• Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh have exhorted Sarpaches and Gram Pradhans to ensure participation of all Gram Panchayats in the selection process of the revamped National Panchayat Awards.
• The process of inviting applications for revamped National Panchayat Awards will commence from 10th of this month. The last date for online submission of entries is 31st October this year.
• The Minister informed that the format, procedures, and categories of the National Panchayat Awards have been comprehensively revised to establish a multi-level competition to reorganize, felicitate and incentivize the best performing Panchayats at the Block, District, State, and National levels.
• Mr Singh said, to accelerate the pace of localization and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in Panchayats, the format and categories of National Panchayat Awards has been substantially modified.
• 24th April is observed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as National Panchayati Raj Day every year to celebrate the constitutional status accorded to Panchayati Ray system in the country.
• On this occasion, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been awarded the best performing Panchayats, States, and Union Territories across the country.

National Panchayat Awards

• Incentivization of Panchayats scheme is one of the central components of Centrally Sponsored scheme of revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA).
• Under this scheme, ‘National Panchayat Awards’ are given to the best performing Panchayats,including financial incentives for award winning Panchayats, in recognition of their performances under various priority sectors/themes.
• These awards are usually given annually on 24th April, celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 which came into force with effect from 24th April, 1993.
• To nudge PRIs for a systematic planning, implementation, monitoring and accountability towards achieving LSDGs at the Panchayat level, the National Panchayat Awards have been restructured.

Incentivization of Panchayats scheme, through National Panchayat Awards aims to:

• Assess the performance of PRIs in attainment of SDGs through 9 identified themes
• Promote competitive spirit among PRIs
• Catalyze the process of ‘Localization of SDGs through PRIs’and sensitizing the PRIs about significance of attaining LSDG by 2030

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit San Francisco and Los Angeles in USA to attend the first ever in-person Ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
• Goyal will also attend the India-US Strategic Partnership Forum conference.
• India joined the IPEF and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the launch event along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and other leaders from partner countries.
• During the six-day visit, Mr. Goyal will also interact with eminent business persons, US officials, and industry leaders to fortify the partnership between the two nations and strengthen trade and economic ties.
• India and the United States enjoy a comprehensive global strategic partnership covering almost all areas of human endeavor, driven by shared democratic values, convergence of interests on a range of issues, and vibrant people-to-people contacts.
• The Ministry said, regular exchanges at the leadership level have been an integral element of the expanding bilateral engagement.
• The outcomes emerging from these visits have been instrumental in further strengthening the multifaceted ties between the two countries.

What is the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)?

• The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was launched by United States (US) President Biden in Tokyo on May 23, 2022.
• The IPEF has four pillars: Trade; supply chains; clean energy, decarbonisation and infrastructure; tax and anti-corruption.
• IPEF will have a total of 13 nations as its members.
• The grouping contains Seven of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) members, all four QUAD countries, South Koreaand New Zealand, which account for around 40% of global GDP.
• Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, three ASEAN countries considered closer to China, are not members of the IPEF.

• The Reserve Bank will soon begin a pilot project for end-to-end digitalization of Kisan Credit Card or KCC lending.
• Stating that digitalization of rural finance is an important objective of RBI’s Fintech initiatives, the apex bank has said that the pilot project will commence in select districts of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with Union Bank of India and Federal Bank being partner banks respectively.
• