Current Context : Gaurav Gogoi, the three term Congress MP from Assam’s Jorhat will continue to be the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha,

• Additionally, Senior Kerala MP Kodikkunnil Suresh will continue as the party’s chief whip.
• Gaurav Gogoi is a three-time MP, is the son of three-time Assam CM Tarun Gogoi.

Current Context : Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has broke his own record by winning elections with more than 99% of the vote.

ABOUT RWANDA:

• It is a landlocked country located south of the equator in east-central Africa.
• It is part of the Great Rift Valley region of Africa.
• Often referred to as the “land of a thousand hills”, Rwanda’s landscape is mostly hilly and mountainous.
• It covers an area of 26,338 sq. km.
• Borders: Rwanda shares a border with the four nations of Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda ,and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Capital: Kigali
• Languages: Kinyarwanda, French, English
• Money: Rwandan franc

Current Context : European Parliament lawmakers re-elected Ursula von der Leyen to a second five-year term as President of the European Union’s executive commission.

She was first elected by MEPs in July 2019.

Election Method : The vote was held by secret paper ballot.

Majority Need : Parliament is currently composed of 719 MEPs, so the necessary majority was 360 votes.

ABOUT EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC):

• It is an executive body of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.
• One of the 27 members is the Commission President proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament.

Current Context : Recently, the 7th India-Japan Medical Product Regulatory Symposium, organised by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi.

• The event was conducted in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan.
• Aim : to fostering collaboration in medical product regulations.
• The MoC, originally signed in December 2015 between CDSCO and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) of Japan
• It underscores mutual cooperation in medical products regulations until December 2025.

Current Context : Recently, Asia’s first health research-related Pre-clinical Network Facility has been inaugurated in Faridabad (Haryana) under the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).         

• Genetically Defined Human Associated Microbial Culture Collection (Ge-HuMic) Facility has been also inaugurated.

ABOUT CEPI

• Launched in 2017 by Norway and India.
• Objective : To accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and enable equitable access to these vaccines.
• Headquarters: Oslo, Norway

Current Context : Recently, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) joined the United Nations Water Convention (Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes) becoming the 10th African nation to do so.

ABOUT UNITED NATIONS WATER CONVENTION

• It is also known as the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.
• Adopted in Helsinki (Finland) in 1992 and entered into force in
• Legally binding: Requires Parties to use transboundary waters reasonably and equitably and ensure their sustainable management.
• India is not a member.

About Ivory Coast

• It shares eight transboundary river basins(Black Volta, Bia, Tanoe, Comoe, Niger, Sassandra, Cavally et Nuon) with six of its neighbours, which include Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Current Context : World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF released National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) 2023 report.

RELEVANT DATA

In World  :

• Childhood immunization coverage stalled in 2023, leaving 2.7 million children either unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.
• Over 50% of unvaccinated children live in the 31 conflict affected countries.

IN INDIA:

• In 2023, 6 million children missed crucial Diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (called DPT) and measles vaccinations.
• India lacks human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in national programs despite cervical cancer being second-highest cancer in women (18% of female cancers).
• India accounted for 2 million zero-dose children.
  • Zero-dose children are those that lack access to or are never reached by routine immunization services.

VARIOUS IMMUNISATION PROGRAMMES IN INDIA 

• Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) : Operational in India since 1985.
• Mission Indradhanush 2014 was launched as a special drive to vaccinate all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children, pregnant women under UIP.
  • So far 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women have been vaccinated.
• Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0, 2023 is a catch-up vaccination campaign for children up to 5 years of age and pregnant women, who were left out.
• 12 diseases covered: Diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis-B, pertussis, meningitis and pneumonia, Japanese encephalitis (JE) and measles-rubella (MR).

Current Context : Chattisgarh’s Gevra and Kusmunda coal mines have secured 2nd and 4th spot in list of world’s 10 largest coal mines.

• Report released by com.

ABOUT GERVA AND KUSMUNDA COAL MINES

• Located in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh.
• Both mines produce more than 100 million tons of coal annually accounting for about 10% of India’s total coal production.
• Gevra opencast mine has an annual production capacity of 70 million tons and produced 59 million tons of coal in FY 23-24.
• Kusmunda OC mine produced more than 50 million tons of coal in FY 23-24

COAL IN INDIA:

• Status : World’s second largest coal producer and 5th largest country in terms of coal deposits.
• Type : About 80% of coal deposits are bituminous type and are of non-coking grade.
• Characteristics : High in ash content but low in sulfur content with high ash fusion temperature.
• Import : India imports coal particularly coking coal.

Current Context : Recently, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) signed a contract with a Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) for constructing Indigenous Ocean Research Vessel to unravel deep oceans.

ABOUT NATIONAL CENTRE FOR POLAR AND OCEAN RESEARCH (NCPOR)

• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Estableshed in 1998.
• It conducts research in the Polar and Antarctic Ocean (Southern or Austral Ocean) realms.
• Composition: Governing Body comprising 13 members.
  • Chairman (ex-officio) of governing body is Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Objective : Facilitatory role in all scientific research and logistic activities being undertaken in Antarctica, Arctic and in Indian Ocean sector of Southern Ocean.
• Management of Indian Antarctic Research Bases “Maitri” and “Bharati”, and Indian Arctic base “Himadri”.
• Headquarter : Goa

Current Context : Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports launched the second phase of KIRTI Program in New Delhi.

ABOUT KIRTI PROGRAM

• It is a part of the flagship Central Sector Scheme called Khelo India.
• It is scouting and training programme to build a culture of sports and also create a cradle of talent that can win India medals at global competitions.
• Aim : to streamline the process of grassroots talent identification (age-group between 9-18 years) on a single platform.
• Goal : to achieve 20 Lakh assessments in 2024-25 by onboarding all state to identify talent through notified Talent Assessment Centre.
• Approach: Based on an athlete-centric approach, process of talent Identification has been made more broad-based, transparent and accessible.
• First phase of KIRTI was launched in Chandigarh on 12th March 2024.