• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) unveiled its action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) during the 43rd Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

• The discussions focused on raising farmers' awareness about the responsible use of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture as part of the AMR National Action Plan-II.

• States and Union Territories' Food Safety Commissioners were urged to work on developing 100 'Healthy and Hygienic Food Streets'.

• Emphasis was placed on surveillance sampling, with states directed to prepare surveillance plans and hold regular meetings with state labs on anti-microbial susceptibility in food.

•  The following efforts were highlighted-

              1. Clean marketplace

              2. App-based awareness models

              3. Fortified rice kernels (FRK) 

              4. Training food handlers in canteens of educational institutions 

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• International Wheelchair Day is celebrated every year on March 1 since its inception in 2008 to acknowledge the empowerment of wheelchair users.

• The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and other organizations celebrated International Wheelchair Day by raising awareness and conducting training sessions for wheelchair users.

• Under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities works to improve the Quality of Life of individuals with mobility challenges through the following agencies and organizations:

1. ALIMCO provided wheelchairs to the beneficiaries of the ADIP scheme at various centers. They also provided training sessions on how to use the wheelchairs.

2. The National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Secunderabad, conducted practical demonstrations of various wheelchairs and training programs.

3. Composite Regional centers, which usually provide preventive and promotional aspects of rehabilitation, organized training programs, sports activities, and awareness rallies to celebrate empowerment, freedom, and unity.

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• A 2-day national conference was held in Jaipur, Rajasthan in the 1st week of March.

• The conference, titled, “National Conference on Accelerating Sustainable Development Goals”, was organized by NITI Aayog in collaboration with UNDP, UN, and the government of Rajasthan.

• The conference's objectives included:

1. To motivate States and UTs to evaluate the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

2. Share insights on how to institutionalize the SDGs at the subnational level.

3. Examine the national and subnational context for SDG financing

4. Outlining a strategy for quickening the 2030 SDG agenda's progress.

• The conference also included technical sessions on the second day and covered various topics related to the SDGs.

• On the occasion of the conference, three knowledge portals were also launched:

1. UNDP ‘SDG Knowledge Hub’

2. ‘Food and Nutrition Security Analysis Dashboard’ of the Government of Rajasthan

3. ‘SDG -2 (Zero Hunger) Dashboard’ of the Government of Rajasthan

• The conference was a perfect example of cooperative federalism.

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• Recently, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the bi-directional linkage between NCD and NCD risk factors among TB contacts.

• The SRMA included national and sub-national TB surveys which included at least one NCD or NCD risk factor.

• The results were presented as participants with NCD or NCD risk factors and were divided into 3 groups as follows:

1. People with TB

2. Members of households with a TB patient

3. Members of households with no TB patient

• The outcome variable was the prevalence of NCD or NCD risk factors, which included smoking, alcohol intake, DM, hypertension, and BMI.

• The findings of the SRMA are as follows:

1. The members of households with TB had a higher chance of smoking when compared to those with no TB

2. On sensitivity analysis, the members of households with TB had higher odds of alcohol use when compared to those with no TB

3. There was no significant association between the other NCD such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension

• However, the study underscores that the national-level surveys included self-reporting of NCDs, which might have led to the underreporting of NCDs and hence the findings.

• The study concluded that household-level interventions addressing smoking can help reduce the risk of NCD and TB in households.

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• To outlaw specific breeds as pets, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying formed an Expert Committee under the direction of the Animal Husbandry Commissioner.

• The recent deaths served as the impetus for this choice.

1. The committee identified hazardous breeds such as Pitbull Terriers, Tosa Inu, Rottweilers, and many more.

2. Also, a prohibition on the import, breeding, and sale of identified breeds, including crossbreeds, has been proposed.

3. The local bodies and the Animal Husbandry Department were instructed to enforce license-issue restrictions and sterilize existing pets.

4. This was regarded as an urgent action urged to ensure the safety of humans and animals.

• The  Central Government has also emphasized strict enforcement of the existing animal welfare regulations- Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2017, and Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Pet Shop) Rules, 2018.

• FGM assaults girls’ and women’s human rights, having lasting physical, psychosocial, and social consequences.

• On this International Women’s Day, a report released by WHO revealed that progress toward ending FGM remains slow to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal to eliminate the practice.

• According to the report, more than 230 million girls and women have undergone FGM.

• It is most prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

• The most challenging aspect of eliminating this practice is that more and more girls undergoing FGM are under the age of 5 years, leaving little time for intervention.

• 4 in 10 of all the survivors of FGM are from conflict-affected areas- where population growth is fast, and education and health services are disrupted, making it more challenging to tackle FGM due to diversion of resources towards crises.

• However, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Egypt provide a ray of hope, with declining rates of FGM, and changing attitudes towards FGM.

• The report concluded that greater investment in services for girls and also a provision of laws and policies to safeguard their rights should be put in place to eliminate such practices.

• Way ahead: the eradication of FGM requires leaders and communities to make focused efforts to end gender-based discrimination, greater investment in services for girls and laws and policies to safeguard their rights and better track the prevalence of FGM through better quality data.

