Today's News 26 March 2019
नीति आयोग फिनटेक कॉनक्‍लेव 2019
नीति आयोग 25 मार्च, 2019 को नई दिल्‍ली के डॉ. अम्‍बेडकर नगर अंतरराष्‍ट्रीय केन्‍द्र में एक दिनभर चलने वाले फिनटेक कॉनक्‍लेव का आयोजन किया। इसका उद्देश्‍य भारत के फिनटेक क्षेत्र में बढ़ती ऊंचाइयों को आकार देना, भविष्‍य की रणनीति एवं नीतिगत प्रयासों के लिए योजना बनाना तथा व्‍यापक वित्‍तीय समावेश के लिए कदमों पर विचार करना है। इस कॉनक्‍लेव में वित्‍तीय स्‍थान- केन्‍द्रीय मंत्रालयों, विनियामकों, बैकरों, स्‍टार्टअप्‍स, सेवा प्रदाताओं एवं उद्यमियों के प्रतिनिधि भाग लिए।
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants-hindi/19417-2019-25
#FinitechConclave #Policy #Commission #NitiAayog #India #SEBI #MSME

अर्थव्यवस्था में तरलता की स्थिति बेहतर
वित्त मंत्रालय और भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक (RBI) ने 25 मार्च 2019 जानकारी दी है कि अर्थव्यवस्था में तरलता (लिक्विडिटी) आरामदायक स्थिति में है। उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि इसमें रुपी-डॉलर स्वैप विंडो के जरिए 35,000 करोड़ रुपये का और बूस्ट दिया जाएगा। आर्थिक मामलों के विभाग के सचिव सुभाष चंद्र गर्ग ने पत्रकारों को बताया कि तरलता आरामदायक स्थिति में हैं। तरलता को बढ़ाने के लिए RBI की ओर से रुपये-डॉलर स्वैप व्यवस्था के नए उपकरण के बारे में पूछे जाने पर गर्ग ने कहा कि यह आरबीआई की ओर से उठाया गया सार्थक कदम है।
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants-hindi/19416-2019-03-26-04-16-50
#RBI #SubhashChandra #dollar #economy #FinanceMinistry

Global Energy Transition index
India has moved up two places to rank 76th on a global energy transition index, which has ranked 115 economies on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability. Sweden remains on the top on this annual list compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) and is followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three, as per its latest report released on 25 March 2019.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19421-global-energy-transition-index
#WEF #India #BRICS #China #Brazil #CO2

Chandrayaan 2 to carry NASA science instrument
India's second moon mission Chandrayaan 2, scheduled for launch in April, would be carrying a NASA science probe. Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays that allow scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon, the US space agency officials said, during the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in Texas.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19420-chandrayaan-2-to-carry-nasa-science-instrument
#NASA #Chandrayaan2 #ISRO #India #spacecraft

Magnetoreception found in Human
Many people are able to unconsciously detect changes in the Earth’s magnetic fields, according to scientists who claim to have found concrete evidence of a new human sense — magnetoreception. Researchers from California Institute of Technology in the US and the University of Tokyo in Japan offer experimental evidence that human brain waves respond to controlled changes in Earth-strength magnetic fields.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19419-magnetoreception-found-in-human
#Magnetoreception #Human #Earth #magneticfields #eNeuro

SC dismisses plea of Triple Talaq
The Supreme Court 25 March 2019 dismissed a plea challenging the constitutional validity of an ordinance which makes the practice of instant ‘triple talaq’ a punishable offence. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed a plea of a Kerala-based outfit and said it will not like to interfere.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19418-sc-dismisses-plea-of-triple-talaq
#SC #TripleTalaq #RanjanGogoi #SupremeCourt

OBC panel gets extension
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the extension of the term of the commission constituted under Article 340 of the constitution to examine the issue of Sub-categorization within other Backward Classes in the Central List by six months beyond 31st July, 2019 and upto 31st January, 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21105-obc-panel-gets-extension
#OBC #NarendraModi #Commission #Article340 #UTs #TamilNadu

