• Kerala recently initiated Operation AMRITH (Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention for Total Health).
• This programme enforces the original H1 rule, mandating a doctor’s prescription for acquiring any class of antibiotics.

BACKGROUND

• In 2011, the Indian government introduced the H1 rule to prohibit the over-the-counter (OTC) sales of antibiotics without a prescription, responding to the growing concern over antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
  • Major objective of Schedule H1 drug is to control the un-restricted use of antibiotics.
  • This specified list of drugs should be sold by chemists only after retaining a copy of the prescription by them.
  • The supply of a drug specified in Schedule H1 shall be recorded in a separate register.
  • The packs of these drugs should have a warning in a box with a red border on the label.

• In 2013, following the Chennai Declaration document and initiative by medical societies in India, the government modified the rule to limit the OTC restriction to second- and third-line antibiotics, allowing the sale of first-line antibiotics without a prescription.

RELATED

• MoHFW had launched Red Line awareness campaign on Antimicrobials Resistance, urging people not to use medicines marked with a red vertical line, including antibiotics, without a doctor’s prescription.

• The Centre launched an initiative to improve nutrition in adolescent girls using Ayurveda.
• The project for anaemia control under Mission Utkarsh will be a joint public health initiative by the Ministries of Ayush and Women and Child Development.
• It would be launched in five aspirational districts first as a pilot project.
• In the first phase, the focus may be on improving the anaemic status of adolescent girls (14-18 years) in five aspirational districts of five states –
  • Assam (Dhubri), Chhattisgarh (Bastar), Jharkhand (Paschimi Singhbhum), Maharashtra (Gadchiroli), and Rajasthan (Dhaulpur).
• Under Mission Utkarsh, 15 central ministries or departments will work to elevate districts at the bottom, to state and national averages.
• This project will cover approximately 10,000 Anganwadi Centres in the five districts.
• The aim is nutritional improvement among approximately 95,000 adolescent girls in anaemia prone districts.

• The names of four astronauts, part of the country’s human space flight mission Gaganyaan, were revealed recently.
• The PM presented astronaut wings to the four selected for the space flight during an event at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
• The four astronaut-designates selected for the Gaganyaan mission are–
  • Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.
• The astronauts chosen for the mission have been trained in technical knowledge as well as physical fitness to ensure they stay well during the mission.

ABOUT GAGANYAAN MISSION

• Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
• LVM3 rocket is identified as the launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission.
  • It consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.
  • All systems in LVM3 launch vehicle are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3.
• The Gaganyaan mission is the most expensive scientific mission ever undertaken by India and is going to cost about ₹ 10,000 crore.
• The mission is expected to help develop several game-changing technologies.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) published the guidelines on the clinical management of diphtheria.

ABOUT DIPHTHERIA

• Diphtheria is a serious contagious bacterial infection of the nose and throat.
• According to WHO, Respiratory diphtheria is caused by strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which have an affinity for the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat) and produce a toxin that causes local disease and, in severe cases, airway compromise and systemic complications.
• Diphtheria spreads from person to person mostly through the air, and less frequently by direct contact. The incubation period is usually from 2 to 5 days.
• Although diphtheria can be treated with medications, in advanced stages, the bacterial infection can damage the heart, kidneys and nervous system.
• Even with treatment, diphtheria can be deadly, especially in children.
• It is a vaccine-preventable disease, but multiple doses and booster doses are needed to produce and sustain immunity.
  • People who are not immunised or under-immunised are at risk of the disease.
• Diphtheria is fatal in 5-10 per cent of cases, with a higher mortality rate in young children.

• The Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), under the aegis of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has successfully commissioned India’s largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which stores energy using solar energy.
• The 40 megawatts (MW) / 120MWh BESS with a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant which has an installed capacity of 152.325 megawatt hour (MWh)and dispatchable capacity of 100MW AC (155.02 MW peak DC) is located in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
• The energy would be purchased by the state of Chhattisgarh, thus contributing to meeting the peak energy demand of the state using green electrons and also towards its renewable purchase obligations.
• The project utilizes battery storage for storing solar energy when the sun is shining and using it later during hours of peak demand in the evening.

• Ukraine has withdrawn from the settlement of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine.
• As the war enters its third year, Russian troops have mounted heavy attacks and taken Avdiivka — a key eastern town — while Ukrainian troops are struggling with a lack of ammunition.
• The battle for Avdiivka was one of the bloodiest of the two-year war.

• Prime Minister inaugurated Bharat Tex 2024, one of the largest-ever global textile events held in India, at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi.
• Bharat Tex 2024 serves as a platform to showcase the iconic handloom and handicraft traditions of various states.
• Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have been designated as the ‘Partner States’ for the event.

Gujarat, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh have joined as ‘Supporting Partner States‘.

• World NGO Day is observed every year on February 27^th.
• The day is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the crucial role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in making a positive impact on society.
• The theme for World NGO Day 2024 is ‘Building a Sustainable Future: The Role of NGOs in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).’
• World NGO Day was first observed in 2014.
  • The day was founded by social entrepreneur Marcis Liors Skadmanis.
  • It was originally observed by 12 nations that make up the Baltic Sea NGO Forum.
  • In 2014, the European Union, the UN, and other international organizations gave it official recognition on a global scale.

• Full moon on February 24 was called as Hunger moon or Snow Moon or Storm Moon.
• It missed Earth’s shadow, because moon’s orbit is tilted by five degrees to the plane of the Earth’s orbit, and therefore Earth won’t be directly between the sun and the moon.
• It has been named by Native American tribes as the ‘Snow Moon’ or the ‘Hunger Moon’.
• This lunar event carries a history woven with the challenges of midwinter.
• NASA has explained that heavy snowfall, making hunting difficult, led to it being called the ‘Snow Moon’. The added title of the ‘Hunger Moon’ reflects the scarcity of resources during this wintry period.

• International Gita Mahotsav will be held in Colombo.
• The purpose of the event is to popularise the timeless teachings of the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita.
• The three day International Gita Mahotsav will commence from 1st of March.
• The festival will be held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre premises with the financial sponsorship of Haryana’s Kurukshetra Development Board.
• Thousands of delegates from across the world are expected to attend the event.
• The festival will feature Gita yagna, Gita chanting, shobha yatra, seminar on several topics of contemporary interest and several competitions.