IASbaba Press Information Bureau 8th to

14th July, 2018

ARCHIVES

GS-2

Use of Aadhaar in Ayushman Bharat – Desirable and not “Must”

(Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health)

In order to authenticate the identity of beneficiaries accurately, the use of Aadhaar card is preferable, but it is not a “must”. There shall be no denial of benefit for want of Aadhaar number.

Ayushmaan Bharat – An attempt to transform India’s Healthcare Map

Innovative and path-breaking scheme in the history of public health in India. It may have a transformative impact if implemented in an effective and coordinated manner.

• Aim: To make path-breaking interventions to address health holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems
• Objective: Prevention + Promotion (Health & Wellness)
• Full proof mechanism while allowing States to accommodate the existing schemes, keeping the flavour of Digital India intact

Two major initiatives:

• Health and Wellness Centre: Foundation of India’s health system
  • 1.5 lakh centres will provide – comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services, provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services
  • The budget has allocated Rs.1200 crore for this flagship programme
  • Contribution of the private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged.

• National Health Protection Scheme:

• • Will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)
  • Coverage of up to ₹5 lakh a family a year will be provided for secondary- and tertiary-care hospitalization (50 crore beneficiaries)

Ayushmaan Bharat can be a Game Changer only if:

• Collaboration is the key: The Central government collaborates successfully with State governments and the industry, and focusses aggressively on the operational and implementation aspect of these initiatives. Government and industry should develop partnerships with the focus on improving the coverage and providing access to quality healthcare services to the people.
• Capacity building of the existing resources: Increased capacity-building of the resources at hand during policy formulation.
• Technology: Strong emphasis on the adoption of technology by the entire healthcare ecosystem to provide accessible and affordable patient care to the last mile of the country.
• Role of States: State ownership and commitment of them is critical as the states are expected to agree for 40 per cent share under the NHPS (Health: State subject). Also, absorptive capacity of States needs to be increased.
• Clarity on the Services being provided: More clarity on the kind of services that will be provided by government health facilities and for which conditions patients will have to use private parties and what mechanisms are being thought of.
• Price matters: Establishment of uniform pricing systems for various health interventions, including diagnostics and medicines, and making them transparent by displaying them in hospital premises.
• Community Engagement: Continuum of care system needs to be established by linking institutions or hospitals, with health centres and the community. Community engagement is thus crucial in planning and implementation of the programme and in ensuring that the health and wellness centres and the primary health centres are responsive to the needs of the community.
• Special Unit to measure success, course correct: For effective implementation, an independent body or unit may be set up within the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to plan, coordinate, and provide technical backstopping to states, including in capacity building and development of standards and guidelines for the programme. Such a unit will ensure uniform and systematic approach to programme implementation across the country.

Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018

(Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health)

By: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

Objective of SSG 2018: To undertake a ranking of states and districts on the basis of their performance attained on key quantitative and qualitative SBM-G parameters. In the process, through a countrywide communication campaign, rural communities will be engaged in the improvement of the sanitation and cleanliness of their surrounding areas

The weights to different elements of the SSG would be as below:

• Direct Observation of sanitation in public places: 30%
• Citizen’s Feedback on sanitation parameters: 35%
• Service Level Progress on sanitation progress in the country as per SBMG- MIS: 35%

India, South Korea Sign Five MoUs in Science & Technology

(Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations)

The MoUs:

• Programme of Cooperation 2018-21
• Establishment of Future Strategy Group
• Cooperation in Biotechnology & Bio-economy: Agreed to extend cooperation in health and medicine, agro-fishery products developed with the adoption of biotechnology; environment-related challenges and developing environmental and energy sectors through bio-technology, big data biotechnology; bio-research resources; synthetic biology, genome editing and microbiomes, etc.

Two other MoUs were signed between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and South Korean National Research Council for Science & Technology and IIT Mumbai and Korea Institute of Science &Technology,to further accelerate future-oriented cooperation in their respective sectors

Please Note:

Century’s Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: On July 27-28, 2018

• Sun and Mars will lie opposite to each other, keeping the Earth in the middle. This will result in Mars coming close to the Earth, causing it to appear brighter than normal.
• In this particular eclipse, the Moon will pass through the central part of the Earth’s umbral shadow. Furthermore, the Moon will be at apogee, means at farthest from the Earth in its orbit, on July 27 and will be moving at a slower speed in its orbit. This slower moving full Moon will take longer time and greater distance of Earth’s umbral shadow cone to travel, making it the longest duration of total eclipse of this century

Dipa Karmakar: Won Gold in vault event at FIG World Challenge Cup

Hima Das: Won Gold in 400m of World U20 Championships

First Chairman of Rajya Sabha to sign an MOU: Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

• Rajya Sabha has, for the first time in 76 years since it came into being, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a foreign counterpart- Rwanda for promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue.
• The MOU with 6 articles of cooperation seeks to promote Inter-Parliamentary dialogue, Capacity building of parliamentary staff, Organisation of conferences, forums, seminars, staff attachment programmes, workshops and exchanges, Collaboration in mutual interest in regional and international multilateral parliamentary bodies in furtherance of bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries.

Polavaram Dam: In Andhra Pradesh

Final rankings of States in Ease of Doing Business:

By: Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Telangana
3. Haryana
4. Jharkhand
5. Gujarat

Government of India is committed to provide “Housing for All” by: 2022

Government declares 6 educational ‘Institutions of Eminence’ – ensure complete autonomy to the selected institutions and facilitate them to grow more rapidly. At the same time, they will get more opportunity to scale up their operations with more skills and quality improvement so that they become World Class Institutions in the field of education

1. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka
2. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra
3. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
4. Jio Institute (Reliance Foundation), Pune under Green Field Category
5. Birla Institute of Technology & Sciences, Pilani, Rajasthan
6. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka

India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF) and Internship (ISCI) Program Launched: To provide opportunity to youth to work in the domain of Urban Planning and Governance

Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: Strikes an individual at a young age, the challenge is two-fold –

• First, the individual is expected to keep his Blood Sugar levels strictly on the lower side, so as to ensure that his eyes, kidneys, heart and other vital organs do not get affected over a long span of life that he will have to live dealing with diabetes.
• Secondly, this also poses an additional economic liability for a lifelong management of Diabetes for a longer number of years.

Forum for India Pacific Islands Co-operation (FIPIC)

Formed in: November 2014

Objective: To strengthen India’s relationship with the Pacific Island Countries

Summits:

1st: In November 2014 in Suva, Fiji

2nd: FIPIC-II summit held in August 2015, in Jaipur, India

Government of India has taken several steps to promote Cruise Tourism in the country

• Certainty of berth to cruise ships
• Ousting charges have been removed – this has reduced overall cost
• Discount of 42-66 % allowed in Port Charges
• Simplified SOPs issued for processes to be observed by multiple agencies like port authorities, Customs, Immigration, Security, State Govt., Ship Agents, Tour Operators etc.
• E-Landing card system is ready for ease of travelling among Indian ports
• E- visa introduced for online and on arrival visa facilities
• Cabotage waived for foreign cruise vessels on Indian shores enabling passengers to board the vessel at Indian Ports for voyage along Indian shores.
• Cruise terminals upgraded with more passenger amenities
• New cruise terminals to be constructed
• Reputed consultant appointed by Shipping Ministry to draw up a road map for Cruise Tourism in India. They have projected that the number of tourists is likely to go up to 4.5 million by 2042-43