Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation

● CDSCO serves as the National Regulatory Authority of India for the medical devices industry.

● It operates under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

- Responsibilities:

● Oversight of import, manufacture, sale, and distribution of medical devices in India.

● Ensures compliance with safety, quality, and efficacy standards.

- Structure: Operates under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

● Headed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

- Headquarters : New Delhi.

- Functions:

● Regulatory Approvals
● Conducting clinical trials.
● Standards and Quality Control
● Ensuring the quality of imported drugs.
● Coordination
● Licensing
● Inspections and Audits:

Source : LiveMint

Cashew Crop

- Origin: Native to Brazil in Latin America.

- Introduction : To India by the Portuguese in the 16th century (1570).

- Climatic Conditions:

● Soil : Well-drained deep sandy loam soils ideally, although various soil types from sandy to laterite are suitable.

● Climate: Thrives in hot, humid conditions typical of Indian coastal areas.

● Temperature: 20 to 38 degrees Celsius.

● Humidity: 60 to 95%.

● Rainfall: Optimal annual precipitation: 2000 to 3500 mm.

- Expansion of Cultivation:

● Traditionally grown in Indian coastal areas

● New cultivation areas : Plains of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and parts of the North East hill region.

- India's Role: Second-largest share in the world's cashew nut production and export.

- Major export destinations : UAE, the Netherlands, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.

Source : The Hindu

Border Roads Organisation

- It is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Defence

- Aim : To secure India's borders and develop infrastructure in remote areas of the north and northeast states.

Border Roads Development Board (BRDB):

● Set up by the Government of India for coordination and expeditious execution of projects.

● Prime Minister : chairman of the board
● Defence Minister : Deputy Chairman.

- Functions:

● Develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and neighboring countries.

● Operations in 19 states, and neighboring countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan, and Sri Lanka.

● Personnel: From the General Reserve Engineer Force form the parent cadre.

● Staffed by Officers and Troops from the Indian Army's Corps of Engineers on deputation.

● Inclusion in Armed Forces: In the Order of Battle of the Armed Forces.

- Motto: "Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam" (Everything is achievable through hard work).

Source : The Hindu

Global Biofuel Alliance

● Multi-stakeholder alliance of Governments, International Organizations, and Industries.

- Launched : By India at the 2023 G20 summit (New Delhi).

- Objectives:

● Development and deployment of biofuels.

● Position biofuels as key to energy transition and contribute to jobs and economic growth.

- Significance :

● Market Strengthening: Sharing concrete policy lessons and providing technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide.

● Capacity Building: Promote technology advancements and sustainable biofuel utilization.

● Standardization: Facilitate development, adoption, and implementation of internationally recognized standards, codes, and sustainability principles.

● Knowledge Repository: Serve as an expert hub.

- Membership: 24 countries and 12 international organizations.

Source : The Hindu

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United Nations Forum on Forests

- Establishment: In 2000 by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

- Purpose : Promotes management, conservation, and sustainable development of all forest types.

- Annual Meetings: At UN Headquarters, New York.

● High-level dialogue on technical matters in odd years, policy matters in even years.

- Membership: Comprising all UN Member States and specialized agencies.

● India is a founding member.

UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030

- Aim: To sustainably manage all forest types and trees outside forests.

- Alignment with Global Agreements:

● 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
● Paris Agreement under UNFCCC.
● Convention on Biological Diversity.
● UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Source : The Hindu

Sea Anemone

- Characteristics:

● Invertebrate aquatic animal with soft bodies.

● Possess stinging ability.

● Often found in close association with corals and live rocks.

- Physical Features:

● Possesses sticky foot or disc for anchoring to rocks or coral reefs.

● Stinging cells contain nematocysts with small threads, ejected when stimulated.

- Symbiotic Relationships: With clownfish.

● Clownfish reside within anemone's tentacles, receiving protection.

● Anemone benefits from clown fish's leftover meals.

- Variety : Display a variety of colors, resembling a garden of wildflowers in tide pools or reefs.

Source : The Hindu

DigiLocker

● An Indian Government's flagship program under the Digital India initiative.

- Aim : To transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

- Functionality : Fits into Digital India's vision of providing citizens a shareable private space on a public cloud for storing documents.

- Benefits:

● Convenience : Citizens can access their digital documents anytime, anywhere and share them online, saving time.

● Administrative Efficiency : Minimizing paper usage.

● Authenticity : As it is issued directly by registered issuers.

● Digital Signatures : Self-uploaded documents ,similar to self-attestation.

● Data Security : Encrypted during transit, ensuring secure transmission. User data is not shared with third parties.

Source : Indian Express

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Xenotransplantation

● Refers to any procedure involving the transplantation, implantation, or infusion of live cells, tissues, or organs from a non human animal source into a human recipient.

- Genetic Modifications : The animal organ selected for transplantation must undergo genetic modifications to prevent rejection by the human body.

- Use of Pigs in Xenotransplantation : Pig heart valves have been used to replace damaged valves in humans for over 50 years.

- Comparison :

● Pigs have anatomical and physiological parameters similar to humans.

● Cost-Effectiveness: Pigs are widely bred on farms, making their use in xenotransplantation economically viable.

● Variety Matching: Various pig breeds are available, allowing for the selection of organs that match the specific size needs of human recipients.

- Achievement : In January 2022, the first successful xenotransplantation of a genetically modified pig heart was performed.

Source : Indian Express

Global Report on Internal Displacement 2024

- Publisher: Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

- Focus: Records internal displacements due to conflict, violence, and disasters.

Highlights of GRID-2024:

● Increase in IDPs: Number of internally displaced people (IDPs) rose to 75.9 million in 2023, up from 71.1 million in the previous year.

- Causes of Displacement:

● Disasters: 7.7 million displaced, with one-fourth caused by earthquakes.

● Conflict and Violence: 68.3 million displaced.

● Top IDP Hosting Countries: Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Colombia, and Yemen host nearly half of the world’s IDPs.

- South Asia:

● IDPs Due to Conflict and Violence

● Highest displacements due to conflict and violence in India since 2018.

● Displacements Due to Natural Disasters: Sharp decline in 2023: 528,000 compared to 2.5 million in 2022.

Source : Indian Express

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Calcium Carbide (CaC₂)

- Ingredients: Produced by heating a mixture of lime (calcium oxide, CaO) and carbon (coke or anthracite) at high temperatures.

- Process: Heating the lime and carbon mixture to a temperature between 2000 to 2100°C in an electric arc furnace.

Applications :
● Mining and Metal Industries: Generation of acetylene gas, which is used as a fuel and in welding.

● Acetylene Production: Acetylene gas (C₂H₂) has applications in industrial processes.

● Fruit Ripening: The compound releases acetylene gas, which acts as an artificial ripening agent.

- Health Impacts

● Direct Exposure: Dizziness, frequent thirst, irritation, weakness, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcers.

● Fruit Contamination: Leading to ingestion of harmful traces of arsenic and phosphorus.

● Gas Exposure

- Regulation : Its use is prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation, 2011.

Source : The Hindu

Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)

- Establishment: By the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union signed in 2014, in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan.

- Member Countries: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

- Objectives :

● Upgrade and raise the competitiveness of national economies.

● Promote stable development to improve living standards in member states.

● Facilitate the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor.

● Pursue coordinated, harmonized, and unified policies.

Eurasian Economic Commission:

● Location: Moscow, Russia.

● Function: Acts as the permanent supranational regulatory body

● Purpose: Integration, and oversees implementation of policies.

- Court of the EAEU:

● Location: Minsk, Belarus.

● Function: Serves as the judicial body of the EAEU.

Source : Economic Times