• The trial will determine safety and efficacy of the three combination drugs (Favipiravir+Colchicine, Umifenovir+Colchicine and Nafamostat) and a control arm with the standard of care in COVID-19 patients.
• The clinical trial named MUCOVIN, to be carried out in the partnership with Medanta Medicity, will include a total of 300 patients in four different groups of 75 patients in the trials to be carried for 17 to 21 days including screening and treatment.

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Kawasaki disease )
What's the NEWS

• Recently Children with Covid-19 infection have shown some symptoms similar to those associated with a rare illness called Kawasaki disease - such as rashes and inflammation - while other symptoms of Kawasaki disease have been absent.
• Such symptoms have also shown in children who tested negative for Covid-19.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) termed this new illness "multisystem inflammatory disorder".

• It affects children. Its symptoms include red eyes, rashes, and a swollen tongue with reddened lips - often termed strawberry tongue - and an inflamed blood vessel system all over the body.
• There is constant high fever for at least five days. The disease also affects coronary functions in the heart.
• It is an immunological reaction to an infection or a virus. A child's immunity system responds to a particular infection and develops these symptoms.
• Kawasaki typically affects children aged under five.

• Assam government has decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary into a national park amid an ongoing row over allowing coal mining within its jurisdiction.
• Assam has five national parks and Dehing Patkai, if upgraded, will increase the tally to 6.

• Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
• Kaziranga National Park.
• Manas National Park.
• Nameri National Park.
• Orang National Park.

• Earlier in April, the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) had recommended coal mining to be allowed within a portion of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve
• Spread across 937 square kilometres, Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve falls in Upper Assam's Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts and is located within the periphery of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, which is said to be the largest lowland tropical rainforest in India.
• The NBWL order had triggered a howl of protests in Assam, opposing the coal mining move.
• NBWL authorities had allowed the state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) to conduct opencast coal mining in 98.59 hectares of the reserve forest.

• While a limited number of human activities are allowed in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks are strictly off-limits.

• Wildlife sanctuaries refer to an area which provides protection and favourable living conditions to the wild animals.
• Biosphere reserves are the protected areas, which tend to conserve the genetic diversity of the plants, animals birds, etc.
• International Union of Conservation of Nature, shortly called as IUCN has grouped wildlife sanctuaries in Category IV of protected areas.

• On the other hand, the national park provides protection to the entire set of the ecosystem, i.e. flora, fauna, landscape, etc. of that region.
• National Park implies an area that is exclusively designated by the government for the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity due to its natural, cultural and historical significance.
• It is home to millions of animals, birds, insects, microorganisms, etc. of different genes and species, which provides a healthy and safe environment to them.
• National Parks, not only conserve wildlife, but it also provides an amusement of the environmental and scenic heritage, in a way and by those means that does not cause harm to it, so as to provide enjoyment to the future generations.
• The plantation, cultivation, grazing, hunting and predating of animals, destruction of flowers are highly prohibited.
• International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared National Parks in Category II of the protected areas.
• In India, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been enacted, with the aim of providing protection to the species that are facing the threat of getting extinct and also to propagate conservation area of the nation, i.e. national parks.

Know! about NBWL

• Itis a Statutory Organization and it serves as apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• It has been constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister. It has 47 members including the Prime Minister.
• NBWL advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• Its objective is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
• It has power to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

Prelims Factoids
China reports suspected case of ‘Black Death' plague.
RELEVANCE IN - Prelims ( about different types of plague)
What's the NEWS

• A hospital in China reported a case of suspected bubonic plague.
• The bubonic plague, known as the "Black Death" in the Middle Ages, is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents.

Know! about plague

• Plague is an infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small mammals and their fleas
• People can contract plague if they are in bitten by infected fleas and develop the bubonic form of plague.
• Sometimes bubonic plague progresses to pneumonic plague when the bacteria reach the lungs.

Know! about bubonic plague

• Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague and is caused by the bite of an infected flea.
• Plague bacillus, Y pestis, enters at the bite and travels through the lymphatic system to the nearest lymph node where it replicates itself.
• The lymph node then becomes inflamed, tense and painful, and is called a ‘bubo'.
• Human to human transmission of bubonic plague is rare.

Difference between bubonic and pneumonic plagues

• Bubonic plague is the most common form of the plague but cannot be easily transmitted between people. Some people with bubonic plague will develop pneumonic plague.
• Pneumonic plague, or lung-based plague, is the most virulent form of plague and has an incubation period as short as 24 hours. A person with pneumonic plague may transmit the disease to others through coughing via droplets.
• Bubonic plague has a mortality rate of 30% to 60%, while the pneumonic form is fatal in the absence of treatment. Both types have good recovery rates if people are treated in time.
• Pneumonic plague, if not diagnosed and treated early, can be fatal.

Know! more about Plague

• Person-to-person transmission is possible through the inhalation of infected respiratory droplets of a person who has the pneumonic plague.
• Common antibiotics are efficient to cure plague, if they are delivered very early because the course of the disease is usually rapid.
• People infected with plague usually develop acute febrile disease with other non-specific systemic symptoms after an incubation period of one to seven days.

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