Current Affairs Question - April 2020

Explanation :

• Petersberg Climate Dialogue has been hosted by Germany since 2010.
• The Climate Dialogue was originally an initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• It is hosted by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.
• The Dialogue was co-chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom, the incoming Presidency of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Aim

• To provide a forum for informal high-level political discussions, focusing both on international climate negotiations and the advancement of climate action.

Recent Meeting

• The eleventh and first ever virtual Petersberg Climate Dialogue was held on April 28^th 2020.
• India, along with 30 countries, deliberated over ways and means to tackle the challenge of reinvigorating economies and societies after COVID-19, while enhancing collective resilience and catalysing climate action while also supporting in particular those most vulnerable.

Explanation :

• On April 26^th, 2020, the premier multilateral air combat training Exercise Pitch Black 2020 scheduled from July 27 to August 14, 2020, was cancelled by Australia due to the current and anticipated impacts of the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19.
• The next edition is scheduled in 2022.
• In the last edition of Pitch Black in 2018, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had for the first-time deployed fighter aircraft for the exercise.

About Pitch Black

• Exercise Pitch Black is the Royal Australian Air Force’s biennial capstone International Engagement activity with forces participating from a wide range of regional, coalition and allied nations developing and enhancing military relationships at all levels.
• It is an international enhancement activity with forces participating from a wide range of regional, coalition and allied nations developing and enhancing military relationships at all levels.

It aims to provide a unique opportunity for an exchange of knowledge and experience with Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA) combat practice in a simulated war environment.

Explanation :

• The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy.
• It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.
• The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone/Lion, and Zmutt ridges.
• Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, and a trade route since the Roman Era.
• The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses (originally fragments of the African Plate before the Alpine orogeny) from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes.
• The mountain's current shape is the result of cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, such as the Matterhorn Glacier at the base of the north face.

Explanation :

• Subansiri River (gold river), originates in the Tibet Plateau and enters India through Miri hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra.

It flows east and southeast into India, then south to the Assam Valley, where it joins the Brahmaputra River in Lakhimpur district.

Explanation :

• The size and the composition of the IMFC mirrors that of the Executive Board. The IMFC has 24 members who are central bank governors, ministers, or others of comparable rank and who are usually drawn from the governors of the Fund’s 189 member countries.
• Each member country and each group of member countries that elects an Executive Director appoints a member of the IMFC.
• The IMFC usually meets twice a year, at the Bank-Fund Annual and Spring Meetings.
• For each meeting, the Managing Director prepares a draft agenda that is discussed by the Executive Board, approved by the IMFC Chair, and formally adopted by the IMFC at the meeting.
• At the end of the meetings, the Committee issues a communiqué summarizing its views.
• These communiqués provide guidance for the IMF’s work program during the half year leading up to the next Spring or Annual Meetings.

Function

• The IMFC advises and reports to the IMF Board of Governors on the supervision and management of the international monetary and financial system, including on responses to unfolding events that may disrupt the system.
• It also considers proposals by the Executive Board to amend the Articles of Agreement and advises on any other matters that may be referred to it by the Board of Governors.
• Although the IMFC has no formal decision-making powers, in practice, it has become a key instrument for providing strategic direction to the work and policies of the Fund.

Explanation :

• Thrissur Pooram (Thrissur Puram) is an annual Hindu festival held in Kerala, India.
• It is held at the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur every year on the Pooram (day - the day when the moon rises with the Pooram star in the Malayalam Calendar month of Medam.
• It is the largest and most famous of all poorams.
• Thrissur Pooram was the brainchild of Raja Rama Varma, famously known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805).
• The festival sports an enthralling line-up of vibrantly decked up elephants and is marked by the kudamattom ceremony.
• Another high point is the ilanjithara melam, a highly bewitching performance of traditional instruments which lifts the thousands gathered to a state of euphoria and bliss.
• Around 250 odd artistes participate in this traditional orchestra led by chenda artistes and the spirit is mirrored by the thousands of spectators who wave their hands in accordance to the rhythm generated by the chenda, kurumkuzhal, kombu and elathalam (traditional instruments of Kerala).
• The finale is marked by a grand fireworks show.

