• The National Health Authority (NHA) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) have joined hands to operationalize the National Health Claim Exchange (NHCX)
• NHCX is a digital health claims platform developed by National Health Authority.
• It is being undertaken in the context of a circular issued by IRDAI in June 2023, whereby the insurance regulator had advised all insurers and providers to onboard the NHCX.
• The NHCX will serve as a gateway for exchanging claims-related information among various stakeholders in the healthcare and health insurance ecosystem.
• The integration with NHCX would enable seamless interoperability of health claims processing, enhancing efficiency and transparency in the insurance industry and benefiting the policyholders and patients.

ABOUT NHA

• The National Health Authority or the NHA is responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
• NHA has been set-up to implement the PM-JAY at the national level.
• It is an autonomous entity established in 2019 under the Society Registration Act, 1860.
• It oversees the design, technological infrastructure, and implementation of the “National Digital Health Mission“ to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
• It replaced the National Health Agency and operates as an attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

ABOUT IRDAI

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India is a statutory body established under the IRDA Act 1999.
• It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
• It is tasked with regulating and licensing the insurance and re-insurance industries in India.
• HQ- Hyderabad
• It is a 10-member body– a Chairman, five full-time members, and four part-time members appointed by the Government of India.

• World Philosophy Day 2023 celebrated on 16^th
• Celebrated on the third Thursday of November every year, World Philosophy Day is a UNESCO initiative to highlight the importance of the discipline.
• UNESCO first created World Philosophy Day in 2002, when it was celebrated on the 21 November. UNESCO encourages its partners (from governments to schools) to engage with philosophy on the day through activities that encourage “free, reasoned and informed thinking on the major challenges of our time.”
• The theme for World Philosophy Day 2023 is “Philosophical Reflection in a Multicultural World”.

• World Diabetes Day, observed on November 14^th, aims to raise global awareness about diabetes.
• World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes.
• World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.
• The theme for World Diabetes Day 2023 is “Access to Diabetes Care”.

• Australia will issue a national apology to all citizens affected by the “Thalidomide tragedy”, more than half a century after babies were born with birth defects when mothers took the morning sickness pill.
• Thalidomide was the active ingredient in a sedative widely distributed to many mothers in Australia and around the world in the early 1960s.
• It was found to cause malformation of limbs, facial features and internal organs in unborn children.
• Thalidomide, developed by the German firm Gruenenthal, killed an estimated 80,000 children around the world before they were born, and 20,000 more were born with defects.

• The water levels in Lake Titicaca are now reaching record lows, worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon that means less rain in the area, compounding a long dry spell and rare high temperatures.
• It is South America’s largest body of fresh water.
• It is situated between Peru (to the west) and Bolivia (to the east).
• Nestled amid the Andes mountains, it is the highest navigable lake in the world.
• Height- 12,500 feet above sea level.
• Area- spanning roughly 3,200 square miles.
• Average depth– 460 to 600 feet, though the maximum depth drops to 920 feet toward the Bolivian shore.

• The report ‘Towards Eliminating Plastic Pollution by 2040 report ‘was released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• The Report was released at the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution (INC-3).

MAJOR FINDINGS

• In 2022, 21 million tonnes (MT) of plastics leaked into the environment globally.
• Primary plastics use would stabilise at 2020 levels by 2040.
• Under the baseline scenario, plastics use would continue to grow, leading to a 50 per cent increase in leakage of macroplastics into the environment by 2040 — meaning about 30 MT of plastic would leak into the environment, of which 9 MT would enter aquatic environments.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• It provided a clear roadmap for governments and policymakers to tackle the full lifecycle by curbing production and demand, increasing circularity, closing leakage pathways and bolstering recycling rates.
• Curb production and demand by targeted taxes and regulation.
• Make the plastic production process circular.
• Enhance recycling.

• Recently, a team from the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered 76 intermittent pulsars in the Galactic Plane Pulsar Snapshot Survey, including the faintest known pulsars to date, using China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST).

