DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

01.03.2025

• News 1: Hague Service Convention
  

GS-2 International Organization

About The News:                                                 

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently sought assistance from the Union Law Ministry, the central authority for India under the Hague Service Convention, to effectuate summons on Gautam Adani and his associates.

Key points for prelims

Hague Service Convention:

• Hague Service Convention, formally known as the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, 1965.
• It was adopted at the Hague Conference on Private International Law in 1965.
• This multilateral treaty ensures that defendants sued in foreign jurisdictions receive timely and actual notice of legal proceedings while facilitating proof of service.
• Eighty-four states, including India and the U.S., are parties to the Convention.
• Its procedures apply only when both the sending and receiving countries are signatories.
• Each member state must also designate a central authority to process requests and facilitate the service of documents from other signatory states.
• Signatory states can select the modes of transmission that apply within their jurisdiction.
• Under the Convention, the primary mode of service is through designated central authorities.
• NEWS 2: Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary
  
  

GS-03 Environment

About The News:

• During a three-day off-season faunal survey held in the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary recently, 14 species of birds, 15 butterflies, and 8 odonates have been newly sighted in the sanctuary.

Key points for prelims:

Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary:

• IWL, which came into existence in 1976, is located in the Thodupuzha and Udumbanchola taluks in Idukki District, Kerala.
• It covers 77 sq.km. of forests surrounding the Idukki Arch Dam.
• Terrain: The terrain of the sanctuary is characterized by steep mountains, valleys, and hills.
• Altitude: Altitude ranging from 450 to 1272 m. The highest peak is Vanjur Medu (1272 m).
• Drainage: The major rivers flowing through the area are Periyar and Cheruthoniar. The sanctuary consists of 33 sq.km. of waterbody of Idukki reservoir.
• Rainfall: Average rainfall is 3800 mm.
• Vegetation: West Coast Tropical Evergreen forests, Semi Evergreen forests, Moist Deciduous Forests, Hill shoals, and Grasslands.
• Flaura: Forests are essentially dense teak, rosewood, jackfruit, ebony, cinnamon, and diverse bamboo species.
• Fauna: Home to Elephants, bison, sambar deer, wild dogs, jungle cats, tiger etc.,
• It is home to the endangered species of the Nilgiri Tahr.

GS-03 Science and Tech 

About the news:

• The Supreme Court recently directed all States to respond to concerns relating to periodic stock outs, transparency in tendering and procurement, and drug quality and certification processes of the of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) drugs for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV).

Key points for prelims:  

Anti-Retroviral Therapy :

• ART is a combination of medications that treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• HIV is a virus that destroys CD4 cells (also called helper T-cells), an important part of your immune system.
• Without the protection of CD4 cells, you’re more likely to get life-threatening infections.
• While ART can’t cure HIV, it can reduce the levels of HIV in your body.
• Low levels of the virus mean your body can produce more CD4 cells. This keeps your immune system healthy and makes you less likely to get serious infections.
• ART medications use a variety of ways to stop HIV from getting into your cells and reproducing.
• You usually take a combination of two to four medications that work in different ways to reduce the levels of virus (also called viral load) in your body.
• Taking a combination of medications, rather than just one, makes the treatment more effective and reduces the risk that it’ll stop working.
• If your viral load is low enough, tests won’t be able to detect HIV in your blood (undetectable levels).
• Retrovirus uses its genetic instructions (RNA) as a template to make DNA (most of the time, in human cells, DNA is used to make RNA).

Mains Questions:

• Ensuring uninterrupted access to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) is crucial for the well-being of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in India. Discuss the major challenges in ART drug procurement, distribution, and accessibility. Suggest policy measures to strengthen the supply chain, improve transparency, and enhance the quality of ART drugs in India