• A two-month-old girl has become the youngest to receive bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.
• The baby was diagnosed with ‘bubble baby syndrome’.

ABOUT BUBBLE BABY SYNDROME

• It is also known medically as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).
• It’s a very rare genetic disorder that causes life-threatening problems with the immune system.
• Babies with SCID are born without an immune system, making them vulnerable to life-threatening infections.
• The genetic defect linked to SCID leads to a deficiency in Lymphocytes (type of White blood cells), which are a crucial component of our immune system.
  • Two main types of Lymphocytes –
    • T cells identify, attack, and kill “invaders.”
    • B cells make antibodies that “remember” an infection for future protection against infections.
  • Without a bone marrow transplant, most children with SCID succumb to infections before reaching their first birthday.
• The only cure for a bubble baby syndrome is a bone marrow transplant from a healthy donor. The transplant replaces the child’s faulty immune system with a healthy one.

ABOUT BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT

• A bone marrow transplant is also called a stem cell transplant or, more specifically, a hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
• It can be used to treat certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma, and other blood and immune system diseases.
• Bone marrow transplants may use cells from the same person (autologous transplant) or from a donor (allogeneic transplant).

• The Snow Leopard has now been declared the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan.

ABOUT SNOW LEOPARD

• Scientific Name– Panthera uncia
• Habitat

• Global- mountainous regions of central and southern Asia.
• India- Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

• They play a key role as a top predator, an indicator of the health of their high-altitude habitat, and, increasingly, an important indicator of the impacts of climate change on mountain environments.
• Threats include poaching, habitat loss and declining prey, human-wildlife conflict and warming in the higher reaches.
• Protection status
  • IUCN Red List – Vulnerable
  • CITES- Appendix I
  • WPA 1972- Schedule-I

OTHER FACTS

• Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) is an alliance of 12 snow leopard range countries, multi-lateral institutions, NGOs, scientists and local communities, working to save the specie.
• The 12 countries are –Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

• Himachal Pradesh Government issued a notification granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Hattee community.
• About 6 lakh Hattees residing in 95 villages of 58 panchayats spread across the four Assembly segments of Shillai, Renukaji, Pachhad and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district stand to benefit from the order.
  • The Scheduled Caste (SC) community has been excluded from the notification.
• This has paved the way for the Hattee community to be entitled for reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.
• The Hattees had been demanding ST status since 1967 when the people of adjoining areas of Jaunsar Bawar, now in Uttarakhand, were given this benefit.
• As per the notification issued by Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Hattee refers to permanent residents of the Trans Giri area of Sirmaur district.

• The West Bengal government has declared ‘Poila Boisakh’, the first day of the Bengali New Year, which usually falls on April 14 or 15, as the State Day.
• The State Day will be called ‘Bangla Divas’.
• Also ‘Banglar Mati Banglar Jal’, written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as the State Song.

• Defence Minister recently inaugurated the inaugural all-girls Sainik School- Samvid Gurukulam Girls Sainik School, in Vrindavan.
• It is the first all-girls Sainik School, hosting approximately 870 students.
• This establishment is part of the broader initiative to establish 100 new Sainik Schools through collaboration with NGOs, private entities, and state government schools across all states and Union territories.
  • These are in addition to the existing 33 sainik schools already functioning.

• India and Pakistan recently exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities through diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Islamabad
• The exchange of information was held under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations and facilities between India and Pakistan.
• The agreement was signed on December 31, 1988 and came into force on January 27, 1991.
• It provides that India and Pakistan inform each other of the nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the Agreement on the first of January of every calendar year.
• This is the 33rd consecutive exchange of such lists between the two countries, the first one having taken place on January 1, 1992.

• The President recently nominated Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as Executive Chairperson of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
  • As per convention, the post of Executive Chairman of NALSA is occupied by the second-senior judge of the Supreme Court.
• Also Supreme Court judge, Justice BR Gavai has been nominated by the National Legal Services Authority as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

ABOUT SUPREME COURT LEGAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

• The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, has been constituted under Section 3A of the Legal Service Authorities Act, 1987, for providing free and competent Legal Services to the weaker sections of the Society in the cases which fall under the jurisdiction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
• The Committee consists of –
  • A sitting Judge of Hon’ble Supreme Court, who is the Chairman and 9 members nominated by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India.

• The UAE Land Forces contingent arrived in India to participate in the 1st edition of the India – UAE Joint Military Exercise ‘DESERT CYCLONE’.
• The Exercise is scheduled to be conducted in Mahajan, Rajasthan.
• The UAE contingent comprising 45 personnel is being represented by troops from the Zayed First Brigade.
• The Indian Army contingent comprising 45 personnel is being represented mainly by a Battalion from the Mechanised Infantry Regiment.
• The Exercise will enhance cooperation and interoperability between both the sides during Peace Keeping Operations.

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Vivek Srivastava (IPS) as Director General of Fire Service, Civil Defence & Home Guards under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

OTHER APPOINTMENTS

• Anish Dayal Singh, has been appointed as the new Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
• Also, Rahul Rasgotra, currently holding the position of Special Director at the Intelligence Bureau (IB), is set to assume the role of Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

FACTS

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet makes appointments to higher offices like the Comptroller and Auditor General, Lokpal, Election Commissioners etc.
• The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (ex-officio Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs.

• The BRICS bloc has expanded to include five new full members.
• These are Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the presiding head of BRICS, confirmed the development.
• This signifies a notable shift in the global landscape, characterized by increasing multipolarity and assertive middle powers challenging the established Western-led order.
• The newly expanded BRICS has a combined population of about 3.5 billion people, with a combined economy worth over $28.5tn or about 28% of the global economy.

ABOUT BRICS

• The BRICS bloc was established in September 2006.
• The acronym BRIC was coined in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill.
  • It was originally named BRIC and included Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
• The last expansion of the BRICS took place in 2010 when South Africa joined, adding an “S” to the acronym a year after the bloc’s inception.
• The heads of state and government of the member nations convene annually with each nation taking up a one-year rotating chairmanship of the group.
  • India hosted the chair for the 2021 BRICS Summit.
• The bloc operates by consensus.