 ABOUT PULSARS

• Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit electromagnetic radiation along their magnetic axes.
• First discovered, in 1967, by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.
• ‘Period’ of the pulsar refers to time when pulsar appears to ‘switch off’ at points when the light is facing away from Earth.

ABOUT FAST

• The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is a Chinese mega science project that began operations in 2016.
• It is the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, located in Chinese province Guizhou.
• It has a diameter of 500 meters, comprising 4,450 triangular panels.

• India signed a $400 million policy-based loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to create high-quality urban infrastructure, improve service delivery, and promote efficient governance systems.
• The sub-programme 1, approved in 2021 with the financing of $350 million, established national-level policies and guidelines to improve urban services, while the latest sub-programme 2 supports investment planning and reform actions at the state and urban local body (ULB) levels.
• Sub-programme 2 supports the reforms initiated by the states and the ULBs in operationalising the national flagship programme of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 targeted for universal access of water supply and sanitation.
• The programme also envisages integrated planning reforms to control urban sprawls and foster systemic and planned urbanisation through enhancing the entire ecosystem of legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms.
• Other mission objectives will also be achieved by reducing water losses, recycling treated sewage for non-domestic use, rejuvenation of water bodies, and maintaining sustainable groundwater levels.

ABOUT ADB

• It is a multilateral development bank established on 19^th December 1966.
• It is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
• Members- 68 members (49 are from within Asia and the Pacific)
• Headquarters– Manila, Philippines
• ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).

• ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ on November 15^th is celebrated in the memory of Birsa Munda, an Indian tribal Independence activist and a folk hero belonging to the Munda tribe of Jharkhand.

ABOUT BIRSA MUNDA

• He was a folk hero and a tribal freedom fighter hailing from the Munda tribe.
• He was born on November 15, 1875, in Ulihatu, near Ranchi.
• He spearheaded an Indian tribal mass movement that arose in the Bihar and Jharkhand belts in the early 19^th century under British colonisation.
• Munda rallied the tribals to fight against the forceful land grabbing carried out by the British government, which would turn the tribals into bonded labourers and force them to abject poverty.
• As a reaction to the introduction of the Zamindari system, or Permanent settlement in tribal areas, Birsa Munda in 1894 declared “Ulgulan”, or revolt, against the British and the Dikus – the outsiders.
  • It was aimed at destroying the tribal “Khuntkatti” agrarian system.
  • Khuntkatti means the joint holding of land by tribals.
• He created a faith called ‘Birsait’ and protested against conversion of tribals to Christianity.
• He was also known as ‘Dharti Abba’ or the Earth Father
• He died on June 9, 1900, at the young age of 25.
• Jharkhand state was created on his birth anniversary in 2000.

• The S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Ixchiq, the world’s first chikungunya vaccine.
• Ixchiq is approved for individuals 18 years of age and older who are at increased risk of exposure to chikungunya virus.
• Ixchiq is administered as a single dose by injection into the muscle.
• It contains a live, weakened version of the chikungunya virus and may cause symptoms in the vaccine recipient similar to those experienced by people who have chikungunya disease.

ABOUT CHIKUNGUNYA

• Chikungunya is an emerging global health threat with at least 5 million cases of chikungunya virus infection reported during the past 15 years.
• It was first identified in Tanzania in 1952.
• The chikungunya virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito.
• Transmission of chikungunya virus to newborn babies from pregnant individuals with viremia (virus present in the blood) at delivery has been reported and can cause severe, potentially fatal chikungunya virus disease in newborns.
• The highest risk of infection is in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Americas where chikungunya virus-carrying mosquitos are endemic.
  • However, chikungunya virus has spread to new geographical areas causing a rise in global prevalence of the disease.
• The most common symptoms of chikungunya include fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include a rash, headache, and muscle pain.
• Some individuals may experience debilitating joint pain that persists for months or even years.
• Treatment includes rest, fluids, and over-the-counter medications for pain and fever.