Global Teacher Prize 2020.
A
primary school teacher from Maharashtra won $1 million annual Global Teacher
Prize 2020.
He
was awarded in recognition of his efforts to promote girls' education and
trigger a quick-response (QR) coded textbook revolution in India.
This
annual prize was founded by the Varkey Foundation (global charitable
foundation) in 2014 to recognise an exceptional teacher who has made
outstanding contribution to the profession.
ADIP Camp.
The
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated an ADIP camp to provide
Aids & Assistive devices to 1398 Divyangjan of Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu
virtually.
•
The camp was organized by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India
(ALIMCO), Kanpur.
Scheme
of Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP Scheme):
•
The ADIP Scheme is in operation since 1981.
Objective:
✓ To assist the needy
disabled persons in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically
manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances.
✓ Assistive Devices are
given to o Persons with disabilities (PwDs) to improve their independent
functioning and to arrest the extent of disability and occurrence of Secondary
Disability.
Other Features:
• The scheme envisages conduct of corrective surgeries, wherever required, before providing an Assistive Device.
Initiatives for Disabled People in
India:
1.
Educational Upliftment:
✓ Under Rights of Person
with Disabilities Act, 2016:
✓ Every disabled child
between 6 to 18 years have right to free education.
✓ Persons with
disabilities are provided reservation of seats in government higher educational
institutions (at least 5%) and government jobs (at least 4%).
✓ National Fellowship
for Students with Disabilities (RGMF).
✓ Under the Scheme, 200
Fellowships per year are granted to students with disability.
2.
Economic Empowerment:
✓ National Action Plan
for skill training of Divyangjan (financial assistance is provided for skill
training for persons with disabilities)
✓ National Handicapped
and Financial Development Corporation (set up in 1997 to assist the disabled
persons by providing concessional loan for Economic and Educational
Empowerment.)
3.
Social empowerment and rehabilitation:
✓ Accessible India Campaign
(launched in 2015 to make a barrier-free and conducive environment for
Divyangjans (i.e., disabled-friendly buildings))
✓ DeenDayal Disabled
Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) (promote Voluntary Action for Persons with
Disabilities)
✓ Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) (assist the needy disabled persons in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances)
✓ Schemes of the
National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy.
Karnataka Learning Management System.
It
was launched by Karnataka Government.
It
is implemented in two ways: LMS-based digital learning and establishing 2500
ICT enabled classes covering government first grade colleges, polytechnics and
engineering colleges.
It
encourages digital learning and would improve the quality and Gross Enrolment
Ratio (GER) in higher education.
This
would benefit students and teachers to make an impact on their learning and
teaching, respectively, hence improving quality of higher education.
National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) Centre.
Recently,
the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), the nodal agency
for maritime data fusion set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. It will
soon become a National Maritime Domain Awareness (NDMA) Centre.
Highlights:
•
The Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is extremely challenging since India is
located in one of the busiest maritime traffic regions of the world.
•
The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is the commercial highway for large traffic and
critical for the prosperity of many nations. Hence, threats such as maritime
terrorism, piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing etc. are required to be kept
subdued at all times.
• It is defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment.
•
The maritime domain is defined as all areas and things of, on, under, relating
to, adjacent to, or bordering on a sea, ocean, or other navigable waterway,
including all maritime-related activities,
•
India joined the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as Observer. The Commission is
an important regional institution in Western/African Indian Ocean.
•
The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean region (IFC-IOR) was set up within
the premises of the IMAC to coordinate with regional countries on maritime
security and act as a regional repository of maritime data.
•
It will be a multi-agency centre and provide information to various
stakeholders, from the fisheries department to local policing authorities on
development or movements across the coast. This will make sure that any risk,
especially transnational can be prevented.
About
Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC):
•
It is the main center of the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance and
monitoring. It is located in Gurugram (Haryana) and became operational in 2014.
•
It is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics
Ltd. and functions under the National Security Adviser (NSA).
•
It is the nodal center of the National Command Control Communications and
Intelligence Network (NC3I Network).
•
It tracks vessels on the high seas and gets data from the coastal radars, white
shipping agreements, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders fitted
on merchant ships, air and traffic management systems and global shipping
databases. Its functions in line with the principles listed under 'Security and
Growth of All in the Region (SAGAR)'.
About White Shipping Agreement:
• It refers to an exchange of relevant advance information on the identity and movement of commercial non-military merchant vessels.
• Ships are classified into white (commercial ships), grey (military vessels), and black (illegal vessels).
•
Automatic Identification System is an automated tracking system installed on
all commercial vessels of specific tonnage.
•
All fishing vessels more than 20m long were mandated to have AIS transponders
installed, while efforts are on to have such a system on under 20m fishing
vessels as well.
•
It conducted a coastal security workshop for BIMSTEC countries. During the MT
New Diamond (vessel) fire incident off the coast of Sri Lanka, IFC-IOR played a
key role in the early Mobilization of resources that resulted in a Quick
Reaction.
