Daily Prelims Notes 3 October 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

3 October 2023

Table Of Contents

1. MCA’s new portal for check­ing for unclaimed shares, dividends
2. Treds platforms in india see good growth in transactions
3. HC rules against quota in minority institutions
4. Bihar caste survey: HC rules against quota in minority institutions
5. South East Asia first high speed railway launch
6. Nobel Prize 2023: Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman awarded for work that led to effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19
7. Damselfly species found in Western Ghats named after climate impact on insects
8. Second anti-malaria vaccine for children approved by WHO

1. MCA’s new portal for check­ing for unclaimed shares, dividends

Subject: Economy

Section: Capital Market

Context: Check­ing for unclaimed shares, dividends to become easier with a new integrated IT platform.

Key Points:

• MCA’s new integ­rated IT plat­form to enable users to deep dive for details of unclaimed securities.
• Set­ting-up the integ­rated portal was announced by the Fin­ance Min­is­ter in her budget speech earlier this year.

What happens to unclaimed dividend?

• Dividends are declared out of profits made by a company and distributed to shareholders. But if they are unclaimed for more than seven years, they are transferred by the company to the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF).
• Gov­ern­ment had set up the IEPFA in Septem­ber 2016 for admin­is­tra­tion of Investor Edu­ca­tion and Pro­tec­tion Fund (IEPF). Pro­vi­sional data upto end Novem­ber 2022 showed that the total bal­ance in the IEBF stood at ₹ 5,685 crore. Total num­ber of unclaimed shares in IEPF stood at 117 crore shares.
• There is very little aware­ness among invest­ing pub­lic on the exist­ence of IEPFA and the fact that they can reclaim shares or unpaid dividends that have been trans­ferred by com­pan­ies to the Investor Edu­ca­tion Pro­tec­tion Fund (IEPF) on account of vari­ous reas­ons.

What the portal will provide?

• It will allow check­ing the status of share­hold­ings or unclaimed dividend that has been trans­ferred to the Investor Edu­ca­tion Pro­tec­tion Fund Author­ity (IEPFA) in an easy manner.
• The integ­rated IT portal that may lets you deep dive not just for your lost wealth by searching on various parameters like name, folio number or district etc.
• MCA has from time-to-time tak­ing meas­ures to stream­line the work­ing as well as refund pro­cess at IEPFA. In Janu­ary 2022, MCA had empowered IEPFA to liquid­ate shares held by it and acquired on account of dividend remain­ing unpaid or unclaimed by the share­holder for a period of seven years.

IEPFA’S role:

• IEPFA was also empowered to offer the shares to the acquir­ing entity in case of amal­gam­a­tion, share exchange, con­ver­sion of secur­it­ies and also receive money on behalf of minor­ity share­hold­ers.
• Earlier IEPFA could sur­render the shares only in case of del­ist­ing of secur­it­ies or when the com­pany was get­ting wound up.
• MCA had also then said that the money received on behalf of the minor­ity share­hold­ers should be cred­ited to the IEPF and a sep­ar­ate ledger account should be main­tained for such pro­ceeds.

2. Treds platforms in india see good growth in transactions

Subject : Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context: Treds platforms in India thrives with a remarkable 70 transaction surge.

Key Points:

• The Trade Receivables Discounting System platforms, introduced by RBI to address MSME liquidity challenges, are thriving in India, with both transaction values and throughput witnessing significant increases
• Corporates are recognising the benefits of TReDS, including price discovery and timely payments to MSMEs
• Growing awareness around its benefits are increasing the participation from corporates and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

What is Treds?

