scientists.

Nobel Prize-winner Jules Hoffman, a presenter of the awards, said the work focusing on using the immune system to fight cancer, expanding from the traditional treatments of removal, radiation and chemotherapy, has already had success in 25 to 30% of melanoma patients.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Trains falling into rivers and coaches catching fire will be common sights in the country’s first ‘railways disaster management village’ expected to come up on the outskirts of Bengaluru by December 2018.
The “overaged rolling stock” will be used to replicate train accidents so that real time rescue operations could be carried out to improve such efforts.

It will be just like the mock drills carried out by security personnel. It will be as real as it can get.

The railways has earmarked the 3.32 sq km village of Hejjala, with a population of 3,483 people, to develop its Disaster Management Institute and Safety village at a cost of INR 44.42 crore, according to the blueprint accessed by PTI.

For augmenting theoretical class room training with practical hands on exercise, a real environment for training in various conditions and scenarios of train accidents, a concept of safety village was envisaged.

The focus is on imparting state of the art training on rescue, medical relief and rolling stock restoration techniques in a classroom and also using various simulated teaching aids.

However, it is the practical reproduction of accidents on site and the ensuing rescue operations that are being touted as the big ticket venture.

For the practical training as a part of the safety village tunnel, cutting, embankment, other conditions and obstructions like overhead structures and platforms are being created.

For carrying out underwater rescue and relief operations, a water body is also being developed.

Overaged rolling stock such as coaches, wagons and locomotives would be stationed in the safety village along with various tools and equipment for imparting hands-on practical training, the concept note said.

The village, about 25 km from Bengaluru, will also have a virtual reality centre for analysis of railway accidents.

The centre aims at providing training on dealing with various disasters under varied environment and terrain.

Construction work has begun and will be completed by December next year.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched the following Initiatives:-

1. RAIL CLOUD PROJECT.

2. NIVARAN-Grievance Portal (First IT Application on Rail Cloud).

3. Cashless treatment Scheme in Emergency (CTSE) Scheme and Handing over of 1st CTSE Card.

Salient Features of the Initiatives Launched

RailCloud

Indian Railway has started a strategic IT initiative, christened IR-OneICT, for enterprise wide digital single platform with an aim to improve customer satisfaction, improve revenue and effective, efficient and safe operations.

To achieve the goal of single digital platform for IR a few foundational projects need to be implemented first, establishment of RailCloud is one such project.

Cloud Computing is the emerging technology for faster and on demand commensurate deployment of Server resources which result in reduced cost.

Accordingly, RailCloud Phase-I has been sanctioned at the cost of Rs. 53.55 Cr under PH-17, DF(3) in FY 17-18. Potential benefits to Railways after implementation of RailCloud are:

• Faster and on-demand deployment of application- RailCloud will pave the way for swifter deployment of application (within 24 hrs as compared to conventional time running into weeks and months).
  
  At the same time the cloud hardware and environment will be available for rigorous testing of the new applications.
• Optimum use of Servers and storage- The technology enables maximising the usage of the available server and storage resulting in accommodation of bigger data and more applications within same server space.
• Utilization of existing infrastructure as part of Cloud- The existing resources available with railway will be subsumed in RailCloud thereby ensuring that expenditure is minimized in acquiring new resources.
• Rapid scalability and elasticity- Server and storage space will scale up and down as per the demand. This makes the system suitable to meet the higher demand at peak hours with less expenditure.
• IT Security enhancement and Standardization: The cloud shall be equipped with security features as per the latest GOI guidelines, the security features can be updated in one go for all the applications hosted on the cloud.
  
  This will be resulting in enhanced security and stability with less expenditure and effort.
• Cost reduction: The server and storage infrastructure will be deployed as per the requirement, resulting in substantial savings to railway as expenditure will be incurred as and when required.
  
  This will be instead of upfront shelling out money on procurement of expensive servers.
• Better User Experience: In Cloud, the server resources are constantly scaled up or down as per the no. of users logged on to the system. This ensures a better user experience to the customer.
  
