Prelim Bits 06-03-2019

Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs

India accounts for about 1/4^th of all patients suffering rare diseases worldwide.
A rare disease occurs infrequently in a population, but there is no universal definition.
There are 3 parameters based on which a disease is said to be rare disease

The World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested that a rare disease should be defined as one with frequency less than 6.5 – 10 per 10,000 people.
Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type II (HSAN2) and thalassemia are two such diseases.
Orphan drugs are those that are used to treat rare diseases.
These are the drugs that are underdeveloped, since they are required by fewer people.
USA became the first country to enact Orphan Drug Act in 1983.

Exercise Al Nagah III

It is the bilateral joint exercise between India and Oman.
It is scheduled at Jabel Al Akhdar Mountains in Oman
It aims to enhance interoperability in counterterrorist operations in semi urban mountainous terrain.
It is the third in the series, while the first 2 joint exercises were held in Oman in January 2015 and India in March 2017 respectively.

National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP)

An agreement was signed between World Bank and Government of India to provide a $250-million loan for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP).
The key focus of the project is to promote women-owned and women-led farm and non-farm enterprises across value chains.
It will also enable them to build businesses, access finance, markets and networks and generate employment.
It would support enterprise development programs for rural poor women and youth.
It creates a platform to access finance including start-up financing options to build their individual and/or collectively owned and managed enterprises.
It is an additional financing to the $500-million National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) approved by the World Bank.

HL-2M Tokamak

China plans to complete the construction of the artificial sun device (HL-2M Tokamak ).

It is designed to replicate the nuclear fusion process that occurs naturally in the sun and stars.
The device provides almost infinite clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion.
Its plasma is mainly composed of electrons and ions.
The country's existing Tokamak devices have achieved an electron temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius in its core plasma, and an ion temperature of 50 million degrees Celsius.
The new HL-2M device shall provide main technical support for China's participation in the experiment and operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
The ITER is a large international scientific project that is a global collaboration of 35 countries, including China, Russia and the US.

International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)

It is an informal partnership between Nations and organizations which strives to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world.
It’s actions highlight globally the importance of coral reefs and related ecosystems to environmental sustainability, food security and social and cultural wellbeing
It was founded in 1994 by eight governments: Australia, France, Japan, Jamaica, the Philippines, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
It was announced

at the First Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 1994
at the high level segment of the Inter-sessional Meeting of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development in April 1995.

Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) Scheme

It was notified by Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The scheme is for Specified Agriculture Products.
It aims to provide assistance for the international component of freight and marketing of agricultural produce.
It is likely to mitigate disadvantage of higher cost of transportation of export of specified agriculture products due to trans-shipment.
It would be suitably included in the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20).

Source: PIB,The Hindu, Indian Express