Explanation :

• Measles, also known as morbilli, rubeola, red measles, and English measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus.
• Measles morbillivirus, formerly called measles virus (MeV), is a single-stranded, negative-sense, enveloped, non-segmented RNA virus of the genus Morbillivirus within the family Paramyxoviridae.
• Humans are the natural hosts of the virus; no animal reservoirs are known to exist.
• Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people.
• It may also be spread through direct contact with mouth or nasal secretions.

Symptoms

• The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts 4 to 7 days.
• A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage.
• Koplik's spots seen inside the mouth are diagnostic for measles, but are temporary and therefore rarely seen.
• These are small white spots that are commonly seen on the inside of the cheeks opposite the molars.

Explanation :

• The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.
• Set up in 1767 to help consolidate the territories of the British East India Company, it is one of the oldest Engineering Departments of the Government of India.
• Its members are from Survey of India Service cadre of Civil Services of India and Army Officers from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers. It is headed by the Surveyor General of India.
• The Survey of India, headquartered at Dehra Dun, has 18 Geo Spatial divisions ranging from the prediction of tides to aerial survey.
• It has 23 Geo-spatial Data Centers spread across India, each catering to the respective administrative area.

Responsibility

• It dedicates itself to the advancement of theory, practice, collection and applications of geospatial data, and promotes an active exchange of information, ideas, and technological innovations amongst the data producers and users who will get access to such data of highest possible resolution at an affordable cost in the near real-time environment.

Explanation :

• Established in February 2015 during the Ebola outbreak and modified in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCRT grants complement donor financing and the IMF concessional lending through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT).
• The trust allows the IMF to join international debt relief efforts when poor countries are hit by the most catastrophic of natural disasters and to assist poor countries battling public health disasters—such as epidemics or global pandemics of infectious disease.

Eligibility

• Assistance through the CCRT is currently available to low-income countries eligible for concessional borrowing through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT).
• Countries which have either a per capita income below the International Development Association’s (IDA) operational cutoff (currently US$1,175).
• Small states with a population below 1.5 million and a per capita income below twice the IDA cutoff (currently US$2,350).

Structure

The CCRT has two windows:

• Catastrophe Containment window, to provide assistance in containing a public health disaster
• Post-Catastrophe Relief window, to provide exceptional assistance in the wake of a catastrophic natural disaster.

Explanation :

• Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the protist Trypanosoma cruzi.
• It is spread mostly by insects known as Triatominae, or "kissing bugs".
• In the early stage, symptoms may include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, or swelling at the site of the bite.

Mainly because of the increased population mobility in the last decades, most infected people live in urban settings (urbanization) and the disease has been increasingly detected in the United States of America, Canada, and many European and some African, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific countries.

Explanation :

• Central Administrative Tribunal was established under Article 323A of the Constitution (inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976).
• It was established in 1985 under Section 29 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

Composition

• It is a multi-member body consisting of Chairman and members.
• The Tribunal is headed by the Chairman and 65 Members, 33 from Judicial (including Chairman) and 33 from the Administrative stream.
• The Chairman is normally a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.

Working

• CAT is not bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but is guided by the principles of natural justice.
• A tribunal has the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Jurisdiction

It exercises original jurisdiction over all service matters concerned with:

• Members of the all-India services
• Persons appointed to any civil service of the Union or civil post under the Union
• Civilians appointed to any defence services or posts related to defence
• Employees of PSUs or public sector organisations notified by the government

Functions

• It adjudicates disputes and complaints with respect to Recruitment and Conditions of Service of the persons appointed to the Public Services and Posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or any State or of any other Local Authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.

Explanation :

• The word Bihu is taken from the Sanskrit word Bishu meaning “to ask blessings and prosperity from the Gods" during harvesting season.
• Bihu festivals occur according to the farming schedule.
• It is the “National Festival of Assam”.

Types

Basically, Bihu is a set of three important Assamese festivals in the Indian state of Assam-

• Rongali or Bohag Bihu ( April): It marks a new year at the beginning of seeding time.
• Bhogali or Magh Bihu ( January): It marks the end of the harvesting period.
• Kongali or Kati Bihu (October): It marks the completion of sowing and transplanting of paddies.