  The Managed Network and Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) services are also being planned, in near future, for providing faster and more efficient work environment to each rail worker.

NIVARAN-Grievance Portal’First IT application on RailCloud

‘NIVARAN-Grievance Portal’ is the first IT application to be launched on the RailCloud.

It is the platform for resolution of service related grievances of serving and former railway employees.

The existing application was hosted on a conventional server; it has been made cloud-ready and being migrated as the first cloud application of Indian Railways.

It will save significant revenue and at the same time user experience will also improve.

Cashless treatment Scheme in Emergency (CTSE)

Railway provides Comprehensive Health Care Facilities to its beneficiaries through in-house health Institutions, supplementing with referrals to recognized hospitals whenever necessary.

The beneficiaries include retired employees and their dependent family members.

Large no. of retired beneficiaries lives in the newly developed suburbs of various cities. These parts of the city are often far away from the established Railway Health Institutions.

In this scenario the RELHS beneficiaries coming to Railway Health Institutions in routine is acceptable, however in emergency situations, precious time (Golden Hour) is lost in travel.

To provide immediate care to its retired employees in ‘Golden Hour’ Railway Board has decided to roll out a “Cashless treatment Scheme in Emergency’ (CTSE), in empanelled hospitals, for retired employees and their dependent family members.

CTSE Scheme: Know More

• Rather than creating a separate time and resource consuming vertical the scheme has used the existing resources by bringing on board the UIDAI and ARPAN database. Railway has not incurred any capital expenditure on the scheme,
• M/s UTIITSL has developed the software in consultation with Railway and shall be paid on per bill processed basis.
• The online processing will ensure swifter disposal of bills in a transparent manner.
• At present the scheme has been rolled out in four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, based on the experience of this pilot the scheme may be extended to the whole of country.

ANSWER: NBCC

Explanation:
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has inked MoU with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for redevelopment of 10 railway stations across the country on global standards.

The identified stations to be taken up initially by NBCC, a PSU of Urban Development Ministry for redevelopment are Tirupati, Nellore, Puducherry, Sarai Rohilla (Delhi), Madgaon, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane (New) and Ernakulam.

RLDA is an arm of the Indian Railways for commercial exploitation of rail land.

As per the MoU, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed at the national level as a Joint Venture (JV) company between RLDA and NBCC on 50:50 shareholding basis.

The SPV in turn will enter into City Support Agreements (CSA) with respective cities for the redevelopment of stations and commercial development on Railway land in alignment with the Smart City Plans of respective cities. RLDA will lease out the land to the SPV for a fixed lease period of up to 45 years at a nominal token cost for development and NBCC as Project Management Consultant will execute the project work on behalf of SPV.

Earnings from the commercial development of land parcels at stations will be utilized to redevelop the stations for creating necessary infrastructure and better passenger amenities.

The surplus earnings will go to RLDA which would in turn would be remitted to Zonal railways.

The entire revenue from lease revenues from built up spaces will be deposited in an SPV’s ESCROW account which is to be managed by a Committee to be formed.

Know More About Indian Railways: World's Largest PSU employer

• The Indian Railways has embarked on an ambitious project to redevelop 403 stations with the participation of private players, public sector and foreign agencies.
• It has taken up this redevelopment programme of stations in a big way by adopting a multi-pronged strategy.
• It has chosen PPP model and is also roping in varied agencies to execute the project namely its own PSUs, other Central government PSUs, foreign countries through government-to-government (G2G) cooperation and state governments.
• Earlier in October 2016, MoU was also signed between the Railway Ministry and Urban Development Ministry for integrated planning for redevelopment of railway stations in the cities included in the Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT schemes.

ANSWER: CRISPR-Cas9

Explanation:
Researchers in the United States have reportedly identified a new way to slow down the growth of cancer cell, according to reports released on 28 May 2017.

