(I) · OF MALARIA 2016-2030 National Framework for Malaria Elimination Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on 11 February 2016 released the National Framework

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(I)

NOBEL PRIZE FOR MEDICINE 2015 WINNERS

Three scientists Youyou Tu (China), Satoshi Omura (Japan) and William Campbell (Ireland) have won

2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. They have been chosen for their pioneering discoveries

which have led to the development of potent new drugs against parasitic diseases such as malaria and

elephantiasis.

The laureates will receive their prizes on December 10, 2015 at a formal ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden

marking the anniversary of the death of prize creator Alfred Nobel.

William Campbell and Satoshi Omura: Both biochemists have won half of the Nobel Prize of this

edition for discovering avermectin, a derivative which is used to treat hundreds of millions of people with

river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis).

Youyou Tu: She was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has

reduced malaria deaths and has become the mainstay of fighting the mosquito-borne disease. She is the

13th woman to win Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine and became first Chinese woman laureate.

Diseases: River blindness is skin and eye disease which ultimately leads to blindness. Lymphatic

filariasis which is also known as elephantiasis causes painful swelling of the limbs.

About Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

The Nobel award for medicine is given to persons whose discoveries have significantly enhanced

the understanding of life or the practice of medicine.

The winners are chosen by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute and are always

announced before the Nobel Prize for other categories.

The Nobel comes with prize money of 8 million Swedish kroner or 1.1 million dollars.

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(II)

WINNERS OF 2015 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS

Takaaki Kajita (Japan) and Arthur B. McDonald (Canada) have jointly won the prestigious 2015 Nobel

Prize in Physics.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has selected them for their key contributions to experiments

showing that neutrinos change identities. They individually have discovered neutrino oscillations and

shown that neutrinos have mass.

Arthur McDonald

Mr. McDonald is a professor emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He had led a research

group which had demonstrated that the neutrinos from the Sun were not disappearing on their way to

Earth. The group had captured these neutrinos with a different identity at the Sudbury Neutrino

Observatory (Canada).

Takaaki Kajita

Takaaki Kajita is from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He had discovered that neutrinos from the

atmosphere switch between two identities when they reach earth and after were captured by Super-

Kamiokande neutrino detector (Japan).

About Neutrino

Neutrinos were first proposed by Swiss scientist Wolfgang Pauli in 1930. They are electrically

neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with half-integer spin.

They are the second most widely occurring particle in the universe after photons which are the

particles makingg up light.

It belongs to the lepton family. There are three types of neutrinos: electron neutrinos (ve), muon

neutrinos(vu) and tau neutrinos(vT) differing in terms of mass.

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(III)

WINNERS OF 2015 NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

Tomas Lindahl (United Kingdom), Paul Modrich (US) and Aziz Sancar (US) have jointly won 2015

Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has chosen them for their research on

mechanistic studies of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair. Their work has provided fundamental

knowledge of functioning of living cell functions and its application for the development of new cancer

treatments.

Aziz Sancar: He has mapped Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) which is the mechanism in which cells

repair Ultra Violet (UV) damage to DNA. He is from the University of North Carolina, US.

Tomas Lindahl: He has successfully demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the

development of life on Earth impossible. He is from the Francis Crick Institute.

Paul Modrich: He has successfully demonstrated how the cell corrects errors that occur when DNA is

replicated during cell division. He is from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University

School of Medicine, UK.

They will receive the award at the annual award ceremony to be held on December 10, 2015 on the

anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel. All the three laureates will share the prize money

of 8 million Swedish kronor equally.

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(IV)

UNION HEALTH MINISTER LAUNCHED NATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR ELIMINATION

OF MALARIA 2016-2030

National Framework for Malaria Elimination Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash

Nadda on 11 February 2016 released the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-

2030 at New Delhi. The framework outlines India’s strategy for elimination of the disease by 2030.

NFME document defines goals, objectives, strategies, targets and timelines to eliminate malaria from the

country. It will serve as a roadmap for advocating and planning malaria elimination from the country in a

phased manner.

The objectives of the NFME are to

• Eliminate malaria from all low (Category 1) and moderate (Category 2) endemic states/UTs (26) by

2022

• Reduce incidence of malaria to less than 1 case per 1000 population in all States/UTs and the districts

and malaria elimination in 31 states/UTs by 2024

• Interrupt indigenous transmission of malaria in all States/ UTs (Category 3) by 2027

• Prevent re-establishment of local transmission of malaria in areas where it has been eliminated and to

maintain malaria-free status of the country by 2030

The milestones and targets are set for 2016, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2027 and 2030 by when the entire country

has sustained zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria for 3 years and initiated the processes for

certification of malaria elimination status to the country

The NFME 2016-2030 also defines key strategic approaches such as

• Programme phasing considering the varying malaria endemicity in the country

• Classification of States/UTs based on API as primary criterion (Category 0: Prevention of re-

introduction phase; Category 1: Elimination phase; Category 2: Pre-elimination phase; Category 3:

Intensified control phase)

• District as the unit of planning and implementation

• Focus on high endemic areas

• Special strategy for P. vivax elimination

An enabled environment and necessary resources would remain critical to realize the objectives in the

pathway to malaria elimination.