Celebration

• The Bohaag Bihu lasts for several days during which the youngsters in a village can be dancing in groups dressed joyfully, or they can be seen dancing around the girls in a circle. Such gatherings are called Mukoli Bihus.

Bihu Dance

• The Bihu dance is a folk dance from the Assam state performed on the Bihu festival. Dance is performed by young men and women. People wear traditional attires like Dhoti, Gamocha and Chadar, Mekhala.
• Bihu Dance has become the identity of the northeastern state. The ethnic groups Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Moran, Borahis, etc consider Bihu an integral part of their culture.

Instruments used in Bihu Dnace

• Dhol (Drum)
• Taal
• Pepa (An instrument made of buffalo horn)
• Toka
• Baanhi (Flute)
• Xutuli
• Gogona

Explanation :

• The Dhauladhar range (The White Range) is part of a lesser Himalayan chain of mountains.
• It rises from the Indian plains to the north of Kangra and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and ends near Badrinath,Uttarakhand.
• These ranges are the extension of Pir Panjal into Himachal Pradesh. They are cut across by the river Ravi.
• The highest peak in the range is the Hanuman Tibba, approached from Beas Kund/Manali, about 5982m high.
• Although mostly composed of granite, the flanks of the range exhibit frequent formations of slate limestone and sandstone
• The hill stations of Shimla and Pir Panjal are located in these ranges.
• There are glacial lakes in the Dhauladhars. Prominent among them is the Lam Dal which is the biggest with a circumference of about 2.5 km.
• One of the major passes across this range is the Indrahar Pass, which forms the border between Kangra and Chamba districts.

Explanation :

• Also called the basic reproduction number, it indicates the average number of people who will contract the virus from a person who has already been infected, in a population that does not have immunity for the said disease.
• R0 is the division of the number of new infections by the number of existing infections, or the average number of new infections over an infectious period (R0= new infections/existing infections).
• To illustrate with an example, if the number of people diagnosed with a disease increases from four to eight in two days, it is likely to increase to 16 two days later, or in four days from the start. This makes the R0 two.

R0 Values

Three possibilities exist for the potential spread or decline of a disease, depending on its R0 value:

• If R0 is less than 1, each existing infection causes less than one new infection. In this case, the disease will decline and eventually die out.
• If R0 equals 1, each existing infection causes one new infection. The disease will stay alive and stable, but there won’t be an outbreak or an epidemic.
• If R0 is more than 1, each existing infection causes more than one new infection. The disease will spread between people, and there may be an outbreak or epidemic.
• The higher the R0, the more contagious the infection.

Explanation :

• On 9^th April, 2020, the Odisha government promulgated an ordinance to deal with COVID 19 spread by amending Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
• According Ordinance, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order under the principal Act is liable to face imprisonment up to two years or pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or be slapped with both.
• It replaces section 3 of the main Act, which states that violating the law invites imprisonment for a maximum period of six months and a Rs-1,000 fine, adding that a clause has been inserted in another section of the principal Act.
• Procurement of goods, services and equipment for prevention and control of an epidemic disease has been brought under the purview of the amended provision, which was not a part of the original 1897 Act.

Explanation :

• Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve situated in Andhra Pradesh.
• It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions.
• Located near the city of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, the sanctuary has dry deciduous forests with thorny scrubs interspersed with trees.
• The sanctuary is situated in region where the Kolar Plateau ends and slopes down into the plains of Tamil Nadu creating many valleys and ghats.
• Important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
• Apart from Indian elephant, other animals found in the sanctuary are: sloth bear, panther, cheetal, chowsingha, sambar, porcupine, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal, jungle fowl, starred tortoise and slender loris.
• Kalyana Revu Waterfalls (also called Kalyan Drive Falls) and Kaigal Waterfalls are situated within the sanctuary.

Explanation :

• Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's external cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their peoples.
• It was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first Education Minister.

Objectives

• To actively participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes pertaining to India’s external cultural relations
• To foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries
• To promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people, and to develop relations with nations.