• Introduced by RBI in 2017 to address the liquidity challenges of MSMEs, TReDS is an electronic platform for facilitating the financing/discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs.
• The objective was to solve the problem of delayed payments to MSMEs by providing factoring services.
• RBI set up TREDS under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007.
• It is a platform for uploading, accepting, discounting, trading and settling invoices / bills of MSMEs and facilitating both receivables as well as payables factoring (reverse factoring).
• MSME sellers, corporate and other buyers, including Government Departments and PSUs, and financiers (banks, NBFC-Factors and other financial institutions, as permitted) are direct participants in the TReDS
• Currently, there are three RBI-approved platforms: Receivables Exchange of India Ltd (RXIL), A Treds Ltd (Invoicemart), and Mynd Solutions Pvt Ltd (M1xchange). To encourage innovation and competition through increased participation, ‘on-tap’ authorisation was introduced in October 2019.
• As per the latest RBI data, the three platforms together processed ₹43,580 crore worth of transactions between April and August of the current fiscal as against ₹25,653 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 70 per cent. The number of transactions also jumped to 219,758 (141,654) during this period.

How does it work?

• Under the TReDS platform, an MSME seller uploads the invoice for the goods/ services provided to the buyer.
• Once the buyer accepts the invoice, multiple financial institutions bid to finance the invoice.
• A Factoring Unit (FU) is a standard nomenclature used in TReDS for invoice(s) or bill(s) of exchange. Each FU represents a confirmed obligation of the corporates or other buyers, including Government Departments and PSUs.
• In TReDS, FU can be created either by the MSME seller or the buyer. If an MSME seller creates it, the process is called factoring; if the same is created by corporates or other buyers, it is called as reverse factoring.
• The seller then accepts the favourable bid and gets the finance within 24 hours of acceptance. The buyer then pays the financial institution on the due date.

3. HC rules against quota in minority institutions

Subject :Polity

Section: Constitution

Context: Madras High Court Rules SC/ST/OBC Reservation Doesn’t Apply To Religious, Linguistic Minority Educational Institutes

More about the news:

• The Madras High Court while hearing a case filed by Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women in Chennai has ruled that educational institutions run by religious and linguistic minorities are not obligated to follow reservation rules for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Class students.
• It emphasized that the government cannot compel these institutions to provide reservations.
• While upholding the right of the state government to limit admission of minority students to 50% of the sanctioned intake, the court clarified that those admitted on merit should not be considered part of the 50% quota.
• The court also stated that minority status should continue until cancelled by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

What is National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) :

• National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) was established to protect and safeguard the educational institutions which are established by the religious minorities in India.
•  It is a statutory body established by National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act (NCMEI Act), 2004.
• The Commission is a quasi judicial body and has been endowed with the powers of a Civil Court for the purpose of discharging its functions under the Act.
• This also ensure rights of religious minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice as provided in the Article 30 of the Constitution of India. Linguistic Minorities do not come under the ambit of the NCMEI Act, 2004
• The commission is headed by a chairman who belongs to a religious minority community and has been a Judge of a High Court. Three members are nominated by the Central Government.
• The commission has three main roles namely adjudicatory, advisory and recommendatory.

What is the National Commission for Minorities:

• The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is an autonomous body established by the Indian government in 1992 under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
• The setting up of the Commission was envisaged in the Ministry of Home Affairs Resolution of 1978 for the enforcement and implementation of all the safeguards provided for the Minorities in the Constitution.
• It is responsible for advising the central and state governments on matters related to the welfare and development of minority communities in India.

What is the Composition of National Commission for Minorities{

• NCM consists of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and five members and all of them shall be from amongst the minority communities.
• Total of 7 persons to be nominated by the Central Government should be from amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity.
• Each Member holds office for a period of three years from the date of assumption of office.

How is a community notified as a minority:

• Under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992 the central government has the power to notify a community as a minority.
• In 1993, the first Statutory National Commission was set up and five religious communities viz. The Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) were notified as minority communities.
• In 2014, Jains were also notified as a minority community

Constitutional provisions related to minorities:

• Article 29
  • It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
  • It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities
• Article 30:
  • All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
  • The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic) and does not extend to any section of citizens (as under Article 29).
• Article 350-B:
  • The 7th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1956 inserted this article which provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India.
  • It would be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution.

