According to the WHO, India is among the nations with the highest burden of viral hepatitis.
Key Point of the report
The Global Hepatitis Report 2024 was released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the India WHO, India is one of the countries with the highest burden of viral hepatitis — an infection that causes liver inflammation, and damage and may lead to liver cancer — with 2.9 crore people living with Hepatitis B infection and 0.55 crore living with Hepatitis C infection.
There were over 50,000 new Hepatitis B cases and 1.4 lakh new Hepatitis C cases reported in 2022.
And these infections killed 1.23 lakh people in India in 2022 as per the report.
Both infections are transmitted from mother to child during delivery, during transfusion of blood that hasn’t been screened properly, during contact with the blood of an infected person or while sharing of needles by drug users.
Need to expand diagnostics and treatment
In India, while the numbers of deaths due to viral hepatitis aren’t comparable to tuberculosis — TB killed an estimated 3.31 lakh people in 2022 — what is concerning is that the coverage of diagnosis and treatment for the infections remains very low.
The report says that only 2.4 per cent of the Hepatitis B cases were diagnosed and 0 per cent received treatment.
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For Hepatitis C, the coverage of diagnostics and treatment was found to be better in India, with 28 per cent being diagnosed and 21 per cent receiving treatment.
About Hepatitis B and C
Hepatitis B is known to cause acute infection with nausea, vomiting and yellowing of the eye and skin for several weeks.
Liver failure happens in severe cases. But the challenge is the chronic, life-long liver disease that it causes, especially when children get it.
The chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver called cirrhosis and increase the risk of liver cancer. There are medicines to slow the progress of the virus in chronic cases.
Many people with the hepatitis C virus don’t have symptoms or know they are infected.
Those who develop symptoms two to 12 weeks after exposure report yellow skin or eyes, loss of appetite, nausea, stomach ache, fever, dark urine, light-coloured stool, joint pain and exhaustion.
Globally, with nearly 1.3 million deaths a year, viral hepatitis kills as many people as tuberculosis.
Both remained the second biggest infectious killer in 2022, behind only the deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Around 304 million people are living with Hepatitis B and C across the world as per the report.
Hepatitis B vaccine is offered to children under the Universal Immunisation Programme in India. The government’s viral hepatitis control programme also offers the vaccine to high-risk adults such as healthcare workers as well. Treatment for both Hepatitis B and C is available under the programme.
Normal monsoon year 2024 - by Skymet
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Why in news?
According to Skymet, India is likely to experience a normal monsoon this year, with more rainfall predicted in the second half of the season.
About
Rainfall between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of the LPA is considered normal.
Skymet said the upcoming monsoon is expected to be "normal", accounting for 102 per cent (with an error margin of 5 per cent) of the long-period average (LPA) of 868.6 mm for the four months from June to September.
Skymet expects sufficiently good rains in the south, west, and northwest regions.
The core monsoon rain-fed zones of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will receive adequate rainfall.
Karwar Naval Base - infrastructure developments
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Why in news?
Navy Chief inaugurated a 350m long major pier for Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and a residential accommodation at Naval Base Karwar.
About Phase IIA of Project Seabird
The infrastructure developments are part of the ongoing Phase IIA of Project Seabird, which will accommodate 32 ships and submarines, 23 yardcraft, a dual-use Naval Air Station, a full fledged naval dockyard, four covered dry berths and logistics for ships and aircraft.
The Pier 3 OPV Pier is 350m long, capable of berthing OPVs, large survey vessels and mine countermeasure vessels. The pier would also provide various shore-based services, such as electrical power, potable water, chilled water for air conditioning, 30 tonne mobile crane and other domestic services to the ships.
The residential accommodation consists of two towers of 80 flats for married officers and 149 flats of single officers accommodation along with related amenities and external services, it said. Further, six towers of Type-II accommodation consisting of 360 flats for Defence civilians were also inaugurated.
The ongoing construction of Phase IIA of Project Seabird has created 7,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs. The project aligns with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, sourcing over 90% of material domestically, the Navy stated.
International Narcotics Control Board
Time to Read :🕑 7 Mins
Why in news?
India's nominee, Jagjit Pavadia, has been re-elected for a third term to the International Narcotics Control Board after garnering the highest number of votes.
About Pavadia
Mr. Pavadia has been a member of the International Narcotics Control Board since 2015.
She was re-elected by the Council for a five-year term from 2020 to 2025 in May 2019.
She had served as President of the Board in 2021-2022.
Born in 1954, Mr. Pavadia has held several senior positions in the Indian Revenue Service for 35 years in the Government of India, including Narcotics Commissioner of India, Central Bureau of Narcotics (2006-2012); Commissioner, Legal Affairs (2001-2005) and Chief Vigilance Officer, Power Finance Corporation (1996-2001) among others.