ICCR Awards

• Distinguished Indologist Award
• World Sanskrit Award
• Distinguished Alumni Award
• Gisela Bonn Award

Explanation :

• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997.
• Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.
• The Convention aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties.
• States Parties, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce that prohibition in respect of persons (natural or legal) within their jurisdiction.
• A unique feature of the Convention is its incorporation of the ‘challenge inspection’, whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party’s compliance can request a surprise inspection.
• Under the Convention’s ‘challenge inspection’ procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of ‘anytime, anywhere’ inspections with no right of refusal.
• The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

Explanation :

• The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was subsequently amended during 1991 and last during 2002.
• As per the amendment of the Act in 2002, a provision was incorporated for the constitution of NBWL, replacing the Indian Board for Wildlife.
• It came into existence with the Gazette Notification dated 22^nd September 2003.
• The board is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• It has 47 members with the Prime Minister in the Chair. The Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment & Forests in the Central Government is the Vice-Chairperson.

Functions

• It is the apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries i.e. Protected Areas.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

Explanation :

• The Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and All India Council for Technical Education in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris launched a mega online challenge - Samadhan - to test the ability of students to innovate.
• Under this, the students and faculty will be motivated for doing new experiments and new discoveries and provide them with a strong base leading to a spirit of experimentation and discovery.
• Here, the students will search and develop such measures that can be made available to the government agencies, health services, hospitals and other services for quick solutions to the Coronavirus epidemic and other such calamities.

Explanation :

• Article 142 provides for the enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court.
• Article 142(1): It states that Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it and the orders shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
• Article 142(2): It states that Supreme Court shall have the power to make any order for the purpose of (a) securing the attendance of any person, (b) the discovery or production of any documents or (c) the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.

Article 142 Used Earlier

• In November, 2019, it was also used during the Ayodhya judgment, making the first such case where it was invoked for a civil dispute over an immovable property that involved private parties.
• To cancel allocation of coal blocks granted from 1993 onwards without any specific finding.
• For restoring the white marble of the Taj Mahal
• To probe the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal
• To provide relief to the thousands of people affected by the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Explanation :

• Mahavir Swami was born to King Siddhartha of Kundagrama and Queen Trishala, a Lichchhavi princess in the year 540 BC in the Vajji kingdom, identical with modern day Vaishali in Bihar.
• He belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty.
• Also known as Vardhamana, he was the 24th tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha.
• Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for 12 years, after which he is believed to have attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience).
• He taught that observance of the vows of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment) are necessary for spiritual liberation.
• He taught the principles of Anekantavada (many-sided reality): syadvada and nayavada.
• Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama (his chief disciple) as the Jain Agamas.

Explanation :

• The Artemis (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon’s Interaction with the Sun) program is an ongoing crewed spaceflight program carried out predominantly by NASA, with the goal of landing "the first woman and the next man" on the Moon, specifically at the lunar south pole region by 2024.
• Other partners in the mission include European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Australian Space Agency (ASA).

Mission Objectives

• Find and use water and other critical resources needed for long-term exploration
• Investigate the Moon’s mysteries and learn more about our home planet and the universe
• Learn how to live and operate on the surface of another celestial body where astronauts are just three days from home
• Prove the technologies we need before sending astronauts on missions to Mars, which can take up to three years roundtrip

Key Details

• NASA sees Artemis as the next step towards the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars
• NASA’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft nearly a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit.
• The agency will fly two missions around the Moon to test its deep space exploration systems. NASA is working toward launching Artemis I, an uncrewed flight to test the SLS and Orion spacecraft together, followed by the Artemis II mission, the first SLS and Orion test flight with crew.
• NASA will land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 on the Artemis III mission and about once a year thereafter.

Explanation :

• The Patriot (MIM-104) is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
• The Patriot System replaced the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary High to Medium Air Defense (HIMAD) system, and replaced the MIM-23 Hawk system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system.
• The missile has a range of 70km and a maximum altitude greater than 24km.
• It is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system.
• Midcourse correction commands are transmitted to the guidance system from the mobile engagement control centre.

