Health
Drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 2-deoxy-D-glucose + about INMAS)
What's the NEWS

• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission for emergency use of anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL),Hyderabad.

Know! more about the drug

• Emergency use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients is permitted.
• It added that being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in plenty in the country.
• The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water.
• It accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
• Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.
• Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence

Know! about the trail stages

• In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and found that this molecule works effectively against SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits the viral growth.
• The DCGI permitted Phase-II clinical trial of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients in May 2020.
• The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL, Hyderabad, started the clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients.
• In Phase-II trials (including dose ranging) conducted during May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients
• In efficacy trends, patients treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than Standard of Care (SoC) on various endpoints.
  
• A significantly favourable trend (2.5 days difference) was seen in terms of the median time to achieving normalisation of specific vital signs parameters when compared to SoC.
• Based on successful results, the DCGI further permitted Phase-III clinical trials in November 2020.
• The Phase-III clinical trial was conducted on 220 patients
• The detailed data of the phase-III clinical trial was presented to the DCGI.
• In the 2-DG arm, significantly higher proportion of patients improved symptomatically and became free from supplemental oxygen dependence (42% versus 31%) by Day 3 in comparison to SoC, indicating an early relief from oxygen therapy/dependence.

Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS)

• It is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in New Delhi, it is involved in Nuclear medicine research and responding to nuclear accidents and explosions.
•  The department of nuclear medicine under the institute offers a two-year diploma in radiation medicine since 1968, making it the first formal training program in nuclear medicine in the world.

Bilateral Relations
India and EU relaunch FTA talks, sign connectivity partnership
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about BTIA and agreements signed between India and UK) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• India and the European Union agreed to relaunch free trade negotiations by resuming talks that were suspended in 2013 for the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA)
• The EU-India leaders meeting also discussed Covid recovery plans and vaccine cooperation, adopted a Connectivity Partnership document outlining plans to cooperate on digital and infrastructure projects, and signed the contract for the second tranche of $150 million from the EU for the Pune Metro rail project.

Know! about BTIA past developments

• The talks that had begun in 2007, and stalled in 2013, will finally be picked up again.
• The talks had run into trouble over market access issues, and tariffs by India on products like wine, dairy and automotive parts, as well as EU resistance over visas for Indian professionals.
• In addition, the Modi government's decision to scrap all Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in 2015 posed hurdles for new EU investments in India.
• India-EU connectivity partnership
• The India-EU connectivity partnership signed on Saturday also committed the two sides to working together on digital, energy, transport, people to people connectivity that was "transparent, viable, inclusive, sustainable, comprehensive, with a rules-based approach".
• The partnership is seen as a response to China's Belt and Road Initiative, and comes as the EU's negotiations with China on their Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) have run into trouble.

India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiations (2007-2013)

• On 28^th June 2007, India and the EU began negotiations on a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) in Brussels, Belgium.
• These negotiations are pursuant to the commitment made by political leaders at the 7^th India-EU Summit held in Helsinki on 13^th October 2006 to move towards negotiations for a broad-based trade and investment agreement on the basis of the report of India-EU High Level Technical Group.
• India and the EU expect to promote bilateral trade by removing barriers to trade in goods and services and investment across all sectors of the economy.
• The negotiations cover Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Rules of Origin, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Competition, Trade Defence, Government Procurement, Dispute Settlement, Intellectual Property Rights & Geographical Indications, Sustainable Development.
• So far, 15 rounds of negotiations have been held alternately at Brussels and New Delhi. The last meeting was held in the week of 13th May, 2013 in New Delhi.

