1.NATIONAL DIGITAL HEALTH MISSION (NDHM)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).

About:

• On 15th Aug 2020, during his Independence Day address, Prime Minister had announced the launch of NDHM.
• Since then, the digital modules and registries have been developed and the mission has been rolled out in six Union Territories. So far, nearly 11.9 lakh Health IDs have been generated and 3106 doctors and 1490 facilities have registered on the platform.
• It has been envisaged that Unified Health Interface (UHI) - an open and interoperable IT network for digital health should soon be rolled out. This interface shall enable public and private solutions and apps to plug in and be a part of National Digital Health Ecosystem.
• During the meeting, the concept of UPI e-Voucher developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) was also discussed. This digital payment option will enable financial transactions linked to specific purpose which can be used only by the intended user.

Source : The Hindu

2.LAURENCE DES CARS

Art historian and curator Laurence des Cars has become the first woman to be appointed the president of Louvre in its 228-year history.

About:

• Louvre is the world’s largest art museum, based in Paris. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine.
• It is best known for being the home of the Mona Lisa, a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.
• Between 2007 and 2014, Des Cars was one of the leading figures who set up the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the capital of the UAE. 

Source : Indian Express

3.SeHAT OPD portal

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh launched ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal through video conferencing on May 27, 2021.

About:

• The portal provides tele-medicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families. The services can be availed by registering on the website https://sehatopd.in/.
• This is the final version of the SeHAT OPD portal with advanced safety features. The trial version was made functional in August 2020.
• Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and Centre for Development of Artificial Computing (C-DAC) Mohali are involved in the development of the portal.
• The portal will help reduce the load on hospitals and patients will be able to get contactless consultations in an easy and effective manner. 

Source : The Hindu

4.NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM)

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually participated in a meeting with Ministers of Health of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries.

About:

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
• After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
• Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was established in 1961 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia through an initiative of the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, Indonesian President Sukarno, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
• Its Coordinating Bureau, also based at the UN, is located in New York. 

Source : PIB

5.INTERNATIONAL ENI AWARD 2020

Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award.

About:

• The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems, including graphene, boron-nitrogen-carbon hybrid materials, and molybdenum sulfide (Molybdenite - MoS2) for energy applications and green hydrogen production.
• The Eni Awards 2020 will be presented on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, attended by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
• The award, which has become internationally recognized over the years in the field of energy and environmental research, aims to promote better use of energy sources and encourage new generations of researchers in their work.
• This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
• It includes a cash prize and a specially minted gold medal. 

Source : The Hindu

6.CURRENCY SWAP

Bangladesh’s central bank has approved a $200 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka, , which will help Colombo tide over its foreign exchange crisis.

About:

• A currency swap is effectively a loan that Bangladesh will give to Sri Lanka in dollars, with an agreement that the debt will be repaid with interest in Sri Lankan rupees. For Sri Lanka, this is cheaper than borrowing from the market, and a lifeline as is it struggles to maintain adequate forex reserves even as repayment of its external debts looms. The period of the currency swap will be specified in the agreement.
• This may be the first time that Bangladesh is extending a helping hand to another country, so this is a landmark of sorts.
• It is also the first time that Sri Lanka is borrowing from a SAARC country other than India.

Why didn’t Sri Lanka approach India, the biggest economy in the region?

• India-Sri Lanka relations have been tense over Colombo’s decision to cancel a valued container terminal project at Colombo Port.
• Last July, the Reserve Bank of India did extend a $400 million credit swap facility to Sri Lanka, which Central Bank of Sri Lanka settled in February. The arrangement was not extended. 

Important Info :

• RBI has a framework under which it can offer credit swap facilities to SAARC countries within an overall corpus of $2 billion. the SAARC currency swap facility came into operation in November 2012.

Source : Indian Express

7.SWITZERLAND - EUROPEAN UNION TIES

Switzerland said goodbye to years of negotiations with the European Union over a proposed overarching agreement that would have upgraded its relations with the bloc – which are currently governed by a patchwork of more than 120 bilateral deals.

About:

• The talks failed after the two sides could not agree over issues such as full access for EU citizens to the Swiss labour market, and the collapse is expected to hamper future ties as the multiple existing agreements become outdated or lapse.
• Switzerland is the EU’s fourth-largest trading partner, and is surrounded by EU countries.
• Relations between the two partners rest on the foundation of over 120 separate treaties, something which has frustrated the EU for a long time. Unlike the UK, Switzerland has access to the EU single market and maintains open borders.
• For years, the EU had been pushing for an “institutional framework agreement” with Switzerland, suggesting that the lack of an overarching agreement could also hamper cooperation in the labour market, the health sector, education and research.

Important Info :

• Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
• It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably not part of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the Eurozone. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties.

Source : Indian Express

8.GOLDEN VISA SYSTEM

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt received his golden visa from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.

About:

• In 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented a new system for long-term residence visas, thereby enabling foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE without the need of a national sponsor and with 100 per cent ownership of their business.
• The Golden Visa system essentially offers long-term residency (5 and 10 years) to people belonging to the following groups: investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with outstanding talents the likes of researchers, medical professionals and those within the scientific and knowledge fields, and remarkable students.
• The main benefit of the visa will be security as through the issuance of the Golden Visa, the UAE government has made it clear that they are committed to providing expatriates, investors and essentially everyone looking to make the UAE their home an extra reason to feel secure about their future. 

Source : Indian Express

9.INDIAN BROADCASTING FOUNDATION (IBF)

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the apex body of broadcasters, is expanding its purview to cover digital streaming platforms and will be renamed the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF).

About:

• The move would bring broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, which have seen a substantial jump in their viewership base after the pandemic, under one roof.
• For this, the IBDF was in the process of forming a new wholly-owned subsidiary to handle all matters of digital media.
• The IBDF would also form a self-regulatory body, the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC), for digital OTT platforms.

Important Info :

• The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) was founded in the year 1999.
• The IBF is the parent organisation of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) which was set up in the year 2011. The BCCC examines content-related complaints relating to all non-news general entertainment channels in India.

Source : The Hindu

10.DOMINICA

Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi has been arrested in Dominica after he was reported missing early this week from his home in Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean nation of which he has been a citizen since early 2018. Mr. Choksi, wanted for defrauding banks in India, was arrested in Dominica after an Interpol Yellow Notice was issued against him.

About:

• Dominica is an island country in the Caribbean.
• Its capital is Roseau.
• It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea.
• Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its natural environment.
• It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, and in fact it is still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world's second-largest hot spring, called Boiling Lake.
• The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Non-Aligned Movement. 

Source : The Hindu