Explanation :

• The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
• Launched on 22 May 2018, GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which began orbiting Earth on March 17, 2002
• The primary objective of the GRACE-FO Mission is to obtain precise global and high-resolution models for both the static and the time variable components of the Earth's gravity field.
• The GRACE missions measure variations in gravity over Earth's surface, producing a new map of the gravity field every 30 days.
• Thus, GRACE shows how the planet's gravity differs not only from one location to another, but also from one period of time to another.

Significance

• It will continue the work of tracking Earth's water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.
• These discoveries provide a unique view of Earth's climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world's population.

Explanation :

• Community reserves in India are terms denoting protected areas of India which typically act as buffer zones to or connectors and migration corridors between established national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved and protected forests of India.
• Such areas are designated as conservation areas if they are uninhabited and completely owned by the Government of India but used for subsistence by communities and community areas if part of the lands is privately owned.
• These protected area categories were first introduced in the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 − the amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• These categories were added because of reduced protection in and around existing or proposed protected areas due to private ownership of land, and land use.
• These categories roughly correspond to IUCN Category V (conservation reserves) and VI (community reserves) protected areas.
• Keshopur Chamb, Gurdaspur (Punjab) is India's first community reserve.

Explanation :

• Amidst the global coronavirus crisis, India, on 2^nd April, 2020, launched an 18-hour operation called 'Operation Sanjeevani' to deliver 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives.
• The Indian Air Force lifted medicines from airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai and delivered to the Maldives.
• Medicines including influenza vaccines, anti-viral drugs such as Lopinavir and Ritonavir (these two medicines are being used in other countries to treat COVID-19 ) have gone to the Maldives.
• Consumables including catheters, nebulisers, urine bags and infant feeding tubes and other medications for cardiac conditions, kidney ailments, hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, allergies and cancer treatment, anticonvulsants have been delivered too.

Explanation :

• The Malabar large-spotted civet (Viverra civettina), also known as the Malabar civet, is a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats of India.
• It has a dark mark on the cheek, large transverse dark marks on the back and sides, and two obliquely transverse dark lines on the neck.
• These dark marks are more pronounced than in the large Indian civet.

Distribution

• In the 19th century, the Malabar civet occurred throughout the Malabar coast from the latitude of Honnavar to Kanyakumari.
• It inhabited the forests and richly wooded lowland, and was occasionally found on elevated forest tracts.
• It was considered abundant in Travancore.

Threats

• Until a few decades ago, local merchants in Kerala reared Malabar civets to obtain civetone, an extract from the scent gland, which was used in medicine, and as an aromatic.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered.
• Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972: Schedule I
• CITES: Appendix III

Explanation :

• On 1^st April, 2020, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has set up price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU) in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The unit shall help the NPPA and the State Drug Controller in ensuring availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• With this J&K has become the 12th State/UT where the PMRU has been set up.
• PMRUs have already been set up by the drug price regulator NPPA in 11 states such as Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Mizoram.
• It is to be noted that the Kerala has become the first State to set up a price monitoring and research unit (PMRU) in February, 2019.

Price Monitoring & Resource Unit

• It is a registered society, which function under the direct control and supervision of State Drug Controller of respective states.
• The unit is being funded by NPPA for its recurring and non-recurring expenses.

Functions

• Help NPPA and State Drug Controller in ensuring availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• Organise seminars, training programs and other information, education and communication (IEC) activities in the areas of availability and affordability of medicines for all.
• Collect samples of medicines, collect and analyse data and make reports with respect to availability and over-pricing of medicines for taking action under the provisions of Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

• Formed in August 1997, it is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.
• NPPA fixes ceiling price of essential medicines that are listed in Schedule I of DPCO, 2013.

Explanation :

• The countercyclical capital buffer is intended to protect the banking sector against losses that could be caused by cyclical systemic risks increasing in the economy.
• It aims to ensure that banking sector capital requirements take account of the macro-financial environment in which banks operate.
• It require banks to hold capital at times when credit is growing rapidly so that the buffer can be reduced if the financial cycle turns down or the economic and financial environment becomes substantially worse.
• Banks can use the capital buffers they have built up during the growth phase of the financial cycle to cover losses that may arise during periods of stress and to continue supplying credit to the real economy.
• The rule was first introduced in Basel III as an extension of another buffer (called the capital conservation buffer).

