The Hindu
Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2016
GS3 – Pollution – Hazardous waste
Backdrop: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to initiate action against hospitals committing gross violations of Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998.
Bio-medical waste
- Biomedical waste comprises human & animal anatomical waste and treatment apparatus like needles used in health care facilities (HCF – hospitals, laboratories, blood banks, immunization programmes).
- Total bio-medical waste generation in the country is 484 TPD out of which 447 TPD is treated. The remaining is dumped in its hazardous form into the environment.
- Scientific disposal of Biomedical Waste in an environmentally sound manner minimizes the adverse impact on health workers and on the environment.
- It will prevent the spreading of infections through biomedical waste.
Problems of unscientific Bio-medical waste disposal
- 85% of the hospital waste is non-hazardous, 15% is infectious/hazardous. Mixing of hazardous results in to contamination and makes the entire waste hazardous.
- Improper disposal can lead to many diseases in animals as well as humans. (cows eat waste and man eats cow meat).
- Encourages recycling of prohibited disposables and drugs which will further spread infections.
- Develops resistant microorganisms.
Procedure to be followed
- The hospitals are required to put in place the mechanisms for effective disposal either directly or through common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facilities.
- The hospitals servicing 1000 patients or more per month are required to obtain authorization and segregate biomedical waste into categories as specified by the rules.
Violations
- If body fluids are present, the material needs to be incinerated. Most medical facilities fail to follow the regulations.
- It is often found that biomedical waste is put into the ocean, where it eventually washes up on shore.
- Many doctors and paramedical staff are unaware of the risks related to biomedical wastes.
- Many medical facilities are undeveloped in the area regarding biomedical waste.
- A large number of health care facilities don’t know how to sort the waste correctly. There are specific colored bags and bins that are recommended for each type of waste.
- For example, syringes, needles and blood-soiled bandages should be all disposed of in a red colored bag or bin, where it will later be incinerated (destroy by burning).
Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016 Notified
- Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016 is an improvement to 1998 rules.
- New Rules are measures taken in the spirit of Clean India Mission.
Salient features of BMW Management Rules, 2016
- The ambit of the rules has been expanded to include vaccination camps, blood donation camps, surgical camps or any other healthcare activity;
- Phase-out the use of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves and blood bags within two years;
- Pre-treatment of the laboratory waste, microbiological waste, blood samples and blood bags through sterilization on-site;
- Provide training to all its health care workers and immunize all health workers regularly;
- Establish a Bar-Code System for bags or containers containing bio-medical waste for disposal;
- Bio-medical waste has been classified in to 4 categories instead 10 to improve the segregation of waste at source;
- Procedure to get authorization simplified.
- Inclusion of emissions limits for Dioxin and furans;
- State Government to provide land for setting up common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility;
- No occupier shall establish on-site treatment and disposal facility, if a service of is available at a distance of seventy-five kilometer.
- Operator of a common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility to ensure the timely collection of bio-medical waste from the HCFs
SBI merger
- State Bank of India has started the process of merging its five associate banks (Mysore, Hyderabad, Travencore, Bikaner & Jaipur, and Patiala) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
Benefits
- The merger of the banks will result in a reduction in operating costs.
- Merger will also lead to faster rollout of digital initiatives across the bank.
Importance
- This is the first ever large-scale consolidation in the Indian banking industry.
- The merger will create a banking behemoth with an asset book of Rs 37 lakh crore.
- The merger will see SBI’s ranking approve in the Bloomberg’s largest bank by asset ranking. It may well break through the 50-mark in the ranking.
- SBI’s asset base will now be five times larger than the second-largest Indian bank, ICICI Bank.
Swap Ratio
- The ratio in which an acquiring company (SBI) will offer its own shares in exchange for the target company’s shares during a merger or acquisition.
- Companies analyze earnings per share, profits after tax and dividends paid and other factors before fixing swap ratio.
Source: http://goo.gl/ZoxSrJ
Swap Ratios in SBI merger
SBI will give
- 28 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.
- 22 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Mysore.
- 22 of its own shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Travancore.
- 42 crore shares with face value of Re. 1 for every 100 crore equity (ownership) shares of Bhartiya Mahila Bank.
State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala are 100 per cent owned by SBI.
Source: http://goo.gl/4U0pQk
Myanmar to support Silk Road, BCIM
- Myanmar agreed to support China’s ‘Belt and Road’ connectivity initiative along the ancient Silk Road.
- It also supported the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor meant to industrialize a stretch — spanning more than 2,000-km — linking Kunming in China with Mandalay in Myanmar, passing through Bangladesh, and ending at Kolkata in India.
Made-in-India leprosy vaccine to be launched
Prelims – General Science – Biology
Leprosy
- Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease (HD).
- It is a long term bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis.
- Leprosy is spread between people through cough or contact with fluid from the nose of an infected person.
- Contrary to popular belief, it is not highly contagious.
- Poor people living in unhygienic conditions are highly vulnerable to this disease.
- It affects around 1.25 lakh people every year in India.
- Sixty per cent of the world’s leprosy patients live in India.
- Social stigma surrounding the diseases is the major concern.
Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) Vaccine
- The MIP vaccine is developed by the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.
- The vaccine is administered as a preventive measure to people living in contact with those infected.
PIB
Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT)
Prelims – Biology – Technical topic (low priority topic – you can ignore this one)
- All the above genetic diseases cause severe organ disorders in fetus.
- The test will screen the blood sample for chromosomal disorders that include trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome).
- Many expectant mothers now access NIPT that examines foetal DNA in the mother’s blood to determine whether there is a high risk of chromosomal defects.
- Technology has now made it easier to detect disorders in the early stages of pregnancy.
- Genetic disorders are third most common cause of mortality in newborns.
- Trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome): Each cell in the body contains full extra copy of chromosome 21.
- Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome): Each cell in the body contains full extra copy of chromosome 18.
- Trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome): Each cell in the body contains full extra copy of chromosome 13.
More about chromosomal disorders: Chromosomal Disorders
Invasive amniocentesis
- Prenatal test where a small amount of amniotic fluid is removed for testing from the sac surrounding the foetus.
- NIPT is only a screening test. Invasive amniocentesis (diagnostic test) is performed if NIPT is positive.
Mars rover finds buttes and mesas
Prelims – CA
- Mars rover landed four years ago on Gale Crater of Mars.
- The mesas and buttes have a relatively flat foreground.
- The buttes and mesas of Mars are capped by material that is relatively resistant to erosion, just as is the case with many similarly shaped buttes and mesas on Earth.
- A key goal is to learn how freshwater lake conditions evolved into arid conditions.
