MSME Ministry launches CHAMPIONS portal
News: Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) has launched CHAMPIONS portal.
Facts:
- CHAMPIONS stands for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength.
- It is a technology driven portal which aims to assist Indian MSMEs to enter into the big league as national and global champions by solving their grievances, encouraging, supporting, helping and handholding.
- The portal is also fully integrated with the Government’s main grievances portal CPGRAMS and MSME Ministry’s web based mechanisms.
Additional Facts:
Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS):
- It is an online web-enabled system developed by National Informatics Centre in association with Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances(DARPG).
- Aim: To enable submission of grievances by the aggrieved citizens to Ministries or departments who scrutinize and take action for speedy and favorable redress of these grievances.
GI tag for Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting, Telangana’s Telia Rumal
News: Geographical Indication Registry of India has accorded Geographical Indication(GI) tag to Sohrai Khovar painting and Telia Rumal.
Facts:
Sohrai Khovar:
- It is a traditional and ritualistic mural painting practised by local tribal women in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
- It is mostly practised during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours available in the region.
- Traditionally painted on partitions of mud homes, they’re now also seen on different surfaces too.
- The style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.The walls of important places in Jharkhand have also been decorated with Sohrai Khovar paintings.
Telia Rumal:
- Telia Rumal involves intricate handmade work with cotton loom displaying a variety of designs and motifs in three particular colours — red, black and white.
- Uniqueness: It can only be created using the traditional handloom process and not by any other mechanical means as the very quality of the Rumal would be lost.
- Significance: It is usually offered at the dargah of Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.It is also worn as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizam of Hyderabad and as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East.
₹20 lakh crore package for “self-reliant” India
News: Prime Minister has announced a special economic package worth 20 lakh crore rupees for an ‘Atma-Nirbhar Bharat’ or self-reliant India.
Facts:
- Aim: To make India self-reliant (Atma-Nirbhar) by promoting business, attracting investment, cutting down import dependence and by strengthening Make in India.
- The package includes earlier announcements made by the RBI and the government which together is equivalent to around 10% of India’s GDP.
- Five Pillars for India’s Self Reliance: Economy, Infrastructure, Technology driven system, Vibrant demography and Demand.
- Focus of the package: Land, Labour, Liquidity and Laws.
- Target Areas: a) Cottage Industries b) MSMEs c) Labourers and Farmers d) Middle Class and e) Industry.
Explained: Can ultraviolet light help detect, kill the coronavirus?
News: Scientists are studying the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) to detect the virus in public places and disinfect contaminated public spaces to stop the transmission of the virus
Facts:
- Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) replicates UV wavelengths and uses its destructive properties to target pathogens.
- It disinfects contaminated spaces, air and water and helps in preventing certain infectious diseases from spreading.
Ultraviolet Light:
- It is a component of the electromagnetic spectrum that falls in the region between visible light and X-Rays.
- The UV light from the sun has shorter wavelengths than visible light and, therefore, is not visible to the naked eye.
Types of UV Light:
- There are three types of UV radiation that are classified according to their wavelength. They differ in their biological activity and the extent to which they can penetrate the skin.
- The shorter the wavelength, the more harmful the UV radiation. However, shorter wavelength UV radiation is less able to penetrate the skin.
- UV-A: It has a long-wavelength. It accounts for approximately 95% of the UV radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. It penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin and is responsible for the immediate tanning and skin cancer.
- UV-B: It has a medium wavelength. It is biologically active but cannot penetrate beyond the superficial skin layers. It is responsible for delayed tanning, burning and skin cancer. Most solar UVB is filtered by the atmosphere.
- UV-C: It has a short wavelength and is most harmful. However, it is completely absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere and does not reach the Earth’s surface.
Madhya Pradesh launches country’s first ever ‘FIR Aapke Dwar’ Yojana
News: Madhya Pradesh has launched the country’s first ever ‘FIR Aapke Dwar Yojana’.
Facts:
- Aim:To enable people to file FIRs from their homes instead of visiting police stations.
- Under this, Head Constables will be deployed to file on spot FIRs on the basis of complaints from the people.When the complaints are serious, they will be forwarded to senior officers.
NAL develops Ventilator ‘SwasthVayu’ for COVID-19 patients
News: National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a constituent of the lab of CSIR has developed a BiPAP Ventilator named ‘SwasthVayu’.
Facts:
- SwasthVayu: It is a non-invasive (involves use of masks or similar device) ventilator for the use of non-critical non-ICU cases of Covid-19.
- Significance:It is simple to use without any specialized nursing and is ideal for treating Covid-19 patients in wards, makeshift hospitals, dispensaries and homes in the current Indian Covid-19 scenario
Additional Facts:
- BiPAP: It stands for Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure ventilator.It is used in the treatment of sleep apnea, lung disease and to treat respiratory weakness.
India may miss nutrition targets
News: The Global Nutrition Report 2020 has been released.
Facts:
- The Global Nutrition Report was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013.The first report was published in 2014.
- It is a multi-stakeholder initiative, consisting of a Stakeholder Group, Independent Expert Group and Report Secretariat.
- It acts as a report card on the world’s nutrition—globally, regionally, and country by country and on efforts to improve it
Key Takeaways:
- India is among the 88 countries that are likely to miss global nutrition targets by 2025.
- Stunting and wasting among children: 37.9% of children under 5 years are stunted and 20.8% are wasted compared to the Asia average of 22.7% and 9.4% respectively.
- Overweight and Obesity: Rate of overweight and obesity continues to rise affecting almost a fifth of the adults at 21.6% of women and 17.8% of men.
- Anaemia: One in two women of reproductive age is anaemic.
- Underweight children: Between 2000 and 2016, rates of underweight have decreased from 66.0% to 58.1% for boys and 54.2% to 50.1% in girls. However, it is still high compared to the average of 35.6% for boys and 31.8% for girls in Asia
Additional Facts:
Global Nutrition Targets:
- In 2012, the World Health Assembly identified six nutrition targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition to be met by 2025.These are:
- Reduce stunting by 40% in children under 5.
- Reduce the prevalence of anaemia by 50% among women in the age group of 19-49 years.
- Ensure 30% reduction in low-birth weight.
- Ensure no increase in childhood overweight.
- Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months up to at least 50%
- Reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.
Note: Stunting- low height for age, Wasting- low weight compared to height, Underweight- low weight for age, Malnutrition includes both under and over nutrition and Anaemia-Lack of Healthy Red blood cells.
