30 October 2019: PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam.

October 30th, 2019 PIB:- Download PDF Here

Combating TB

Context:

Vice President calls for developing new and long-lasting vaccine to combat TB.

Details:

• The VP Shri Venkaiah Naidu has called for developing a new and long-lasting vaccine to combat Tuberculosis, which was one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide in 2018.
• He was inaugurating the 50^th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad.
• The international conference was organised by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. It is a non-profit, non-governmental voluntary organization founded in 1920. Its members, organizations and individuals throughout the world, are dedicated to the prevention and control of tuberculosis and lung disease, to disseminating information about the hazards of smoking and to the promotion of overall community health.

About TB:

• Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.
• TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
• Latent TB: In this condition, you have a TB infection, but the bacteria remain in your body in an inactive state and cause no symptoms. Latent TB, also called inactive TB or TB infection, isn’t contagious. It can turn into active TB, so treatment is important for the person with latent TB and to help control the spread of TB. About one-third of the world’s population has latent TB.
• Active TB: This condition makes you sick and in most cases can spread to others. It can occur in the first few weeks after infection with the TB bacteria, or it might occur years later.
  • Symptoms of Active TB:
    • Coughing that lasts three or more weeks
    • Coughing up blood
    • Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing
    • Unintentional weight loss
    • Fatigue
    • Fever
    • Night sweats
    • Chills
    • Loss of appetite

Also read: National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination

“Run For Unity” all over the country on the Birth Anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Ek Lakshya – Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat

Context:

Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary is being observed in India on 31^st October.

Details:

• Tributes will be paid to the “Iron Man of India” led by the Prime Minister at the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Kevadiya, Gujarat.
• Since 2014, October 31^st is observed as National Unity Day and people from all walks of life participate in the Run For Unity.

Read more on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the linked article.

Invest India Special Desk for North East States

Context:

The Union Minister of Commerce has announced the formation of the Invest India Special Desk for North East States.

About the Invest India Special Desk for North East States:

• This will be a dedicated desk for the states of the North East Region that will look into investment targeting, promotion of investments for the North East States, facilitation of investments and development of websites for the States of the North East Region of India.

PFRDA permitted now Overseas Citizen of India to enroll in NPS at par with Non-Resident Indians

Context:

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension Scheme (NPS) at par with Non-Resident Indians.

Details:

• The Department of Economic Affairs has specified that an OCI may subscribe to the National Pension System governed and administered by PFRDA, provided such person is eligible to invest as per the provisions of the PFRDA Act and the annuity/accumulated saving will be repatriable, subject to FEMA guidelines.
• Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65 years.

About Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA):

• It is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
• It is the pension regulator of India which was established by the Government of India on 23 August 2003.
• It was authorised by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.

United to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis

Context:

The Union Health Minister inaugurates National Symposium on the theme ‘United to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis’.

Details:

• On the occasion, the minister signed the ‘Call to Action to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis by 2021’.
• Since the launch of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) by the World Health Organization in 2000, endemic countries across the world including India have adopted a twin pillar strategy:
  • Prevention through Mass Drug Administration (MDA) using combination of 2 anti-filarial drugs (DEC and Albendazole)
  • Providing Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention (MMDP) services to those affected by the disease
• The Government launched the Accelerated Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (APELF) in 2018.
  • As per this plan, over 4 billion treatments have been availed by over 630 million target population in endemic districts.
  • India has made steady progress in this regard by reducing the infection levels in the community below the threshold level in 96 districts, which accounts for nearly 37% of the total districts.
  • The remaining 160 districts pose a challenge.
  • Actual consumption of medicines remains low due to low awareness about the benefits of medicines at the community-level leading to non-adherence to treatment.

To know more about Lymphatic Filariasis, click here.

National Health Profile, 2019

Context:

The Union Health Minister released the National Health Profile, 2019.

About the National Health Profile (NHP):

• The NHP is prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) and covers comprehensive information on demographic, socio-economic health status, health finance indicators, health infrastructure and health of human resources in the country.
• 2019 is the 14^th year the NHP is being released.
• It was released for the first time in 2005.
• A digital version of the report was also released.
• The objective of the NHP is to create a versatile database of health information and making it available to all stakeholders in the healthcare sector.
• The NHP highlights substantial health information under major indicators viz. demographic indicators (population and vital statistics), socio-economic indicators (education, employment, housing and amenities, drinking water and sanitation) and health status indicators (incidence and prevalence of common communicable and non-communicable diseases and RCH), etc.
• The health finance section provides an overview of health insurance and expenditure on health, both public and Out of Pocket Expenditure (OOP), etc.
• The section on human resources provides an overview of availability of manpower working in the health sector, while health infrastructure section provides details of medical and dental colleges, AYUSH institutes, nursing courses and paramedical courses, etc.

2^nd Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Context:

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is hosting the second Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in New Delhi. The Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the ISA.

Read more about the International Solar Alliance (ISA) here.

Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana

Context:

A two day “National Workshop on Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY)” is being conducted by the Tribal Affairs Ministry.

Read more about the Van Dhan Yojana here.

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