About International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
Established in 1968, the INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions.
It consists of 13 members who are elected by the Economic and Social Council and who serve in their personal capacity, not as government representatives.
Three members with medical, pharmacological or pharmaceutical experience are elected from a list of persons nominated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and 10 members are elected from a list of persons nominated by Governments.
According to information about its mandate on its website, INCB endeavours, in cooperation with Governments, to ensure that adequate supplies of drugs are available for medical and scientific uses and that the diversion of drugs from licit sources to illicit channels does not occur.
INCB also monitors Governments' control over chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of drugs and assists them in preventing the diversion of those chemicals into illicit traffic.
C-Dome
Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins
Why in news?
Israel for the first time deployed its ship-mounted defence system, called the C-Dome.
More detail about news
The C-Dome is a naval version of the Iron Dome air defence system used to shield against rocket and missile attacks.
It is mounted on Sa'ar 6-class corvettes, the German-made warships, the C-Dome uses the same interceptor as the Iron Dome.
C-Dome, according to Israeli defence contractor Rafael, uses the same interceptors as the land-based Iron Dome that counters shorter range shorter-range rockets and drones.
It bookends Israel’s multi-tier air defence array opposite Arrow-3, which is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the earth’s atmosphere.
Kala-azar
Time to Read :🕑 7 Mins
Why in news?
India has achieved its target to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis, commonly known as kala-azar, according to data from the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).
About News
The latest data from NCVBDC indicates that India reported only 520 cases of kala-azar in 2023 across India, meeting the elimination criteria set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which defines elimination as no block in the country reporting more than one case per 10,000 people.
As per the WHO, in 2020, India accounted for 18 per cent of the global burden of kala-azar.
The elimination has come after government interventions, including indoor spraying to kill sandflies, sealing potential breeding sites, and mobilising healthcare workers to ensure proper treatment completion.
About Kala-azar
Kala-azar — also known as visceral leishmaniasis — is a severe form of the vector-borne disease leishmaniasis caused by protozoan parasites that are transmitted by the bite of infected female sandflies.
kala-azar is the second deadliest parasitic disease after malaria
Kala-azar is a slow-progressing indigenous disease caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania
In India, Leishmania donovani is the only parasite causing this disease
The parasite primarily infects a reticuloendothelial system and may be found in abundance in bone marrow, spleen and liver.
The disease is characterised by symptoms like anemia, fever, weight loss, and enlargement of the liver and spleen.
There is a treatment, but kala-azar is invariably fatal if the treatment is not administered in time.
In India, the cases of kala-azar are predominantly found in four states: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Rights of the Voters in India
Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins
Why in news?
The Supreme Court held that an election candidate has a right to privacy from voters and need not lay out every scrap of his or her personal life and possessions, for the electorate to examine with a magnifying glass.
Key highlight of the SC Judgment
The Supreme Court said a candidate’s choice to retain his privacy on matters that were of no concern to the voters or were irrelevant to his candidature for public office did not amount to a ‘corrupt practice’ under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Such non-disclosure would not amount to a “defect of a substantial nature” under Section 36(4) of the 1951 Act.
The judgment observed there was no compulsion on a candidate to lay his life threadbare for the electorate to prod and scrutinise.
A candidate doesn't need to declare every item of movable property that he or his dependent family members own, such as clothing, shoes, crockery, stationery and furniture, etc, unless these items are of such value as to constitute a sizeable asset in itself or reflect upon his candidature, in terms of his lifestyle, and require to be disclosed.
The Court said the declaration of assets by candidates was meant to further democratic participation by citizens and enhance the right to information of the voters so that they could cast their votes rationally and intelligently.
The Court said voters have a right to the disclosure of information which was essential for choosing the candidate for whom a vote should be cast.
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The Civil Services Exam is conducted every year by the UPSC to select suitable candidates for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), IFS (Indian Foreign Service), IPS (Indian Police Service), IRS (Indian Revenue Service) and other Central Services like the Audits and Accounts, Railway Technical Services etc.
These services are vital for the administration of the Nation as they form the underlying basis of the policy formulation, implementation and execution in almost all the domains of the Governance. Sardar Patel had called the Civil Service the “Steel Frame of India“, the backbone of India’s Administration.
Being part of the Services is associated with prestige, power and a sense of responsibility toward the Society and the Nation. No doubt, the Services attract the best among the vast talent pool of the country.
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Thus only sincere hard work may not be enough to be part of the Services. The aspirants need suitable guidance and study material to get selected and fulfil their dream of serving the Nation. Unacademy strives to provide quality content to the learners in order to supplement the guidance they receive from top Educators on the Unacademy Platform and aid their preparation.
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