CURRENT AFFAIRS
TOPICS :
QUAD (The Quadrilateral Security alliance)
GS II : International Relations
INFLATION CHECK
Ayushman Bharat Health Account app relaunched
GS II (Governance )and GS III (public health)
ASHA workers earn WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022
GS III (public health)
CIBA scientists decode whole genome of grey mullet fish
GS II Science and Technology
QUAD (The Quadrilateral Security alliance)
Context:
- Quad (India,USA,Japan, Ausralia) summit held in Tokyo on 24-05-2022.
Significance :
- Maritime project that will allow the tracking of “dark shipping” across the Indo Pacific region. (“dark ships” are vessels with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) – a transponder system – switched off so as not to be detectable)
Indian views in this summit:
- The Quadrilateral alliance (Quad) is a “force for good”(PM of India) Our confidence and determination are strengthening the democratic forces.
- Our cooperation at the level of Quad is aimed at an inclusive Indo Pacific region. We increased cooperation during the COVID19 regarding vaccine delivery, climate action, supply chain resilience, disaster response.
Ukraine crisis:
- Humanitarian crisis, global supply chain disruption.
Other Countries :
- The summit’s concerns were played out almost simultaneously as a joint patrol by the Russian and Chinese forces took place near the Japanese territories, drawing global attention.
- Myanmar It talked about the postcoup crackdown in Myanmar and called for the release of “all political detainees, including foreigner.(restore Democracy)
IndoPacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA):
- Which will build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near real time activities in partners’ waters.”
- The benefits of this (maritime) picture are vast: it will allow tracking of “dark shipping” and other tactical level activities, such as rendezvous at sea, as well as improve partners’ ability to respond to climate and humanitarian events and to protect their fisheries, which are vital to many IndoPacific economies,” a factsheet regarding the summit announced.
- ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Salmon islands issue (China and Australia)
- China’s expansionist moves in the Indo-Pacific(scs)
CRITICISM :
- Asian NATO Militarization of Indo pacific.
INFLATION CHECK
- In a bid to cool inflation in edible oils, the Centre on Tuesday allowed duty free import of 20 lakh tonnes each of crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil for this year as well as 2023-24.
- Retail inflation in edible oils and fats was 18.8% in March and 17.3% in April. (The import duty on crude palm oil was slashed to 2.5%, from 10%, while those on crude soya and sunflower oils were cut to 2.5%, from 7.5%)
- Ukraine was the world’s largest sunflower oil exporter before the conflict began.
- India searching for alternative global supply chain (Argentina)
- In another development, after wheat, the Centre has decided to restrict the export of sugar to 10 million tonnes (“unprecedented growth in exports of sugar” and the need to maintain sufficient stock of sugar in the country)
- Petrol prices also decreased (central excise duty)
Ayushman Bharat Health Account app relanuched
- The updated version of the app has a new user interface (UI) and added functionalities that enable individuals to access their health records anytime and anywhere. The existing ABHA app users can also update their previous app versions to the latest one.
- It allows self uploading of physical health records in the ABDM compliant health lockers, along with sharing of digital health records such as diagnostic reports, prescriptions and Co WIN vaccination certificate after the consent of an individual through the ABDM network.
- The app has new functionalities such as edit profile and link and unlink ABHA number(14 digit) with ABHA address.
About Ayushman Bharat scheme
- Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
- Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission will have a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year.
- Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
- Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission will be an entitlement based scheme with entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC(socio economic and caste census) database.
ASHA workers earn WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022
Syllabus :
Context:
- The country’s frontline health workers or ASHAs (accredited social health activists) were one of the six recipients of the WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022 that recognizes leadership, contribution to the advance of global health and commitment to regional health issues.
- India’s 10lakh strong health workers were given the honour for their “crucial role in linking the community with the health system, to ensure that those living in rural poverty can access primary health care services, as shown throughout the COVID19 pandemic.
- During the pandemic, the workers were tasked with spreading awareness of COVID19 and safety protocols, identifying and tracking COVID19 positive cases as well as carrying out vaccination drive often without any personal safety gear.
About ASHAs :
- One of the key components of the National Rural Health Mission is to provide every village in the country with a trained female community health activist ASHA.
- ASHA must primarily be a woman resident of the village married/ widowed/ divorced, preferably in the age group of 25 to 45 years.
- She should be a literate woman with due preference in selection to those who are qualified up to 10 standard wherever they are interested and available in good numbers. (this may be relaxed)
- Capacity building of ASHA is being seen as a continuous process. ASHA will have to undergo series of training episodes to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence for performing her spelled out roles.
- She will counsel women on birth preparedness, importance of safe delivery, breast-feeding and complementary feeding, immunization, contraception and prevention of common infections including Reproductive Tract Infection/Sexually Transmitted Infections (RTIs/STIs) and care of the young child.
CIBA scientists decode whole genome of grey mullet fish
- The scientists of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture have succeeded in sequencing the whole genome of the grey mullet ( Mugil cephalus)
- The fast growing herbivorous fish has high demand as food fish and their eggs in world market.
How they decoded
- The decoding of the genome under induced breeding trials and captive seed production of the grey mullet.
- The whole genome assembly would provide the baseline information needed to implement genetic improvement programmes for this commercially important fish species in the future.
Uses
- It will helpful to launch a selective breeding programme.
- We can improve the commercially valuable traits including increase in size and disease resistance as well.
UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 25th May 2022
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