MoU approved for Uses of Outer Space
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Bolivia on Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes".
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21104-mou-approved-for-uses-of-outer-space
#MoU #OuterSpace #NarendraModi #ABE #ISRO #UnionCabinet

ITLU at Moscow approved
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of ISRO Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) at Moscow, Russia. The ISRO Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) at Moscow will enable effective technical coordination for timely interventions on diversified matters with Russia and neighbouring countries for realization of the programmatic targets of ISRO.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21103-itlu-at-moscow-approved
#ITLU #ISRO #NarendraModi #Space #USA #Moscow #Russia

MoU between India and Bahrain apprised
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apprised about the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between India and Bahrain on Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21103-itlu-at-moscow-approved
#MoU #India #NarendraModi #NSSA #ISRO #DOS #MEA

UNISA approved
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements (UNISA) resulting from mediation by the Republic of India scheduled to be held at Singapore on 7th August, 2019, or at United Nations Headquarters.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21101-unisa-approved
#UNISA #ADR #NDIAC #NarendraModi #IIIA #Singapore

Triple Talaq Bill passed
Parliament marked a historic moment when Rajya Sabha passed the much-debated and politically contentious triple talaq bill that makes the Muslim practice of instant divorce punishable.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21100-triple-talaq-bill-passed
#Talaq #LokSabha #Muslim #TripleTalaqBill #MarriedMuslim #RajyaSabha

The Code on Wages Bill 2019
The Lok Sabha passed The Code on Wages Bill, 2019. It is a historic Bill which aims to transform the old and obsolete labour laws into more accountable and transparent ones which is need of the hour.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/21099-the-code-on-wages-bill-2020
#WagesBill2019 #LokSabha #historicBill #BonusAct

Additionally, activists from the community say that this will come at a loss for Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi transgender persons, as they will have to make a choice between availing reservation either based on caste and tribal identity or gender identity.

“This is in violation of the Constitution. SC, ST persons should be able to avail internal reservation in their categories. If trans persons from these categories do not have the choice to do that, they will be forced into two corners. Either compete with cis-gendered SC, ST persons. Or under OBC, compete with other savarna transgender persons, and cis-gendered persons from OBC communities,” said Kanmani, a trans woman and lawyer, to The Indian Express.

What has happened so far on horizontal reservations?

Since the NALSA judgment, there has been no direction from the Central government on delivering on the right to reservation for trans persons.

In 2015, Rajya Sabha DMK MP Tiruchi Siva presented the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill. Prepared with inputs from the trans community, this Private Member’s Bill, in line with the NALSA judgment, had provisions for reservation for trans persons — in the public and private sector. After being passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Bill was rejected in the Lok Sabha. Instead, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 was introduced by the Centre. It had no provision for reservations.

In 2018, a parliamentary standing committee under the Ministry of Social Justice was set up. It was headed by BJP MP Ramesh Bais, now Governor of Maharashtra. The committee, again in line with the NALSA judgment, recommended reservations for transgender persons. Yet, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 did not have any mention of reservation — vertical or horizontal.

Alternatively, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, included in its purview the right of disabled persons to accrue horizontal reservation. Since this Act has been implemented, horizontal reservation for disabled people is now ensured under the Central government.

In 2015, the Tamil Nadu government decided to categorise “transgender or eunuch (thirunangai or aravani)”, that is, only transwomen under the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category. After Sangama v State of Karnataka, Karnataka became the first and only state to offer one per cent horizontal reservation to transgender persons in 2021. In April this year, transgender persons were included in the OBC category in Madhya Pradesh.

“The aspect of the implementation [of the NALSA judgment] has really not gone anywhere. Currently, the primary challenges are legislative. This lack of action needs to be legally challenged,” Bittu K R, a genderqueer trans man and Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology at Ashoka University, told The Indian Express.

