01 June 2023 – Current Affairs

Daily Current Capsules

01 June 2023

Theme – Government Schemes/Prelims Factoids

World Milk Day

What’s the NEWS

• The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in collaboration with the Agriculture Production Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, is going to celebrate World Milk Day on 1^st June 2023

World Milk Day

• It is an international day established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food.
• It has been observed on June 1 each year since 2001.
• The day is intended to provide an opportunity to bring attention to activities that are connected with the dairy sector.
• World Milk Day was first designated by the FAO in 2001.
• June 1 was chosen as the date because many countries were already celebrating a milk day during that time of year.
• The Day provides an opportunity to focus attention on milk and raise awareness of dairy’s part in healthy diets, responsible food production, and supporting livelihoods and communities.
• Union Minister Shri Rupala will be launching a campaign – Feeding the Future: Five Days of Action for Feed and Fodder and Training of A-HELP for 2023-24.

Know! about A HELP Program

• It is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, and the Ministry of Rural Development.
• Women have been chosen to strengthen livestock-related activities in remote rural areas, keeping in mind their important role under the same under A-HELP scheme, envisioned by Govt. of India.
• Under this program, trained A-HELPs will give their vital contribution to preventing various infectious diseases of animals, artificial insemination under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), tagging of animals, and animal insurance.
• ‘A-HELP’ are community-based women activists, who assist veterinarians in local departmental activities help livestock farmers to take loans for entrepreneurship development, fill out applications, mark the ear tagging of animals and register them in the INAF portal, and help with insurance, etc.
• They assist in implementing various schemes and in providing information to the farmers at the grassroots level.
• They will give vital contributions to preventing various infectious diseases of animals, artificial insemination under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), tagging animals, and animal insurance.

Know! about the Rashtriya Gokul Mission

• The Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) is being implemented for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
• The scheme is important in enhancing milk production and productivity of bovines to meet the growing demand for milk and making dairying more remunerative to the rural farmers of the country.
• The scheme is also continued under the umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojna from 2021 to 2026 with a budget outlay of Rs.2400 crore.
• The RGM will result in enhanced productivity and benefit of the program, percolating to all cattle and buffaloes of India, especially with small and marginal farmers.
• This program will also benefit women in particular since over 70% of the work involved in livestock farming is undertaken by women.

Objectives

• • To enhance the productivity of bovines and increase milk production in a sustainable manner using advanced technologies.
  • To propagate the use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.
  • To enhance Artificial insemination coverage through strengthening the breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers’ doorstep.
  • To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.

Associated Organisations

Food and Agriculture Organization

• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
• It was founded on 16 October 1945.
• The FAO comprises 195 members, including 194 countries and the European Union.
• Their headquarters is in Rome, Italy
• FAO maintains regional and field offices worldwide, operating in over 130 countries.
• It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources.
• It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects agricultural output, production, and development data.

Milk Production in India

• India is the highest milk producer i.e., ranks first position in the world contributing twenty-four percent of global milk production in the year 2021-22.
• The milk production of India has registered a fifty-one percent increase during the last eight years i.e., during the years 2014-15 and 2021-22, and increased to twenty-two crore tonne in the year 2021-22.

Theme – Health and Education

5 Crore hospital admissions authorized under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

What’s the NEWS

• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) achieved a milestone of 5 crore hospital admissions amounting to Rs 61,501 crore under the scheme.
• The flagship scheme being implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 Crore beneficiary families.

Know! about AB PM-JAY

• It was launched with the vision to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
• AB PM-JAY is being implemented in 33 States and Union Territories (UTs) except for Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal.
• Till date, 23.39 crore beneficiaries have been verified and issued Ayushman Cards for availing free treatment under the scheme.
• Under AB PM-JAY, the beneficiaries are issued co-branded PVC Ayushman Cards.

Ayushman Bharat

• Ayushman Bharat, a flagship scheme of the Government of India, was launched as recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
• This initiative has been designed to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its underlining commitment, which is to “leave no one behind.”
• This scheme aims to undertake path-breaking interventions to holistically address the healthcare system (covering prevention, promotion, and ambulatory care) at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

Ayushman Bharat adopts a continuum of care approach, comprising two inter-related components, which are –

1. Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs)

2. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)

Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY)

• It was launched on 23rd September 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand
• AB PM-JAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of ₹ 5,00,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crores poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) that form bottom 40% of the Indian population.
• The households included are based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011) for rural and urban areas respectively.
• PM-JAY is fully funded by the Government and the cost of implementation is shared between the Central and State Governments

Theme – Health

World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day

 

What’s the NEWS

• World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day is officially marked on 30th May.
• It brings the global MS community together to raise awareness and campaigns with everyone affected by multiple sclerosis (MS).
• The theme for World MS Day 2020-2023 is ‘connections’.
• The MS Connections campaign is all about building community connection, self-connection, and connections to quality care.
• The campaign tagline is ‘I Connect, We Connect’ and the campaign hashtag is MS Connections.
• MS Connections challenges social barriers that leave people affected by MS feeling lonely and socially isolated.
• It is an opportunity to advocate for better services, celebrate support networks, and champion self-care.

