05 May 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

May 5th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)
2. GARUD Portal
3. Operation 'Samudra Setu'
4. CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons sign an MoU

1. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)

Context:

Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya  Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) accepting orders on WhatsApp and e-mail to facilitate medicine procurement during lockdown.

Details:

• Under this initiative, the accepted orders (on the basis of uploaded prescriptions) are delivered at the patients’ doorsteps.
• PMBJKs are work under the PMBJP.
• At present, there are over 6300 PMBJKs functioning in 726 districts of the country ensuring supply of quality medicines at affordable prices. These medicine are cheaper by about 50% to 90% on an average.

For more on the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, click on the linked article.

2. GARUD Portal

Context:

The Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have launched the GARUD Portal for providing fast track conditional exemptions to government agencies for COVID-19 related RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System)/drone operations.

Details:

• GARUD is an acronym for ‘Government Authorisation for Relief Using Drones’.
• The portal was designed, developed, beta-tested, and launched by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi.
• The DCGA has issued rules according to which many geographical areas are restricted for RPA operations.
  • These includes regions within 5 km distance from the perimeter of airports at the major metro cities, other prohibited areas like military installations/facilities, ecologically-sensitive areas, etc.

3. Operation ‘Samudra Setu’

Context:

Indian Navy launches Operation “Samudra Setu”.

About Operation “Samudra Setu”:

• The Indian Navy has launched Operation Samudra Setu (Meaning: Sea Bridge) as a part of the national effort to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas.
• Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa and Magar are presently en route to the port of Malè, Republic of Maldives to commence phase I of the evacuation operations.
• The Indian Mission in the Republic of Maldives is preparing a list of Indian nationals to be evacuated by naval ships and will facilitate their embarkation after requisite medical screening.
• A total of 1000 persons are planned to be evacuated during the first trip, catering for COVID-related social distancing norms vis-a-vis the carrying capacity and medical facilities available onboard.
• The ships have been suitably provisioned for the evacuation operation. The evacuated personnel would be provided the basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea-passage.
• The evacuated personnel will be disembarked at Kochi, Kerala and entrusted to the care of State authorities.
• This operation is being progressed in close coordination with the Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.

4. CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons sign an MoU

Context:

CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons sign an MoU for licensing knowhow related to the development of a kit for rapid and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19.

Details:

• CSIR’s constituent lab, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and TATA Sons signed an MoU for licensing of the knowhow for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay (FELUDA) for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.
• About FELUDA for COVID-19:
  • A completely indigenous scientific invention, FELUDA for COVID-19 has been designed for mitigating the ongoing COVID-19 situation and cater to mass testing.
  • Its main advantages are its affordability, relative ease of use and non-dependency on expensive Q-PCR machines.
• CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons will now work together to bring it for widespread use at the earliest.

May 5th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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