IASbaba Press Information Bureau 16th to 21^st October, 2017

ARCHIVES

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Indian Food Recovery Alliance (IFRA)

(Topic: Issues relating to poverty and hunger)

• A coalition of food recovery partners in country to fight the issue of hunger and also prevent food loss and food wastage in India.
• The food recovery partners showcased their existing models of food recovery and showcased an integrated web-based platform that is being developed.
• This web based platform, released on a pilot level, allows interested donors, individuals and volunteers to register themselves to be a part of this initiative.
• The donors will be able to track all the data, information and the status of the food they donate through their personal logins.
• This platform will also provide guidance to citizens, food businesses and various food recovery agencies on prevention of food loss and food waste, and safe recovery of surplus food.

Signing of MoC on Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) between India & Japan

(Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations)

Objective: To significantly expand the bilateral cooperation between India and Japan in the field of skill development

• The synergy between Japan’s advanced technology and India’s rich human resources can transform both countries into new centres of production in the global industrial network.
• The MoC on TITP paves the way for sending Indian technical interns to Japan for on-the-job training for a period of three to five years.

First Investment Agreement signed between NIIF and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

(Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations)

Objective: To mobilise long term investment into National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) – paves way for creating significant economic impact through investment in commercially viable infrastructure development projects. As a part of the agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in the NIIF’s investment management Company.

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Project CHAMAN

(Topic: Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, e-technology in the aid of farmers)

Objective: To provide strategic development to the horticulture sector, so as to increase farmer’s income

By: Mahalanob is National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) using remote sensing technology (gives methodology for preparing reliable estimates) and is likely to be completed in March 2018

Horticulture Sector:

• Provides nutrient rich crops to the people and better remunerative prices to the farmers thereby augmenting their income
• Provides higher employment opportunities in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors
• Post-Harvest damages of farmers would be significantly reduced by creation of desired Post Harvest Infrastructures like cold storages etc. thereby increasing their income
• In addition the Geo-Spatial Studies like crop intensification, orchard rejuvenation and aqua-horticulture would further help the farmers’ to grow their horticultural crops in a profitable manner which will help doubling their income.

India is the Second largest producer of Vegetables and Fruits in the world and is First in the production of Banana, Mango, Lime and Lemon, Papaya and Okra.

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Note:

1. ‘Sushruta Samhita’ – talks of surgery while Charak describes hundreds of diseases, their causes and treatment methods.
2. ‘MAGUDAM AWARDS’ – Awarded to people from Tamil Nadu who have excelled in the field of Sports, Entertainment, Public Service, Literature, Technology and Start-Ups.
3. India has the second highest number of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved plants after the USA and is the largest producer of recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine.
4. In the field of Science and Technology and Entrepreneurship, Indian women have had a major presence over the last 100 years –
   1. The first women to receive a medical doctorate degree was Anandibai Joshee in 1885
   2. The first Indian women Doctorate in Basic Science was Janaki Ammal in 1931
   3. India’s first woman to get a doctorate of science from an Indian university was Asima Chatterjee in 1944.
5. The Jaipur and Srinagar Airport got First and Second rank respectively in the category of 2-5 million passengers in ACI-ASQ Survey. The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards are the aviation industry’s most prestigious accolades recognizing the airports which have achieved the highest passenger satisfaction ratings in the ASQ Survey – the world’s benchmark measure of airport excellence. It is the only worldwide programme to survey passengers at the airports on their day of travel.
6. INDRA: India and Russia’s annual military exercise. INDRA-2017 is the first tri-service bilateral exercise between the two countries.
7. Under the provisions of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO), the prices of only those medicines are fixed which are in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), numbering about 850 against more than 6,000 medicines available in the market of various strengths and dosages. This constitutes approximately 17% of the total pharmaceuticals market, in value terms. There is an Expert Committee which continuously evaluates the list of Essential Medicines.
8. Government makes Revised Quality Standards for Caustic Soda mandatory – The revised quality standards, compliant with Bureau of India Standards (BIS) specifications, would necessitate the industry to produce caustic soda using the modern and more energy efficient membrane based technology. Mandating compliance to revised BIS specifications will allow superior grade caustic soda to be produced and imported in the country which would be beneficial to human health and environment.
9. The first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) is set up in New Delhi along the lines of AIIMS. As an apex institute under the Ministry of AYUSH, the AIIA will bring synergy between the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda and modern diagnostic tools and technology.
10. PM laid the Foundation Stone for five infrastructure and development projects in Kedarnath–
    1. Development of retaining wall and ghat on the Mandakini River;
    2. Development of retaining wall and ghat on Saraswati River;
    3. Construction of main approach to Kedarnath Temple;
    4. Development of Shankaracharya Kutir and Shankaracharya Museum;
    5. Development of houses for Kedarnath Purohits