NATIONAL
- Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH commissioned in Kochi.
- Post commissioning, the ship will be based at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Indian Cost Guard (ICG)
- The establishment of the Indian Coast Guard was first proposed by the Indian Navy to provide non-military maritime services to the nation.
- The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) protects India’s maritime interests and enforces maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on 18 August 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978.
- The Coast Guard works in close cooperation with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs) and the Central and State police forces.
- It was established majorly for patrol and to stop Smuggling at coasts.
- The Indian Coast Guard organisation is headed by the Director-General (DG ICG) and It operates at 4 regional locations-
Western Region (W) Mumbai
Eastern Region (E) Chennai
North-East Region (NE) Kolkata
Andaman & Nicobar Region (A&N) Port Blair
North-West Region (NW) Gandhinagar
- Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is considered as the ‘Father of the Indian Navy’.
- Government announces expansion of rotavirus vaccine.
- The government has announced the expansion of rotavirus vaccine in five additional states under its Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). Now, the vaccine will be expanded to Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
- The announcement came after 38 lakh children were vaccinated in four states – Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha when the vaccine was first introduced.
- The vaccine will prevent Rotavirus diarrhoea in children which accounts for approximately 40% of hospitalizations from diarrhoea in India.
- Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers in children and rotavirus is one of the most common causes of severe diarrhoea in children less than 2 years of age.
- Universal Immunization Programme is a vaccination program launched by the Government of India in 1985. It became a part of Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme in 1992 and is currently one of the key areas under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) since 2005.
- The program consists of vaccination for ten diseases– tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, Hepatitis B, Diarrhoea, Japanese Encephalitis and Pneumonia.
- Hepatitis B was added to the UIP in 2007.
- In 2014 it was announced that four vaccines will be added to the program, namely rotavirus, rubella and Japanese encephalitis, as well as the injectable polio vaccine.
- Government launches SAATHIYA Resource Kit and SAATHIYA SALAH mobile app for adolescents
- The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched SAATHIYA Resource Kit and SAATHIYA SALAH mobile app for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) programme. The kit and app will help Peer Educators (Saathiyas) who are introduced under the RKSK programme.
- India is home to 253 million adolescents which is largest in the world in terms of absolute numbers.
- The Resource Kit has been developed by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Population Foundation of India (PFI).
RAJASTHAN
- Tonga races on metal roads are cruelty, Horse racing are not : SC
- The Supreme Court has ruled that horse racing as such is not animal cruelty. A Bench of Justices issued a notice to the Rajasthan government on a petition challenging a High Court banning Tonga races in the state, observing that Horse racing as such is not cruelty, but tonga races on metal roads are.
- Supreme Court judgement clearly differentiated bulls as bovine animals which are unfit for running, while horses as solid-hoofed quadruped, domesticated for riding.