Operation Trinetra II

Four militants killed in encounter in J&K’s Poonch.

• Operation Trinetra II launched in Sindarah and Maidana of Surankote tehsil, poonch district, Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is a joint search operation by the Army and Police.
• Random searches and surprise checking of vehicles have been intensified across Poonch.

National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023

Recently NITI Aayog released the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023 to assess the status of poverty level in India across states

• According to the index, India has registered a significant decline of 9.89% points in the number of multidimensional poor, from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-2021.
• 13.5 Crore people came out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
• The decline in poverty people is due to decrease in the number of multidimensional poor in States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
• Delhi, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have the least number of people facing multidimensional poverty along with the Union Territories.
• The report has been prepared based on the latest National Family Heath Survey of 2019-21 and is the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index.
• The index has 12 parameters of health, education, and standard of living.
  1. Nutrition,
  2. Child And adolescent Mortality,
  3. Maternal health,
  4. Years of schooling,
  5. School attendance,
  6. Cooking fuel,
  7. Sanitation,
  8. Drinking water,
  9. Electricity,
  10. Housing,
  11. Assets, and
  12. Bank accounts.
• Rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty over urban areas.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF)

Due to climate changes the CCHF are thriving in geographies that traditionally had a climate hostile to them

• CCHF is a viral haemorrhagic fever usually transmitted by ticks.
• The disease was first described in the Crimean Peninsula in 1944 and given the name Crimean haemorrhagic fever.
• The virus is present in the tick family of insects.
• The CCHF is endemic to Africa, the Balkan countries, Middle East, and parts of Asia.
• CCHF outbreaks constitute a threat to public health services as the virus can lead to epidemics.
• CCHF symptoms include fever, muscle ache, dizziness, neck pain, backache, headache, sore eyes and sensitivity to light.
• According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) animals such as cattle, goats, sheep and hares “serve as hosts for the virus.
• Transmission to humans occurs through contact with infected ticks or animal blood.
• CCHF can be transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infectious blood or body fluids”, such as sweat and saliva.
• There is no vaccine for the virus in either humans or animals, and treatment generally consists of managing symptoms.

Gambusia Fish

In recent times states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh have released Gambusia Fish in their waterbodies to control malaria, dengue.

• Gambusia fish is also known as mosquitofish because they act as biocontrol agent to control mosquitos.
• They are found mostly in fresh and brackish, and occasionally marine waters.
• It is native to the waters of the south eastern United States.
• The fish has a high breeding capacity.
• Multiple countries, including India have listed Gambusia as invasive species.
• Gambusia also get aggressive in environments where they need to compete with other species for resources.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature declared Gambusia as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world.
• In India, mosquitofish affected the ecosystem health of the lake after its introduction into the Nainital Lake in the1990s to control malaria.

Export Preparedness Index 2022

NITI Aayog releases the third edition of the ‘Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2022’ for States/UTs.

• The index is aimed at assessing the readiness of the states in terms of their export potential and performance.
• Export Preparedness Index 2022 is released by NITI Aayog.
• Tamil Nadu has topped the index which is followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala.
• Among hilly/Himalayan states, Uttarakhand has ranked at the top position and is followed by Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
• Haryana topped the chart among the landlocked regions.
• In the category of union territories/small states, Goa was ranked first.
• Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have the highest number of GI products being exported.
• The ranking is based on 4 main pillars: Policy, Business ecosystem, Export ecosystem and Export performance.
• The index is also aimed at promoting competition among all states.