Relevance IN - Prelims (about the Snow Leopard Population Assessment) + Mains ( GS III Environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• In a major boost towards protecting and conserving Snow Leopards the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched the First National Protocol on Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India, on the occasion of International Snow Leopard Day at the 4th steering committee meeting of the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Program

• Snow Leopard enumeration of the Nation, which is the first of its kind, has been developed by scientific experts in association with the Snow Leopard States/UTs namely, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunanchal Pradesh.
• The snow leopard , is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia.
• It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number less than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline about 10% by 204
• These conferences provide an opportunity to learn about the best practices of other countries.
• It is noteworthy to mention that Snow Leopard is found in 12 countries. They are India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• The two day international meeting of GSLEP Program is being organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

• The 4th Steering Committee meeting of the GSLEP is being attended by Ministers from Nepal, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia along with senior officials from nine of the Snow Leopard countries.
• The Steering Committee meeting of GSLEP chaired by Nepal and Co-Chaired by Kyrgyzstan, will be sharing their experiences to intensify collaborative efforts towards conserving the Snow Leopards and its ecosystem.
• Discussing sustainable development efforts to be made in the Snow Leopard habitats and take into consideration green economic development, innovative conservation financing and population assessment of global Snow Leopards.
• The Steering Committee will also assess efforts in combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade of Snow Leopards.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about NAM) + Mains (GS II Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian
Diaspora. Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate
What's the NEWS

• The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will lead the Indian delegation at the XVIII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held at Baku, Azerbaijan on 25-26 October.

Know! more about NAM

• The theme for the XVIII NAM Summit is "Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of contemporary world".
• The Ten Principles of Bandung, a political statement encapsulating the need to promote world peace and cooperation were formulated at the Asian-African Conference in 1955.
• The theme is significant as it relates to the forthcoming 65th anniversary of Bandung Principles in 2020 and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Movement in 2021.
• India is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was established in 1961 with 29 members. It has since grown to 120 members to become one of the largest groupings of nation-states
• The Summit will focus on a whole gamut of contemporary issues such as Terrorism, threats to peace and security, UN reform, climate change, sustainable development, economic governance and south-south cooperation.

Know! more about NAM (the genesis)

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
• Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the NAM was established in 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia through an initiative of the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
• This led to the first Conference of Heads of State or Governments of Non-Aligned Countries.
• The term non-aligned movement first appears in the fifth conference in 1976, where participating countries are denoted as "members of the movement".

Social Justice
UN launches 'Feed Our Future' cinema ad campaign in India
Relevance IN - Prelims (about feed our future campaign) + Mains (GS II Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
What's the NEWS

• The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have launched a cinema advertisement campaign 'Feed Our Future' to raise awareness and take steps against hunger and malnutrition in India.

Know! the objective behind the campaign (role of cinema)

• Cinema is a medium of communication and it can be used for all kinds of things. It is a very slow process as you are trying to change the mindset. Films don't create revolution but they do go into your subconscious. If cinema was powerful then films won't be banned.
• So the conservative and orthodox rather tell us that cinema is powerful and they are threatened by it.
  

Know! more about Feed Our future

• The United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) has joined hands with Bollywood in India to create awareness and take steps against hunger and malnutrition in India.
• The ad campaign ‘Feed our Future' has launched in collaboration with UFO Movies which is India's one of the largest in-cinema advertising platform.
• ‘Feed Our Future' focuses on the urgent attention for the critical issue of hunger and malnutrition in the country.

United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP)

• The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization that works to save lives and help to give assistance in emergencies through sustainable development.
• In India, WFP has been working for more than 50 years in partnership with the government to achieve food and nutritional security.
• WFP was established in 1961 when the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) decided to form an autonomous body for global food security in 1960.
• WFP is present in more than 80 countries with global offices and working staff. It's headquarter is located in Rome, Italy.
• WFP helps to provide food assistance to more than 80 million people in 75 countries each year. WFP provides its best assistance to those people and families who can't obtain enough food for themselves and their families.

Health Sector
World Polio Day 2019

Relevance IN - Prelims (all about Polio) + Mains (GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Polio

• Polio is an infectious disease which can be spread from person to person and may lead to paralysis, breathing problem or even death. For polio eradication, World Polio Day is observed on 24 October every year.

Know! about World Polio Day ( the genesis)

• World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
• Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. As of 2013, GPEI had reduced polio worldwide by 99%.
• Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines.
• Polio can be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life.
• The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free

Know! some facts about Polio

• Polio is caused by poliovirus and most of the time polio infections present no symptoms.
• Women who are pregnant are more susceptible to polio.
• Polio can spread easily from person to person.
• Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are the only three countries in which polio is still prevalent.
• Non-paralytic polio is known as abortive poliomyelitis which leads to flu-like symptoms and these symptoms last for a few days or weeks.
• In Paralytic polio, the virus enters motor neurons where it replicates and destroys the cells. These cells are present in the spinal cord, brain stem, or motor cortex. These areas of brain are important in controlling movements.
• There are two vaccines for polio namely, Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Defence
IAF test-fires BrahMos surface-to -surface missiles successfully

Relevance IN - Prelims (about BrahMos Missile)
What's the NEWS

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) fired two BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles at Trak Island in Andaman and Nicobar islands and the mock targets were hit successfully.

Know! more about the tests

• The twin firings, done on October 21 and 22, were carried out as part of routine official training.
• The missiles were launched from a mobile platform at Trak Island in the Andaman Nicobar islands.
• The missiles "engaged the designated mock targets close to 300 kilometres away".
• A direct hit on the target was achieved in both cases. The firing of the missile has enhanced the IAF's capability to engage the grounds targets with pin-point accuracy from a mobile platform

Know! about BrahMos

• BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• The Indian Air Force has successfully carried out the test-firing of two BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles.
• The IAF also stated that the launches have enhanced its capability of engaging the ground targets with pinpoint accuracy from a mobile platform.
• The surface-to-surface missiles, weighing 2.5-tonne, have a range of around 300 km.
  
  

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