13 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. DRAFT NATIONAL MEDICAL DEVICES POLICY 2022

Department of Pharmaceuticals has released an Approach Paper for the Draft National Policy for the Medical Devices, 2022 for consultation.

About:

The Draft policy aims at addressing the core objectives of accessibility, affordability, safety and quality, focus on self-sustainability, innovation and growth in the Medical devices sector.
This Policy envisions that by 2047, India
- will be having few National Institutes of Medical Devices Education and Research (NIMERs) on the lines of NIPERs;
- will be home & originator to 25 high-end futuristic technologies in MedTech
- will have a MedTech Industry of $100-300 Bn size with 10-12% of Global Market Share.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals published this approach paper for the Sunrise Sector of Medical Devices, popularly called as MedTech Sector.
The Sector is expected to grow in market size from the present 11 billion US dollar to 50 billion US dollar by 2025.

Source : All India Radio

2. MOST FAVOURED NATION (MFN) STATUS

The United States, the European Union, Britain, Canada and Japan are planning to jointly revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” (MFN) status over its invasion of Ukraine.

About:

The World Trade Organization’s 164 members commit to treating other members equally so they can all benefit from each other’s lowest tariffs, highest import quotas and fewest trade barriers for goods and services.
This principle of non-discrimination is known as most favoured nation (MFN) treatment.
There are some exceptions, such as when members strike bilateral trade agreements or when members offer developing countries special access to their markets.

Removal of MFN status

There is no formal procedure for suspending MFN treatment and it is not clear whether members are obliged to inform the WTO if they do so.
India suspended Pakistan’s MFN status in 2019 after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based Islamist group killed 40 police. Pakistan never applied MFN status to India.

What does losing MFN status mean?

Revoking Russia’s MFN status sends a strong signal that the United States and its Western allies do not consider Russia a economic partner in any way, but it does not in itself change conditions for trade.
It does formally allow the Western allies to increase import tariffs or impose quotas on Russian goods, or even ban them, and to restrict services out of the country.
They could also overlook Russian intellectual property rights.

Source : Indian Express

3. GENEVA CONVENTIONS

As the Russian military continues to sweep through Ukraine there is growing concern surrounding the issue of violations of human rights and Geneva Conventions.

About:

The Geneva Conventions are a set of four treaties, formalised in 1949, and three additional protocols, which codify widely accepted ethical and legal international standards for humanitarian treatment of those impacted by war.
The focus of the Conventions is the treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war, and not the use of conventional or biological and chemical weapons, the use of which is governed respectively by the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Protocol.
The Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states. The three Protocols have been ratified by 174, 169 and 79 states respectively.

List

The First Geneva Convention protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war.
The Second Geneva Convention protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
The Third Geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war, including a wide range of general protections such as humane treatment, maintenance and equality across prisoners etc.
The Fourth Geneva Convention protects civilians, including those in occupied territory.

Source : The Hindu

4. HALLMARKING OF JEWELLERY

Consumers can now get unhallmarked jewellery tested at Assaying and Hallmarking Centres (AHCs).

About:

Bureau of Indian Standards has now made provision to allow common consumer to get the purity of their unhallmarked gold jewellery tested at any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.
The charges for testing of gold jewellery upto four articles is 200 rupees. For five or more articles, the charges will be 45 per article.
Consumer Affairs Ministry said, testing centres shall undertake the testing of gold jewellery from common consumers on priority and provide a test report to the consumer. The test report issued to the consumer will assure the consumer about the purity of their jewellery.

Do you know?

The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), which operates gold and silver hallmarking scheme in India, defines hallmarking as the “accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in precious metal articles.”
Hallmarking in India is available for jewellery of only two metals—gold and silver.
The government is hallmarking three lakh gold articles with hallmark unique identification (HUID) every day in line with the implementation of the mandatory hallmarking norms.

Source : The Hindu

5. PUSA KRISHI VIGYAN MELA

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry has said that more than forty thousand farmers across the country benefited from the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela held from 9th to 11th of March.

About:

The mela has been organised by Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) on the theme 'Self-reliant farmer with technical knowledge' in New Delhi.
During the festival, IARI gave live exhibitions on drone technology, precision farming, wheat varieties, fruits, vegetables, flowers, different agricultural models and farmer advisory services to them.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), commonly known as the Pusa Institute, is India's national Institute for agricultural research, education and extension.
The name Pusa Institute is derived from the fact that the institute was originally located in Pusa Bihar as the Imperial Institute of Agricultural Research in 1911.
It was then renamed as the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute in 1919 and following a major earthquake in Pusa, it was relocated to Delhi in 1936.
The current institute in Delhi is financed and administered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The IARI was responsible for the research leading to the "Green Revolution in India" of the 1970s.

