Indian team deliberating on ocean diversity pact (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- A delegation from India and other member countries of the United Nations are in New York to deliberate on a one-of-its-kind agreement to conserve marine biodiversity in the high seas, namely the oceans that extend beyond countries’ territorial waters.
Background:
- The agreement follows a resolution by the UN General Assembly in May and is expected to be the final in a series set in motion since 2018 to draft an international legally binding instrument under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
- The high seas comprise nearly 45% of the Earth’s surface.
Focus areas:
- Studies on sustainable utilisation of deep sea bio-resources will be the main focus.
- A key aspect of the agreement is deciding on the rights of companies that undertake exploration for biological resources in the high seas. Do companies have absolute rights on any discovery or extraction in these regions or should they share their gains, in terms of intellectual property and royalties with a UN-prescribed body.
- Typically, the focus of mining activity in the sea has been for gas hydrates, precious metals and other fossil fuel resources.
- However, with advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering, several companies see potential in exotic microbes and other organisms that abide in the deep ocean and could be used for drugs and vaccines.
Indian initiatives:
- In June 2021, the Union Cabinet approved a ‘Blue Economy’ policy for India, a nearly Rs. 4,000-crore programme spread over five years.
- This among other things will develop a manned submersible vessel as well as work on “bio-prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes”.
Way Forward:
- There was a “race” among international corporations for biological resources from the sea, making it critical to have an agreement on benefit-sharing.
- These resources are the common heritage of mankind and can’t be allowed to be monopolised by a few entities.Hence, an international agreement that spells out obligations and permissible activities is important.
Centre makes public draft of 'urban regeneration policy' of Delhi
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Centre made public the draft of the "urban regeneration policy", under which areas or residential blocks built more than five decades ago but currently in dilapidated state will be regenerated through amalgamation of plots and other incentives.
Mandate:
- The draft, which seeks amendments to the DDA Act, 1957, states many existing areas in Delhi have developed over the last more than 100 years and some of them do not meet the norms for healthy and safe urban habitations.
- These areas can be utilised optimally through redevelopment or urban regeneration.
Key Highlights:
- There would be provisions to avoid multiple stamp duty and registration charges on deed of exchanges during implementation of land pooling and regeneration processes.
- A special purpose vehicle will be formed by the land owners of a sector or a block for the purpose of implementation of land pooling and urban regeneration.
- Once a block is notified as eligible for urban regeneration, it shall be obligatory for all land and property owners of the block to mandatorily participate their land and property in urban regeneration.
- Authority or the local body as the case may be, shall take over all land vested in it may summarily evict occupants from the said land, to implement the land pooling or urban regeneration policy, as the case may be.
- No compensation shall be paid in this regard, except as notified in the policy.
- The authority or the urban local body concerned shall notify such blocks that become eligible for implementation of urban regeneration by virtue of having achieved the minimum threshold of voluntarily participation as specified in the Urban Regeneration Policy.
Current Policy:
- According to the draft, at present, there is no policy for urban regeneration except for the provisions for redevelopment in the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD)-2021.
AstraZeneca India gets DCGI's nod to market drug treating breast cancer
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Recently, the AstraZeneca India received an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India to market its drug for the treatment of breast cancer.
Details:
- The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved Lynparza (Olaparib) as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with early breast cancer, who have previously been treated with neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy.
- The approval was based on results from the OlympiA Phase III trial, which suggested that Olaparib demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement, with an overall survival benefit.
Targeting BRCA:
- Currently, Lynparza is the first and only approved medicine targeting BRCA (Breast Cancer gene) mutations in early-stage breast cancer.
- With the DCGI's nod, Lynparzais now approved in the US, EU, Japan, India and several other countries for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer.
Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs):
- Breast cancer is one of the most diagnosed cancer worldwide with an estimated 23 lakh patients diagnosed per year.
- Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like cancer in India today account for 62 per cent of all deaths and 48 per cent of preventable premature deaths.
Nepal’s first-ever human milk bank
(Miscellaneous)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the Nepal's first-ever human milk bank at a maternity and women’s hospital to give premature and other at-risk infants access to the vast benefits of breast milk when they need it the most.
Collaboration:
- The centrehas been establishedin partnership between the Government of Nepal, the European Union and UNICEF.
Key Highlights:
- ‘AmritKosh,’ the human milk bank at the Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital has the facilities to collect, pasteurise, test, and store safe donor human milk from lactating mothers and then provide it to infants in need.
- The milk bank is an important step towards ensuring baby-friendly health systems and gives premature, low birthweight, and other at-risk infants access to the vast benefits of breast milk when they need it the most.
Premature babies & mortality:
- Every year, around 15 million premature babies are born around the globe. In lower-middle-income countries like Nepal, an estimated 81,000 premature babies are born.
- Infants face the highest risk of dying in their first month of life while premature and low birth-weight babies face even a greater risk.
- According to the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (NMICS) 2019, the neonatal mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 live births during the first 28 days of life) in Nepal is 16.
- Similarly, the infant mortality rate (number of deaths per 1000 live births, which are under 1 year of age) is 25 and the under-five mortality rate is 28 per 1,000 live births.
Importance of Breastfeeding:
- Human breast milk contains antibodies which cannot be found in any other sources. Exclusive breast feeding has the potential to prevent 13 per cent of the death of children aged under-five globally each year, according to experts.
- Early initiation of breast feeding within the first hour of birth in addition to exclusive breast feeding can cut down 22 per cent of all newborn deaths worldwide.
