• The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has alerted states about smaller outbreaks for five diseases—typhoid, malaria, dengue, scrub typhus and hepatitis A.
• These alerts are part of the regular surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

ABOUT NATIONAL CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL (NCDC)-

• It is an institute under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The Director, an officer of the Public Health sub-cadre of Central Health Service, is the administrative and technical head of the Institute.
• The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), formerly National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), had its origin as the Central Malaria Bureau, established at Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) in 1909.
• NICD was transformed into the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with a larger mandate of controlling emerging and re-emerging diseases in 2009.
• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Functions:
  • It functions as the nodal agency for disease surveillance in the country.
  • In coordination with the State Governments, NCDC has the capacity and capability for disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and rapid response to contain and combat outbreaks.
  • It also deals with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).
  • It also provides referral diagnostic support to individuals, community, medical colleges etc. along with capacity building and technical support to States/UTs in the country.
  • It also focuses on applied integrated research in various aspects of communicable as well as some aspects of non-communicable diseases.

• 14 fixed-dose combination (FDC) medicines found to lack therapeutic relevance have been banned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• The banned FDCs are part of 344 fixed-dose combinations prohibited for sale by the Union Health Ministry in 2016 but the makers of 15 such drugs challenged the decision in Delhi High Court.
• The ban, under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, comes after an expert committee recommended that there is no therapeutic justification for these FDCs and FDC may involve risk to human beings.
• The banned combinations include medicines used for cough, fever and infections, and are sold over the counter.

ABOUT FIXED-DOSE COMBINATION (FDC) DRUGS

• FDC drugs are those which contain a combination of two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in a fixed ratio.
• It may be administered as single entity products given concurrently or as a finished pharmaceutical product.
• Benefits
  • Patients benefit from added effects of two medicinal products given together.
  • They have been shown to appreciably reduce the risk of medication non-adherence, which is particularly important in patients with chronic diseases.
  • The FDCs are more economic than single ingredient
  • The manufacturing cost is quite low as compared to the cost of producing separate products.
• ISSUES RELATED TO FDCS-
  • Dosage alteration of one drug as per an individual patient’s need, is not possible.
  • The FDCs formulated without due diligence can pose problems namely pharmacodynamic mismatche. one drug having additive/antagonistic effect leading to reduced efficacy or enhanced toxicity.
  • FDCs do harm by encouraging irrational and indiscriminate use by people.

Irrational use of FDCs of antibiotics is among the major causes of antibiotic resistance in India.

• Saudi Arabia will pledge new voluntary production cuts as part of a broader OPEC+ deal to curb output as the group faces lower oil prices and a looming supply glut.
  

ABOUT ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES(OPEC)-

• It is a permanent intergovernmental organization of oil-exporting countries.
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
• It was established in 1960 by the five founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
  • Currently, it has 13 members, including Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates
• It aims to
  • coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
  • ensure stabilization of oil prices in the international oil markets, with a view to eliminating harmful and unnecessary fluctuations.

• OPEC+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries which meets regularly to decide how much crude oil to sell on the world market.
  • These nations aim to work together on adjusting crude oil production to bring stability to the oil market.
  • The 13 members OPEC group forms the core of this group
  • Other than 13 OPEC countries listed above, it includes Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, South Sudan, Sudan, and

• Celeste Saulo of Argentina has been appointed as the first female Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
  • She has served as the director of Argentina’s National Meteorological Service since 2014.
• The leadership election of the World Meteorological Congress takes place every four years.

• World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5^th to raise awareness and encourage action for the protection of our planet.
• It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme during the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.
• The inaugural World Environment Day, themed “Only One Earth”, took place in 1973.
• Over 150 countries participate in various activities to celebrate this day.
• The 50th anniversary of World Environment Day will be hosted by Côte D’Ivoire, with the theme of “solutions to plastic pollution”.

• As per reports, many finfluencers are now “renting out” research analyst (RA) licences for a fee.
  • A finfluencer — as a financial influencer is usually called — is one who gives the ordinary investor information and advice on an array of financial topics such as stock market trading, personal finance and mutual funds.
• Several finfluencers were quoted in the report as saying that their applications are being rejected as RA regulations are very strict in India.
• Currently, in India, to become a registered RA, a person must hold a post-graduate degree or a professional qualification and market experience of five years.
  • However, most finfluencers do not meet this criterion.

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued draft guidelines for Bima Vahaks.
• It seeks to establish a dedicated distribution channel at the level of Gram Panchayats.
• Bima Vahaks, a core component of IRDAI’s ‘Insurance for all by 2047’goal, aims to improve accessibility and availability of insurance in country.
• Three pillars of entire insurance ecosystem:
  • Insurance customers (policyholders),
  • Insurance providers (insurers) and
  • Insurance distributers (intermediaries).

Objectives of Bima Vahak guidelines

• Establish dedicated distribution channel focused on enhancing insurance inclusion and creating awareness in every Gram Panchayat.
• Identification and development of local resources within each Gram Panchayat, with a special focus on encouraging onboarding of women as Bima Vahaks to gain the trust of locals.
• The guidelines propose Corporate Bima Vahaks and Individual Bima Vahaks for the distribution channel.
  • Corporate Bima Vahak would be legal persons registered in accordance with the respective laws and engaged by an insurer.
  • Individual Bima Vahak could be any individual appointed by an insurer or appointed by a Corporate Bima Vahak.
• Activities assigned to Bima Vahaks include collecting proposal information, KYC compliance, coordination and support in policy, claims-related servicing, etc.

• Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-standing dispute over water sharing from the Helmand River.

About Helmand River

• The Helmand is Afghanistan’s longest river.
• It originates near Kabul in the western Hindu Kush mountain range and flows in a southwesterly direction through desert areas for a total of about 1,150 kilometers before emptying into Lake Hamun, which straddles the Afghanistan-Iran border.
  • Lake Hamun is the largest freshwater lake in Iran.
  • It used to be one of the world’s largest wetlands fed by Helmand.
• It is separated from the watershed of the Kabul River by the Unai Pass.
• The Helmand River is a vital source of water for both sides, supporting agriculture, livelihoods and ecosystems in the region.

The dispute

• Afghanistan and Iran signed the Helmand River Treaty in 1973 to regulate the allocation of river water.
  • But the accord was neither ratified nor fully implemented, causing disagreements and tensions to persist.
• Iran has accused Afghanistan of violating its water rights for years, arguing that far less water than the amount agreed to in the 1973 treaty flows into Iran.

• The government recently permitted the import of Needle Pet Coke (NPC) for making graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries as a feedstock and not for any other purposes.
• The DGFT, however, said that the sulphur content in the NPC should be less than 0.8 per cent, which would be monitored by state pollution control boards.

ABOUT PETROLEUM COKE

• Petroleum coke or petcoke is a spongy, solid residue from oil distillation.
• It is a coal substitute and can be burned for fuel in the same manner as coal.
• It notably has a higher energy content and is easier to transport and store.
• It is a byproduct created when bitumen is found in tar sands.
• There are two distinctive grades of Petroleum Coke Calcinable or Green Petcoke and Fuel Grade Petcoke.
  • Uses of High Grade pet coke is mainly as an additive or as a source of carbon
    • Electrodes for electrometallurgical industries, Synthetic Graphite, Aluminum Anodes
  • Uses of Fuel grade Petcoke– as fuel in the Cement manufacturing, Power Industry, Alumininium Refining, Steel Manufacturing, Lime Klins and Industrial Boilers.

• EIACP Programme Centre at Raipur has created a world record by taking a LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) pledge of over 12.38 lakh by people to conserve environment.

ABOUT EIACP

• It is a project funded by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• It is one of the Central Sector sub-scheme being implemented in alignment with Mission LiFE.
• The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) is renamed EIACP (Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme).
  • ENVIS came into existence as a planned programme in 1983.
• ENVIS EIACP serves as a one-stop platform for the dissemination of environmental information, informed policy formulation on various facets of the environment and facilitation of alternate livelihoods through green skilling.
• It is dedicated to raising awareness, building capacity, and promoting sustainable actions among individuals and communities across India.

ABOUT MISSION LIFE (LIFESTYLE FOR ENVIRONMENT)

• It was first proposed by the Indian PM at COP 26 (Glasgow).
• It is envisioned as an India-led global mass movement that will nudge individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment.
• It emboldens the spirit of the P3 model, i.e. Pro Planet People.
• It functions on the basic principles of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet’.