Contents
- Goa Statehood Day
- Establishment of 4 COVID-19 Bio Banks
- COVID-19 India National Supermodel
- Scaling up of COVID testing centres- Hub and spoke model
GOA STATEHOOD DAY
Focus: GS-I History, GS-II Governance
Why in news?
The Prime Minister greeted the people of Goa on the occasion of their Statehood Day.
History of Goa as a Portuguese Colony
- After Indian Independence Goa was the largest part of the Portuguese possession in India, the other territories being small enclaves.
- The Portuguese colonised several parts of India in 1510 but by the end of the 19th century Portuguese colonies in India were limited to Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Anjediva Island.
- Portuguese were the first ones to colonize parts of India and were the last to leave.
- In 1961, India incorporated these territories after a liberation of Portugal’s Indian colonies.
Important Portuguese settlements on Western Coast of India
Liberation of Goa
- The Goa liberation movement, which sought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, started off with small scale revolts, but reached its peak between 1940 to 1960, ending when India invaded Goa in 1961.
- After the failure of diplomatic efforts with Portuguese, military operation code-named ‘Operation Vijay’ was conducted by Indian Navy, Airforce and Army and Goa was liberated on 19th December, 1961.
Operation Vijay
- After the failure of diplomatic efforts with Portuguese, military operation code-named ‘Operation Vijay’ was conducted by Indian Navy, Airforce and Army and Goa was liberated on 19th December, 1961.
- Operation Vijay began on December 17, 1961 and with a force of almost 30,000, the Indian attack overpowered the ill-prepared Portuguese 3,000-member army.
- With minimal bloodshed, the attack was successful and was carried forward to retrieve the other Portuguese-controlled areas, Daman and Diu.
- After just 3 days, on December 18, the Portuguese Governor General Vassalo da Silva gave up control of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu.
Goa Liberation Day
Goa Liberation Day which is observed on 19th December – marks the day Indian armed forces freed Goa in 1961 from, 450 years of Portuguese rule.
After Liberation: The Wishes of the People
- Since Goa was an acquired territory, it was not given immediate statehood but was incorporated as a Union Territory.
- As Goa did not have its own state legislature, fearing for the identity of Goa Roqui Santan a Prince of Goa opposed the nomination by Governor and organised a 3-day Satyagraha for early democracy in Goa.
- At the time of Goa’s accession into India, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had promised that Goa would retain its distinct identity.
- Prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had promised in 1963 that Goa would remain a Union Territory for ten years after which the future of Goa would be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of Goa.
The Referendum: Road to Statehood
A referendum was held which offered the people of Goa, Daman and Diu two options:
- To merge Goa with Maharashtra; and Daman and Diu with Gujarat. Or
- To remain a Union Territory of India.
Goans rejected the merger with Maharashtra
- Goa did not achieve full statehood in 1971 as was expected.
- Following persistent demands; including a 1976 resolution by the Goa assembly demanding full statehood – Goa finally became a state on 30 May 1987.
- Daman and Diu were separated from Goa and continue to be administered as the Union territory of Daman and Diu.
Extra Notes: What is a Referendum?
- In simple terms a referendum is a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question.
- A Referendum is a tool of Direct Democracy.
- Constitution of India does not have a specific provision for or against referendum.
ESTABLISHMENT OF 4 COVID-19 BIOBANKS
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology
Why in news?
ICMR has notified 16 bio-repositories (Biobanks) for collecting, storing and maintaining clinical samples (oropharyngeal/ nasopharyngeal swabs, broncheoalveolar lavage, sputum, blood, urine and stool) of COVID-19 patients.
The Need and other Details
- For the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, R&D efforts are directed at the development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
- The specimens collected from COVID-19 positive subjects can be a valuable resource for the R&D efforts.
- NITI Aayog has recently issued guidelines for sharing of bio specimens and data for research related to COVID-19.
- These Biobanks are also authorized to share the samples with academia, industry and commercial entities involved in development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc., after scrutinising the purpose of the request and ensuring benefit to the country.
Biobank
- A biobank is a type of biorepository that stores biological samples (usually human) for use in research.
- Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personalized medicine.
- Biobanks can give researchers access to data representing a large number of people.
- Samples in biobanks and the data derived from those samples can often be used by multiple researchers for cross purpose research studies.
COVID-19 INDIA NATIONAL SUPERMODEL
Focus: GS-III Disaster Management
Why in news?
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has initiated a COVID -19 Indian National Supermodel to help monitor the future transmission of infection, thus aiding decisions involving health system readiness and other mitigation measures.
Details
- DST has initiated this exercise to pool in expertise in the field and create one model for the entire country that will be subjected to rigorous tests required for evidence-based forecasting.
- The model will entirely rely only on the data that is relevant to COVID-19, and also have an adaptive built-in component to learn from the newer trends in the data.
- The supermodel could be used by the policymakers in India and around the world to overcome difficulties in predicting the rate of spread of infection and how it would burden the healthcare sector.
SCALING UP OF COVID TESTING CENTRES- HUB AND SPOKE MODEL
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology
Why in news?
To scale up testing and enhance the reach across the country – City or Regional clusters have been established in a Hub and Spoke Model to scale-up testing of COVID-19 samples in government institutions across the country.
What is the Hub & Spoke Model?
- The Hub and Spoke (H&S) model is used when there are multiple locations sourcing, with a central location called the ‘Hub’.
- The location provides a single point of contact to the client, whilst the in-country extensions, called ‘Spokes’, which are spread across the globe.
- The ‘Hub’, as aforementioned is centralized and has responsibilities such as people development, client relationship management and Quality and compliance related matters whilst driving a common delivery standard to its satellite locations.
- A ‘Spoke’ is a delivery center set up in a country providing services to the client’s customers in a local and customized manner in line with the culture and legislative requirements of the country.
- The spoke works closely with the client’s local office and reports the performance to them.
