8th and 9th August Current Affairs

1.Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) to be discontinued.

IN NEWS:

The Government has decided to close down RMK as it has lost its relevance and utility in the present scenario with substantial alternative credit facilities becoming available to women through various governmental initiatives and efforts such as Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana etc and also to avoid duplicacy of efforts.

KEY POINTS:

• The Government had set up Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) in 1993 as a national level autonomous body for socio-economic empowerment of women, especially those in the rural and unorganized sector, by providing them concessional, collateral free micro-credit.
• The operating model followed by RMK has been of extending loans to Intermediary Micro-Finance Organizations (IMOs) which further on lend for entrepreneurial activities of women.
• However, the Government decided to close down RMK as it has lost its relevance and utility in the present scenario with substantial alternative credit facilities becoming available to women through various governmental initiatives and efforts such as Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana etc and also to avoid duplicacy of efforts.

SOURCE: PIB

2.The world’s first Bio Bank of Ayurveda at AIIA.

IN NEWS:

Ayush Minister assure all help in establishing the world’s first Bio Bank of Ayurveda at All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA)

KEY POINTS:

About The All-India Institute of Ayurveda

• It has been conceived as an Apex Institute for Ayurveda.
• It aims at bringing a synergy between Traditional Wisdom of Ayurveda and Modern tools and technology.
• Established in 2015, AIIA is a public Ayurveda medicine and research institution located in New Delhi.
• It is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of AYUSH.
• The institute would offer postgraduate and doctoral courses in various disciplines of Ayurveda
• It will focus on fundamental research of Ayurveda, drug development, standardization, quality control, safety evaluation and scientific validation of Ayurvedic medicine.
• The Institute will also help in boosting medical tourism in India and showcasing strengths of Ayurveda.

SOURCE: PIB

3.UJJWALA 2.0

IN NEWS:

• PM Modi will launch Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana – PMUY) by handing over LPG connections, at Mahoba Uttar Pradesh on 10th August, 2021.
• The journey from Ujjwala 1.0 to Ujjwala 2.0.

KEY POINTS:

Ujjwala 1.0.

• It is implemented by Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Ujjwala 1.0 was launched in 2016, during which a target was set to provide deposit-free LPG connections to 5 crore women members of BPL households.
• Subsequently, the scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers etc).
• EMI facilities will be given for stove and refill cost (Interest-free loan).
• The scheme is complementary to the Prime Minister’s ‘Give It Up Campaign’ through which a huge number of middle-class families have voluntarily surrendered their cooking gas subsidy.
• The target was revised to 8 Crore LPG connections and this target was achieved in August 2019, seven months ahead of the target date.

Ujjwala 2.0

• In the Union budget for FY 21-22, provision for an additional one crore LPG connection under the PMUY scheme was announced.
• This one crore additional PMUY connections (under Ujjwala 2.0) aim to provide deposit-free LPG connections to those low-income families who could not be covered under the earlier phase of PMUY.
• Along with a deposit free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide first refill and hotplate (stove) free of cost to the beneficiaries.
• Also, the enrolment procedure will require minimum paperwork.
• In Ujjwala 2.0, migrants will not be required to submit ration cards or address proof.
• A self-declaration for both ‘family declaration’ and as a ‘proof of address’ will suffice. Ujjwala 2.0 will help achieve the Prime Minister’s vision of universal access to LPG.

SOURCE: TH

4.PM-DAKSH Scheme.

IN NEWS:

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched ‘PM-DAKSH’ (Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi) Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App to make the skill development schemes accessible to the target groups – Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Safai Karamcharis.

KEY POINTS:

PM-DAKSH Yojana is being implemented from the year 2020-21.

Under this, eligible target groups are provided with the skill development training programmes on Short Term Training Program; Up-Skilling/Reskilling; Entrepreneurship Development Programme, and Long Term Training Programme.

These training programmes are being implemented through the government training institutes, sector skill councils that have been constituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and other credible institutions.

Eligibility:

Marginalized persons of SC (Scheduled Caste), OBC (Other Backward Classes), Economically Backward Classes, Denotified tribes, Sanitation workers including waste pickers, manual scavengers, transgenders and other similar categories.

Implementation:

It is implemented by the three Corporations under the Ministry:

National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC),

National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC),

National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC).

Significance:

Most of the persons of the target groups have minimal economic assets; therefore, provision of training and enhancing their competencies is essential for economic empowerment/ upliftment of these marginalized target groups.

Many of the persons of the target groups belong to the category of rural artisans who have become marginalized owing to the coming of better technologies in the market.

Women due to their overall domestic compulsions, cannot be involved in wage employment which normally involves long working hours and sometimes migration to other cities, there is a need to empower the women amongst the target groups.

SOURCE:IE

5.Mixed Covishield & Covaxin doses produce better immunity.

IN NEWS:

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in a study found that, mixed Covid immunisation routine, with a dose of Covishield followed by one of Covaxin, is safe and produces a better immune response as compared to the uniform two doses of any of the two vaccines.

KEY POINTS:

• Study titled ‘Serendipitous Covid-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime’ was led by ICMR scientist Rajni Kant.
• These findings had an important implication for Covid-19 vaccination programme wherein heterologous immunisation would open way for induction of improved and better protection against variant strains of SARS-CoV-2.
• These mixed regimens of the vaccine will also help in overcoming the challenges of shortfall of particular vaccines and remove hesitancy associated with vaccines in people’s mind.
• However, to prove these findings, a multicentre random clinical trial is needed to be carried out.
• Study also found that, no major systemic adverse events were reported. Furthermore, reactogenicity profile of participants of heterologous group (mixed vaccine) was comparable to homologous groups.
• ICMR Study followed 18 Uttar Pradesh residents who inadvertently received mixed doses, when vaccination plan was expanded.
• It also followed 40 recipients each of Covishield and Covaxin. However, the sample size of 18 participants was small. Therefore, a larger trial was needed to corroborate findings of the study.

SOURCE:IE