Judgements related to determination on minority status:

• TMA Pai Case:
  • The SC had said that for the purposes of Article 30 that deals with the rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, religious and linguistic minorities have to be considered state-wise.
• Bal Patil Case:
  • In 2005, the SC in its judgment in ‘Bal Patil’ referred to the TMA Pai ruling.
  • The legal position clarifies that henceforth the unit for determining status of both linguistic and religious minorities would be ‘state’.

4. Bihar caste survey: HC rules against quota in minority institutions

Subject :Polity

Section: Constitution

Context: Bihar government revealed the results of its caste survey on Gandhi Jayanti

How the survey was carried:

• The Bihar government compiled data on each family digitally through a mobile application as part of the eight-level survey from the panchayat to the district level.
• The mobile app had a set of questions in a format, mentioning place, caste, the number of people in a family, their profession, and annual income, among others.
• During the first phase of the caste survey, the houses were numbered, and caste details were sought.
• The second phase of the exercise involved compiling the economic status of the people. All composite information was compiled in the app after scrutiny by senior officers.
• The process of caste survey monitoring involved the additional district magistrate (DM)/district welfare officer/district statistics officer at the top, with the DM concerned being the final monitoring authority.
• The next level comprised the sub-divisional officer followed by the circle officer, block development officer, municipal commissioner/chief executive officer.
• The Panchayati Raj Institutions were kept completely out of the process.

Key Findings of the survey:

• The survey puts the share of Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) cumulatively at more than 63%.
• Category-wise classification:
  • The “unreserved” category i.e. the “forward” castes is about 15.5%.
  • The Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) are the biggest social group comprising 36.01% of the State’s population.
  • The OBCs accounts to 27.12%, and the Scheduled Castes (SCs) to 19.65%.
  • Scheduled Tribes (STs) are only 1.68%.
• Total Population of  Bihar, according to the survey, is 13, 07, 25,310, compared to the 10.41 crore recorded in the 2011 census.
• Religion-based data:
  • Hindus comprise 81.99% of the population, and
  • Muslims17.7%.
  • The populations of Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and other religious denominations are minuscule.

What are the legal angles involved:

• The population census is a Union subject under Article 246 of India Constitution.
• It is listed at serial number 69 of the seventh schedule of the constitution.
• Census is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948.
• The bill for this Act was piloted by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Home Minister of India.
• The information collected during the population Census is so confidential that it is not even accessible to the courts of law.
• The confidentiality is guaranteed by the Census Act, 1948. The law specifies penalties for both public and census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Act.
• The census recorded at the beginning of every decade does not record any caste data other than for those listed as schedule cast.

Bihar caste survey throw challenges to 50% Quota:

• Underlining the need to ensure “efficiency” in administration, the SC in its 1992 decision in ‘Indra Sawhney vs Union of India’ had fixed the 50% ceiling for reservation which can be breached only in “exceptional circumstances”.
• In 2021, a five judge Constitution bench of the SC unanimously struck down a Maharashtra law which provides reservation to the Maratha community as unconstitutional, holding the total quota limit would exceed 50%.
• However, a five-judge bench (in a 3:2 majority) of the SC upheld the 10% EWS quota, which also breached the 50% ceiling. The court held that the ceiling was for backward classes.
• The survey’s findings are likely to intensify calls for increasing the OBC (Other Backward Classes) reservation in India beyond the current 27%.

History of Caste Census:

• A population census was first carried out by the British colonial state in 1872.
• The 65-page census enumerated the populations of various castes, including Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Rajputs across several provinces.
• Caste populations were specifically counted based on their traditional occupations at the time.For instance, Hindus in the Madras province were counted in 17 sets, which included “priests, warriors, traders, agriculturists, shepherds and pastoral castes” among others.
• The last time comprehensive data on caste was collected was in the 1931 Census.

