Important Facts for Prelims (4th December 2018) | 04 Dec 2018

The bilateral air exercise between the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and Indian Air Force is being held in Agra, India.
The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.
Recently, the joint military exercise between Indian Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force, named Dharma Guardian 2018 was held in Mizoram, India.
Japan-India Maritime Exercise knows as JIMEX was also held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Scientists at University of Glasgow, UK have developed a new method to produce drug molecules, which uses downloadable blueprints to easily and reliably synthesise organic chemicals via a programmable ‘chemputer’.
This is the first time synthesis of important drug molecules was achieved in an affordable and modular chemical-robot system called a chemputer.
The chemputer is underpinned by a new universal and interoperable standard for writing and sharing chemical recipes.
Those chemical recipes, run on a computer programme the team calls the ‘chempiler’, instruct the chemputer how to produce molecules on-demand, more affordably and safely than ever possible before.
This is a key step in the digitisation of chemistry and will allow the universal assembly of complex molecules on demand, democratising the ability to discover and make new molecules using a simple software app and a modular chemputer.
Chemputer system, could allow medical professionals in remote parts of the world to create life-saving drugs as and when required.

International conference on bears has been organised in Agra (Uttar Pradesh).
The conference is hosted by Wildlife SOS (a conservation non-profit organisation) in collaboration with Bear Care Group from the US and Canada.
The conference is focused on bear care, wildlife conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a polio-like disease affecting children has come into public focus.
Enteroviruses (a group of viruses such as poliovirus and enterovirus A71, and West Nile virus. ) are the main cause of the disease in children.
The concerns emanate from the US, more than 100 cases of AFM have been confirmed in 2018.
AFM is characterised by muscle weakness — weak limbs, pain, absent reflexes.