- Sagar Maitri: It is a novel initiative of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).It supports the broad objective of India’s policy declaration ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)’ to promote closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects as well as more significant scientific interaction, especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries. Under the aegis of this policy, DRDO initiated a scientific component named ‘MAITRI (Marine and Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative)’, which focuses on establishing long-term collaboration with IOR countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research and Development’. The missions aim to establish long-term scientific partnerships and collaborations with Oman, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Myanmar — the eight IOR countries. The current mission (SM-4) plan includes scientific deployments onboard INS Sagardhwani in the Northern Arabian Sea and initiating collaborative research programmes with the Department of Marine Sciences & Fisheries at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. These missions give the scientists an opportunity to cooperate and build strong working relationships with their IOR counterparts studying the oceans.
- Hepatitis C: It is a viral infection that affects the liver. It can cause both acute (short term) and chronic (long term) illness. It can be life-threatening. It is spread through contact with infected blood. This can happen through sharing needles or syringes, or from unsafe medical procedures such as blood transfusions with unscreened blood products. It can be passed from an infected mother to her baby and via sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood. Hepatitis C is not spread through breast milk, food, water or casual contact such as hugging, kissing and sharing food or drinks with an infected person. It can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine and yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice).This virus infection occurs in all WHO regions. The highest burden of disease is in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and European Region. New HCV infections are usually asymptomatic, few people are diagnosed when the infection is recent. In those people who develop chronic HCV infection, the infection is often undiagnosed because it remains asymptomatic until decades after infection when symptoms develop secondary to serious liver damage.
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C, but it can be treated with antiviral medications
- Green Credit Programme (GCP): GCP aims to incentivise environmentally conscious practices and promote a sustainable lifestyle through a market-based mechanism. As per the scheme, individuals, industries, farmers producer’s organisations (FPOs), urban local bodies (ULB), gram panchayats, and the private sector, among a host of other entities, will be able to earn green credit for undertaking environment-friendly actions. Green credits generated through such actions can be traded on a domestic market platform. These Green Credits will be over and above the current discourse of carbon credits. Any activity generating green credits under the GCP will also receive carbon credits under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme if it leads to the reduction or removal of carbon emissions. The green credits generated or procured by industries, companies and other entities to fulfil any legal obligation cannot be traded. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous organisation under the MoEFCC, is responsible for effectively implementing the Green Credit programme, including its management and operation. The programme will be implemented in phases.