Explanation :

• Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the formula NaOCl or NaClO, comprising a sodium cation (Na+) and a hypochlorite anion (OCl−or ClO−).
• It may also be viewed as the sodium salt of hypochlorous acid.
• The anhydrous compound is unstable and may decompose explosively.
• Sodium Hypochlorite is a chlorine compound often used as a disinfectant or a bleaching agent.
• Household bleach is, in general, a solution containing 3–8% sodium hypochlorite, by weight, and 0.01–0.05% sodium hydroxide; the sodium hydroxide is used to slow the decomposition of sodium hypochlorite into sodium chloride and sodium chlorate.

Explanation :

• The Reserve Bank of India gives temporary loan facilities to the centre and state governments as a banker to government. This temporary loan facility is called Ways and Means Advances (WMA).
• The scheme for the Central Government was introduced on April 1, 1997, after putting an end to the four-decade old system of adhoc (temporary) Treasury Bills to finance the Central Government deficit.
• The WMA scheme is designed to meet temporary mismatches in the receipts and payments of the government.
• The government can avail of immediate cash from the RBI, if required.
• But it has to return the amount within 90 days.
• If the WMA exceeds 90 days, it would be treated as an overdraft.
• The interest rate on overdrafts would be 2 percent more than the repo rate.
• Further, the RBI provides an overdraft facility when the WMA limit is breached. The overdraft is not allowed beyond 10 consecutive working days.

Types of WMA

There are two types of Ways and Means Advances — normal and special.

• Special WMA or Special Drawing Facility is provided against the collateral of the government securities held by the state. After the state has exhausted the limit of SDF, it gets normal WMA. The interest rate for SDF is one percentage point less than the repo rate.
• The number of loans under normal WMA is based on a three-year average of actual revenue and capital expenditure of the state.

Explanation :

• The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction , usually referred to as the Biological Weapons Convention is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the development, production and stockpiling of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, was opened for signature on 10 April 1972.
• It entered into force on 26 March 1975.
• Members: It currently has 183 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, and Tanzania). Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC (Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan and Tuvalu).

Terms of the Treaty

The BWC:

• forbids States Parties from developing, producing, stockpiling, or otherwise acquiring biological agents or toxins that have no justification for peaceful or defensive purposes;
• forbids States Parties from developing, producing, stockpiling, or otherwise acquiring equipment to deliver biological agents or toxins for hostile purposes;
• obligates States Parties to destroy or divert to peaceful purposes their existing stocks of prohibited items;
• forbids States Parties from transferring prohibited items to anyone or otherwise helping in the manufacture or acquisition of biological weapons;
• protects the rights of States Parties to exchange equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for peaceful purposes in order to avoid hampering their economic and technological development;
• commits States Parties to cooperate in solving any problems through consultation and in carrying out any investigation initiated by the UN Security Council; and
• commits States Parties to provide assistance to others that have been attacked using biological weapons.

However, it does not ban the use of biological and toxin weapons but reaffirms the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits such use. It also does not ban biodefense programs.

It also allows states-parties to lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council if they believe other member states are violating the convention.

Explanation :

• On 27^th March, 2020, the government has notified anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine under Schedule-H1, restricting its sale based on prescription and making it mandatory for chemists to maintain records for such sale.
• The sale of the drug from now on should be in accordance with the conditions for sale of drugs as specified in Schedule H1 to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
• This would mean that any preparation containing the said drug will have a warning label of ‘only prescription sale’ and against self-medication.
• The move is aimed at stopping misuse of the drug which has now been allowed by the government for prophylactuse in high risk contacts of Covid-19 patients and healthcare workers treating such patients.

Schedule H1 Drugs

• The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, are the set of rules under The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which has provisions for classification of drugs into different schedules and also guidelines for storage, sale, display.
• Schedule H1 has been introduced through Gazette notification GSR 588 (E) dated 30-08-2013 to check the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, anti-TB and some other drugs in the country.
• The schedule contains certain 3rd and 4th generation antibiotics, certain habit forming drugs and anti-TB drugs.