Why has it not been carried out since 1931:

• The categories of ‘Race, Caste or Tribe’ were replaced by the ‘Scheduled Tribe/ Scheduled Caste’.
• Subsequent reports and studies have attributed to the belief that “including caste data in census enumeration will perpetuate the caste system and deepen social divisions”.
• Recording of caste was abandoned after Indian Independence in 1947, to help smooth the growth of a secular state.

More about Socio-economic caste census (SECC)

• It is a study of the socio-economic status of rural and urban households and allows ranking of households based on predefined parameters.
• Census in Rural Areas has been conducted by the Department of Rural Development.
• Census in Urban areas is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
• It was also the first paperless census in India conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government in 640 districts

5. South East Asia first high speed railway launch

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Msc

More about the news:

• Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung, a project under China’s Belt and Road initiative.
• Despite delays and cost increases, the $7.3 billion railway, largely funded by China, will reduce travel time from 3 hours to 40 minutes. 
• It’s expected to cut carbon emissions and promote efficient mass transportation.
• Widodo named it “Whoosh” which stands for ‘Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, SistemHandal‘and emphasized its modernization and environmental benefits.
• The rail deal was signed in October 2015 after Indonesia selected China over Japan in fierce bidding.
• It was financed with a loan from the China Development Bank for 75% of the cost. The remaining 25% came from the consortium’s own funds.
• The project is part of a planned 750-kilometer (466-mile) high-speed train line that would cut across four provinces on Indonesia’s main island of Java and end in the country’s second-largest city, Surabaya.
• The project faced disputes but aims to transfer technology to Indonesia for future domestic high-speed train production.

Some facts about Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR):

• The plan for the 508km MAHSR corridor was first set into motion in 2013 by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Japan.
• In 2014, a study was commissioned, and the final report was submitted in July 2015 by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
• The Union cabinet approved the project in December 2015.
• The Shinkansen high-speed technology will be used in this train.
•  “National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited”, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been formed for the implementation of this project.
•  It will connect Gujarat’s capital with India’s financial capital, Mumbai.
•  It will pass through three districts in Maharashtra, eight in Gujarat and will cut through Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

6. Nobel Prize 2023: Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman awarded for work that led to effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context:

• The 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been jointly awarded to United States scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their work concerning “nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines against COVID-19”.

About their contribution in vaccine development:

• The discoveries and findings by Kariko and Weissman fundamentally changed the understanding of how mRNA interacts with the human immune system.
• This contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.

From the dawn of vaccination till recently, vaccines have been made from:

• Killed or weakened viruses.
• Parts of the viral genetic code, usually encoding proteins found on the virus surface, used to make proteins that stimulate the formation of virus-blocking antibodies.
• Parts of the viral genetic code moved to a harmless carrier virus or ‘vector’.

What are mRNA vaccines and how do they work?

• All vaccines introduced into the body a harmless piece of a particular bacteria or virus, triggering an immune response. Most vaccines contain a weakened or dead bacteria or virus.
• However, scientists have developed a new type of vaccine that uses a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) rather than part of an actual bacteria or virus. Messenger RNA is a type of RNA that is necessary for protein production. Once cells finish making a protein, they quickly break down the mRNA. mRNA from vaccines does not enter the nucleus and does not alter DNA.
• mRNA vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane. (Individuals who get an mRNA vaccine are not exposed to the virus, nor can they become infected with the virus by the vaccine.)
• By using this mRNA, cells can produce the viral protein. As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognizes that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies.
• Antibodies help protect the body against infection by recognizing individual viruses or other pathogens, attaching to them, and marking the pathogens for destruction. Once produced, antibodies remain in the body, even after the body has rid itself of the pathogen, so that the immune system can quickly respond if exposed again.
• If a person is exposed to a virus after receiving mRNA vaccination for it, antibodies can quickly recognize it, attach to it, and mark it for destruction before it can cause serious illness.