Expectations from States/Union Territories

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• By the end of 2016, all states/UTs are expected to include malaria elimination in their broader health

policies and planning framework

• By the end of 2017, all states are expected to bring down API to less than 1 per thousand population

• By the end of 2020, 15 states/UTs under category 1 (elimination phase) are expected to interrupt

transmission of malaria and achieve zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria

• It is also envisaged that in states with relatively good capacity and health infrastructure, such as,

Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, accelerated efforts may usher malaria elimination sooner - within

two to three years

• As per the targets under the 12th Five Year Plan, the country is to achieve API<1 at state and district

level by 2017 and pave way to malaria elimination in subsequent years

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(V)

WORLD MALARIA DAY 2016 OBSERVED WITH THEME END MALARIA FOR GOOD 25-

APR-2016

This year’s theme reflects the vision of a malaria-free world set out in the Global technical strategy for

malaria 2016-2030. Adopted in May 2015 by the World Health Assembly, the strategy aims to

dramatically lower the global malaria burden over the next 15 years. Its goals are:

• Reducing the rate of new malaria cases by at least 90%

• Reducing malaria death rates by at least 90%

• Eliminating malaria in at least 35 countries

• Preventing a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria-free

Also Read: Union Health Minister launched National Framework for Elimination of Malaria 2016-2030

The timeline of 2016-2030 is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, the new global

development framework endorsed by all UN Member States.

On 20 April 2016, the WHO released the World Malaria Report 2015, which showed major decline in

global malaria cases and deaths since 2000. Besides, in the report, it was announced that the European

Region became the first in the world to have achieved interruption of indigenous malaria transmission.

The World Malaria Day is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and

recognizes global efforts to control malaria. WMD is one of eight official global public health campaigns

currently marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WMD was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, WHO's

decision-making body. The day was established to provide education and understanding of malaria and

spread information on year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies,

including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.

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(VI)

EUROPE BECAME WORLD’S FIRST REGION TO END MALARIA: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) on 20 April 2016 announced that the European Region became

the first in the world to have achieved interruption of indigenous malaria transmission. The number of

indigenous malaria cases in the region dropped from 90712 in 1995 to zero cases in 2015.

WHO released the figures in World Malaria Report 2015?

Besides, WHO announced that the European Region hit its 2015 target to wipe out malaria, thus

contributing to the global goal to End malaria for good.

Key highlights of the World Malaria Report 2015

• The number of malaria cases globally fell from an estimated 262 million in 2000 to 214 million in 2015,

a decline of 18%.

• The number of malaria deaths globally fell from an estimated 839000 in 2000 to 438 000 in 2015, a

decline of 48%.

• The number of malaria deaths in children aged under 5 years is estimated to have decreased from

723000 globally in 2000.

• The proportion of children infected with malaria parasites has halved in endemic areas of Africa since

2000. Infection prevalence among children aged 2–10 years is estimated to have declined from 33% in

2000 to 16% in 2015, with three quarters of this change occurring after 2005.

• It is estimated that a cumulative 1.2 billion fewer malaria cases and 6.2 million fewer malaria deaths

occurred globally between 2001 and 2015 than would have been the case had incidence and mortality

rates remained unchanged since 2000.

• The WHO European Region reported zero indigenous cases for the first time in 2015, in line with the

goal of the Tashkent Declaration to eliminate malaria from the region by 2015.

Report with respect to India

• Funding for malaria control is lowest in countries with the largest populations at risk, including India

and Indonesia.

• In 2014, all countries, except India, Indonesia and Nepal, reported delivering sufficient quantities of

antimalarial medicines (including ACT) to treat all reported cases in public health facilities.

• In India, there is widespread resistance to DDT and pyrethroids, and areas with carbamate and

organophosphate (malathion) resistance.

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• The number of confirmed malaria cases reported in the South-East Asia region decreased from 2.9

million to 1.6 million between 2000 and 2014. Just three countries accounted for 96% of cases in 2014:

India (70%), Indonesia (16%) and Myanmar (10%).

• The years 2011 and 2012 saw renewed malaria transmission in Georgia (isolated cases) and in Greece

and Turkey (localized outbreaks), as a result of malaria importation from other endemic countries

including India.

