Prelim Bits 22-11-2019

Intensified Mission Indradhanush

• Mission Indradhanush was launched in 2014 to achieve full immunisation coverage for all children and pregnant women at a rapid pace.
• Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) was launched from Vadnagar in 2017 and its second version (2.0) 2.0 is going to be launched from Dec 2, 2019.
• Through IMI, Government aims to reach each and every child upto 2 years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme/Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
• It aims to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272 districts in 27 States.
• It shall be implemented in the block level (652 blocks) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• It will focus on urban, underserved population and tribal areas.
• It consists of 4 rounds of immunization that will be conducted in the selected districts and urban cities between Dec 2019 - March 2020.
• The UIP basket has vaccines for ten diseases i.e

1. BCG for TB, OPV for poliomyelitis,

2. monovalent measles vaccine for measles,

3. Rota Virus vaccine for Diarrhoea,

4. JEV for Japanese Encephalitis &

5. Pentavalent Vaccine for DPT (diphtheria, pertussis i.e whooping cough & tetanus) and

6. Vaccine for Hepatitis B & Pneumonia due to Hib.

7. Measles-rubella vaccine (MR) is also added now to the UIP

Avian Botulism

• Over 17,000 birds were found dead in the past few days in the Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.
• It is not the first time that where deaths due to botulism have been recorded. It is reported in Lake Michigan in 2007 and 2008 and in Hawaii in 2008.
• The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, states that climatic conditions were ultimately responsible for having triggered the mass die-off.
• It is occurred due to avian botulism, a disease caused by a bacteria that affects nerves.
• Botulinum is a natural toxin produced by a bacteria known as Clostridium botulin.
• It produces the toxin when it starts reproducing and attack the neurons which leads to muscle paralysis.
• It is commonly found in the soil, river, and sea water
• There are around eight types — A, B, C₁, C₂, D, E, F, and G — of botulinum toxin and they are distinguishable when diagnosed.
• Botulinum affects both humans and animals, but the type of the toxin varies — botulinum C in birds and A, B and E in humans.

Climate Change and Botulism

• It has been recognised as a major cause of mortality in wild birds since the 1900s.
• It needs anaerobic (absence of oxygen) conditions and does not grow in acidic conditions.
• It also requires a nutrient-rich substrate, like areas with large amounts of decaying plant or animal materials.
• Water levels in the lake were fluctuating throughout the year.
• Due to a good monsoon this year, the water level reached the lakebed after a gap of 20 years which provided a favourable environment for the bacteria to spread.
• The monsoon brought with it a large population of crustaceans (like shrimps, crabs, and prawns), invertebrates (snails) and plankton (like algae).
• These living organisms are capable of hosting the bacteria for a long period of time.
• It reproduces through spores and these spores remain dormant for years.
• Botulism outbreaks are likely to become more frequent as climate change alters wetland conditions to favour bacteria and pathogens.

Hong Kong Convention for Ship Recycling

• India has recently acceded to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.
• The convention is aimed at ensuring that recycling ships, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment.
• It was adopted by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in 2009.
• It was developed with input from IMO, International Labour Organization and the Parties to the Basel Convention.
• It addresses all concerns about orking and environmental conditions in ship recycling facilities,
• It regulates the design, construction, operation and preparation of ships so as to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling.
• It checks for scrapping ships that may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone depleting substances and others.
• It requires ships to be sent for recycling will be required to carry an inventory of hazardous materials.
• Ship recycling yards will be required to provide a Ship Recycling Plan and parties will be required to take effective measures to ensure that ship recycling facilities under their jurisdiction comply with the Convention.

Credit Guarantee Fund

• National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd is a common trustee company to manage and operate various credit guarantee trust funds.
• It has been set up by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.
• It operates Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) under Start up India Programme.
• Under Startup India initiative, all applications can be submitted to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
• Collateral-free loans have been made available to MSMEs under the Credit Guarantee Scheme in Aspirational Districts.

Source: PIB, DownToEarth