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

• It is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).
• In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body.

Theme: Infrastructure Development

Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project

 

What’s the NEWS

• The Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister held a meeting in New Delhi to review the progress of the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (2000 Mega Watts) located in Arunachal Pradesh/Assam being executed by NHPC Ltd.
• It is an under-construction gravity dam (nearly 90% of the work completed) with a capacity of 2000 MW (8×250 MW).
• It is the biggest hydroelectric project undertaken in India so far and is a run-of-river scheme on river Subansiri.

The Subansiri River

• It is a trans-Himalayan river and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet’s Lhuntse County in the Shannan Prefecture, and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
• The Subansiri is 442 kilometers (275 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 32,640 square kilometers (12,600 sq mi).
• It is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra contributing 7.92% of the Brahmaputra’s total flow.

Theme: Government Initiatives

Electronics Repair Services Outsourcing (ERSO)

 

What’s the NEWS

• The Government launched the ERSO Pilot initiative to validate certain transformational policy and process changes to make India the Repair Capital of the World
• The project has been identified as a game-changer for India and has been supported by the Government to make India a world leader in a hitherto untapped domain.

ERSO Highlights

• The project, led by the Ministry of Electronics and information technology (MeitY), will look to promote India as a hub for the repair of electronic goods, taking into account the cost advantage the country has due to the availability of cheap labor.
• This follows recommendations submitted by the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT) regarding electronics repair services outsourcing (ERSO) to MeitY.
• The pilot is being held in Bengaluru and will be run for a period of three months
• Five companies, namely Flex, Lenovo, CTDI, R-Logic & Aforeserve have volunteered for the pilot.
• Post the pilot a detailed assessment will be carried out and modifications made in the process and policy as necessary.
• ERSO initiative will be a game-changer for Global environmental sustainability and reiterates India’s commitment to the environment and our planet.
• It will enable the extension of device life globally by providing cheap and reliable repair of ICT products for the globe.
• Through the ERSO scheme, set to be notified after the pilot project is assessed, India hopes to capture 20% of the global repair service market – currently valued at $100 billion – in five years.
• At present, India’s revenue from repair services is about $350 million.
• The project will run for two months beginning June 1, before being assessed for a wider policy, which is set to be notified in August with the necessary approvals.
• The government will relax its customs rules to approve the import and export of electronics products within a day, down from the earlier 10-15 days
• The repaired goods, however, will not be allowed to be sold in the domestic market, but provisions will be made to allow them to be exported to regions other than from where they were imported.
• The project will also tweak India’s e-waste policy that bans companies from disposing of non-repairable products locally, which will then add to the logistics costs of sending them back.
• The government will now allow repair companies to recycle 5% of imported goods (by weight) domestically on a trial basis.

Theme: Infrastructure Development

City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain 2.0 (CITIIS 2.0) from 2023 to 2027

 

What’s the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, has approved the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain 2.0 (CITIIS 2.0).  

Know! about CITIIS 2.0

• CITIES 2.0 is a program conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the European Union (EU), and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
• The program will run for a period of four years, i.e., from 2023 till 2027.
• The program envisages to support competitively selected projects promoting a circular economy with a focus on integrated waste management at the city level, climate-oriented reform actions at the State level, and institutional strengthening and knowledge dissemination at the National level.
• The funding for CITIIS 2.0 would include a loan of Rs.1760 crore (EUR 200 million) from AFD and KfW (EUR 100 million each) and a technical assistance grant of Rs.106 cr. (EUR 12 million) from the EU.
• CITIIS 2.0 aims to leverage and scale up the learnings and successes of CITIIS 1.0.
• CITIIS 1.0 was launched jointly in 2018 by MoHUA, AFD, EU, and NIUA, with a total outlay of ₹933 crores (EUR 106 million).

CITIIS 1.0 consisted of three components:

• Component 1: 12 city-level projects selected through a competitive process.
• Component 2:   Capacity-development activities in the State of Odisha.
• Component 3:   Promoting integrated urban management at the national level through activities undertaken by NIUA, which was the Program Management Unit (PMU) for CITIIS 1.0

Following the CITIIS 1.0 model, CITIIS 2.0 has three major components:

• Component 1:   Financial and technical support for developing projects focused on building climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation in up to 18 smart cities through a selection of competitively selected projects promoting a circular economy with a focus on integrated waste management.
• Component 2:   All States and UTs will be eligible for support on-demand basis.
• Component 3:   Interventions at all three levels; Centre, State, and City to further climate governance in urban India through institutional strengthening

CITIIS 2.0 will supplement the climate actions of the Government of India through its ongoing National programs (National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, AMRUT 2.0, Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, and Smart Cities Mission), as well as contributing positively to India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and Conference of the Parties (COP26) commitments.

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