Cancer Drugs, Para Diplomacy, International Criminal Court

• Pre-eclampsia, a consequence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), significantly contributes to global maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
• Pre-eclampsia is a condition that affects some pregnant women, usually during the second half of pregnancy (from 20 weeks) or soon after their baby is delivered.
• Emerging evidence indicates pre-eclampsia increases the risk of heart failure four-fold and doubles the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality for mothers.
• In India, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s adverse pregnancy outcomes, addressing these health concerns is a moral and economic necessity.
• According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), perinatal mortality rates are 32 per 1,000 pregnancies, neonatal mortality rates are 25 per 1,000 live births, and hypertensive disorders are a leading cause of maternal death.
• May is “PE Prevention Month” (World PE Day is on May 22), emphasizing the need for proactive measures for safe motherhood.
• Pre-eclampsia leads to multiorgan dysfunction in mothers, with symptoms including high blood pressure after 20 weeks of gestation, facial, hand, and foot swelling, severe headaches, vision changes, upper abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing.
• The Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA), through its “Samrakshan” program, aims to reduce pre-eclampsia rates from 8%-10% to 3% and fetal growth restriction from 25%-30% to 10% by the decade’s end.

Dig Deeper: Read about latest numbers of Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India.

• A recent study titled “Water, Air Pollution, and Carbon Footprints of Conspicuous/Luxury Consumption in India” highlights the environmental impact of affluent individuals, particularly those engaging in consumption beyond basic needs.
• The study examines the CO2, water, and particulate matter (PM2.5) footprints associated with luxury consumption choices such as dining out, vacations, furniture, and social events among households in India across different economic classes.

• Environmental footprints increase with household economic class. The richest 10% of households have footprints approximately double the population average.
• From the ninth to the 10th decile, there is a notable surge in footprints:
  • Air pollution footprint increases by 68%.
  • Water footprint increases by 39%.
  • CO2 emissions increase by 55%.

• Increased luxury consumption, particularly dining out, fruits and nuts, and luxury items like personal goods and jewellery, significantly raise the environmental footprints in the 10th decile.
• The top decile’s average per capita CO2 footprint in India is 6.7 tonnes per year, higher than the global average of 4.7 tonnes in 2010 and the 1.9 tonnes CO2eq/cap required to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.
• Despite being lower than the average U.S. or U.K. citizen, this disparity highlights the need for urgent policy attention.

Dig Deeper: Know about India’s INDC’s and recent updates to it, along with total carbon footprint of India.

• Drugmaker Glenmark has entered into an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with BeiGene to register and commercialise the latter’s oncology medicines Tislelizumab and Zanubrutinib in India.
• Glenmark will be responsible for locally required development, registration and distribution providing access to BeiGene’s oncology medicines for cancer patients across India.
• Tislelizumab is a novel anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody for the treatment of advanced or metastatic oesophagus squamous cell carcinoma and broad development for the treatment of various types of cancers.
• Zanubrutinib is a BTK inhibitor approved for the treatment of certain haematological malignancies, with results of studies reinforcing favourable efficacy and safety profile.

Dig Deeper: Read about the recent breakthroughs in the fight against Cancer.

• Belgium, Slovenia and France backed the decision by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
• France has been warning for many months about the imperative of strict compliance with international humanitarian law and insufficient humanitarian access.

France has a large Jewish community and close trade and diplomatic ties with Israel.

• A panel of three judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed.  The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.
• Countries that are party to the court would be obliged to arrest

Dig Deeper: Which countries have recently left ICC membership, and why does the ICC often face allegations?

• Millions of pastoralists in India need better recognition of their rights and access to markets, according to a report by the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD).

• The population of pastoralist communities, comprising groups such as Maldharis, Van Gujjars and Rabaris, among others, is estimated to be 20 million or more.
• The report highlighted that pastoralists are a marginalised community with little influence on policy decisions, resulting in uncertainty over access to common land and land rights.

The livestock sector of the economy contributes 4 per cent of the national gross domestic product and 26 per cent of the agricultural gross domestic product.

• The country also accounts for 20 per cent of the world’s livestock population.
• Some laws such as the Forest Rights Act 2006, though, have helped pastoralists obtain grazing rights across states in the country.
• The report underlined was the Van Gujjars won grazing rights and received land titles in the Rajaji National Park, following a high court judgment.
• It cited the example of welfare schemes and assistance provided to pastoralists under the National Livestock Mission, Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund and the Rashtriya Gokul Mission on sustainable dairy production.

Dig Deeper: Learn about various pastoral communities in India and their locations. Also read about their cultural practices and other aspects.

• The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) promised in manifesto to get back Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, in an exchange of territory with Pakistan.
• It bring to the fore the idea of “para diplomacy” or “sub-state diplomacy” in promoting national interests.
• This involves formal interactions between entities below the federal level — provincial and local governments — in pursuit of shared national goals.
• The conduct of para diplomacy is not in opposition to the national governments, which have a monopoly over the engagement with other sovereigns.
• Para diplomacy, conducted in tandem with the central government, can often produce openings that can’t be generated between the congealed positions of the national governments.
• India and Pakistan in their on-again, off again peace process over the last quarter of a century have occasionally encouraged substate diplomacy in Punjab. E.g. occasions when the chief ministers of east and west Punjab met to explore mutually beneficial cooperation.
• The context on each border is different with unique burdens of history and different degrees of political difficulty. E.g.  West Bengal complicated Delhi’s engagement with Dhaka over Teesta.

Dig Deeper: Read about Look East, Act East and Think West policies, along with IMEC.