In News: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda virtually addressed at National Dialogue on Manufacturing Excellence and Innovation for Competitiveness and Sustainability of Chemicals Manufacturing in New Delhi .

Key takeaways:

• Union minister said that the Chemicals and Petrochemicals sector will play an important role in achieving the goal of 5 trillion-dollar economy.
• The Indian chemicals industry stood at 178 billion dollar in 2019 and is expected to reach 304 billion dollar by 2025 and the demand for chemicals is expected to expand by 9% per annum by 2025.
• The Minister hoped that United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will support domestic industry with international best practices and policy & technical assistance.
• The Minister thanked UNIDO for taking the initiative for raising dialogue on transforming the chemical industry sector of India into a more efficient, effective and competitive ‘growth engine’.
• UNIDO organised a dialogue under ‘Clean Manufacturing in India’ (Swachh Udyog) and hosted National Dialogue on ‘Excellence and Innovation for Competitive and Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing in India’.
•  The dialogue discussed opportunities and challenges for chemical manufacturing growth and garner momentum among policy makers, industry sector and other stakeholders on need for knowledge and skill-based transformative change to safeguard and future proof chemicals manufacturing in India.

Significance of chemical industry in INDIA:

• The chemical industry occupies a pivotal position in meeting basic needs and improving quality of life.
• The chemical sector, which is knowledge- and capital-intensive, is the mainstay of industrial and agricultural development, and provides building blocks for downstream industries such as textiles, papers, paints, soaps, detergents, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
• The fertilizer and agrochemical industries ensure food security, and are thus vital to India’s developing and agrarian economy.
• The synthetic fiber industry is crucial to providing affordable clothing, and the pharmaceutical industry gives the country’s vast population access to low-cost drugs.

Important information:

UNIDO(United Nations Industrial Development Organization)

• UNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations.
• 170 States are Members of UNIDO as of 1 April 2019
• Mandate: To promote and accelerate Inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States.
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria.
• It was established in 1966 by the UN General Assembly.

SOURCE:PIB (April 7th current affairs)

2. Aazadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

In News:

The Vice President, Sh M. Venkaiah Naidu  graced the colourful closing ceremony of the 25-day long commemorative Dandi Padyatra as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav near National Salt Satyagraha Memorial , Dandi, Gujarat.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Gandhi’s iconic Dandi Salt March was a watershed moment in our freedom struggle.
• It altered the course of history.
• Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”—a 75 week festival to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence, was flagged off by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi from Sabarmati Ashram, on March 12, 2021.
• The festival celebrates the rapid strides India has taken in the past 75 years.

BASIC:

About the 1930 Dandi March:

• The Dandi March, also known as the Salt March and the Dandi Satyagraha was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
• The march lasted from 12th March, 1930 to 6th April, 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.
• On 12th March, Gandhiji set out from Sabarmati with 78 followers on a 241-mile march to the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. There, Gandhi and his supporters were to defy British policy by making salt from seawater.
• At Dandi, thousands more followed his lead, and in the coastal cities of Bombay and Karachi, Indian nationalists led crowds of citizens in making salt.
• Civil disobedience broke out all across India, soon involving millions of Indians, and British authorities arrested more than 60,000 people. Gandhiji himself was arrested on 5th May, but the satyagraha continued without him.
• On 21st May, the poet Sarojini Naidu led 2,500 marchers on the Dharasana Salt Works, some 150 miles north of Bombay. The incident, recorded by American journalist Webb Miller, prompted an international outcry against British policy in India.
• In January 1931, Gandhiji was released from prison. He later met with Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India, and agreed to call off the satyagraha in exchange for an equal negotiating role at a London conference on India’s future.
• In August 1931, Gandhiji traveled to the conference as the sole representative of the nationalist Indian National Congress. The meeting was a disappointment, but British leaders had acknowledged him as a force they could not suppress or ignore.

SOURCE:PIB (April 7th current affairs)

3. First Meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors

In News:

• India hosted a Meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors virtually today on April 6, 2021.
• The meeting was jointly Chaired by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Shri. Shaktikanta Das. Participants included Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the BRICS countries.

Key takeaways:

• As 2021 BRICS Chair, India’s approach is focused on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation based on Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.
• This was the first meeting of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under India Chairship in 2021.
• BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors discussed financial cooperation agenda set by India for 2021 –
  • Global Economic Outlook and Response to COVID-19 pandemic,
  • New Development Bank (NDB) Activities,
  • Social Infrastructure Financing and Use of Digital Technologies,
  • Cooperation on Customs related issues,
  • IMF reforms,
  • Fintech for SMEs and Financial Inclusion,
  • BRICS Rapid Information Security channel and BRICS Bond Fund.

