December 28th, 2020, PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Medicinal Plants Board
2. Blue Flag
3. Country’s First Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine
4. Giant Rock Bee Honey
5. Kisan Rail

1. National Medicinal Plants Board

Context:

National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) launches Consortia for Medicinal Plants.

Details:

• The Ministry of AYUSH has launched consortia for medicinal plants, envisaging the necessity of connectivity between stakeholders in the supply chain and value chain of medicinal plants.
• NMPB Consortia will address/deliberate on quality planting material, R&D, cultivation, trade of medicinal plants/market linkage, etc.
• To establish the linkage between the farmers and manufacturers, a ‘Seed to Shelf’ approach is being introduced, wherein, aspects related to Quality Planting Materials (QPM), Good Agriculture Practices (GAPs), Good Post Harvest Practices (GPHPs) would be addressed.
• The first phase of the Consortia will cover the following species of medicinal plants:
  • Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
  • Pippali (Piper longum)
  • Aonla (Phyllanthus emblica)
  • Guggulu (Commiphora wightii)
  • Satavari (Asparagus racemosus)

Read more about the National Medicinal Plants Board in the linked article.

2. Blue Flag

Context:

International Blue Flag hoisted at 8 beaches across the country.

Read more about 8 Indian beaches getting the international blue flag certification in PIB dated Oct 11, 2020.

3. Country’s First Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine

Context:

Union Health Minister inaugurates the country’s first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV).

Details:

• The vaccine “Pneumosil” has been developed by the Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SIIPL) in collaboration with partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • SIIPL is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by number of doses.
• Pneumosil has been extensively evaluated in 5 randomized controlled clinical trials and has demonstrated comparable safety and immunogenicity against licensed pneumococcal vaccines across diverse populations of India and Africa, where Pneumosil was administered to adults, toddlers and infants using different vaccination schedules.
• The vaccine has been licensed by the Drugs Controller General (India) in July 2020 after approval from Subject Expert Committee (SEC).

4. Giant Rock Bee Honey

Context:

Giant Rock Bee Honey added to the Tribes India collection.

About Giant Rock Bee Honey:

• It is a natural, fresh, organic produce from the Malayali tribes of Tamil Nadu.

About Malayali Tribe:

• Malayali is a tribal group from the Eastern Ghats in North Tamil Nadu.
• With a population of around 3,58,000, they are the largest Scheduled Tribe in that region.
• The tribespeople are usually hill farmers and they cultivate different types of millet.

Also read: Tribes India e-Marketplace

5. Kisan Rail

Context:

PM flags off 100^th Kisan Rail.

Read more about Kisan Rail in PIB dated Dec 26, 2020.

Read previous PIB here.

December 28th, 2020, PIB:- Download PDF Here