Source : All India Radio

6. REGISTERED VEHICLE SCRAPPING FACILITY (RVSF)

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued the draft notification, dated 10th March 2022 pertaining to Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility Amendment) Rules, 2022.

About:

These are amendments to the Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules dated 23rd September 2021 ,which lay down the procedure for establishment of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF).
Some of the key highlights of the amendments are:
- All applications for vehicle scrapping shall be submitted digitally.
- Necessary checks to be done from "Vahan " database before submission of application by vehicle owner have been specified.
- Introduction of undertakings by vehicle owner and RVSF operators at the time of vehicle submission to ensure that there is transparency in the responsibility of the vehicle before and after submission for scrapping
- Inclusion of more details in the Certificate of Deposit pertaining to the vehicle submitted for scrapping to enable transparency in trading of the said certificate.
- Introduction of Transfer Certificate of Deposit to ensure that consumers obtaining the certificate of deposit through electronic trading have a digital proof of the transaction.

Source : PIB

7. INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION CENTRE, HYDERABAD

Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana laid the foundation stone for Arbitration centre in Hyderabad.

About:

He said that the Hyderabad International Arbitration and Mediation Centre will emerge as one of the major arbitration centres in the world on a par with international ones in London, Dubai, and Singapore within a year.
It was proposed by the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre Trust.
The international arbitration centre is already functional in Hyderabad. The centre was inaugurated two months ago at a rented accommodation at Nanakramguda.

Source : The Hindu

8. MATERNAL MORTALITY RATIO (MMR)

Kerala has yet again emerged on top in maternal and child health, recording the lowest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 30 (per one lakh live births) in the country.

About:

According to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) special bulletin on maternal mortality in India (2017-19), brought out by the office of the Registrar General of India, Kerala’s MMR has dropped by 12 points.
The last SRS bulletin (2015-17) had put the State’s MMR at 42 (later adjusting it to 43).
This puts Kerala way ahead of the national MMR of 103. Another State which has made significant gains is Maharashtra, whose MMR dipped from 55 to 38.

Source : The Hindu

9. EPFO INTEREST RATE

Union Minister for Labour & Employment announced the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) interest rate for the year 2021-2022 after chairing the two-day long meeting of the 230th Central Board of Trustees (CBT) at Guwahati.

About:

The return on workers’ retirement savings parked with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been slashed to 8.1% for 2021-22 from the 8.5% rate credited to members’ accounts in the past two years.
The last time the EPF savings were paid an annual return this low was in 1977-78, when the rate was 8%, but that marked the highest EPF rate at the time since the EPFO’s inception in 1952.
Since then, the EPF rate has been lower than 8.5% in three years — 1979-80, 1980-81 and 2011-12 — when an 8.25% return was paid on balances.
The rate will have to be ratified by the Finance Ministry before it is notified and credited to members’ accounts.
The cut in the EPF rate, at a time when inflation is resurging, attracted criticism from the central trade union representatives on the Board who called for the 8.5% return to be retained.

Source : The Hindu

10. SYLLIPSIMOPODI BIDENI

For the roughly 300 known octopus species dwelling in the world's oceans, having eight arms is a defining characteristic. But that is not the way it started.

About:

Scientists said a fossil unearthed in central Montana of a species named Syllipsimopodi bideni represents the oldest-known relative of today's octopuses and boasts 10 arms, with two being twice as long as the other eight.
The fossil, so well preserved that it reveals two parallel rows of suckers up and down each arm, dates to about 328 million years ago.
Syllipsimopodi, about 4-3/4 inches (12 cm) long, had a torpedo-shaped body and squid-like appearance though it was not closely related to squids, which appeared much later.
It also is the oldest-known creature with suckers, which enable the arms to better grasp prey and other objects.
Syllipsimopodi pushes back by 82 million years the origins of a group called vampyropods that includes today's octopuses.
Syllipsimopodi represents the only member of the octopus lineage with 10 arms, meaning two were lost in later evolution. There are numerous similar examples in the history of life on Earth – such as the reduction in the number of digits seen in meat-eating dinosaurs or horses.

Source : The Hindu

13 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

12 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

14 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

Categories

Latest Affair