The research, conducted by researchers belonging to the University of Rochester in the US, has been published in the latest issue of the journal, Science.

The new method involves a protein called Tudor-SN and the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9.

Researchers after a comprehensive study discovered how Tudor-SN is significant in the preparatory phase of the cell cycle, the period when the cell gets ready to divide.

Tudor-SN is more abundant in cancer cells than in the healthy ones and so, targeting the protein could help slow down the fast-growing cancer cells.

The findings were made in kidney and cervical cancer cells in the laboratory and though they are still a long way from being applied on people, they could help cancer patients in the future.

ANSWER: France

Explanation:
The French Minister of State for Transport, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Alain Vidalies signed an agreement with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

This is for collaboration in areas such as high-speed and semi-high speed rail, modernisation of current operations and infrastructure, station renovation and operations, suburban trains and safety systems, operations and security.

On semi-high-speed, the parties had decided in 2015 to carry out a technical and execution study for upgrading the speed of passengers trains on the current rail corridor between Delhi and Chandigarh (244 km) up to 200 kmph.

Important Facts: France

• France PM is Bernard Cazeneuve
• The capital of France is Paris and its Currency is Euro
• French Minister of State for Transport is Alain Vidalies.

ANSWER: Railway tariffs

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet approved a proposal on April 5, 2017 for setting up an independent regulatory agency for railways which will recommend revision of tariffs.

This is intended to depoliticise the revision of passenger fares.

After merging the railway budget with the Union Budget, the move is seen as another step in reforming the state-run transporter.

It also aims at making the process of revision of both passenger and freight fares transparent.

The regulator will have only recommendatory powers, but it could pave the way towards revising passenger fares, which are at present highly subsidised.

Freight rates are likely to come down as the cost is likely to be balanced against higher passenger fares, officials said. S

The regulator will lay down principles and rules for determining tariff in passenger and freight segments in a transparent manner.

The regulator will also ensure fair play and a level playing field for private or foreign players.

Private investment in the railways has been low be cause of uncertainties and frequent policy changes.

The regulator will also lay down standards for efficiency and performance which will lead to customer satisfaction in both passenger and freight services.

The authority will also be mandated to check deviations, if any , from the laid-down performance standards and suggest remedial measures which will empower customers -both passengers and freight operators.

The authority will also suggest guidelines for determining track access charge which will ensure better utilisation of dedicated freight corridors.

Railway Regulatory Agency: Know More

• The authority, to be set up by August 1 this year, will have a chairman and three members and can engage experts from different areas.
• The government chose the executive order route to ensure setting up of the regulator at the earliest, said an official.
• The independence of the regulator will be ensured through a separate budget and a stringent appointment and removal process for the chairman and members.
• The appointment will be done by the Centre from the panel of names recommended by the search-and-selection committee headed by the cabinet secretary and the rail board chairman, DoPT secretary and chairman of any other regulatory agency nominated by the cabinet secretary as members.
• The chairman and members will have a tenure of five years and can be removed by the Centre on grounds such as insolvency , conviction, misbehaviour, physical and mental incapability.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Lok Sabha passed the Railway Appropriation Bills and supplementary demands for grants this year.

The total proposed outlay for 2017-218 is INR 131,000 crore. This marks an 8 percent increase from the 2016-2017 budget estimate of INR 121,000 crore.

Railway revenue for 2017-2018 is estimated at INR 178,350 crore recording a 9 percent increase from revised estimates of 2016-2017.

The total revenue in 2016-2017 undershot budget estimates by INR 6300 crore.

The House also passed Railways supplementary demands for grants 2016-2017 and the demands for excess grants for 2013-2014.

Railway finances were presented along with the Union Budget. This is the first time since 1924 that the Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget.

Lok Sabha: Know More

• Speaker: Sumitra Mahajan, BJP (Since 6 June 2014)
• Deputy Speaker: M. Thambidurai, AIADMK (Since 13 August 2014)
• Leader of the House: Narendra Modi, BJP (Since 26 May 2014)