Need for mRNA based vaccines and challenges in developing them:

• Producing whole virus-, protein- and vector-based vaccines requires large-scale cell culture, which limits the possibilities for rapid vaccine production in response to outbreaks and pandemics.
  • Genetic information encoded in human DNA is transferred to messenger RNA (mRNA) in the body’s cells and is used as a template for protein production.
• Scientists were able to produce mRNA without cell culture in the 1980s, in a process known as in vitro transcription. But there are two challenges associated with it:

1. In vitro transcribed mRNA was considered unstable and challenging to deliver, requiring the development of sophisticated carrier lipid systems to encapsulate the mRNA.
2. In vitro-produced mRNA gave rise to inflammatory reactions.

How Kariko and Weissman improved the mRNA vaccine technology?

• Kariko and Weissman noticed that dendritic cells (which have important functions in immune surveillance and the activation of vaccine-induced immune responses) recognize in vitro transcribed mRNA as a foreign substance, which leads to their activation and the release of inflammatory signaling molecules.
• Theywanted to test a hypothesis as to whether the absence of altered bases in the in vitro transcribed RNA could explain the unwanted inflammatory reaction.
  • RNA contains four bases, abbreviated A, U, G, and C, corresponding to A, T, G, and C in DNA, the letters of the genetic code.
• They produced different variants of mRNA, each with unique chemical alterations in their bases, when they delivered it to dendritic cells the found that:
  • Inflammatory response was almost abolished when base modifications were included in the mRNA. And,
  • It markedly increased protein production compared to unmodified mRNA.
• After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, two base-modified mRNA vaccines encoding the SARS-CoV-2 surface protein were developed at record speed.
• Such vaccines have resulted in saving millions of lives and prevented severe disease in many more, allowing societies to open and return to normal conditions.

About the Nobel Prize:

• The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace) that, according to Alfred Nobel’s will of 1895, are awarded to “those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
  • Nobel characterized the Peace Prize as “to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses”.
• In 1968, SverigesRiksbank(Sweden’s central bank) funded the establishment of the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, to also be administered by the Nobel Foundation.
• The prize ceremonies take place annually at Stockholm, Sweden, while the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
• Each recipient (known as a “laureate”) receives a green gold medal plated with 24 karat gold, a diploma, and a monetary award.
• In 2021, the Nobel Prize monetary award was 10,000,000 SEK. In 2023, the monetary award is set to increase to 11,000,000 SEK.
• A prize may not be shared among more than three individuals, although the Nobel Peace Prize can be awarded to organizations of more than three people.
• Although Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously, if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, the prize is presented.
• The Nobel Prizes, beginning in 1901, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, beginning in 1969, have been awarded 609 times to 975 people and 25 organisations.
• Five individuals and two organisations have received more than one Nobel Prize.

7. Damselfly species found in Western Ghats named after climate impact on insects

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• A new damselfly species has been discovered in Kerala’s southern Western Ghats.

Details Of the species:

• Researchers from MIT-World Peace University in Pune named the insect ‘Armageddon reedtail’ or protostictaarmageddonia, to draw attention to the global decline of insect populations due to rampant habitat loss and climate change.
• The species was discovered northeast of Thiruvananthapuram. It has a captivating dark brown to black body with vibrant greenish-blue eyes, and half of its eight abdominal segments are marked with delicate pale blue markings.
• The new species is distinct from other damselflies.
• Its only habitat is primary montane streams, where it thrives beneath dense canopy cover.

Ecological armageddon:

• The term ‘ecological armageddon’ is used to describe the devastating decline of insect populations around the world.
• This phenomenon, also called insect apocalypse, affects entire ecosystems because insects pollinate, cycle nutrients and provide food for other animals.
• Odonatology: The study of insects, such as dragonflies, that belong to the zoological group Odonata.

