International Nurse Day, Atal Pension Yojana(APY), Gandhi Peace Prize, Smart City
1. International Nurses Day- 12th May
“Without nurses and other health workers, we will not win the battle against epidemic outbreaks”: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
- “International Day of the Nurse is a special day to express gratitude to the phenomenal nurses working round the clock to keep our planet healthy.
- Presently, they are doing great work towards defeating COVID-19.
- We are extremely grateful to the nurses and their families.
2. Aadhar linking of ration cards
- It is highlighted that the Department has started the implementation of National / Inter-State Portability of NFSA ration card holders under “One Nation One Ration Card” plan as part of a central sector scheme on ‘Integrated Management of Public Distribution System’ to protect the interest of poor and migratory beneficiaries.
The timeline given to all States/UTs, under the Aadhaar notification of the Department of Food and Public Distribution dated 07.02.2017 (as amended from time-to-time) to complete the seeding of Aadhaar numbers with all ration cards/beneficiaries, has been extended up to 30/09/2020 by the Department.
Until then, Department has issued clear instructions to all States/UTs vide letters dated 24.10.2017 and 08.11.2018 that no genuine beneficiary/household shall be denied from entitled quota of food grains, or their names/ration cards shall not be deleted/cancelled only on the ground of not possessing an Aadhaar number.
Further, instructions are also issued that food grains under NFSA shall not be denied due to failure of biometric / Aadhaar authentication of beneficiary because of poor biometrics of the beneficiary, issues with network/connectivity/linking or any other technical reasons.
During the current crisis situation, a pragmatic approach is needed so that no poor or deserving person or family is denied access to food grains. In due course linking of Aadhar to the ration card and beneficiaries will ensure that no person entitled to such ration is denied such access.
3. Gandhi Peace Prize
- Gandhi Peace Prize annual award given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
- The award carries ₹ 1 Crore (10 million) in cash, convertible in any currency in the world, a plaque and a citation.
- It is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, creed or gender.
- The Government of India launched the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi.
A jury consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and one other eminent persons decides the awardee each year.
4. ATAL PENSION YOJANA (APY) – Completion of 5 years
- The flagship social security scheme of Government of India ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) has completed five years of successful implementation.
- Launched on 9th May 2015 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with an objective of delivering old age income security particularly to the workers in the unorganised sector and Government providing guarantee of minimum pension after 60 years of age, the scheme even after garnering 2.23 crores workers under the ambit of pension still remains unequivocally relevant for addressing the challenges of rapidly increasing aging population of India.
- Apart from remarkable enrolments, the scheme has been implemented comprehensively across the country covering all states and Union Territories with male to female subscription ratio of 57:43.
- APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account and its uniqueness is attributable to three distinctive benefits.
- First, it provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age, Secondly the amount of pension is guaranteed for lifetime to spouse on death of the subscriber and lastly, in the event of death of both the subscriber and the spouse, entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.
Note: Shri SupratimBandyopadhyay, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), which administers Atal Pension Yojana, said ‘this feat of bringing in the most vulnerable sections of the society under the coverage of pension was possible only with the untiring efforts of Public & Private Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Payments Banks, Small Finance Banks, Department of Posts and the support extended by the State Level Bankers’ Committees’.
5. Dehradun Smart City
- Dehradun Smart City has developed a computer application named “Essential Service Lock down pass”.
- If any citizen wants any emergency services during the lockdown they can apply for the pass, get it approved and then can leave their home and use the District level/City Level Emergency.
- Dehradun Smart City Limited (DSCL) has utilized the Integrated Command and Control Centre for monitoring and surveillance activities in the fight against Covid-19.
- Dehradun Smart City Limited has introduced the process of monitoring the quarantine wards at the hospitals through Dehradun Integrated Command and Control Centre.
- DSCL has already set up CCTVs at Doon, Coronation, Gandhi Shatabdi and Subharti hospitals, and Taqgene hotel with the primary objective of providing 24×7 security using CCTV surveillance system and the video feed of the same AI based Face Recognition at Isolation/Quarantine location would be stored at ICCC.
Public Awareness Campaigns:
- Dehradun Smart City is spreading awareness regarding the lockdown and the services that has been provided by the Municipal Corporation and all other Government services.
The city is also motivating people though its various social media e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp group to spread awareness among all the projects of DSCL.
Awareness through VMDs:
- COVID-19 awareness message is being published for citizens on Variable Messaging Displays (VMDs) placed at Critical Junctions of the City.
- Display of Emergency Numbers – Police, Health and other important departments is being done on VMDs.
6. 'Nishank' launches Central University of Odisha Helpline "Bharosa"
- To relieve the distress of student community during the troubled time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched Central University of Odisha Helpline “Bharosa” and its Helpline Number 08046801010 through a virtual platform today in New Delhi.
- The helpline aims at providing Cognitive Emotional Rehabilitation Services to all University Students of Odisha.
- He asserted that the mental health concern of the students is of great importance and the Helpline launched by the Central University of Odisha is a great step towards that.
He also urged the Central and State Universities and other Institutions of Higher Education across the country to emulate the Bharosa initiative.
7. Real Time Quantitative Micro PCR System
- Technology Centres, Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Kolkata of the Ministry of MSME are now manufacturing critical parts of Real Time Quantitative Micro PCR System for AMTZ, Vishakhapatnam.
- This machine can give COVID 19 test results in less than 1 hour (normal test result takes minimum 24 hours) and has been designed by a private MSME enterprise.
- These machines are compact and may be taken for testing Anywhere, Anytime, Real-time.
- The Technology Centers set up by the Ministry of MSME play a crucial role in providing practical skill development training to more than to 2 lakh youth and industry workforce every year.
The technology centres have been active in the present COVID crisis working on supporting the manufacture of medical equipment, PPE, mask, sanitiser etc.
The Objectives of MSME Technology Centres are:
- To impart long-term and short-term training to youngsters in the field of Tool & Die making course with the latest technologies (and other allied Engineering trades) both for fresher’s and personnel already engaged in this field.
- To provide Consultancy Services primarily to MSME Units in the field of Tool Engineering aimed at improving the productivity of the MSME Units.
- To provides common facility services in precision machining / heat treatment and other technical engineering know-how in tooling to MSME in the Country.
- To design and manufacture Moulds, Tools, Dies, Jigs, Fixtures, etc. of high precision quality.
8. CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru develop BiPAP Non Invasive Ventilator “SwasthVayu” in 36 Days for COVID -19.
- BiPAP Non-Invasive ventilator is a microcontroller-based precise closed-loop adaptive control system with a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold & coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air Filter).
- These unique features help to alleviate the fear of the virus spread.
- It has features like Spontaneous, CPAP, Timed, AUTO BIPAP modes with provision to connect Oxygen concentrator or Enrichment unit externally.
- The system has been certified for safety and performance by NABL accredited agencies.
The system has undergone stringent biomedical tests and beta clinical trials at NAL Health Centre.
- The major advantage of this machine is that it is simple to use without any specialized nursing, cost effective, compact and configured with majority of indigenous components.
