Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 October 2021

::NATIONAL::

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, have discovered that a particular gene (DLX1) which plays an important role in the development of jaws, skeleton, and interneurons in the brain has an important role to play in the growth and development of prostate cancer.

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The DLX1 protein is found at elevated levels in prostate cancer patients, the reason why the DLX1 protein has been used as a urine-based biomarker.
Using small molecules as inhibitors, the researchers have shown in mice a new therapeutic strategy to treat people with DLX1-positive prostate cancer.
First, the researchers found around 60% of the prostate cancer tissues have higher levels of DLX1 protein. And when the team genetically ablated the DLX1 gene that produces the protein, the ability of cancer cells to grow, develop and spread to other parts of the body was compromised.
The second experiment on mice was to examine the ability of cancer cells to metastasis and grow in bones.

It is the brand name for Sustainable Cities Impact Program, funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Urban Shift supports cities (in Asia, Africa and Latin America) to adopt integrated approaches to urban development, shaping a resilient, inclusive, zero-carbon future where both people and planet can thrive.
In India Pune, Surat etc are included.
It is led by UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in partnership with institutes/organizations like World Resources Institute, UNDP, World Bank etc.

Recently, China’s President Xi Jinping stated that his government’s current push for common prosperity will be long term.

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The “common prosperity” campaign came into prominence after it was highlighted by Mr. Xi at a meeting of the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Committee in August.
It has been seen by observers as underlining many of the major recent regulatory moves announced by the Party leadership that have alarmed foreign investors and wiped off close to $1 trillion in market value of major Chinese private tech and education firms since February.
These include anti-trust investigations of major private sector companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent, and overhauling the booming private education industry, which may be ordered to turn non-profit.
The broad campaign has ranged from curbing the growing influence of fintech and e-commerce giants to cracking down on the gaming industry and even celebrities and fan culture in China.
At its heart common prosperity is about making Chinese society more equitable with a mix of policy moves, market forces and philanthropy to address the country’s wide and persistent wealth gap.

Wealth Redistribution council

Recently, Japan’s PM unveiled a council which will be responsible for strategizing how to tackle wealth disparities and redistribute wealth to households.
It will focus on the creation of a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution to rebuild a broader middle class.

Recently, G20 nations backed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) initiative of new RST.

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The International Monetary Fund is developing a funding facility worth up to $50 billion to boost climate resilience in debt-burdened poor and vulnerable nations.
RST will allow IMF member countries to lend their IMF reserves to other countries, including middle-income countries from the recently allocated $650 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
By default, SDRs are allocated to countries proportionally to the size of their economy, which means richer nations receive most of the support. Low-income countries only get about $21bn.
It will further help these countries to confront the monetary and fiscal challenges faced due toCOVID-19 pandemic or climate change.

It is a blockchain platform for gold bullion launched by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) withChainflux in support with India Gold Policy Centre (IGPC) and the Indian Bullion and Jewellers’ Association (IBJA).
First for India, the NSE-Shine platform will provide a data framework for bullion bar integrity for settlement of Gold derivatives contracts.
It will also help in ensuring data security, data integrity, and data traceability for each bullion bar ID at any point of time.

Lucy embarked on a 12-year-long mission to fly by one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

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It will study the asteroids to find out about “our solar system’s evolution”.
The solar powered mission is NASA’s first mission to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids to gain new insights into the solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago.
Trojans orbit the Sun in two loose groups, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other trailing behind.

Asteroids can be divided into following categories: