Prelim Bits 17-03-2018

Mental Health Survey

• The Government had undertaken a National Mental Health Survey through the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).
• The report was released in 2016 and some of its major findings are as follows,

1. The prevalence of mental morbidity is high in urban metropolitan areas.
2. Nearly 1 in 40 and 1 in 20 persons suffer from past and current depression, respectively.
3. Data indicate that 0.9 % of the survey population were at high risk of suicide.
4. Mental disorders are closely linked to both causation and consequences of several non-communicable disorders (NCD).

• To address the mental health problems, the government is implementing the National Mental Health Program (NMHP).

National Centre for Disease Control

• NCDC is an institute which is under the administrative control of the Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• NCDC, formerly National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) had its origin as Central Malaria Bureau, established at Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) in 1909.
• It functions as the nodal agency in the country for disease surveillance facilitating prevention and control of communicable diseases
• Some of the health programs under the National Centre for Disease Control are,

1. Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP)
2. National Program for Containment of Anti-Microbial Resistance
3. National Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Program
4. National Rabies control program (NRCP)
5. Yaws Eradication Program
6. Guinea Worm Eradication Program

• The mandate of the Institute broadly covers three areas viz. services, trained health manpower development and research.

Defense corridor

• An interactive meeting with local industry was held at Tiruchirappalli as to initiate development of the Tamil Nadu Defense Corridor.
• It is with respect to budget announcement of two Defense Corridors in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
• The Tamil Nadu Defense Corridor is also called the Tamil Nadu Defense Production Quad.
• It is called as Quad as the nodal cities Chennai, Hosur, Salem and Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli forms the quadrilateral region.
• These nodal cities have existing defense ecosystem in the form of OFBs, vendors working with Defense PSUs, and other allied industries.
• The Corridor aims to bolster interaction between all industry players in order to create long-term synergy and eventual development of the area into a Defense Production powerhouse.

Eastern Quoll

• Eastern quolls, which were wiped out of mainland Australia decades ago, are being introduced to the remote Booderee National Park, Australia. 
• Eastern quolls is a species of small Australian marsupial. 
• The carnivorous marsupial is native to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania.

• This nocturnal marsupial feed on insects, small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
• The quolls were wiped out 50 years ago in the mainland due to the human induced poisoning, habitat destruction and predatory foxes that fed these cat sized marusipals.

World Glaucoma Week

• During World Glaucoma Week observed between March 11 and 17, Ripon Buildings in Chennai was lit up in green to raise awareness about the eye disease.
• Glaucoma is an irreversible condition, resulting from damaged optic nerves due to pressure in the eye.

• Glaucoma is the second prominent cause of blindness in the world accounting up to 8% of total blindness.
• In India, glaucoma is the third leading cause of irreversible blindness with nearly 12 million people affected and nearly 1.2 million people blind from the disease.

International Criminal Court

• Philippines is to pull out from the International Criminal Court(ICC) after it opened a crimes against humanity investigation into its President’s brutal war on drugs.
• The International Criminal Court was found by the Rome Statue.
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and tries individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
• India is a non signatory of the Rome statue and thereby a non member of ICC.
• Click here to know more about ICC

Map of the Day

Europe Physical features

• Europe is often called a "peninsula of peninsulas".
• Pyrenees Mountains form the natural border between France & Spain.
• Ural Mountains is considered the natural boundary between European and Asian parts of Russia
• Caucasus Mountains act as a natural barrier separating Eastern Europe from Western Asia.
• Massif Central, upland area in France with mountains and plateaus of volcanic origin.
• Kiel Canal connects North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Source: PIB, The Hindu, Business Standard