UPSC

15TH NOVEMBER DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

Ebola Vaccine
Why In News:

Authorities in the DR Congo launched a second Ebola vaccine Thursday targeting

thousands of residents in Goma bordering Rwanda.
In Brief:
 The coordinator general of the Ebola response, told that 22,000 doses of the
vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) were available for adults and
children over the age of 1 in areas of Majengo and Kahembe in Karisimbi
Health Zone.
 More than 2,100 people have died in DR Congo, in the second largest Ebola
outbreak on record.
 The Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine will be used alongside a vaccine made
by Merck, which has already been given to around 250,000 people.Merck's jab
has now been approved by the World Health Organization
 The J&J vaccine requires two doses given 56 days apart to provide optimal
immunity.
 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the J&J vaccine is meant
to expand protection to “at-risk populations” in areas where the disease is not
actively transmitted.
About Ebola Virus Disease:

 Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a

severe, often fatal illness in humans.
 The Ebola virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the
human population through human-to-human transmission.
 Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks,
one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of
Congo.
 There are 5 species of Ebola Virus (belonging to the virus family Filoviridae)
that have been identified, they are Zaire, Bundibugyo, Sudan, Reston and Taï
Forest.
 The first 3 Zaire, Bundibugyo, and Sudan have been associated with large
outbreaks in Africa.
 Symptoms: symptoms of Ebola can be sudden and include:

 Fever
 Fatigue
 Muscle pain
 Headache

SAI IAS ACADEMY, No: 1339A, RR Sri Sai Complex, 2 nd & 3 rd Floor, 18th Main Road, Annanagar West,
Chennai - 600040. www.saiias.in, E -mail: info@saiias.in Ph: 9344800900/044 – 45512063.
1
  Sore throat
 Vomiting
 Diarrhoea
 Symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function
 In some cases, both internal and external bleeding

First Tri Service Exercise

Why In News:
Armed forces of India and the US on Wednesday began their first tri-services
exercise on the Eastern seaboard.

In Brief:
 The nine-day humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise
code-named 'Tiger Triumph' will continue for nine days off the Visakhapatnam
and Kakinada coasts.
 It aimed at developing inter-operability between the militaries of the two
countries in HADR operations.
 Indian Naval ships Jalashwa, Airavat and Sandhayak will be part of the
exercise,adding the IAF has deployed MI-17 helicopters among others.
 The US is represented by US Navy ship Germantown with troops from US
Third Marine Division.

India. China And Russia Working On Payment System As

Alternative To US-Dominated SWIFT
Why In News:

India, Russia and China are exploring an alternative to the US-dominated SWIFT
(Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payment mechanism
in a bid to smoothen trade with countries facing American sanctions.
In Brief:

 The countries have decided to link Russia's Financial messaging system of

the Bank of Russia (SPFS) with the Chinese cross-border interbank
payment system Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).
 As India does not have a domestic financial messaging system, it plans to
link the Central Bank of Russia's platform with a service that is being
developed.
 The new payment system will work as a gateway model when messages on
payments are transcoded in accordance with a certain financial system.
 It is expected that the proposed alternative to the SWIFT financial payment
mechanism could be on the agenda of the BRICS Summit in Brasilia.
 The EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) countries are currently working with
the Bank of Russia on technical options for connecting to the SPFS. Iran,

SAI IAS ACADEMY, No: 1339A, RR Sri Sai Complex, 2 nd & 3 rd Floor, 18th Main Road, Annanagar West,
Chennai - 600040. www.saiias.in, E -mail: info@saiias.in Ph: 9344800900/044 – 45512063.
2
 which has officially joined the Russia-led free-trade zone (EAEU) this month
also seeks to develop a joint alternative to SWIFT.

About SWIFT:

 SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication),It’s

an organization that was founded in Brussels in 1973 to establish some
common processes and standards for financial transactions .
 It provides a secure network that allows more than 10,000 financial
institutions in 212 different countries to send and receive information
about financial transactions to each other.
 Before the SWIFT network was put in place, banks and financial
institutions relied on a system called TELEX to make money transfers.
TELEX was slow, and the system lacked the security necessary for a time
when technology was making rapid progress

SAI IAS ACADEMY, No: 1339A, RR Sri Sai Complex, 2 nd & 3 rd Floor, 18th Main Road, Annanagar West,
Chennai - 600040. www.saiias.in, E -mail: info@saiias.in Ph: 9344800900/044 – 45512063.
3