Most Important CA for UPSC Prelims 2021 April-July Set-14

Table of Contents

RARE DISEASES

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare approved the National Policy for Rare Diseases(NPRD) 2021.
There is no universal or standard definition of rare disease but broadly defined as diseases that infrequently occur in a population, and three indicators are used to identify— the total number of people with the disease, its prevalence, and the availability/non-availability of treatment options.
WHO defines rare disease as often debilitating lifelong disease or disorder with a prevalence of less than 10 per 10,000 people (or 1 per 1000 population).
Different countries have their own definitions
“Orphan diseases” is often used for these and drugs to treat them are called “Orphan drugs”.
New diseases are discovered each year and added to the databases such as Orphanet database maintained by the European Union that is freely accessible to everyone.

World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners recently organised “Reaching Zero” forum on malaria elimination to celebrate World Malaria Day (25th April).
This year’s theme for the day is “Reaching the Zero Malaria target.’’
WHO launched E-2025 initiative, under which group of 25 countries have been identified that have the potential to stamp out malaria within a 5-year timeline.
Receive specialized support and technical guidance as they work towards the target of zero malaria.
National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme NVBDCP (launched in 2003-04): It is an umbrella programme for the prevention and control of six vector borne diseases namely Malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, kala-azar and lymphatic filariasis.
National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016–2030 was launched in line with the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016– 2030 (GTS). The goals of NFME are:
Eliminate malaria (zero indigenous cases) throughout the entire country by 2030; and
Maintain malaria–free status in areas where malaria transmission has been interrupted and
prevent re-introduction of malaria.
National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Malaria Elimination 2017-2022 was launched based on NFME which specifies for phased elimination of Malaria.

Specific objectives of NSP are:

Achieve universal coverage of case detection and treatment services in endemic districts.
Strengthen the surveillance system.
An appropriate vector control intervention.
WHO’s High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) strategy has been initiated in four high endemic states i.e., West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in July 2019.

Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX has launched a non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplace for Indian artists.
An NFT, or a non-fungible token, is a digital object that can be a drawing, animation, piece of music, photo, or video with a certificate of authenticity created by blockchain technology.
NFT is a unique proof of ownership over something you can’t usually hold in your hand — a piece of digital art, a digital coupon, maybe a video clip.
The virtual object, which is actually a computer file, can be exchanged or sold with its certificate.
“Tokenizing” these assets allows them to be bought, sold, and traded more efficiently while reducing the probability of fraud.
NFTs can also be used to represent people’s identities, property rights, and more.
All NFTs have a unique quality and a distinct value from any other similar token.
The metadata of each NFT is an unalterable record that gives it the certificate of authenticity.
They are digitally rare.
They must be sold or purchased as a whole as they cannot be divided unlike fungible tokens.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released a Consultation Paper on Licensing Framework for Satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications.

About Satellite based connectivity

Rather than using an underground copper/fibre network, satellite based broadband connection operates by sending and receiving broadband signal to a satellite in space.
Satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity is possible using Geo Stationary, Medium and Low Earth orbit Satellites.

Benefits associated with Satellite connectivity

China has launched a robot prototype in April 2021 that can scoop up debris left behind by other spacecraft with a big net.
The robot, NEO-01 will use a net to capture debris and then burn it with its electric propulsion system.
Peer into deep space to observe small celestial bodies, paving the way for future technologies capable of mining on asteroids.
Space debris encompasses both natural (meteoroid) and artificial (man-made) particles.
Meteoroids are in orbit about the sun, while most artificial debris is in orbit about the Earth which is commonly referred to as orbital debris.
Orbital debris is any man-made object in orbit about the Earth which no longer serves a useful function.
Such debris includes non-functional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris and fragmentation debris.

The first super moon of 2021 has been named ‘Pink Moon’ as per a naming convention established in USA.
It is named after herb moss pink, also called creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, one of the earliest spring flowers appearing in the United States.
A book titled ‘Maine Farmer’s Almanac’ provides names for supermoon in each month of the year as they

About Supermoon

The term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
The Moon orbits Earth in an ellipse which brings it closer to and farther from Earth as it goes around.
The farthest point in this ellipse is called the apogee and the closest point is the
Other moon events:
Micro moon is when a Full Moon or a New Moon coincides with apogee.
Blood Moon
- It refers to red colour of moon during the total lunar eclipse.
- During the total lunar eclipse, the Earth comes in between the Sun and the Moon.
- Shorter wavelengths of sunlight are scattered by Earth’s atmosphere and what reaches us is the longer wavelength red light.

Scientists have discovered the smallest-known black hole which is dubbed as ‘the Unicorn’ in the Milky Way galaxy and closest to the solar system.
The black hole ‘Unicorn’ is roughly three times the mass of the sun.

Vice President elaborated on the importance of strong foundational skills in native languages in the initial years of informal learning at home.
The native language (or the first language) refers to the language of the area the person grows up in. (child acquires either through schooling or socialization, such as family)
Mother tongue is the in-born language
there can be a home language spoken by other family members that may sometimes be different from mother tongue or local language.
The United Nations (UN) has announced 2019 as the year ‘Year of International Mother Tongue Conservation.’
Of the 196 languages listed as endangered by UNESCO India has the highest number of endangered languages in the world (40 Indian languages are on the verge of extinction).
According to the UN every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual