IASbaba Press Information Bureau 3^rd to 9^th December, 2017

ARCHIVES

GS-2

India and Cuba sign MoU for enhanced cooperation in the health sector

(Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations)

Objective: To establish comprehensive inter-ministerial and inter-institutional cooperation between the two countries in the field of health by pooling technical, scientific, financial and human resources with the ultimate goal of upgrading the quality and reach of human, material and infrastructural resources involved in health care, medical education & training, and research in both countries.

The main areas of cooperation include:

• Exchange & training of medical doctors, officials, other health professionals and experts
• Assistance in development of human resources, health services and setting up of health care facilities
• Short term training of human resources in health
• Regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and exchange of information;
• Promotion of business development opportunities in pharmaceuticals and others identified by parties
• Procurement of generic and essential drugs and assistance in sourcing of drug supplies;
• Procurement of health equipment and pharmaceutical products;
• Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.
• Procurement of health equipment and pharmaceutical products;
• Collaboration in the prevention of NCDs of mutual interest, such as neurocardiovascular diseases, cancer, COPDs, mental health and dementia, with an emphasis on SDG3 and related factors;
• Collaboration in the field of climate change impact on communicable diseases and vector borne diseases;
• Nutritional aspects of food intake, including malnutrition (over-nutrition and under-nutrition) in the light of the SDG2 and organization of nutritional services;
• Safety of production, transformation, distribution and food delivery;
• Research and training of food industry operators;
• Information and communication to citizens on hygiene and food safety and healthy eating habits

Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany

(Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations)

What: To formalize an amount up to Euro 200 million for the Financial Cooperation in form of loan for the project ‘Climate Friendly Urban Mobility III’ and Euro 11 million Accompanying measures in form of grant for four projects.

(a) Loan Agreement for the project “ Community based sustainable Forest Management – Component I Manipur” was signed with KfW, Germany for a loan of Euro  15 million.  The broad objectives of the Project are

• Restoration of degraded forests in upper watersheds
• Reclamation of abandoned shifting cultivation areas
• Biodiversity conservation
• Water resources conservation
• Livelihood improvement of forest dependent rural tribal people in the project area

(b) Loan Agreement for the project “Madhya Pradesh Urban Sanitation and Environment Programme” for Euro 50 million Reduced Interest Loan and Euro 2.5 million grant. The broad objective of the Project is to

• Improve facilities for water supply, sanitation and sewerage treatment plant in selected towns of Madhya Pradesh
• Improve solid and liquid waste management and disposal systems
• Improvement of surface drainage systems for flood mitigation in selected towns of Madhya Pradesh.

(c)  Loan Agreement for the project “Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Development Odisha – Phase II for EUR 55 Million Reduced Interest Loan with EUR 2 Million as Grant. The basic objective of the project is to

• Improve Urban Infrastructure by linking them with Government priority
• Provide better quality of life to the people

(d)  Loan Agreement for the project “Green Energy Corridor – Intra-State Transmission System in Maharashtra” for EUR 12 million Reduced Interest loan. The broad objective of this project is to put in place a transmission system for evacuating renewable energy.

GS-3

ISA to become a Treaty-based International Intergovernmental organization

(Topic: Infrastructure: Energy)

The ISA is an Indian initiative, jointly launched by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi and the President of France on 30th November 2015 in Paris, on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference.

Aim: Address obstacles related to deployment at scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

As of date, 46 countries have signed and 19 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of ISA.

Programmes launched:

• Scaling Solar Applications for Agriculture Use
• Affordable Finance at Scale
• Scaling Solar Mini-grids
• Also, plans to launch: Scaling Solar Rooftops and Scaling Solar E-mobility and Storage

Common Risk Mitigating Mechanism (CRMM) – for de-risking and reducing the financial cost of solar projects in the ISA member countries. The instrument will help diversify and pool risks on mutual public resources and unlock significant investments.

Establishment of Digital Infopedia will serve as a platform to enable policy makers, Ministers and corporate leaders from ISA countries to interact, connect, communicate and collaborate with one another. The interactive platform was operationalized on 18th May 2017.

Must Read: Link 1 + Link 2 + Link 3

Must Solve: Qn 1

Download Mindmap

Successful Launch of Akash Missile

(Topic: Awareness in the fields of Space)

Akash Missile: The Surface to Air Missile AKASH with indigenous radio frequency seeker against target Banshee, has been successfully launched from the Launch Complex-III at ITR Chandipur.

• This missile is being inducted into Army as Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM).
• This is the first Surface to Air Missile with indigenous seeker that has been test fired. With this success, India has achieved the capability of making any type of Surface to Air Missile.

Please Note:

1. India will Host World Environment Day Celebration in 2018
2. V O Chidambaranar Port Trust (formerly Tuticorin Port): Tamil Nadu
3. Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology: Kanpur
4. The Indo-Bangladesh Border covering 5 states of India including Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal is 4096 km long.
5. India has pledged to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and 40% of installed power capacity from renewable energy by 2030 as an action plan to fight climate change.
6. World population is projected to touch the 9.8 billion mark by 2050. India adds around 16 million to its population every year.
7. India & Agriculture:

• In developed countries, up to 14% of the total workforce is engaged in the agro-processing sector but in India, only 3% of the workforce finds employment in this sector, revealing vast potential for employment.
• In India, irrigation is available for only 40% of the cultivated area and the remaining 60% depends on scanty rains.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras or KVKs: skill building by inculcating the philosophy of ‘learning by doing’. KVKs have great responsibility to implement the Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav and Sankalp se Siddhi programmes of the Government of India, which entail a commitment to the holistic development of agriculture and the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
• Sankalp se Siddhi (Attainment Through Resolve): It entails a commitment to the holistic development of agriculture and to double the income of farmers within five years, by providing better irrigation facilities, ensuring high-quality planting material, enhancing availability of organic inputs, practicing soil testing-based fertiliser applications and minimising post-harvest losses. Value addition and enhanced market facilities also form critical components of the quest to achieve the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
• Soil Health Card (SHC): Provide information about the Soil Health to 120 million farm holdings in the country