MIT World Peace University:

• Located in:  Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra.
• It is a private institution officially named Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University.
• Established under the Government of Maharashtra Act No. XXXV 2017 and recognized by the University Grants Commission.
• The university was formerly known as the Maharashtra Institute of Technology which was established in 1983.

8. Second anti-malaria vaccine for children approved by WHO

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Health

Context:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) on October 2, 2023, approved a second anti-malaria vaccine for children.
• The vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

About the Malaria vaccine:

• Vaccine name: R21/Matrix-M vaccine.
• It will be rolled out in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria in early 2024. And then other African countries by the end of 2024.
• The first vaccine approved by WHO in 2021 was RTS,S/AS01 vaccine.
• WHO has given its approval to the vaccine on the advice of two expert groups: Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group.
• Both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children and are expected to have high public health impact.
• WHO also recommended Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ vaccine against dengue for children aged six to 16 living in areas where the infection is a significant public health problem.
• SAGE also recommended that all countries in the African “meningitis belt” introduce what it described as (Men5CV) into their routine immunisation programmes. A single dose scheduled at nine to 18 months of age should fight the disease.

Malaria:

• 25 April: World Malaria Day
• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
• It is preventable and curable. There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax – pose the greatest threat.
• There were an estimated 247 million cases of malaria in 2021, and the estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 619 000. The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2020, the region was home to 95% and 96% of malaria cases and deaths, respectively.
• Children under 5 years of age are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria; in 2021, they accounted for nearly 80% of all malaria deaths in the WHO African Region.

IA2030:

• The World Health Assembly, with the support of countries and partners, has endorsed a new global vision and strategy, called the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), to address these challenges over the next decade and save over 50 million lives.
• IA2030 envisions a world where everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines to improve health and well-being. It aims to maintain hard-won gains in immunization, recover from the disruptions caused by COVID-19, and achieve even more – by leaving no one behind, in any situation or at any stage of life.

Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE):

• The SAGE was established by the Director-General of the World Health Organization in 1999 to provide guidance on the work of WHO.
• SAGE is the principal advisory group to WHO for vaccines and immunization. It is charged with advising WHO on overall global policies and strategies, ranging from vaccines and technology, research and development, to delivery of immunization and its linkages with other health interventions.
• SAGE is concerned not just with childhood vaccines and immunization, but all vaccine-preventable diseases.
• SAGE meets at least twice a year, with working groups established for detailed review of specific topics prior to discussion by the full group. Priorities of work and meeting agendas are developed by the Group in consultation with WHO.
• UNICEF, the Secretariat of the GAVI Alliance, and WHO Regional Offices participate as observers in SAGE meetings and deliberations.

Global Vaccine Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI):

• GAVI was set up as a Global Health Partnership in 2000 with the goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.
• GAVI aims at accelerating access to vaccines, strengthening countries’ health and immunization systems, and introducing innovative new immunization technology.
• Since GAVI’s inception, it has subsequently supported the immunization of an additional 326 million children and prevented a potential 5.5 million deaths.
• While the Gavi Secretariat oversees the day-to-day operations of the Vaccine Alliance, the Board is responsible for giving strategic direction and policy-making.
• The Board has 18 “representative” seats, 9 seats for independent or “unaffiliated” individuals, and one seat for Gavi’s CEO.
  • UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hold permanent seats.
  • Constituency representatives serve on a time-limited basis.
  • Independent Board members are private individuals with no professional connection to Gavi’s work. They bring independent and balanced scrutiny to all of the Board’s deliberations. These individuals also provide expertise in a number of critical areas such as investment, auditing, and fundraising.
  • Two-thirds of the voting members of the Board are representatives from key Vaccine Alliance partner institutions and stakeholders (each such representative a “representative Board member”) and one-third of its voting members are independent (or unaffiliated) individuals who are appointed in their personal capacity on the basis of their skills and networks.