Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 3rd Aug 2023

eSanjeevani : Completed 14,17,81,384 Teleconsultations

Union Health Minister recently informed the Rajya Sabha that the Centre’s telemedicine application eSanjeevani has completed 14,17,81,384 teleconsultations.

• eSanjeevani is a cloud-based integrated telemedicine solution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.
• It is a telemedicine app that provides both doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient telecommunication.
• It is being designed, developed, deployed, and maintained by The Centre for Development and Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali.
• Two modules of eSanjeevani:
  • eSanjeevani AB-HWC:
    • The doctor-to-doctor telemedicine platform, being implemented at all the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in the country under the Ayushman Bharat (AB) Scheme of Government of India.
    • It operates on a Hub-and-Spoke model wherein the ‘Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centers’ (HWCs) are set up at the state level, which is connected with the hub (comprising MBBS/ Specialty/Super-Specialty doctors) at the zonal level.
    • It was rolled out in 2019.
  • eSanjeevani OPD:
    • It is the Patient-to-Doctor remote consultation services rolled out in 2020 amid the first lockdown imposed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, while the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in the country were closed.
    • It enables people to get outpatient services in the confines of their homes.

Yudh Abhyas : India And The United States

Armies of India and the United States will begin another edition of their joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.

• Yudh Abhyas is a joint military exercise conducted annually between the armies of India and USA.
• It has been ongoing since 2004.
• It is designed to promote cooperation between the two militaries while sharing training, cultural exchanges, and building joint operating skills.
• Yudh Abhyas 2023 marks the 19th edition of the joint exercise, which is hosted alternately between both countries.
• The training schedule focuses on the employment of an integrated battle group under Chapter VII of the UN Mandate.
• The schedule will include all operations related to peacekeeping and peace enforcement.
• The joint exercise will also focus on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
• Troops from both nations will practice launching swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity.
• The exercise will see the employment of the coalition-integrated battle group in the mountain and extreme climatic conditions.
• The elements like heliborne or airborne will be employed.

PM SVANidhi Scheme : New Target

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry recently set a new target for its PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors

• PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on June 01, 2020.
• Purpose is to provide affordable Working Capital loans to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
• It is a micro-credit facility that provides street vendors with a collateral-free loan of Rs 10,000 with low rates of interest (below 12%) for a period of one year, aiding the vendors in getting back on their feet financially.
• The duration of the scheme initially was until March 2022. It has been extended till December 2024, with a focus on enhanced collateral-free affordable loan corpus, increased adoption of digital transactions and holistic socio-economic development of the Street Vendors and their families.
• All vendors who have been vending from or before (March 24, 2020) and with a certificate of vending can avail the loan.
• As per the Street Vendors Act 2014, the Town Vending Committees(which comprises the local authorities and vendors from an area) issue a certificate of vending after a survey has been conducted of all the vendors.
• Vendors can avail of a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year.
• On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on a quarterly basis.
• There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.
• The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month.

Gender Inclusion Fund:

The Minister of State for Education informed the Lok Sabha about the Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF), mentioned in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.

• Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF)fund will be utilised to ensure that all kids receive a high-quality education.
• It will also be used to guarantee that amenities such as secure and sanitary vending machines are included on GIF’s infrastructure checklist.
• The NEP focuses on ‘Equitable and Inclusive Education’ which reverberates the idea that no child should be left behind in terms of educational opportunity because of their background and socio-cultural identities.
• It has taken into account the concerns of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) which includes female and transgender individuals.
• NEP prescribes to approach gender as a cross-cutting priority to achieve gender equality in education with the partnership of states and local community organizations.
• The objectives of NEP for equitable and quality education for girl children are being met through specific provisions under Samagra Shiksha 2.0 by allocating dedicated resources for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs).
• Under Samagra Shiksha, various interventions have been targeted for providing quality education to girls, which include:
  • Opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls,
  • Free uniform and text-books to girls up to class VIII,
  • Additional teachers and residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas,
  • Appointment of additional teachers including women teachers,
  • Stipend to CWSN girls from class I to class XII, separate toilets for girls,
  • Teachers’ sensitization programmes to promote girls participation,
  • Gender-sensitive teaching-learning materials including text books etc.
• To reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), which are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL), are sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks.

World Coffee Conference : Fifth Edition

Bengaluru is all set to host the fifth edition of the World Coffee Conference (WCC 2023) between September 25 and 28.

• It is the first time India is hosting the conference.
• The earlier editions of WCC were held in London (2001), Brazil (2005), Guatemala (2010), and Ethiopia (2016).
• The event, is to be jointly organised by the Coffee Board, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and International Coffee Organisation.
• Mascot of the conference: Coffee Swami
• Theme: Sustainability through Circular Economy and Regenerative Agriculture.
• International Coffee Organisation is a body set up in 1963 under the auspices of the United Nations to boost the economic importance of coffee globally.
• It is the only inter-governmental organisation for coffee and represents 93% of world coffee production and 63% of world consumption.
• India is a member of this organisation.

ZARTH App:

A team of researchers at the Center for Data Driven Discovery, California Institute of Technology has developed ZARTH app that allows anyone with a smartphone to ‘hunt’ for transients.