Economy
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about FCRA)
What's the NEWS

• The amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) enacted last year that among others made it compulsory for NGOs to open a bank account in Delhi has crippled the work of many organisations who are unable to receive foreign funds.
• Registered NGOs can receive foreign contribution for five purposes - social, educational, religious, economic and cultural.
• An FCRA registration is mandatory for NGOs to receive foreign funds. There are 22,591 FCRA registered NGOs.
• An NGO has now moved the Delhi High Court seeking exemption from the Union Home Ministry's March 31 deadline to open an FCRA account with the SBI branch at Parliament Street.
• There were many NGOs who were affected by this order and the new regulations were hampering charitable work during the ongoing pandemic.
• The FCRA amendments made it compulsory for all trustees to register their Aadhaar card, many do not have it, so an account could not be opened by March 31.

Know! about FCRA

• The FCRA, first enacted in 1976, was amended in 2010 when a slew of new measures were taken by the Ministry to regulate foreign donations.
• It was again amended in September last year.
• The latest amendment to the Act inserted a new provision that makes it mandatory for all NGOs to receive foreign funds in a designated bank account at the SBI's New Delhi branch and the accounts were to be opened by March 31.
• Any other bank account can be linked to the main account but all foreign donations should be received in the SBI account.
• The Act also made Aadhaar a mandatory identification document for all the office bearers, directors and other key functionaries of an NGO and capped the administrative expenses at 20% of the foreign funds received, earlier the upper limit was 50%.
• The amendment also barred sub-granting by NGOs to smaller NGOs who work at the grassroots.
• The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
• It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.

Prelims Factoids
Mountain bongo

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about baby mountain bongo)
What's the NEWS

• A baby mountain bongo, born two weeks ago at Warsaw Zoo in Poland

Mountain bongos

• It is the largest among African forest antelopes, are a critically endangered species with only about 70-80 adults left in the wild, according to the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.
• The animals are nocturnal and have a striking appearance due to their long horns and their reddish brown coat offset with white or yellow markings in the form of thin vertical lines.

Prelims Factoids
Rare sculptures of Rani Rudrama Devi unearthed

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Sangameswara temple + Rudrama Devi
What's the NEWS

• Two rare sculptural portraits of Kakatiya queen Rudrama Devi were unearthed and identified by an archaeologist on the premises of Sangameswara Swamy Temple at Teerthala village in Khammam district recently.

Sangameswara temple

• The celebrated Sangameswara temple is panchakuta - a five-unit marvellous shrine monument consisting of wonderful architectural features and requisite components for the comfortable worship of divinities.
• The shrine stands on a well built jagati platform now being covered under flooring and the most baffling aspect of the shrine is its complex enriched with two most marvellous sculptural representations.

Know! about the sculptures

• The portraits have safely retained queen Rudrama Devi`s (A.D 1262 - 89) imperial personality and her characteristic gesticulation as an ardent devotee of Lord Siva
• The first sculptured panel is in an oval frame and depicts the majestic personality of Rudrama Devi.
• She is seated on her forefeet while her hands are in Anjali mudra (a gesture of worship).
• The sculpture indicates that Rudrama Devi visited the Sangamesvara temple at the time of its sanctification.
• The second sculptural panel is in a rectangular frame representing arrival or the Rudrama Devi on a royal elephant to this temple site, and probably a provincial chief under her control is welcoming her by stopping the running elephant with his hands.

Teerthala village

• Teerthala is a non-descriptive village popular for the historical temple dedicated to Sangameshwara- Shiva, the temple which was constructed during the reign of Rani Rudrama Devi on the banks of Akeru river.
• The place is venerated as ‘Triveni sangama sthali' confluence of three rivers - Akeru, Munneru and Buggeru.

Rudrama Devi

• She was a monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263-1289 (or 1295) until her death.
• She was one of the very few women to rule as monarchs in India and promoted a male image in order to do so.
• This was a significant change and one that was followed by her successor and also by the later Vijayanagara Empire.
• Rudrama Devi probably began her rule of the Kakatiya kingdom jointly with her father, Ganapatideva, as his co-regent, from 1261-62.
• She assumed full sovereignty in 1263.[5] Unlike her Kakatiya predecessors, she chose to recruit as warriors many people who were not aristocratic, granting them rights over land tax revenue in return for their support.

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