• NORS was launched by the CDC in 2009 as a web-based platform, where public health departments from the United States can voluntarily enter information regarding the outbreak.

• Through NORS, enteric as well as non-enteric disease outbreak data are reported.

• During 2015-2020, 214 outbreaks were associated with drinking water, and health officials reported 454 contributing factors from 28 states.

• Public water was the most common source of these outbreaks, leading to 172 outbreaks.

• Among enteric illnesses, Norovirus, Shigella, and Campylobacter, or multiple etiologies including these pathogens, resulted in 94% of cases, and often the cause was the source of drinking water.

• In biofilm-related outbreaks, 98% were Legionella, and the rest were non-tuberculous bacteria and pseudomonas.

• NORS enhances the efforts of the CDC to estimate the healthcare cost impacts of waterborne and drinking water-associated diseases.

• Globally, 1 in 8 people grapples with a mental health condition, yet a substantial treatment gap persists due to stigma and limited service accessibility.

• Integrating these interventions into existing health services promises to enhance mental health care quality.

• This integration approach involves:

1. Developing implementation plans,

2. Adapting interventions to fit specific contexts,

3. Preparing the workforce,

4. Identifying, assessing, and supporting potential beneficiaries,

5. Monitoring and evaluating service delivery.

• These interventions were rolled out by the WHO in March 2024, to address the treatment gap in mental health care, fostering collaboration with community stakeholders.

• Vijayawada processes about 520 tons of garbage per day (TPD) and is backed by a committed team consisting of over 4,000 sanitation personnel and 300 wet waste workers.

• The VMC's sophisticated processing capabilities, which have contributed to its standing as the sixth cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan 2023 rankings, are as follows:

1. For dry waste management: A Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) plant and a Waste-to-energy plant

2. Vermicompost plants-6

3. Windrow compost plants-4

4. 1 bio-methanation plant to process wet waste at low cost

5. An information park to raise awareness.

6. 200-TPD capacity processing plant where construction & demolition (C&D) waste generated is and converted into bricks and paver blocks.

7. The 25- acres of reclaimed land that were created by eliminating waste dumpsites have been repurposed into a park.

8. Thermocol processing facility

9. 3 permanent Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (RRR) centers

10. The Wall of Kindness and plastic collection centers encourage citizens to donate waste/unused items.

• 6 Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) where waste is collected through a network of underground waste drainage systems and repurposed for agricultural irrigation, road cleaning, and watering plantations.

• There has been a surge in the cases of psittacosis in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and The Netherlands since late 2023, leading to increased fatalities.

• The source of infections is usually infected birds, which can include both domestic and wild birds.

• In Austria, the surge was not associated with wild birds, whereas in Denmark, the source of infection was found to be wild birds.

• In contrast, the surge in Germany and Sweden was found to be due to increased contact with infected domestic birds and small birds, respectively.

• However, no such association was found in the Netherlands.

• The countries are now investigating and testing wild birds to understand better.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) is closely monitoring the situation and says the overall risk is low.

• The following measures have been suggested by the WHO:

1. Testing sick people,

2. Keeping new birds separate, and

3. Checking wild birds for signs of the disease to prevent psittacosis from spreading further.

• A non-randomized, single-blinded (laboratory) study was conducted among the healthy general population across four sites (Bangalore & Pune) between June 2021 and Jan 2022.

• No sample size was determined.

• Recruited participants were grouped into two groups based on serostatus [positivity/negativity] at baseline.

• The clinical sites integrated unbiased enrollment with pre-screening for anti-spike antibodies to ensure equitable recruitment within each serostatus.

• Seroconversion rates due to Covaxin after the first and second vaccination doses were 36.6% and 74.4%, respectively.

• Whereas Covishield resulted in 93.2% and 98.3% seroconversion in the baseline seronegative population.

• Hence Covishield was proved superior to Covaxin, as interpreted from both:

1. Seroconversion rate and

2. Anti-spike antibody levels in both groups of participants.

• The study brought together:

1. National income accounts, tax tabulations,

2. Wealth aggregates, billionaire rankings, rich lists,

3. Surveys on wealth, consumption, and income- within a unified framework to provide long-run homogeneous wealth and income inequality series that extended back to 1961 for wealth and 1922 for incomes

• According to the publication, "the British Raj, led by the colonialist forces, was less unequal than the 'Billionaire Raj,' headed by India's modern capitalists."

• It also says, "Without significant social and political upheaval, it is unclear how long such inequality levels can be sustained."

• The wealthiest in India are getting richer, while the poor are getting impoverished.

• The paper's authors also placed India's income and wealth inequality levels (as of 2022) in a global context by contrasting them with those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China, South Africa, and France.

• India comes in second place for income shares in the top 10% while topping the list for shares in the top 1%.

• To address the growing disparities, the authors proposed implementing a super tax on Indian billionaires and multimillionaires and restructuring the tax schedule to include both income and wealth, which could be effective.

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