• The ZTF Augmented Reality Transient Hunter ( ZARTH) is built along the lines of the augmented reality mobile game.
• It allows the user to do serious science while playing a game.
• The app uses the open-source Sky Map and adds data daily from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)’s robotic telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.
• Palomar is also home to one of the oldest, largest, and most powerful telescopes in the world: the 200-inch Hale reflector.
• The ZTF scans the entire northern sky every two days and uses the data to make large area sky maps that have important applications in tracking near-earth asteroids and studying supernovae.
• The app is loaded daily with transients detected in real-time by the ZTF.
• The transients include flaring stars (variable stars that flare up for a short while), white dwarf binaries (burnt remains of dead stars that orbit one another and often merge and explode in supernovae), active galactic nuclei, and several other types.
• The app ranks transients by their rarity and importance, and players can compete with each other to score points and earn daily credits, which are duly listed on the leaderboards.
• Transients refer to astronomical phenomena with durations of fractions of a second to weeks or years.
• Typically they are extreme, short-lived events associated with the total or partial destruction of an astrophysical object.

National Nursing And Midwifery Commission Bill (NNMC), 2023 : Passed In Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha passed National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill (NNMC), 2023, and the National Dental Commission bill, 2023.

• The Bills aim to repeal existing acts and bring about improvements in the quality of healthcare in different medical fields.
• National Nursing and Midwifery Commission (NNMC) Bill,2023 is a significant healthcare legislation aimed at reforming and enhancing nursing and midwifery professions in India.
• Establish the National Nursing and Midwifery Commission (NNMC) as a regulatory body for nursing and midwifery professionals.
• Repeal the existing Indian Nursing Council Act, of 1947. As the act is outdated and does not reflect the current needs and demands of the nursing and midwifery profession, which has evolved significantly over the years in terms of education, training, practice, and service standards.

Key Features:

• National Nursing and Midwifery Commission:
  • Composition:NNMC will consist of 29 members.
  • Chairperson with a postgraduate degree in nursing and midwifery and 20 years of field experience.
  • Ex-officio members from Department of Health and Family Welfare, National Medical Commission, Military Nursing Services, and Directorate General of Health Services.
  • Other members from nursing and midwifery professionals and charitable institutions.
• Functions:
  • Framing policies and regulating standards for nursing and midwifery education.
  • Providing a uniform admission process for nursing and midwifery institutions.
  • Regulating nursing and midwifery institutions.
  • Establishing standards for faculty in teaching institutions.

National Dental Commission Bill, 2023 : Passed In Lok Sabha

The National Dental Commission Bill focuses on the regulation and improvement of dentistry in India.

• Establish the National Dental Commission (NDC) to regulate the profession of dentistry.
• It Repeal the Dentists Act of 1948.

Key Features:

• National Dental Commission Constituted by the central government with 33 members and will be chaired by an eminent and experienced dentist.
• Chairperson appointed by the central government upon recommendation of a search-cum-selection committee which is chaired by Cabinet Secretary.
• Ex-officio members of the commission include Presidents of three autonomous Boards, Director General of Health Services, Chief of the Centre for Dental and Educational Research, AIIMS.
• Part-time members include faculties of dentistry from government institutes and representatives of states and union territories.
• Functions:
  • Regulating dental education, institutions, research, and infrastructure, as well as ensuring admissions through National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

AMC Repo Clearing Limited:

The Ministry of Finance inaugurated the Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC) called AMC Repo Clearing Limited (ARCL).

• AMC Repo Clearing Limited (ARCL) is a Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation that provides clearing and settlement services to all trades made in corporate debt securities on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
• It received in-principle approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations (SECC) Regulations, 2018.
• Also, ARCL has been granted Certificate of Authorization by RBI under Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007 to offer Central counterparty clearing house (CCP) services for repo transactions in corporate debt securities.
• ARCL offers triparty repo services and central counterparty services to facilitate repo transactions in corporate bonds, which are short-term borrowings backed by securities as collateral.
• ARCL will help to widen and deepen the corporate bond repo market, which is currently underdeveloped and illiquid compared to the government bond repo market.
• It allows holders of bonds to meet short-term liquidity needs without liquidating their assets, providing flexibility to market participants.
• ARCL will also reduce the counterparty risk, operational risk and settlement risk for the participants in the corporate bond repo market.

Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 : Introduced In Lok Sabha

The government has introduced the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha to include four communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Jammu and Kashmir.

• The four communities proposed for ST status are “Gadda Brahmin,” “Koli,” “Paddari Tribe,” and “Pahari Ethnic Group.”
• Currently, the dominant ST communities in J&K are the Gujjars and Bakerwals, who were given ST status in 1991 along with the smaller groups of Gaddis and Sippis.
• The proposed expansion of the ST list has caused unrest among the Gujjar-Bakerwal community, who fear a reduction in their share of the quota benefits.
• The Pahari Ethnic Group includes Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, with some Kashmiri-origin settlers in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
• The Paddari Tribe, residing in the remote Paddar area of Kishtwar district, is also proposed for ST status.
• The Bill seeks to include these four communities in the ST list, potentially granting them reservation benefits in government jobs and educational institutions, despite existing apprehensions and disputes among different communities.

The Indian Institutes Of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023 : Introduced In Lok Sabha

The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, introduced in Lok Sabha, aims to change the law governing the administration of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

• The Bill proposes giving the government an expanded role in the appointment and removal of IIM Directors and initiating inquiries.
• The 2017 Act granted the IIMs greater autonomy by declaring them “institutions of national importance.”
• The current IIM Act allows the institutes to be run by their board of governors, which has the power to make policy decisions related to administration and functioning.
• The new Bill seeks to appoint the President of India as the “Visitor” to the IIMs, giving the President powers to conduct audits, order inquiries, and appoint or remove chairpersons and directors of the IIMs.