23 Mar 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

March 23rd, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. World Tuberculosis Day
2. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
3. Shaheedi Diwas
4. MoC between India and Japan
5. National Health Mission (NHM)
6. One District One Product
7. NAFED e-Kisan Mandis
8. Project Mausam

1. World Tuberculosis Day

Context:

World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24 every year.

About World Tuberculosis Day:

• The aim of the celebration of the Day is to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.
• The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
• World TB Day 2021 Theme: ‘The Clock is Ticking’.

Background:

TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, nearly 4000 lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 63 million lives since the year 2000.

Read more about TB and the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination in the link.

2. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia

Context:

The Prime Minister paid tribute to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia on his birth anniversary which falls on 23 March.

Read more on the life and contributions of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia in the link.

3. Shaheedi Diwas

Context:

PM pays tributes to Martyrs on Shaheedi Diwas.

About Shaheedi Diwas:

• On 23 March 1931, freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged to death by the British government for their revolutionary activities.
• This day is observed as Shaheedi Diwas or Martyrs’ Day in India.
• The day is also known as ‘Sarvodaya Day’.
• Read more about the hanging of the young revolutionaries in ‘This Day in History’ dated March 23.

4. MoC between India and Japan

Context:

Cabinet approves Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between India and Japan in the field of Water Resources.

Details:

• The MoC was signed between the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
• This MoC was signed for the development of long-term cooperation in the field of water and delta management, and water technology in order to increase the exchange of information, knowledge, technology and scientific allied experience, as well as implementation of joint projects between the two countries.
• This MoC will help in achieving water security, improved irrigation facility and sustainability in water resources development.

5. National Health Mission (NHM)

Context:

Cabinet apprised on progress under National Health Mission (NHM) 2019-20.

Details:

• The new initiatives under NHM that were introduced in 2019-20 are:
  • SAANS initiative: Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) initiative was launched to accelerate action to reduce deaths due to childhood pneumonia.
  • SUMAN initiative: Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative was launched to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services; and all existing schemes for maternal and neonatal health have been brought under one umbrella.
  • Midwifery Services Initiative: This aims to create a cadre of Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery who are skilled in accordance to competencies prescribed by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and are knowledgeable and capable of providing compassionate women-centred, reproductive, maternal and newborn health care services.
  • School Health and Wellness Ambassadors Initiative: This has been launched under the AB-HWCs Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education to promote health and well-being through an active lifestyle amongst school children.

Read more about the National Health Mission in the link.

6. One District One Product

Context:

The PMFME Scheme adopts the One District One Product approach to reap the benefits of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products.

Details:

• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under the Centrally Sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME Scheme), provides financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.
• Know more about the One District One Product approach in PIB dated Sep 18, 2020.

7. NAFED e-Kisan Mandis

About NAFED e-Kisan Mandis:

• NAFED e-Kisan mandis (NeKM) is an electronic trading platform with physical infrastructure at each proposed location in partnership with local Farmer Producer Organisations (FPCx and Cooperatives) to be integrated with a National Level Digital Marketing Platform.
• The mandi has both physical and virtual infrastructure and it is based on the spoke & hub model.
• The physical infrastructure will include digital platform with auctioning facility, pack-house (including sorting-grading, packing and pre-cooling facilities), warehouse and cold storages if required.
• FPOs will get funding support through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and subsidies available under various Central and State Government schemes.
• The mandis are made at farm gate bringing buyers to farmers.

Read more about NAFED in the link.

Context:

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in Lok Sabha.

8. Project Mausam

Context:

Project Mausam has now been extended up to 31st March, 2023.

About the Project:

• Project ‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Archaeological Society of India (ASI), New Delhi as the nodal agency and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as its Research Unit.
• This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean.
• The main objective of the project is to inscribe places and sites identified under Project Mausam as transnational nomination for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
• The central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands.
• More importantly, shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes and impacted both coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.

Read previous PIB here.

March 23rd, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here