DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 03 December 2021
Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021
- The Lok Sabha has passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021.
- The Government had been working on the bill to regulate the ART industry since 2008 when it was first drafted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
- The bill was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 2020 but the House had referred it to a standing committee.
- The bill has excluded live-in couples, single men, and the LGBTQ community.
- It seeks to regulate and supervise Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics and ART banks, prevent misuse, adopt safe and ethical practice and so on.
Global Gateway Plan
- The European Commission has announced a plan, called Global Gateway, to mobilize EURO 300 billion by 2027 in public and private infrastructure investment around the world. Experts believe it to be a response to China’s Belt and Road strategy.
- With Global Gateway, the EU, in a Team Europe approach, will offer its partners a response to the urgent needs such as:
- To develop sustainable and high quality digital, climate and energy and transport infrastructures.
- Strengthen health, education, and research systems across the world.
World AIDS Day 2021
- World AIDS Day is observed on 1st December every year all over the world to spread awareness about the disease and remember all those who lost their lives to it.
- It was founded in 1988 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and was the first ever global health day with a motto of raising public awareness about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
- AIDS is a pandemic disease caused by the infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which damages the human immune system.
- There were an estimated 37.7 million people living with HIV at the end of 2020, over two thirds of whom (25.4 million) are in the African Region.
- Theme for 2021: ‘End inequalities. End AIDS’.
Cyclone Jawad
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting today to review the preparedness of States and Central Ministries & concerned agencies to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad.
- Prime Minister directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as Power, Telecommunications, health, drinking water etc. and that they are restored immediately in the event of any disruption. He further directed them to ensure adequate storage of essential medicines & supplies and to plan for unhindered movement. He also directed for 24*7 functioning of control rooms.
- India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that low pressure region in the Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into Cyclone Jawad and is expected to reach coast of North Andhra Pradesh – Odisha around morning of Saturday 4th December 2021, with the wind speed ranging upto 100 kmph. It is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha & W.Bengal. IMD has been issuing regular bulletins with the latest forecast to all the concerned States.
- Cabinet Secretary has reviewed the situation and preparedness with Chief Secretaries of all the Coastal States and Central Ministries/ Agencies concerned.
- Ministry of Home Affairs is reviewing the situation 24*7 and is in touch with the State Governments/ UTs and the Central Agencies concerned. MHA has already released the first instalment of SDRF in advance to all States. NDRF has pre-positioned 29 teams which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments etc. in the States and has kept 33 teams on standby.
- Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search, and rescue operations. Air Force and Engineer task force units of Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment. Surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out serial surveillance along the coast. Disaster Relief teams and Medical Teams are standby at locations along the eastern coast.
AMRUT 2.0 & SBM 2.0 Target to be Achieved
- The salient features of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0, launched on 01st October 2021, are:
- (i) all households and premises segregate their waste into “wet waste” (from kitchen and gardens) and “dry waste” (including paper, glass, plastic, and domestic hazardous waste and sanitary waste wrapped separately);
- (ii) 100% door to door collection of segregated waste from each household/ premise.
- (iii) 100% scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills.
- (iv) all legacy dumpsites remediated.
- (v) all used water including fecal sludge, is safely contained, transported, processed, and disposed so that no untreated fecal sludge and used water pollutes the ground or water bodies, in cities with less than one lakh population.
- (vi) phased reduction in use of single use plastic.
- The salient features of AMRUT 2.0, launched on 01st October 2021, are:
- (i) Universal coverage of water supply from 500 cities to about 4,800 statutory towns.
- (ii) Focus on making the cities ‘self-reliant’ and ‘water secure’.
- (iii) Universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities.
- (iv) Target to provide 2.68 Crore tap connections and 2.64 Crore sewer connections.
- (v) Focus on financial sustainability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) through enhanced credit worthiness and market borrowing.
- (vi) ‘Pey Jal Sarvekshan’ will be undertaken in cities to promote healthy competition among them and function as monitoring tool and Mission accelerator.
- (vii) Technology sub-Mission under AMRUT 2.0 will help in identifying proven and potential global technologies in water sector.
- (viii) Entrepreneurship/ start-ups involved in low-cost indigenous equipments, and processes will be encouraged.
Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India (SPPEL)
- The policy of the Government is to promote all Indian Languages including endangered languages. The Government of India has initiated a Scheme known as “Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India” (SPPEL). Under this Scheme, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore works on protection, preservation, and documentation of all the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 people which are called endangered languages. In the first phase of the scheme, 117 endangered languages/mother tongues have been chosen from all over India for study and documentation on a priority basis.
- The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also initiated two schemes for protection of endangered languages, namely ‘Funding Support to the State Universities for Study and Research in Indigenous and Endangered languages in India’ and ‘Establishment of Centres for Endangered Languages in Central Universities’.
- An amount of Rs.45.89 crores released by the UGC and CIIL under their schemes for protection of endangered Indian languages during the years 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Madagascar Food Crisis
- A new study has found that Madagascar’s current food crisis has been caused mainly by factors other than global warming, contradicting a recent UN report which blamed it on climate change.
- The report, by a group of international scientists, published by World Weather Attribution, blamed poverty and weather conditions that were only minimally affected by global warming. It said, in two consecutive seasons in southern Madagascar, rainfall had been 40 per cent below average, causing severe drought and crop failures.
- Last month, the UN World Food Programme declared that Madagascar was the first country experiencing famine-like conditions as result of climate change. More than 90 per cent of people in southern Madagascar live in poverty and farmers rely on each season’s rain.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Which Artificial Reproductive Technique can help a lady conceive a child if her fallopian tubes are blocked?
- SUZI
- IVF
- ZIFT
- GIFT
ANSWER: B
- What is the expansion for MTP?
- Medical Termination of Parturition
- Mechanical Transfer of Pollen
- Medical Termination of Pregnancy
- Maternally Transmitted Pathogens
ANSWER: C
- Amniocentesis is a process used to
- Growing cells on culture media
- Know about brain disease
- Determine mutations
- Determine a disease of the embryo
ANSWER: D
- Which part of the female reproductive system remains blocked after tubectomy?
- Fallopian tube
- Cervix
- Uterine cavity
- None
ANSWER: A
- By which name is family planning currently known?
- Reproductive and childcare
- Family and childcare
- Reproductive and child health
- Reproductive and child health care
ANSWER: D
- What problems in reproductive health care require a doctor’s help?
- STDs
- Conception, parturition, and abortion
- Contraception, infertility, menstruation problem
- All
ANSWER: D
- The programs to get total reproductive health as a social goal of national level are called
- Family organisation
- Family planning
- Family care
- Reproductive care
ANSWER: B
- Which technique is used to detect AIDS?
- Northern blot and ELISA
- Immunoblot and ELISA
- Western blot and ELISA
- Southern blot and ELISA
ANSWER: C
- The World Health Day is celebrated on
- 1st March
- 7th April
- 6th October
- 10th December
ANSWER: B
- Cleanliness, physical exercise, rest and sleep are a part of
- Hygiene
- Social hygiene
- Personal hygiene
- None of the above
ANSWER: C
ALSO READ:
