COVID-19 vaccines for kids

• Biological E’s Corbevax has been approved for administration in children between the ages of five and 12 and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been approved for restricted use in emergency situations in the 6-12 age group.
• Currently, Bharat Biotech’s inactivated whole virion vaccine is being administered in children aged 15-18, and Biological E’s protein sub-unit vaccine in children between 12 and 15 under a national COVID-19 immunisation programme.
• The DCGI has also cleared ZyCoV-D’s two-dose regimen for children aged over 12. The second dose of the vaccine can be administered on the 28th day.

‘Country of Particular Concern’ on religious freedom grounds, says U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

• It has also called for “targeted sanctions” on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ or entities’ assets and/or barring their entry” into the U.S.
• The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan body created by the International Religious Freedom Act, 1998 (IRFA) with a mandate to monitor religious freedom violations globally and make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
• It is a congressionally created entity and not an NGO or advocacy organisation.
• It is led by nine part-time commissioners appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the House and the Senate.

U.S. hosts weapons summit for Ukraine

• The meeting of 40 countries at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of only “pretending” to negotiate a cease-fire and warned of a “real” risk of a new world war.
• Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany.
• It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also for NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM).

Net direct tax collection reaches highest-ever figure in FY 22

• As against ₹14.09 lakh crore this year, our collection in 2020-21 was only ₹9.45 lakh crore. In a single year, we moved upward by nearly ₹4.5 lakh crore, registering a growth of 49%.
• The collection is the best-ever as far as income tax and corporation tax are concerned.
• The direct tax-to-GDP ratio is around 12%,” he added, noting that the CBDT was working to raise the ratio to 15-20% in 5-10 years.
• “The direct tax collection this year has surpassed the indirect tax collection which was other way round till last year. It is now 52%... our aim is to look at 60% of tax contribution coming from direct taxes in some years,” said the CBDT chairman.

Himachal Pradesh government has signed MoU for the development of seven ropeway projects

• The MoU was signed between Ropeways and Rapid Transport System Development Corporation (RTDC) HP Limited and National Highways Logistic Management Limited (NHLML) for the development of ropeways as innovative transport solution in Himachal Pradesh.
• The Chief Minister Jai Ram was also apprised of the immediate need for maintenance of important stretches on Shimla-Mataur, Pathankot-Chakki-Mandi Mandi-Manali highways.

‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ to be organized across the country under ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari’ campaign

• Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar will chair the National level special programme on ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ on 27th April 2022.
• He will connect with farmers in all the Implementing States across the country through specially organized ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ coordinated by CSC from 1 lakh locations across the country.
• The Campaign aims to make the farmers aware about key scheme aspects of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) like basic scheme provisions, importance of insuring the crops and how to avail scheme benefits etc. in the ongoing Kharif Season 2022 along with facilitating farmers in getting benefit of the PMFBY scheme.
• Under this campaign, the broader focus will be on importance of PMFBY/RWBCIS (Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme) and how farmers can enrol under the scheme and avail the benefit of the scheme.

IAF readies Bagdogra Airfield; Civil aircraft operations restarted

• The work was executed with Border Roads Organisation (BRO) as the implementing agency.
• Bagdogra is the second busiest airport of West Bengal and is a joint user international airport with a civil terminal attached to the IAF airfield.
• The Bagdogra airfield is not only important from a strategic point of view but is also a major international hub for promoting tourism and economy. The airfield is an important node for connecting Darjeeling and Siliguri to the rest of the country and the world.

Asthma drug blocks protein crucial to replication of coronavirus

• he drug, montelukast, is an oral treatment given to prevent wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and coughing caused by asthma, and also used to prevent breathing difficulties during exercise.
• Montelukast is prescribed in India by physicians. It is readily available as tablets and syrup (for kids) in pharmacy shops under different brand names.
• In fact, some clinicians were using montelukast to treat Covid-19 patients because of its known role in making breathing easier in asthma patients.
• However, it was not known that this drug also has antiviral activity, which was figured out in this study.

WHO recommends highly successful COVID-19 therapy and calls for wide geographical distribution and transparency from originator

• Paxlovid consists of nirmatrelvir tablets and ritonavir tablets, co-packaged for oral use.
• It was given emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the USFDA in December last year.
• Nirmatrelvir inhibits a viral enzyme called protease that is necessary for the virus to replicate itself inside the host cell. Ritonavir slows down the breakdown of nirmatrelvir in order to help it remain in the body for longer at higher concentrations.
• A drug like nirmatrelvir is considered to have an advantage over vaccines because it attacks a vulnerability in the virus that does not mutate like spike proteins — which vaccines target — do.
• As a result, the medication is seen to be effective against all variants.