Daily News Descriptions

17 Aug 2024 11:09:23 am

1.Huntington’s Disease

Why in the news?

Demanding the Union Health Ministry to recognise Huntington’s Disease (HD) as a rare disease in a policy amendment of the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), HD patients, their caregivers and doctors submitted a memorandum to the Union and State Health Ministries.

About Huntington’s Disease:

It is a progressive neuropsychiatric genetic disorder that causes the malfunction or death of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain.
It causes a gradual decline in physical and mental abilities over time.
It generally occurs during the middle-aged years of a person’s life.
Its symptoms include:
- cognitive decline, like dementia
- chorea or involuntary muscle movements
- psychological symptoms
- motor symptoms, which eventually results in inability to walk and swallow food
It is an inherited disorder.
There are two types of HD:
- Adult-onset is the most common. Persons with this form usually develop symptoms in their mid-30s or 40s.
- Early-onset affects a small number of people and begins in childhood or in the teens.
Cause:
- A genetic change (mutation) in the HTT gene causes HD.
- The HTT gene makes a protein called huntingtin. This protein helps your nerve cells (neurons) function.
- The normal HTT gene contains a stretch of DNA that specifies the number of times the amino acid glutamine is repeated in the Htt protein. This number varies from 11 to 31.
- In the mutant versions of the HTT gene, this stretch is expanded to encode 35 or more repeats.
- As the number of repetitions increases, the severity of Huntington’s disease increases and its debilitation begins at an earlier age.
It is a rare disease which is passed down through families.
Treatment:
- It has no cure. There is no known way to stop the disease from getting worse.
- The goal of treatment is to slow the symptoms and help the person function for as long as possible.

Neurons:

These are also called nerve cells.
These are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system.
These are responsible for:
- receiving sensory input from the external world
- sending motor commands to our muscles
- transforming and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.

2.Mekong River

Why in the news?

Along the Mekong River basin, many of the approximately 65 million people who rely on it for food, water and nutrition are struggling.
High temperatures and drought have killed animals reared by locals and vegetables they planted for household consumption.

About Mekong River:

It is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the world.
It has a length of about 2,700 miles (4,350 km).
Course:
- It rises in southeastern Qinghai province, China.
- It originates from the Sanjianyuang in the Tibetan Plateau.
- It drains approximately 795,000 sq. km. and flows through six Asian countries which include China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Vientiane (the capital of Laos) and Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia), both stand on its banks.
It drains into the South China Sea south of Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).
Its left-bank tributaries (draining high rainfall areas) include Nam Ou, Tha, and Nam Khan, while the right-bank tributaries (draining the lower relief region) are Ruak, Kok, Tonle Sap, and Mun.
Its biodiversity is only second to the Amazon River Basin and contains about 20,000 plant species, 1,200 birds, 430 mammals, 800 amphibians and reptiles, and 850 fish species.
It is the river with the most large fish species, including giant freshwater stingrays, giant pangasius, Mekong giant catfish, and giant barb.
It creates a huge triangular delta, in southern Vietnam. The delta has rich soil and is one of the world’s great producers of rice.

Tibetan Plateau:

It is a vast high plateau of southwestern China.
It is the most extensive region of elevated topography in the world.
It encompasses all of the Tibet Autonomous Region and much of Qinghai province and extends into western Sichuan province and southern Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang.
It is surrounded by high mountain ranges, including the Hindu Kush to the west, the Himalayas to the south, the Kunlun Mountains to the north, and the Qilian Mountains to the northeast.
It has an elevation exceeding 4500 m.

3.Malabar Tree Toad

Why in the news?

Climate change may decrease the distribution range of the Malabar Tree Toad by up to 68.7 per cent of the current estimated distribution in India’s protected areas, according to a study.

About Malabar Tree Toad:

It is the only species in the monotypic genus Pedostibes.
It was first discovered in 1876 and the species was not sighted for more than 100 years.
It was later rediscovered in 1980 at Silent Valley National Park in Kerala.
It is endemic to India’s Western Ghats.
It can be found along streams, on trees, and in tree cavities at a height of about 30 cm to 10 m above the ground, in evergreen to moist deciduous forests at an altitude ranging from 50 m to over 1000 m above sea level.
It is the only arboreal species in India, having the unique capability to climb trees and dwell unlike the majority of the toads in the region that are ground-dwelling.
It comes to the ground to breed in water pools at the edges of the streams generated during the monsoon, implying that precipitation and moisture provide the necessary conditions for it to breed.

