PIB Summary- 30th January, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB)

Context: Wildlife Crime Control Bureau busts wildlife trafficking syndicates in Jammu & Kashmir.

About the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

• It is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to combat organized wildlife crime in the country.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi with regional, sub-regional offices and border units. 
• Under Section 38 (Z) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, it is mandated to: 
  • Collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities 
  • Disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals
  • Establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank
  • Coordinate actions by various agencies in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of the Act
  • Assist foreign authorities and international organization concerned to facilitate coordination and universal action for wildlife crime control
  • Capacity building of the wildlife crime enforcement agencies for a scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes
  • Advise the Government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, relevant policy and laws 
• It also assists and advises the Customs authorities in inspection of the consignments of flora & fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such an item.
• The GOI notified the Board’s formation in 2007 and it became operational in 2008.
• It was created based on the recommendations of the Committee on “Prevention of Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products” (1994) headed by Dr. S. Subramaniam.

Pulse Polio Programme

Context: President of India launches countrywide Pulse Polio Programme for 2021. 

Details

• Polio National Immunization Day, observed on 31st January 2021 (Sunday), is also popularly known as Polio Ravivar.
• Around 17 crore children of less than 5 years of age will be given polio drops as part of the drive of the Government of India to sustain the polio-free status of the country. 
• The countrywide drive will be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors and many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), WHO, UNICEF, Rotary, etc.
• Healthcare workers will be visiting as many as 2 crore households to ensure that no child is left without the protection of the polio vaccine.
• Before the start of the program, India had 60% caseload of Polio worldwide. With the last case of Polio reported in Howrah on 13th January, 2011, the country has been free of Polio for a decade now.

About the Pulse Polio Programme

• The Pulse Polio Campaign was first started in 1994 in Delhi after the success of the first large-scale supplementary immunization campaign with OPV (oral polio vaccine). 
• The campaign was inaugurated with the tagline ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ki’.
• The campaign in Delhi reached nearly one million children up to the age of three years with two doses of OPV being administered on 02 October and 04 December through exclusive booth-based strategy.
• This strategy was later adopted and implemented by the Government of India all over the country as Pulse Polio Campaigns.
• India’s attainment of polio-free status in 2014 was coined by the World Health Organization as “one of the most significant achievements in public health,” and marked not just India but the entire South East Asia Region being declared polio-free. 
• The last case of polio in the country was in 2011.
• The global initiative of eradicating polio was started by the WHO in 1988.
• Around 17.4 crore children of less than five years across the country are given polio drops as part of the drive of the Government of India to sustain polio eradication from the country.
• The Pulse Polio Initiative was started with an objective of achieving a hundred per cent coverage under Oral Polio Vaccine. It aimed to immunize children through improved social mobilization, plan mop-up operations in areas where poliovirus has almost disappeared and maintain a high level of morale among the public.