BASIC:

About BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa)

• On November 30, 2001, Jim O’Neill, a British economist who was then chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, coined the term ‘BRIC’ to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
• Established in 2009, BRICS represents the collective voice of the Global South with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as its members.
• After its establishment more than a decade ago, BRICS became the first-ever compact non-Western, inter-continental multilateral club.
• It was lauded as a unique experiment to bring together politically, economically and culturally diverse countries who share a range of concerns and interests with regard to the functioning of the western liberal international order.
• BRICS has been driven by the idea to challenge, if not dismantle, western hegemony and bring new ideas on the table for global governance.
• The BRICS is mainly portrayed as a grouping of fast-emerging economies with huge market potential.
• Bilateral relations among BRICS nations are conducted on the basis of non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.
• There are two components that make up the financial architecture of BRICS:
  • New Development Bank (NDB) (BRICS Development Bank)
  • Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

Source:PIB (April 7th current affairs)

4. National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021

In News:

Recently a news article in a newspaper stating that patients of rare diseases will get treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme of the Government.

Key points:

• It is clarified that under National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 there is a provision for financial support upto Rs. 20 lakhs under the Umbrella Scheme of Rastriya Arogya Nidhi for treatment, of those rare diseases that require a one-time treatment (diseases listed under Group 1 in the rare disease policy).
• Beneficiaries for such financial assistance would not be limited to BPL families, but the benefit would be extended to about 40% of the population, who are eligible under Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
• This financial support for treatment of rare diseases is proposed under the Umbrella Scheme of Rastriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) and not under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY.
• Besides, the Rare Diseases Policy also envisages a crowdfunding mechanism in which corporates and individuals will be encouraged to extend financial support through a robust IT platform for treatment of rare diseases.
• Funds so collected will be utilized by Centres of Excellence for treatment of all three categories of rare diseases as a first charge and the balance financial resources can also be used for research.

IMPORTANT INFO:

National Rare Disease Policy 2021.

Aim:

• To increase focus on indigenous research and local production of medicines.
• To lower the cost of treatment of rare diseases.
• To screen and detect rare diseases early at early stages, which will in turn help in their prevention.

Major Provisions of the Policy:

Categorization:

The policy has categorised rare diseases in three groups:

Group 1: Disorders amenable to one-time curative treatment.

Group 2: Those requiring long term or lifelong treatment.

Group 3: Diseases for which definitive treatment is available but challenges are to make optimal patient selection for benefit, very high cost and lifelong therapy.

Rare Diseases

• There are 6,000-8,000 classified rare diseases, but less than 5% have therapies available to treat them.
• Example: Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD), Pompe disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, haemophilia etc.
• About 95% rare diseases have no approved treatment and less than 1 in 10 patients receive disease-specific treatment.
• These diseases have differing definitions in various countries and range from those that are prevalent in 1 in 10,000 of the population to 6 per 10,000.
• However broadly, a ‘rare disease’ is defined as a health condition of low prevalence that affects a small number of people when compared with other prevalent diseases in the general population. Many cases of rare diseases may be serious, chronic and life-threatening.
• India has close to 50-100 million people affected by rare diseases or disorders, the policy report said almost 80% of these rare condition patients are children and a leading cause for most of them not reaching adulthood is due to the high morbidity and mortality rates of these life-threatening diseases.

SOURCE: PIB (April 7th current affairs)

5. Shri Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana appointed as Chief Justice of India

Key points:

• The President of India, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, appointed Shri Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India.
• He will be 48th Chief Justice of India.
• He is first-generation lawyer, having agricultural background, and hails from Ponnavaram Village, Krishna District in Andhra Pradesh.
• He is an avid reader and literature enthusiast. He is passionate about Carnatic music.

Important info:

Procedure for Various Judicial Appointments:

For CJI:

• The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
• As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
• In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.

For SC Judges:

• For other judges of the SC, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
• The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
• The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
• The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.

For Chief Justice of High Courts:

• The Chief Justice of High Court is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States.
• The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.
• High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
• The proposal, however, is initiated by the outgoing Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
• The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.

Related Constitutional Provisions

• Article 124(2) of the Indian Constitution provides that the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such a number of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose.
• Article 217 of the Indian Constitution states that the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State, and, in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court.

SOURCE:THE HINDU

April 7th current affairs

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