May 20th Current Affairs

1. chikoo

IN NEWS:

• In a major boost to exports of Geographical Indication (GI) certified products, a consignment of Dahanu Gholvad Sapota from Palghar district of Maharashtra was shipped to the United Kingdom.

KEY POINTS:

• GI certification of Ghovad Sapota is held by Maharashtra Rajya Chikoo Utpadak Sangh and the fruit is known for its sweet and unique taste.
• It is believed that the unique taste is derived from calcium rich soil of Gholvad village.
• Currently in the Palgahr district, around 5000 hectares of land is under sapota or plantation. Out of 5000 farmers who grow Sapota, 147 farmers are authorized GI users.
• The Dahanu Gholvad Sapota, sourced from the authorized GI users, were sorted and graded from the APEDA assisted and registered packhouse facility at M/s Kay Bee Agro International Private Limited, Tapi (Gujarat) and exported by M/s Kay Bee exports.
• APEDA has been thrust on promotion of exports of GI products. GI products with its uniqueness, intrinsic value and practically no competition from outsiders, offers good potential for export.

Banganapalli & Survarnarekha

• Earlier this month, a consignment of 2.5 Metric Tonne of GI certified Banganapalli & Survarnarekha mangoes sourced from farmers in Krishna & Chittor districts of Andhra Pradesh was exported to South Korea.
• The mangoes were treated, cleaned & shipped from the APEDA supported packhouse & vapor heat treatment facilities at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and exported by IFFCO Kisan SEZ (IKSEZ)
• This was the first export consignment sent by IKSEZ, which is a subsidiary of IFFCO, a multi-state cooperative with a membership of 36,000 societies.
• There is possibility of more exports of mangoes to South Korea this season. IFFCO Kisan SEZ has an agreement with Meejaim, South Korea for supplying 66 MTs of mango this season. Andhra Pradesh horticulture department also collaborated in this endeavour.

SOURCE:PIB

2. Oxygen Recycling System

IN NEWS:

Oxygen Recycling System designed by the Indian Navy to mitigate the current oxygen crisis.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Amidst the second wave of COVID-19, the Diving School of the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy has conceptualised and designed an ‘Oxygen Recycling System’ (ORS) to alleviate the existing Oxygen (O2) shortages.
• Earlier, a similar idea on a miniaturised lab model was demonstrated to the Hon’ble Prime Minister during the Combined Commanders Conference at Kevadia on 06 Mar 21.
• The ORS is designed to extend the life of the existing medical O2 cylinders two to four times, using the fact that only a small percentage of O2 inhaled by a patient is actually absorbed by the lungs, the rest being exhaled into the atmosphere along with carbon-dioxide (CO2) produced by the body.
• This exhaled O2 can be re-used, provided the exhaled CO2 is removed. To achieve this, the ORS adds a second pipe to the patient’s existing O2 mask, which sucks out the air exhaled by a patient using a low-pressure motor.
• The overall cost of the ORS prototype has been capped at Rs. 10,000/- against an envisaged saving of Rs 3,000 per day due to the recycling of O2.
• Besides substantially enhancing the existing O2 capacity in the country, the ORS can also be used to extend the life of O2 cylinders used by mountaineers/ soldiers at High Altitude, for HADR operations and onboard naval ships and submarines.
• The ORS has been designed by Lieutenant Commander Mayank Sharma of Diving School.
•   The first fully operational prototype of the ORS was produced on 22 Apr 21 and underwent a series of in-house trials and design improvements at the Southern Naval Command, with third-party observers from ISO certified firms.
• Thereafter, on the directives of NITI Aayog, the system underwent detailed analysis and assessment by a team of specialists at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) at Thiruvananthapuram.

SOURCE:PIB

3. Infrastructure Status for Convention Centres

IN NEWS:

• The Finance Ministry has granted ‘Infrastructure’ status for exhibition and convention centres.
• In 2020, the government had added affordable rental housing projects to the list of sectors recognised as infrastructure.

KEY POINTS:

• Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre has been included in the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure sub-sectors by insertion of a new item in the category of Social and Commercial Infrastructure.
• However, the benefits available as ‘infrastructure’ projects would only be available for projects with a minimum built-up floor area of 1,00,000 square metres of exclusive exhibition space or convention space or both combined.
• This includes primary facilities such as exhibition centres, convention halls, auditoriums, plenary halls, business centres, meeting halls etc.
• This move will enable more such projects to come up across India’s tourist destinations.

Need:

• India doesn’t have large convention centres or single halls with capacities to hold 7,000 to 10,000 people, unlike countries like Thailand that is a major global MICE destination.
• Becoming a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) destination can generate significant revenue with several global companies active in India.

Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure sub-sectors:

• The list is notified by the Ministry of Finance and included following categories:
• Transport and Logistics: Roads and bridges, Inland waterways, Airport, etc.
• Energy: Electricity Generation, Electricity Transmission, etc.
• Water and Sanitation: Solid Waste Management, Water treatment plants, etc.
• Communication: Telecommunication, etc.
• Social and Commercial Infrastructure: Education Institutions (capital stock), Sports Infrastructure, Hospitals (capital stock), Tourism infrastructure, etc.
• Inclusion in the list implies access to concessional funds, promotion of projects and continuity of construction for the specified sub-sectors.
• However, the infrastructure tag now does not include vital tax breaks.

SOURCE:TH

4. New sites added to India’s tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites

In news

• Six sites have been added to India’s tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Key takeaways

• Sites were submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India.
• Six of the nine sites have been accepted by UNESCO for its tentative list.
• Being added to the tentative list is a requirement before the final nomination of any site.

The sites are

• Maratha military architecture, Maharashtra
• Hire Bengal megalithic site, Karnataka
• Bhedaghat-Lametaghat of Narmada Valley, Madhya Pradesh.
• Ganga ghats, Varanasi
• Temples of Kancheepuram
• Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
• These proposals will remain in tentative list for a year after which the government will decide which one of them to push for in their final dossier to UNESCO.

SOURCE:IE

5. FakeBuster

IN NEWS:

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar in Punjab and Monash University, Australia have developed a unique detector named ‘FakeBuster’ to identify imposters attending a virtual conference without anybody’s knowledge.

KEY POINTS:

• It can  find out faces manipulated on social media to defame or make a joke of someone.
• In the present pandemic scenario when most of the official meetings and work is being done online, this standalone solution enables a user (organizer) to detect if another person’s video is manipulated or spoofed during a video conferencing.
• That means the technique will find out if some imposter is attending a Webinar or virtual meeting on behalf of one of your colleagues by morphing his image with his own.
• FakeBuster is a DeepFakes Detection Tool for Video Conferencing Scenarios.
• This software platform is independent of video conferencing solutions and has been tested with Zoom and Skype applications.
• The Deepfake detection tool-‘FakeBuster’ works in both online and offline modes.

SOURCE:PIB

6. PRADHAN MANTRI SWASTHYA SURAKSHA YOJANA (PMSSY)

IN NEWS:

New AIIMS started under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana are providing advanced COVID Care in States.

KEY POINTS:

PMSSY was announced in 2003 with objectives of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

Nodal Ministry:Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Two Components:

• Setting up of AIIMS like institutions.
• Upgradation of government medical colleges in various states.
• The project cost for upgradation of each medical college institution is shared by the Centre and the state.

Other Initiatives Related to Healthcare Sector:

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi (PMSSN)

A single non-lapsable reserve fund for Health from the proceeds of Health and Education Cess.

PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Scheme:

• Announced in the Union Budget 2021-22.
• Aims to develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care health systems even in the last miles of the nation, and developing a modern ecosystem for research, testing and treatment in the country itself.

National Digital Health Mission (NDHM):

The NDHM is a complete digital health ecosystem with four key features — health ID, personal health records, Digi Doctor and health facility registry.

Ayushman Bharat (a two-pronged approach):

Creation of health and wellness centres to bring health care closer to homes.

The formulation of a Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to protect poor and vulnerable families against financial risk arising out of catastrophic health episodes.

National Health Mission:

• NHM was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and the National Urban Health Mission.
• The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas for – Reproductive-Maternal- Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.

SOURCE:TH