02 July 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

July 2nd, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)
2. Dhamma Chakra Day
3. Urban Forests
4. Padma Awards
5. Fit India Movement
6. Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 (DDH2020)
7. STIP 2020

1. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

Context:

NPPA is monitoring price increase of critical medical equipment for COVID-19 and also ensuring sufficient availability of the same in the country.

To know more about the NPPA, check PIB dated 17 March 2020.

2. Dhamma Chakra Day

About Dhamma Chakra Day:

• The Dhamma Chakra Day marks the Buddha’s first teaching after attaining Enlightenment to the first five ascetic disciples (pañcavargika) on the full-moon day of Asadha at ‘Deer Park’, Rishipatana in modern-day Sarnath, near Varanasi.
• This teaching of Dhamma Cakka Pavattana Sutta (Pali) or Dharma Chakra Pravartana Sutra (Sanskrit) is also known as the First Turning of Wheels of Dharma and comprised the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.
• The auspicious day of Asadha Poornima which falls on the first full moon day of the month of Asadha as per the Indian sun calendar is also known as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.
• It is the second most sacred day for Buddhists after the Buddha Poornima or Vesak.
• The day is also observed as Guru Poornima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their Gurus.

Also read: Buddha – Life and Teachings

Context:

President of India to inaugurate the Dhamma Chakra Day celebrations on Asadha Purnima on July 4, 2020.

3. Urban Forests

What is urban forestry?

• Urban forestry is defined as the planting, maintenance, care and protection of tree populations in urban settings.
• Urban forests make up the lungs of the cities and act as an oxygen bank and carbon sink.
• With the Air Quality Index (AQI) of cities increasingly becoming worse, there is a need to plan and develop more urban forests.

Context:

Unique Urban Forest inaugurated at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in New Delhi.

4. Padma Awards

Context:

Nominations for Padma Awards-2021 open till September 2020.

Know more about the Padma Awards in the linked article.

5. Fit India Movement

Context:

HRD Minister and Sports Minister to launch tomorrow Fit India Talks of eminent sports persons with school children.

To know more about the Fit India Movement, check CNA dated Aug 30, 2019.

6. Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 (DDH2020)

Context:

Union HRD Minister and Union Health Minister jointly launch the Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 (DDH2020).

About DDH2020:

• The DDH2020 is an open-source drug discovery hackathon against COVID-19.
• It is a joint initiative of AICTE and CSIR, supported by the Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, Govt. of India, NIC and MyGov.
• The goal of the hackathon is to establish ‘Open innovation Model’ for in silico drug discovery against the COVID-19 virus and will cover the various processes in drug discovery, including but not limited to, in silico screening of molecules, lead optimization and identification of drug-able non-toxic targets.
• The targets/tools/lead molecules identified through the process of DDH2020 will be further taken forward for synthesis followed by subsequent steps in routine drug discovery programs.
• The hackathon will have two major tracks:
  • Track-1: will primarily deal with drug design for anti-COVID-19 hit/lead molecule generation using tools such as molecular modeling, pharmacophore optimization, molecular docking, hit/lead optimization, etc.
  • Track-2: will deal with designing/optimizing new tools and algorithms which will have an immense impact on expediting the process of in silico drug discovery. Novel or refined tools/algorithms from Track-2 will help develop better models for predicting ADMET in silico, thus improving screening efficiency.
  • There is also a third track called “Moon shot “which allows for working on problems that are of ‘out of the box’ nature.
• The hackathon consists of challenges that are posted as problem statements and, are based on specific drug discovery topics which, are open to the participants to solve.
• My Gov portal is being used and any Indian student can participate.
• Professionals and researchers from anywhere in the world can also participate.
• The winners will be given prizes and the best entries will be taken into stage 2 of the competition.
• The best of stage 2 will go to stage 3.
• The plan is that at the end of the stage 3 competition, the best solutions such as drug molecules or drug targets will be taken to the experimental level and validated for their predictions by either CSIR labs or start-ups.

7. STIP 2020

Context:

Top leaders to take part in first high-level industry consultation for the formulation of the STIP 2020.

To know more about STIP 2020, check PIB dated June 13, 2020.

July 2nd, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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