• Every year the World Thalassemia Day is celebrated on May 8. The day is celebrated to encourage the patients suffering from Thalassemia.
• Theme: Addressing Health Inequalities across the Global Thalassemia Community
• Thalassemia Disease: The disease is an inherited blood disorder that is passed from parents to children. When a person gets infected with the disease, his or her body loses the ability to produce haemoglobin. Eventually the red blood cells count reduces. Red Blood Cells are the carriers of oxygen. Thalassemia can cause anemia, leaving the person fatigued. The disease is most common in South Asian, African and Mediterranean countries.

Why in News?

IIT Madras supported start-up Modulus Housing has developed a portable hospital unit called ‘MediCAB’.

About Project MediCAB:

• Project MediCAB is an initiative of the Office of principal scientific advisor and IIT Madras.
• Purpose: It is a portable hospital unit that has been developed to boost healthcare infrastructure by assisting states to set up COVID-19 extension hospitals.

The project is a decentralized approach to detect, screen, identify, isolate and treat COVID-19 patients in their local communities through these portable microstructures.

Why in News?

The Ministry of Ayush has launched a massive nationwide campaign to distribute two key products. One is the Ayurvedic drug AYUSH 64. The other is the Siddha drug Kabasura Kudineer. Both will provide benefit to the vast majority of out of hospital Covid-19 patients.

About Ayush 64:

• Ayush-64 is a polyherbal Ayurvedic Drug (i.e. use of more than one herb).
• The drug was developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS).
•  CCRAS is the apex body for research in Ayurveda under the Ministry of Ayush.
• The drug can be useful for the treatment of asymptomatic, mild, and moderate COVID-19 infection cases.

About Kabasura Kudineer:

• Kabasura Kudineer is a Siddha formulated drug. It has been found to be useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild, and moderate COVID-19 infection cases.
  • Siddha is a traditional medicine originating in South India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India.

Why in News?

The Drugs Controller General of India recently approved an oral drug to treat COVID-19 called the 2-DG. The 2-DG was developed by the Defense Research Development Organization for Emergency Use. 2-DG is 2-Deoxy – D – Glucose. It was developed in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

About 2-DG drug
• The drug ensures faster recovery of hospitalised patients and will reduce supplemental oxygen dependence during clinical trials.
• It accumulates in infected cells and stops viral synthesis. This accumulation makes the drug unique.
• The drug comes in a powdered form in sachets. It is consumed orally after dissolving in water.
• It was developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS). INMAS is a laboratory operating under DRDO.
• The DGCI has granted permission for emergency use of the drug in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.
• 2-DG is a generic molecule and thus can be easily produced and made available in plenty in the country.

• Global agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, GAVI and others have launched the Immunisation Agenda 2030 or IA2030 during World Immunisation Week.

World Immunisation Week:

• It is celebrated every year in the last week of April. It aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.
• The theme for 2021: Vaccines bring us closer.

About Immunisation Agenda 2030(IA2030):

• The Immunisation Agenda 2030(IA2030) sets an ambitious, overarching global vision and strategy for vaccines and immunisation for the decade 2021–2030.
• Vision: IA2030 envisions “A world where everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines for good health and well-being.”
• Based on: The IA2030 is based on the learning’s from Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). IA2030 has a target to address the unmet targets of the GVAP.
• The GVAP was developed to help realize the vision of the “Decade of Vaccines (2011–2020)”.
• GVAP was launched in 2012 with the aim to prevent millions of deaths by 2020. The GVAP aims to achieve this through more equitable access to vaccines for people in all communities.
• Core Principles: The IA 2030 strategy is guided by four core principles: it puts people in the centre. The strategy is led by countries. They will implement the strategy through broad partnerships and data.

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare has conferred a land area in the Andaman and Nicobar with organic certification. This is the first large contiguous territory conferred with the organic certification under the ‘Large Area Certification’ (LAC) scheme.
• This is a scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification program.
• Note: PGS is a process of certifying organic products. It ensures that their production takes place in accordance with laid-down quality standards for organics.

About Large Area Certification Scheme:

• The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched the Large Area Certification Scheme.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana(PKVY) was launched in 2015 with the aim to support and promote organic farming. This in turn results in the improvement of soil health.
• Purpose: The purpose is to provide a unique and quick organic certification to harness the potential land areas for organic products.

Process for Large Area Certification:

• Firstly, under the LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group. Documentations are simple and maintained village-wise.
• Secondly, all farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements. After verification, they will get certified as a group. Once issued they don’t need to go under conversion period.
• Thirdly, certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification. Annual verification is a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.

• China has launched the main module of its first permanent space station named Tianhe, or the “Heavenly Harmony” module.

About Tianhe or Heavenly Harmony module:

• Tianhe is the core module of China’s permanent space station. Tiangong Space Station is its name.
• The module was launched into space aboard a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Launch Center in China.

Functions of the Module:

• The Module provides life support and living quarters for three crew members.
• Further, the module also provides guidance, navigation and orientation control for the station.
• It also provides the station’s power, propulsion and life support systems.

Significance:

• This module is the first of the 11 missions to build and supply the permanent space station.

• Two Tribal settlements (Kattupatti and Kuzhipatti) of Pulayar community within the limits of Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu are gearing up for their annual festival of local deity Vairapattan.

About Anamalai Tiger Reserve:

• It is one of the four Tiger Reserves in Tamil Nadu. It forms part of the Southern Western Ghats.
• It forms part of the Anamalai Parambikulam Elephant Reserve declared in 2003.
• It is surrounded by Parambikulam Tiger Reserve on the East, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and Eravikulam National Park on the South Western side (all belong to Kerala).
• The reserve is also surrounded by Nenmara, Vazhachal, Malayattur and Marayur reserved forests of Kerala.
• The ranges found in this reserve include Amaravathi, Udumalpet, Pollachi, Ulandy, Valparai and Manamboli.
• The tribes are the Kadars, Malasars, Malaimalasar, Pulaiyars, Muduvars and the Eravallan (Eravalar).
• It includes wet evergreen forest and semi-evergreen forest, montane shola-grassland, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, thorn forests and marshes.
• The important mammals include: Asiatic elephant, Sambar, Spotted deer, Barking deer, Mouse deer, Gaur, Nilgiri tahr, Tiger, etc.

• The CSIR Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology has developed VINCOV-19, which may be the first specific drug for the treatment of COVID-19, which contains therapeutic antibodies.

Key Points:

• The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) has approved clinical trials for the VINCOV-19 in Phases I and II, and it is expected to be tested in Delhi and Rajasthan soon.
• The VINCOV-19 is a series of antibodies collected from horses after they were given inactivated Corona virus injections.
• After the results of phase I and II are released, it is expected to be approved for emergency use.
• It works better when given early in the infection.
• Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology or CCMB is an Indian fundamental life science research establishment that operates under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is located in Hyderabad.

• Current Context:  May 7th is World Athletics Day 2020.
• World Athletics Day is organized by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF). World Athletics Day was celebrated for the first time in 1996.

Objectives of World Athletics Day

• Popularizing sports among the youth
• Giving a boost to Athletics and making it the primary sport in schools and institutions
• Increasing public awareness about sports and also impart education to youngsters about the importance of sports
• To establish an important link between the youth, sport, and environmental conservation

International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) was established in Stockholm (Sweden) on July 17, 1912. The IAAF is the leading organization of world athletics.