• National Malaria Control Programmes reported that about 116 million people worldwide were protected

by Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) in 2014. This comprises 50 million people in the WHO African Region,

and 49 million people in the WHO South-East Asia Region, of whom over 44 million were in India.

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(VII)

CLOUD AEROSOL INTERACTION AND PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT (CAIPEEX)

Rain Enhancement Techniques Conducted in India

A multi-year research observational campaign entitled, “Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation

Enhancement (CAIPEEX)” was conducted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune

during the period 2009-2011 over different parts of the country.

The objectives of the program were:

(1) To understand the role of aerosols in the rainfall processes in the clouds

(2) To carry out cloud seeding experiments in research mode for rain enhancements using modern

techniques.

During the period May to September 2009, the cloud and aerosol observations were conducted over

different parts of country using instrumented aircraft Total 220 hrs of flying was done. In the monsoon

and post-monsoon seasons of 2010 and 2011, the cloud seeding experiments were conducted over the

rain-shadow areas of peninsular India from Hyderabad base. Total 200 and 250 hours of flying was done

in the years 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Modern techniques such as

(1) Hired instrumented aircraft for measuring the atmospheric state parameters, aerosols and cloud

microphysical parameters

(2) Equipped for seeding by flares and salt powder,

3) Radar for monitoring the potential clouds,

(4) Pilot to ground connectivity and internet connectivity for real time transfer of data,

(5) Half hourly INSAT satellite data, weather data from IMD sites

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(6) High resolution weather models for the forecasting etc. were used in the program.

The Indian rainfall shows different types of trends over different regions and over different time periods.

The studies carried out so far have suggested that there is increasing trend in the extreme rainfall events

(>10cm/day) and decreasing trend in the moderate (2-5cm/day) and low rainfall events (<2cm/day) over

central India. It is also established that there is approximately a natural 30-year cyclicity in the monsoon

rainfall. Under such a decreasing phase of monsoon rainfall that is persisting for the recent three and half

decades, a decreasing trend of monsoon rainfall is also persisting.

Additionally, the factors like global warming and increasing loading of aerosols over India have

established potential to modulate the natural rainfall variability to certain extent as a part of short term

variability.

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(VIII)

ISRO’S SEVENTH NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE IRNSS 1G LAUNCHED

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 28 April 2016 launched India’s seventh navigation

satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS 1G) into a Sub-Geosynchronous

Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO) on-board PSLV-C33.

The satellite was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,

Sriharikota, which is situated 90 kms from Chennai.

With this launch, India successfully joined the elite group of countries that have their own navigation

system technology to cater to the mammoth navigational needs.

As in the previous six launches of IRNSS satellites, PSLV-C33 used ‘XL’ version of PSLV equipped

with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant.

IRNSS-1G

IRNSS-1G is the seventh navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space

segment. Its predecessors, IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24,

PSLV-C26, PSLV-C27, PSLV-C31 and PSLV-C32 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014, March 2015,

January 2016 and March 2016 respectively.

Like all other IRNSS satellites, IRNSS-1G also has a lift-off mass of 1425 kg. The configuration of

IRNSS-1G too is the same as IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F.

Payloads

The satellite with a design life span of 12 years has two payloads for navigation and ranging.

• Navigation payload – It will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be

operating in L5-band and S-band. A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation

payload of the satellite.

• Ranging payload – It consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the

range of the satellite.

Features of IRNSS

• It consists of seven satellites to provide real-time data on the position of objects to aid road, air and

maritime traffic apart from providing mapping and tracking services.

• It is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the

Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.

• It would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS), which will be

provided to all users, and Restricted Services (RS) that will be provided to authorised users only.

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• Out of the seven satellites of the system, three are geostationary and four are non-geostationary.

• By using the IRNSS as a platform, the Government of India is planning to launch its own Global

Navigational Satellite Services, GINS (Global Indian Navigation Satellite) system. It is similar to the

Global Positioning System (GPS) of the USA.

While many countries in the world have more than 20 satellites in serving the navigational purpose Indian

scientists can boast of by achieving the goal by launching the seventh satellite which in a way completes

the constellation which was earlier planned.

This constellation will help ISRO to take help from the civilian needs to security or defence needs.

Comment

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi who congratulated ISRO for the launch termed the system as NAVIC

(Navigate with Indian Constellation). This launch also made into the selected nations that have their own

GPS (Global Positioning System) or navigation system. The other select countries in the league includes

• US Air Force owns Global Positioning System (GPS)

• Russia owns GLONASS

• China owns BeiDou, which is expanding into a global system. It is also operated by its military.

• Europe - GALILEO is a civil global system