24 October 2019: PIB Summary & Analysis

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October 24th, 2019 PIB:- Download PDF Here

New Arrangements Made By Election Commission of India

Context:

New arrangements made by the Election Commission of India for prompt and accurate dissemination of results of Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections and bye-elections to 51 ACs.

Details:

• In a first, the EC has deployed an integrated ICT counting application which gives freedom to Returning Officers spread across the country to directly compute and enter the result data on the ECI’s new counting application.
• This application allows the Returning Officers to enter table-wise data in the software, thereby considerably reducing the time and makes the results and trends data error-free.
• The counting software developed by the IT team of the ECI called ENCORE (Enabling Communications on Real-time Environment) allows generation of various types of statutory reports during counting process which are mandatory for Returning Officers.
• The Returning Officer can download these system-generated reports after the counting is over and complete the statutory requirements in a hassle-free environment.

Election Trends TV:

• For the first time, the Election Commission of India has launched Election Trends TV, on which the graphically-rich micro-details of trends and results are published in real-time.
• As and when the counting data of each round is entered after officially been declared by the Returning Officers, the data is displayed on the Election Trends TV, without any manual intervention using advanced secure technologies.
• These panels can be customized and configured, for displaying automatically in public places using large TV Panels by Returning Officers & Chief Electoral Officers.
• The ECI also has an App called ‘Voter Helpline App’ through which the user can bookmark their favourite candidate and closely follow the results in a comprehensive manner.

Open General Export Licences

Context:

The Defence Minister approves two Open General Export Licences (OGEL) in a major push for defence exports.

Details:

• The OGEL is a one-time export licence to be granted to a company for a specific period (two years initially).
• The current OGEL have been approved for the export of certain parts and components and intra-company transfer of technology to select countries.
• It is expected to give a boost to defence exports and enhance ease of doing business.
• The application for grant of OGEL will be considered by the Department of Defence Production (DPP) on a case-to-case basis.
• The countries allowed under the OGELs are: Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland and Mexico.
• For acquiring the licences, the applicant is mandatory to have Import-Export certificate. The quarterly & end of the year reports on all the transactions done under OGELs should be submitted to DPP for examination and post-export verification.
• The items permitted under OGEL include components of ammunition & fuse setting device without energetic and explosive material; firing control & related alerting and warning equipment & related system; and body protective items.
• Complete aircraft or complete unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and any components specially designed or modified for UAVs are excluded under this licence.
• The transfer of technology to the countries is subject to the condition that the export is an intra-company transfer from an Indian subsidiary (applicant exporter) to its foreign parent company and/or to subsidiaries of the foreign parent company.

Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture

Context:

New World Bank Project to Support Climate Resilient Agriculture for 125,000 Smallholder Farmers in Odisha.

Details:

• The Government of India, the state Government of Odisha and the World Bank signed a US$165 million loan agreement to support smallholder farmers in strengthening the resilience of their production systems as well as diversifying and improving the marketing of their produce, for increased income.
• The will be implemented in rural areas vulnerable to droughts and largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
• The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against adverse climate by improving access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies, diversifying towards more climate-resilient crops, and improving access to better water management and irrigation services.
• The project will support the rehabilitation of 532 water tanks; promote productivity improvements at the farm level; support farmers to reduce the current emphasis on food grains (especially paddy and wheat) and increase the share of high-value and more nutritious products like fruits and vegetables; and provide marketing support to farmers who are able to generate a marketable surplus.
• The project will also support aquaculture in rehabilitated tanks, help farmers to access affordable and quality fingerlings, and disseminate improved aquaculture practices and post-harvest management.

Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018)

Context:

The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs releases the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s (BPRD) flagship publication Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018).

About the Data on Police Organizations:

• The Data on Police Organisation in India is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs.
• This publication has proved very useful for various policy analyses and resource allocation decisions at both the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the State level. The publication is also widely cited in several researches on police topics.
• The Data intends to present to all the stakeholders in the criminal justice system in general and police officials in particular, such basic information and vital statistics that will give insights into the police administration all over India.
• The Data on Police Organizations is an annual report.