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Scheme.
A
review meeting regarding the progress of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Scheme (UBA) was
recently held Via Videoconferencing.
Highlights:
•
Efforts should be made to maximise the number of Higher Educational
Institutions under the scheme in order to benefit More Villages.
•
UBA should be used in sensitizing the school teachers regarding National
Education Policy, 2020.
•
Need for a portal was highlighted which will serve as an interactive platform
for different institutions wherein they can share success stories and motivate
each other.
•
Carry out a state-wise study and set targets regarding the parameters under UBA
such as improvement in Literacy, Healthcare etc.
About Unnat Bharat Abhiyan:
• It is a flagship program of the Ministry of Education. It was launched in 2014.
•
It aims to link the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a set of at least
(5) villages, so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and
social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
•
It covers two major domains for holistic development of villages – human
development and material (economic) development - in an integrated way.
•
Its objective is to engage the faculty and students of HEIs in identifying
development issues in rural areas and finding sustainable solutions for the
same.
•
Identify & select existing innovative technologies, enable customisation of
technologies, or devise implementation methods for innovative solutions, as
required by the people.
•
To allow HEIs to contribute to devising systems for smooth implementation of
various Government programmes.
•
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 is the upgraded version of UBA 1.0. It was launched in
2018.
•
UBA 1.0 or UBA Phase-1 was the Invitation Mode in which Participating Institutions
were invited to be a part of UBA.
•
Whereas UBA 2.0 is the Challenge Mode of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme where
all HEIs are required to willingly adopt at least 5 villages. Currently, UBA
2.0 Mode is going on.
India votes to reclassify cannabis.
India
has voted with the majority at the United Nations to remove cannabis and
cannabis resin from the list of most dangerous substances from Schedule IV of
1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
Convention
allows for control over trafficking in narcotics, marijuana, cocaine and coca
leaf.
India
had signed and ratified the convention.
Under
India's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the
production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, and use of
cannabis is a punishable offence.
Muni bond.
The
Muni Bonds are issued by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) listed on the
BSE.
It
raising Rs 200 crore for Uttar Pradesh's capital. It’s the ninth city in the
country to raise capital through municipal bonds.
Chief
Minister informed that it will be the next to issue a municipal issue and it
will be followed by Pragyaraj, Varanasi, Agra and Kanpur.
LMC’s
bond issuance, launched on November 13, offered coupon of 8.5 per cent and had
tenure of 10 years.
The
issuance had garnered 4.5 times subscription.
2020 SO.
NASA
has confirmed that the Near-Earth Object called 2020 SO is the rocket booster
that helped lift the space agency’s Surveyor spacecraft toward the Moon in
1966.
The
Surveyor-2 spacecraft was supposed to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface
in September 1966, during which time one of the three thrusters failed to
ignite as a result of which the spacecraft started spinning and crashed on the
surface.
The
aim of the mission was to reconnoiter the lunar surface ahead of the Apollo
missions that led to the first lunar landing in 1969.
While
the spacecraft crashed into the Moon’s surface, the rocket booster disappeared
into an unknown orbit around the Sun.
Fluorosis.
Fluorosis
is a crippling disease resulted from deposition of fluorides in the hard and
soft tissues of body.
It
is a public health problem caused by excess intake of fluoride through drinking
water/food products/industrial pollutants over a long period.
Ingestion
of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water affects the teeth and
bones.
Emergency Use Authorisation.
Various
pharmaceutical companies have applied for emergency use authorisation for their
COVID-19 vaccines.
Emergency
Use Authorisation (EUA):
•
EUA is a mechanism to grant interim regulatory approvals where sufficient
evidence is available to suggest a medical product is safe and effective.
•
Generally, to ensure medicines, vaccines, diagnostic tests and medical devices
are safe to be administered, there is a long-drawn regulatory approval process.
•
However, during public health emergencies such as COVID pandemic, countries
have developed a fast-tracked regulatory approval process to approve vaccines
and medicines for public use, this is called EUA.
•
However, final approval is granted only after completion of the trials and
analysis of full data.
EUA in the US:
•
In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants a EUA.
•
EUA can be considered only after sufficient efficacy data from phase 3 trials
had been generated.
•
A EUA cannot be granted solely based on data from phase 1 or phase 2 trials,
although these too need to show the product is safe.
EUA in India:
•
In India, the regulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control
Organisation
(CDSCO).
India’s drug regulations do not have provisions for a EUA, and the process for
receiving one is not clearly defined or consistent.
•
In the recent past, CDSCO has been granting emergency or restricted emergency
approvals to Covid-19 drugs such as remdesivir, favipiravir and itolizumab.
•
Any company seeking to launch a vaccine approved elsewhere would have to
conduct local trials to prove it is safe and effective on the Indian
population.
•
The fastest approval for any vaccine until now — the mumps vaccine in the 1960s
— took about four-and-a-half years after it was developed.
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