What: Food Security System established under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution
How it works:
Centre procures food grains from farmers at a minimum support price (MSP) and sells it to states at central issue prices
States bear the responsibility of transporting food grains from these godowns to each fair price shop (ration shop), where the beneficiary buys the food grains at the lower central issue price. Many states further subsidise the price of food grains before selling it to beneficiaries.
In Karnataka, at present 5kg Rice and 3kg Ragi are given to identified households
Recent news : In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State government on Wednesday waived the mandatory biometric identification for beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS).
Also, the state government has decided to give grains instead of food under Mid-Day Meal scheme
News : NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant recently provided insights about medical supplies being received from abroad to battle the pandemic, and allocations being made to the states.
DETAILS
How are foreign supplies being managed? Who can order or receive these supplies?
There are three channels — government to government, private to government, and donations to states/NGOs and civil society organisations.
1) In government-to-government transactions:
Consignee - Indian Red Cross Society
Aid will routed through Ministry of External Affairs to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for allocation to states.
There is a standard operating procedure (SOP) for allocation, which takes into account the case load and other factors such as whether the region serves as a medical hub, is resource low or geographically disconnected.
2) In Private-to-government transaction:
Through portal COVAID (managed by NITI Aayog).
There is a blanket exemption from Customs/IGST and donors can fill their intent of donation, specifics, consignment number, etc.
The aid is received by IRCS and allocations done by MoHFW.
The process is transparent and allows donors to track status of their shipments.
3) Through states, NGOs and civil society organisations
Directly to those impacted by Covid-19
A nodal officer has been appointed for each state/UT and a pre-information form can be filled which will help facilitate speedy customs clearance.
Where : Kasaragod
News : The district which is facing an acute oxygen cylinder shortage owing to a surge in the COVID-19 cases is encouraging industries, small institutions and companies to step forward and provide D-type cylinders (7,000 liter capacity) with them by initiating an the challenge’.
Other details :
Even though there is enough capacity to produce oxygen, the oxygen plants have expressed that they are unable to deliver due to shortage of cylinders. This step will help to create buffer stock cylinders
Encourage the industries, companies and other institutions, which are using the D-type cylinders but have kept it idle due to lockdown, to step forward and help the hospitals which require these cylinders.
What : It is a protected area in NILGIRI biosphere reserve
Location : Kerala
Keystone Species of the park: The Nilgiri Tahr
Forest Type: montane grasslands and shrublands interspersed with sholas in a high altitude area of high rainfall, near-freezing temperatures and high winds.
Peaks: Mukurthi Peak, (one of the highest peaks in the Nilgiri Hills)
Tribes Living Inside: Todas
Recent news : The forest department has noticed illegal constructions around the around the wildlife corridor and surrounding areas of this forest
What is a wildlife corridor: It is a strip of natural habitat connecting populations of wildlife otherwise separated by cultivated land, roads, etc.
What : Comprehensive system to regulate oxygen being administrated to patients based on the sensed values of their SpO2 levels
By : DRDO
Additional facts:
2 configurations available
Basic version consists of a 10 litre Oxygen cylinder, a Pressure Regulator cum Flow Controller, a Humidifier and a Nasal Cannula. The Oxygen flow is regulated manually based on the SpO2 readings.
Intelligent configuration includes a system for automatic regulation of Oxygen through a Low Pressure Regulator, Electronic Control System and an SpO2 Probe in addition to the basic version.
Benefits :
Optimises consumption of oxygen based on the SpO2 level of the patient and effectively increases the endurance of portable Oxygen cylinder. T
Threshold SpO2 value for initiating flow from the system can be adjusted by the health staff and the SpO2 levels are continuously monitored and displayed by the system.
Reduces the work load and exposure of healthcare providers by eliminating the need of routine measurement and manual adjustments of Oxygen flow, thereby facilitating tele-consultation also.
Automatic system also provides suitable audio warning for various failure scenarios including low SpO2 values and probe disconnections
Can be used at Homes, Quarantine Centres, COVID Care Centres and Hospitals.
Recent news : 1.5 Lakh units of Oxycare Systems to be procured through PM CARES
What is a Bad Bank? It is a financial organisation that takes over bad assets of lenders and resolves them. The entities will sell their non-performing assets to the bad banks at market price.
Who proposed? Indian Banks Association and Confederation of Indian Industries
What is the recent news : Padmakumar Madhavan Nair of State Bank of India has been appointed as the CEO of Bad Bank
Note: Recently the Reserve Bank of India set up a Committee called the Sudarshan Sen Committee to study about the Asset Reconstruction Companies in the country.
What: It is a document that acts as a proof for all the payments and inward remittances from a foreign country, generally issued by banks
Recent news : The Digital Payment service provider PayPal recently introduced Foreign Inward Remittance Advice.
Benefits
The process is completely automated.
The PayPal merchants can now download their FIRA at zero-cost.
It completely removes the paperwork.
This has been introduced to empower the Indian MSME exporters. It will help them grow their businesses internationally.
Significance : In the era of pandemic, digital payments is gaining importance. This move will benefit millions
What : They are new generation storage devices that store energy in chemical or electrochemical form. They then convert it back to electric energy when required.
National Programme on Advance Chemistry Cell Battery Storage
Proposed by : Under National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage (launched in 2019) by NITI Aayog.
The main objective of the programme on ACC is to produce 50 Giga Watt hour of domestic ACC manufacturing.
Recent news : The Union Cabinet recently approved the Production Linked Incentive scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage.
The United Nations chief has appointed veteran British diplomat Martin Griffiths, a seasoned negotiator with wide global experience, as the new UN humanitarian chief.
Three-time National table tennis champion and former International paddler V. Chandrasekar passed away here on recently due to COVID-related complications
Prakash Deshpande, senior journalist and Kannada writer, died of COVID-19-related complications in Hukkeri of Belagavi district on Wednesday.
Confederation of Indian industries-Mysuru Zone has constituted a COVID-19 task force to assist the Mysuru district administration in its fight against the second wave and to help ailing patients.
The Wildlife Institute of India recently conducted a “Monkey Census” in the state of Haryana.The Census for the first time was conducted using a mobile application called “Wildlife Census Haryana”. The mobile app was designed by Wildlife Institute of India.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently signed an agreement with Axiom Space.Under the agreement, Axiom is to send its astronauts to International Space Station. This is the first private astronaut mission to the space station. The mission has been named as Ax-1.