Transgender persons have filed several petitions of late in the Delhi HC, Madras HC, Rajasthan HC, etc., asking for horizontal reservation in education and jobs.

#upsc #news #reservation #theindianexpress #transgendercommunity #bombay #highcourt #variouscommunities #nalsa #socialasymmetry #sc #st #obc #policies #national #human #rights #commission #violation #constitution #uttarakhand #bihar

Today's Headlines - 04 August 2023
Report on ‘sub-categorisation’ of OBCs
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)

The long awaited report of a commission set up to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu. The four-member commission headed by Justice G Rohini, a retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, was appointed on 2 October 2017, and received as many as 13 extensions to its tenure.

Why was this Commission set up?

The commission was set up in recognition of the perceived distortions in the affirmative action policy, which was seen as leading to a situation in which a few castes cornered the bulk of benefits available under the 27% quota for OBCs, and tasked with suggesting corrective actions.
The report of the commission is widely expected to be politically sensitive and the contents of the report have not been made public as yet.

What is the need for sub-categorisation of OBCs?

OBCs get 27% reservation in central government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
There are more than 2,600 entries in the Central List of OBCs, but over the years, a perception has taken root that only a few affluent communities among them have benefited from the quota.
Therefore, there is an argument that a “sub-categorisation” of OBCs — quotas within the 27% quota — is needed in order to ensure “equitable distribution” of the benefits of reservation.
Even as the Justice Rohini Commission was examining the matter, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in August 2020 intervened in the sub-categorisation debate, ruling that the 2005 decision of another five-judge Bench in ‘E V Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh’ must be revisited.
‘Chinnaiah’ had held that no special sub-quota can be introduced within the quota for SCs and STs for the benefit of castes or tribes that were more backward than the others on these lists.
The 2020 verdict of the SC referring ‘Chinnaiah’ to a larger Bench was passed in ‘State of Punjab vs Davinder Singh’ in which the court examined the validity of a 2006 Punjab law that created sub-classification within the SCs, and sought to reserve half the SC quota for certain identified castes.

The commission’s brief was originally to:

Examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List.
Work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs.
Take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.
It was set up with tenure of 12 weeks ending 3 January 2018, but was given repeated extensions.
On 30 July 2019, the commission wrote to the government that it had “noted several ambiguities in the list… [and] is of the opinion that these have to be clarified/ rectified before the sub-categorised central list is prepared”.
Thus, on 22 January 2020, a fourth item was added to the terms of reference: “To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.”

#upsc #news #headline #report #subcategorisation #OBC #polity #commission #president #droupadimurmu #justice #rohini #commission #distortion #castes #institutions #supremecourt #chinnaiah #andhrapradesh #synonyms #transcription

Today's Headlines - 16 August 2023
Rule to prescribe generic drugs
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)

After the National Medical Commission notified new guidelines on professional conduct recently, doctors have been protesting one of the stipulations — using generic names of medicines on the prescription instead of a particular brand name. The Indian Medical Association, the largest body of doctors in the country, said in a statement this was akin to “running trains without tracks.”

What do the guidelines say?

The guidelines say that doctors can only write the generic names of the medicine on the prescription.
For example, a doctor will have to prescribe paracetamol for fever, instead of Dolo or Calpol Every RMP should prescribe drugs using generic names written legibly, the guidelines say.
This practice can only be relaxed for medicines with narrow therapeutic index (drugs where a small difference in dosage may lead to adverse outcomes), biosimilars (a different version of biologic products that are manufactured in living systems), and “similar other exceptional cases.”
The guideline says that generic medicines, on average, are 30% to 80% cheaper than the branded versions, and are hence likely to bring down healthcare costs.

What does it mean for you?

The new guidelines do not allow doctors to write a specific brand, which means that you will get whichever medicine with the relevant active ingredient your pharmacist stocks.
If a pharmacy does not have a generic version of a medicine — which drug stores usually do not stock because of very low profit margins — the responsibility to substitute it with a branded medicine will shift to the pharmacist instead of the doctor. This will promote brands that have good profit margins, irrespective of how good they are.
Additionally, doctors say it will also take away their choice of prescribing the medicine they think is the best for a patient.
Taken in the context of the quality of generics varying across companies, this could result in ineffective treatment.