Arboreal species:

They are animals that have adapted to living in trees and spend most of their lives in the treetops.
They often have special features that help them navigate the tree canopy, such as prehensile tails, grasping hands and feet, or sticky paws.
These adaptations allow them to move, find food, eat, sleep, reproduce, and thrive in the trees.

Silent Valley National Park:

It is located in Kerala.
It is located in the Southwestern corner of Nilgiris.
A perennial river named Kunthipuzha passes through the western side of the park, from north to south direction, finally merges into Bharathapuzha.
It is known for many highly endangered species such as lion-tailed macaque, tiger, gaur, leopard, wild boar, panther, Indian Civet and Sambhar.
The indigenous tribal groups that live within park boundaries include Irulas, Kurumbas, Mudugas and Kattunaikkars.

4.Haiti

Why in the news?

Inmates broke out of a prison in the coastal town of Saint-Marc in central Haiti, as authorities in the country struggle to quell ongoing gang violence.

About Haiti:

It occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which is the second-largest island in the Caribbean Sea.
It is a mountainous country, its name means “high land” in the local Taino language.
Its climate is generally tropical but is more temperate in the highlands.
Due to the rapid clearing of its forests, much of the landscape is now barren.
It has two distinct peninsulas, the northern and southern, separated by the Golfe de la Gonave.
It is prone to seismic activity, including earthquakes due to its location along the boundary of the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates.
It faces hurricanes and flash floods periodically.
Its capital is Port-au-Prince
It covers an area of 27,800 sq km
Languages spoken here include French, Haitian Creole.

Caribbean Sea:

It is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere.
It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America.
The Gulf of Mexico lies to its northwest.
It is one of the largest seas on Earth and has an area of about 2,754,000 km2.
Its deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m below sea level.
It has the world's second-largest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs 1,000 km along the Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras[4] coasts.

5.Prime Minister’s Matsya Sampada Yojana

Why in the news?

The Kamrup district administration implemented Matsya Paripushti of Fish Nutrition, a pilot project in 2022-23 under the Prime Minister’s Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
The project involved a strategic approach to improve dietary diversity. It sought to provide an alternative, viable protein source by incorporating nutrient-dense fish powder into the meals of children aged 3-10 years.
Some 3,000 children across 55 Anganwadi centres and 43 lower primary schools in the district were covered under the project which entailed procuring powdered fish from local women fish farmers and integrating it into the diet of the children.

About Prime Minister’s Matsya Sampada Yojana:

It aims to bring about the Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of the fisheries sector in India.
It was introduced as part of the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ package with an investment of Rs. 20,050 crores, the highest-ever investment in this sector.
It is being implemented in all States and UTs for a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.
In order to facilitate access to institutional credit, fishermen are provided with insurance coverage, financial assistance and a facility of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) as well.
It is implemented as an umbrella scheme with two separate components namely:
- Central Sector Scheme: The project cost will be borne by the Central government.
- Centrally Sponsored Scheme: All the sub-components/activities will be implemented by the States/UTs, and the cost will be shared between the Centre and State.
Objectives:
- Harness the potential of the fisheries sector in a sustainable, responsible, inclusive and equitable manner
- Enhance fish production and productivity through expansion, intensification, diversification and productive utilisation of land and water
- Modernise and strengthen the value chain including post-harvest management and quality improvement
- Double fishers' and fish farmers’ incomes and generate meaningful employment
- Enhance the contribution of the fisheries sector to agricultural Gross Value Added (GVA) and exports
- Ensure social, physical and economic security for fishers and fish farmers
- Build a robust fisheries management and regulatory framework
Significance:
- The fisheries sector plays an important role in the Indian economy. It contributes to national income, exports, food and nutritional security as well as employment generation.
  - The sector provides a livelihood for more than 2.8 crore fishers and fish farmers at the primary level and several more along the fisheries value chain.
- It is a major source of income for a large proportion of the country's economically disadvantaged population.
  - To improve fish production, it is important to conduct integrated fish farming and diversify fish production.
- Further, the fisheries sector has been a major contributor to foreign exchange earnings, with India being one of the world's leading seafood exporters.
  - In FY20, aquaculture products accounted for 70–75% of the country's total fishery exports.

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