Highlights of the DoPO 2018:

• Since 2017, there has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs.
• There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which pushed up the total number of women personnel in the State Police Forces to 1,69,550. It brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%.
• During this period, 1,24,429 Police personnel were recruited in the different ranks.
• An increase of 20.41% is noticed in the training expenditure on Police personnel during this period.
• The overall Police Population Ratio (PPR) at the state level stood at 95 policemen per lakh population, which shows marginal increase.
  • Point to note here is that the UN-mandated number is 222 policemen per lakh population.
• During this period, about 20,149 family quarters of different types were constructed for police personnel.
• Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.
• Electronic surveillance has improved, as there has been an addition of 2,10,278 CCTV Cameras. Now this number, as per the latest count, is 2,75,468.

About the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD):

• The BPRD was established by the GOI in 1970 with the primary objective of modernising the police force in the country.
• It functions as a consultancy organisation with four divisions:
  • Research
  • Development
  • Training
  • Correctional Administration
• It works under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Objectives of the BPRD:
  • To take direct and active interest in the issues
  • To promote a speedy and systematic study of the police problems
  • To apply science and technology in the methods and techniques used by police

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

Context:

58^th Raising Day of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was held.

About the ITBP:

• Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was raised on 24 October, 1962 in the wake of Chinese aggression on Indo-China border.
• Every year, this day is celebrated as the raising/ foundation day of the force to commemorate the valour and achievements of the ITBP and to boost the morale of the force personnel.
• The ITBP was initially raised for reorganizing the frontier intelligence, preventing illegal intrusion & smuggling and security set up along the Indo-Tibetan border as a guerrilla force.
• Consequent upon the expansion of the Force, the ITBP was also entrusted with the additional tasks from time to time in addition to border security duty, counter-insurgency duty and internal security duties.
• ITBP is a specialized mountain force and most of the officers and men are professionally trained mountaineers and skiers.
• Being the first responder for natural disaster, the force has been carrying out numerous rescue and relief operations across the country.

Guidelines for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India

Context:

Guidelines Released for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India

Details:

• The guidelines are for delineating quality, safety and efficacy assessment of nanoformulations.
• They are intended to provide transparent, consistent and predictable regulatory pathways for nanopharmaceuticals in India.
• The guidelines apply to the nanopharmaceuticals in the form of finished formulation as well as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) of a new molecule or an already approved molecule with altered nanoscale dimensions.
• They also apply to properties or phenomenon associated with the application of nanotechnology intended to be used for treatment, in vivo diagnosis, mitigation, cure or prevention of diseases and disorders in humans.
• The guidelines would facilitate translational research in line with regulatory requirements.
• Guidelines will also facilitate the decision making by regulator during clearances to newer products based on nanotechnology and similarly to researchers to get clearance for their products to launch in market.
• The Guidelines are developed by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

About nanopharmacueticals:

• Nanocarrier based targeted drug delivery is an emerging field with the introduction of nanopharmaceuticals in the market.
• These nanoformulations have higher efficacy, lower toxicity and are safer than conventional drugs.
• Nanopharmaceuticals offer the ability to detect diseases at much earlier stages and the diagnostic applications could build upon conventional procedures using nanoparticles.
• Nanopharmaceuticals represent an emerging field where the sizes of the drug particle or a therapeutic delivery system work at the nanoscale.
• In the pharmaceutical industry, a long-standing issue is the difficulty of delivering the appropriate dose of a particular active agent to specific disease site. Nanopharmaceuticals have enormous potential in addressing this failure of traditional therapeutics which offers site-specific targeting of active agents.
• What is nanomedicine?
  • Nanomedicine is a branch of medicine that applies the knowledge and tools of nanotechnology to the prevention and treatment of disease.

Global Bio-India 2019 Summit

Context:

The Global Bio-India 2019, one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders’ congregations will be held for the first time in India in New Delhi in November 2019.

About the Global Bio-India 2019:

• It is a mega international congregation of biotechnology stakeholders.
• The purpose of the summit is to attract investments, showcase the country’s indigenous strengths and aspirations in the domain of biotechnology.
• It is being conducted by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT, Ministry of Science & Technology, GOI) and BIRAC.
  • Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit enterprise set up by the DBT as an interface agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.

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