It is a bilateral annual military exercise between India and Nepal Army.
The 14th edition of the exercise will be held in Salijhandi, Nepal. The last year (13th) edition was held in Uttarakhand.
The aim of this exercise is to conduct training at military level in jungle warfare, terrorist operations in mountainous terrain, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operations, medical and environmental conservation including aviation aspects.
World Malaria Report
World Malaria Report 2019 was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malaria is mainly caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites.
It is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted through an organ transplant, a transfusion and use of shared needles or syringes.
It is preventable and curable.
Report Highlights – Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent malaria parasite in the African, South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific region.
Plasmodium Vivax is the predominant parasite in American region and its burden is high in South-East asia region with the majority being in India.
19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and India accounted for 85 per cent of the global malaria burden in 2018.
Globally, malaria cases reported in 2018 is marginally lower than the number of cases in 2017.
Africa and India saw the maximum dip in malaria cases between 2017 and 2018, but they still accounted for 85 per cent deaths.
Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique and Niger reported higher number of cases in the African region.
The African region accounted for 94% of all malarial deaths
India (58%), Indonesia (21%) and Myanmar (12%) accounted for the total reported deaths in the region.
Status of India – It is the highest burden country in the South-East Asia region.
It has one of the lowest funding per person at risk of being inflicted with malaria at just US$0.2.
It showed a reduction in reported cases of 51 per cent compared to 2017 and of 60 per cent compared to 2016.
In the South-East Asia region, the major challenges remain decreased funding, treatment failures and vector resistance to pyrethroids, the insectides used against the vectors.
INCOIS views on Tsunami
Scientists at the Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information Services (INCOIS) has recently viewed their opinions about potential earthquake source regions.
They reported that the Indian Ocean is likely to be affected by tsunamis generated by earthquakes at two potential source regions.
The regions are Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra Island subduction zone and the Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ).
The MSZ is off the coasts of Iran and Pakistan and the tsunami waves generated in the zone can reach the shores of India, Iran, Oman, Pakistan and nearby countries.
The zone is poorly understood, especially the land/mud slides that can be triggered by the earthquakes.
It can pose challenges to existing tsunami warning systems.
Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) of IOC-UNESCO has hosted a meeting to discuss about the hazard assessment for the makran region.
It is the first ever such meeting and it decided to implement a multi-national project funded by UNESCAP Trust Fund.
The project will help in better understanding of the Makran tsunami hazard and enhance preparedness to respond to a near-field tsunami threat in the region.
NATO
The leaders of NATO are going to meet in London to mark the 70th birthday of the organisation.
NATO is an intergovernmental political and military alliance among 29 independent member countries across North American and European states.
HQ - Brussels, Belgium.
It was founded in 1949 for the collective defence of its members, linking the security of the United States with its European allies against the Soviet Union.
Principle of Collective Defence – It is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington treaty which states that an attack against one or several of its members is considered as an attack against all.
Recent developments - North Macedonia (ex-Yugoslav republics) has recently signed accession agreement with NATO.
The move must be ratified by 29 member countries, which typically takes about a year.
After the ratification, it is expected to formally join the alliance in 2020, as its 30th member.
Three other ex-Yugoslav republics (Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro) have already joined NATO.
Rotavac 5D Vaccine
Hyderabad based Bharat Bio-Tech, an international biotechnology company, has recently unveiled advanced version of rotavirus vaccine Rotavac 5D.
It is the oral rotavirus vaccine to tackle viral diarrhoea.
It has been developed with close coordination with the Department of Biotechnology.
The current Rotavac vaccine, also manufactured by Bharat Biotech, requires to be stored at -20-degree Celsius same as oral polio vaccine.
The newer Rotavac 5D will, however require between two to eight degrees celsius storage temperature, which is the normal refrigeration temperature.
Rotavac 5D will have reduction in dosage from 2.5 to 0.5ml.
The vaccine is waiting for prequalification from WHO to supply across the world.