What are the issues with generic medicines?

Doctors, drug manufacturers, and the government all agree that there is much to be done when it comes to the quality of generic medicines in the country.
While the doctors in the IMA statement said that only 0.1% medicines are tested for quality checks, manufacturers said it is not possible for the government to test every batch, but following good manufacturing practices to the T can assure quality by design.
Many have also questioned the tests that a company needs to do to get approval. Until a few years ago, it was not mandatory for companies making generics to carry out bio-equivalence or stability studies.
Bioequivalence studies are done to show that the generic drug elicits the same response as a branded version.
Stability studies are done to see how the quality of the drug varies over a period under specific environmental conditions.
Experts from the pharmaceutical sector admit that there are drugs still in the market that never underwent these studies.
Data from the Union health ministry shows that around 3% of all medicines tested over the last three years — including generics, branded generics, and branded medicines — were found to be not of standard quality.

#upsc #news #headline #rule #prescribe #generic #drugs #health #diseases #national #medical #commission #medicines #indian #doctors #tracks #trains #indian #guidelines #paracetamol #RMP #Biosimilars #index #therapeutic #cases #healthcare #pharmacist #version

Today's Headlines - 29 August 2023
Water shortages reduce from wastewater
GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

Europe has experienced severe heat and drought over the last few summers, and 2023 has been no different. Vast swathes of Central and Southern Europe are simply too dry from a lack of rainfall. Human-induced climate change has led to more heat waves and drought and is one reason for Europe’s growing water crisis. At the same time, demand for the resource is growing, with industry and agriculture extracting more water from the ground, rivers and lakes than can be replenished.

Who uses the most water?

Industry uses half of Europe’s water resources, while a further 40% is hoovered up by agriculture and 10% by households.
In the European Union, water scarcity impacts 11% of all citizens. Falling water supplies can lead to households facing use restrictions. But the problem also impacts the energy sector.
In 2022, French authorities had to switch off some nuclear power plants because river water used for cooling them was too warm.
Last year, the dry summer also reduced hydropower in Norway. Farmers, though, who use large amounts of water for crop irrigation, are also hard hit by water shortages and drought.
Could using industry wastewater help farmers?

One solution for agriculture could be to use more treated industrial and domestic wastewater for irrigation and protect valuable freshwater supplies. Six times more waste water could be reused across the EU than current levels.
Freshwater resources are scarce and increasingly under pressure. In times of unprecedented temperature peaks, we need to stop wasting water and use this resource more efficiently.
New EU regulations on minimum requirements for water reuse for agricultural irrigation came into force this summer.
The regulations stipulate that EU member states must process communal and industrial wastewater so it can be used by farmers.
Processing and reusing water could replace a fifth of irrigation that currently uses groundwater in Spain and Portugal, said the European Commission.
In France, Italy and Greece, it could be as much as 45%. Wastewater could cover all irrigation needs in EU countries with smaller agricultural sectors.
Leaky pipes lead to massive water waste

One way to save water that is often overlooked is maintaining the pipes that shuttle the resource to homes and businesses.
On average, a quarter of the EU’s freshwater is lost during transport to taps because of leaks and broken pipes.
Currently, countries most affected by drought and a lack of rain — such as Spain, Italy and Bulgaria — invest the least amount of money per citizen to fix leaky water infrastructure.

#upsc #headline #news #watershortages #wastewater #enviroment #europe #vast #swathes #watercrisis #resource #industry #agriculture #scarcity #nuclear #powerplant #riverwater #farmers #frenchauthorities #scarce #temperature #wastingwater #spain #portugal #european #commission #france #italy #greece #wasterwater #sectors #leaky #pipes #massivewaste #bulgaria