1.India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre

Why in News?

• India and Sweden sign Memorandum for India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre.

Highlights:

• The India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre in collaboration between the Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office, AIIMS Delhi and AIIMS Jodhpur aims to develop an ecosystem of open innovation that start-ups and the healthcare delivery stakeholders can use to collaborate and address current and future challenges in the healthcare sector.
• It will operate on well-defined challenges and services for stakeholders to build capabilities and methodologies and, help socialize and scale up innovative solutions across the country’s healthcare delivery network.A holistic view of innovation shall be taken which shall include technology, data, protocols and processes, skill development and business models. The key components of this Centre to drive innovation are innovation challenges, incubation, mentorship, live Centre of excellence, skilling, global reach, conferences, digital showroom, white papers and support to access capital sources.
• This initiative will be in alignment to the Government of India’s Skill India and Start-up India, as well as the priorities agreed between India and Sweden for bi-lateral cooperation.
• The Innovation Centre’s objectives and strategic direction will be owned and driven by a pre-defined governance structure manned by representatives from all three collaborators.
• The Centre will run for an initial period of three years. Its impact will be assessed periodically to enable potential expansion at the end of the initial period of 3 years.

2.ROTAVAC 5D

Why in News?

• VP launched the new rotavirus vaccine – ROTAVAC

ROTAVAC5D:

• ROTAVAC5D was designed and developed by Bharat Biotech.
• The vaccine would be a great help in tackling the spread of Rotavirus that causes nearly 8,72,000 hospitalizations, over 32 lakh outpatient visits and an estimated 78 thousand deaths annually in India.

Rotavirus:

• Rotavirus is a virus that is the most widespread reason for severe vomiting and diarrhoea in infants and young children.
• A genus of double-stranded RNA virus in the Reoviridae family, it has affected virtually every child in the world at least on one occasion before the child attains five years of age.
• In the case of the rotavirus, the affected person develops immunity with every infection, so that subsequent infections are always less in severity.
• Adults are hardly ever affected by the virus.

3.Blue Flag Certification for beaches

Why in News?

• The MoEFCC has embarked upon a programme for ‘Blue Flag’ Certification for select beaches in the country.

Blue Flag Certification:

• This Certification is accorded by an international agency “Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads i.e.
• Environmental Education and Information,
• Bathing Water Quality,
• Environment Management and Conservation and
• Safety and Services in the beaches.
• It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001, when South Africa joined.
• Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and south-eastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches.
• Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.

Beaches identified in India:

• 13 pilot beaches that have been identified for the certification, in consultation with concerned coastal States/UTs, are Ghoghala Beach (Diu), Shivrajpur beach (Gujarat), Bhogave (Maharashtra), Padubidri and Kasarkod (Karnagaka), Kappad beach (Kerala),
• Kovalam beach (Tamil Nadu), Eden beach (Puducherry), Rushikonda beach (Andhra Pradesh), Miramar beach (Goa), Golden beach (Odisha), Radhanagar beach (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and Bangaram beach (Lakshadweep).
• Rushikonda beach in Andhra Pradesh also features in the list of 13 pilot beaches, for development of facilities and infrastructure accordingly.
• The Chandrabhaga beach on the Konark coast of Odisha is the first in India to get the Blue Flag certification.

4. Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)

Why in News?

• Recently Ministry of Rural Development has implemented Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) exclusively for Women Farmers.

About MKSP:

• It is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• The main objective of the scheme is to empower women in agriculture by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and productivity.
• It is implemented by the Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development.
• It provides 90% funding for North Eastern States and 60% for rest of the part of India
• It is to improve the skills and capabilities of women in agriculture to support farm and non-farm-based activities
• It is also to create and sustain agriculture-based livelihoods of rural women.
• It helps women to have better access to inputs and services of the government and other agencies;
• It is to improve the capacities of women in agriculture to access the resources of other institutions and schemes within a convergence framework.
• It is to ensure food and nutrition security at the household and the community level;
• It recognizes the identity of “Mahila” as “Kisan” and strives to build the capacity of women in the domain of agro-ecologically sustainable practices.

Women | Agriculture:

• Rural women are the most productive workforce in agriculture.
• Agriculture sector in India, contributing to 16% of the GDP is increasingly becoming a female activity.
• It employs 80% of all economically active women which they comprise of 33% of the agricultural labour force and 48% of self-employed farmers.
• They are not able to access extension services, farmers support institutions and production assets like seed, water, credit, subsidy etc.
• Compared to men, women are paid less as agricultural workers.

5. Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

Why in News?

• SAT has recently refused Interim relief against the transfer of securities by NSDL to customers of Karvy Stock Broking Ltd.

About SAT:

• It is a statutory body established under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• It hears and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
• It consists of a Presiding Officer and two other members.
• The Presiding officer is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India or his Nominee.

6. Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ)

Why in News?

• Supreme Court has recently agreed to Airport Authority of India (AAI) to build an extra terminal at Agra airport.

About TTZ:

• It is a defined area of 10,400 sq. km around the Taj Mahal to protect the monument from pollution.
• The Supreme Court of India delivered a ruling on December 30, 1996 regarding industries covered under the TTZ, in response to a PIL seeking to protect the Taj Mahal from environmental pollution.
• It banned the use of coal or coke in industries located in the TTZ with a mandate for switching over from coal or coke to natural gas, and relocating them outside the TTZ or shutting down.
• It comprises monuments including three World Heritage Sites the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
• It is so named since it is located around the Taj Mahal and is shaped like a trapezoid.

7. World Malaria Report

Why in News?

• Recently World Health Organization (WHO) has released World Malaria Report 2019.

About:

• There are 228 million cases of malaria globally in 2018, down from 251 million cases in 2010.
• The highest estimated cases of all malaria forms were in Africa, at 93% of the cases (213 million) followed by South-East Asia (7.9 million).
• Nigeria had the highest burden of all malaria cases up to 24%.
• In 2018 there are 4,05,000 deaths from malaria globally, compared to 4,16,000 in 2017 and 5,85,000 in 2010.
• More than 85% of the global malaria deaths in 2018 are concentrated in the 20 countries of WHO’s African region and India.
• Africa has the highest number of deaths due to malaria in 2018, at 3,80,000.
• The incidence of P vivax malaria, the second most common form of the disease is the highest in India, which accounts for 47% of all cases in 2018, or roughly 3.5 million.
• India had more than four times as many cases as Afghanistan, the next highest at 11%.
• Seven states account for about 90% of the burden of malaria cases in India. These are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
• Comparing to 2017, India reported 2.6 million fewer cases in 2018. This makes India the country with the largest absolute reductions among the countries that share 85% of the malaria burden.