TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Ujjwala 2.0 2. World Lion Day 3. Pusa Bio-decomposer 4. Krishi Vigyan Kendras 5. Jan Aushadhi Sugam App 6. Deep Ocean Mission 7. National Dairy Plan 8. Parliamentary Committee on Official Language 9. World Biofuel Day 10. Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana 11. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4)
1. Ujjwala 2.0
Context:
Ujjwala 2.0 launched from Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh.
Read more about the Ujjwala scheme in the linked article.
Context:
August 10 is observed as World Lion Day.
About World Lion Day:
- The World Lion Day is observed to raise awareness about lions and to mobilise support for their protection and conservation.
- The World Lion Day initiative to protect the big cats started in 2013 and the first World Lion Day was celebrated that year.
- The Day is the brainchild of Dereck and Beverly Joubert who brought together both National Geographic and the Big Cat Initiative under a single banner to protect the remaining big cats living in the wild.
- According to the WWF, lions were once found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe but their numbers have dwindled over the years in these continents.
- The last remaining population of the Asiatic Lions can be found in Gujarat’s Gir National Park. These lions face significant threats of poaching. The Asiatic lion also faces the threat of genetic inbreeding arising from a single population inhabiting one place.
Also read: Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
Context:
Pusa bio-decomposer or Pusa Decomposer was developed by ICAR – Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.
About the Pusa Decomposer:
- The Pusa Decomposer can turn crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore, can prevent stubble burning.
- These are capsules that consist of a combination of microbes that hastens the process of decomposition of stubble.
- These are also low-cost capsules making it convenient for farmers to use.
How does the capsule work?
- The capsule comprises a “microbial consortium” — a combination of different microbes — which has the ability to produce various hydrolytic enzymes, which are responsible for the degradation of the polysaccharide that are present in the cell walls of the plants.
- The cell walls of plants are made up of polysaccharide cellulose and breaking it down accelerates the process of degradation.
- Four Pusa capsules have to be dissolved in water to make a 25-litre solution, which is enough to spray on one hectare of land.
- After the solution is sprayed, it takes about 20 to 25 days for the crop remnants to decompose.
Context:
Government has made a provision for opening Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in each of the rural districts across the country.
Know more about Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the linked article.
Context:
More than 11.74 lakh users are connected with the Jan Aushadhi Sugam App.
About the Jan Aushadhi Sugam App:
- The government launched the Jan Aushadhi Sugam App in May 2020 to ensure the availability of quality generic medicines at affordable prices.
- The App’s sole purpose is to provide details about the availability and pricing of generic medicines being sold at lower prices at the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras.
- The App also locates the nearest Kendra where these medicines can be purchased.
- Apart from that, it also compares the prices of the medicines available at the Kendras with the costs of other medicines with the same compositions available in the market.
Also read: Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana
Context:
Deep Ocean Mission to be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a total budget of Rs. 4077 Cr for 5 years during the period 2021-2026 – Union Minister (MoS Science & Technology).
Know more about the Deep Ocean Mission in the linked article.
About the National Dairy Plan (NDP):
- National Dairy Plan Phase II is a scheme running from 2020-25. With a financial outlay of Rs.8000 crore, its aims include enhancing the milk processing capacity and infrastructure of daily co-operatives.
- NDP phase I was launched from Anand, Gujarat by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
- It was a Central Sector Scheme for a period of 2011-12 to 2018-19.
- Objectives of NDP-1:
- To help increase productivity of milch animals and thereby increase milk production to meet the rapidly growing demand for milk
- To help provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milk-processing sector
- The National Dairy Plan is also known as ‘Mission Milk’.
8. Parliamentary Committee on Official Language
Context:
Union Home Minister chaired the 36th meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language.
About the Committee:
- The Committee of Parliament on Official Language is responsible to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purpose of the Union.
- The Committee was constituted in 1976 under Section 4 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 to periodically review the progress in the use of Hindi as the Official Language of the Union and to submit a report to the President.
Context:
August 10 is observed as World Biofuel Day.
Know more about World Biofuel Day in the linked article.
Context:
A Central Sector Scheme namely ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY) is being implemented by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment with an objective to provide to senior citizens, belonging to the BPL category and suffering from age-related disabilities/infirmities, with such physical aids and assisted living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions.
About the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana:
- It is a scheme for providing physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to the BPL category.
- Aids such as walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers, tripods, quadpods, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial dentures, spectacles, etc. are provided.
- It is fully funded by the Central Government.
- The scheme is implemented through the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), which is the sole implementing agency.
11. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4)
Context:
Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) India 2019 released.
About Global Youth Tobacco Survey:
- The fourth round of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) was conducted in 2019 by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
- The survey was designed to produce national estimates of tobacco use among school going children aged 13-15 years at the state level and Union Territory (UT) by sex, location of school (rural-urban), and management of school (public-private).
- The first three rounds of GYTS were conducted in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
Key Findings:
- Nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 used any form of the tobacco product (smoking, smokeless, and any other form) in their life. Between the last two surveys, the current use declined by 42% (2009-2019).
- Prevalence of tobacco use among boys was 9.6% and among girls was 7.4%. Use of any form of tobacco was higher among boys than girls.
- The prevalence of smoking tobacco was 7.3%. In case of smokeless tobacco product, the prevalence was 4.1%.
- Use of e-cigarette among the students was 2.8%.
- The current use of tobacco among students across the States/UTs ranged from the highest in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (58% each) to the lowest in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%) and Karnataka (1.2%).
- The median age at initiation of cigarette and bidi smoking, and smokeless tobacco use were 11.5 years, 10.5 years and 9.9 years respectively.
- 69% of current cigarette smokers and 78% of current bidi smokers bought cigarettes/bidis from a store, paan shop, street vendor or vending machine. Among the current smokers who bought cigarette/bidi, 45% of cigarette smokers and 47% of bidi smokers were not refused because of their age. This points out to the easy availability of tobacco products.
Image source: PIB
Read previous PIB here.
August 10th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here
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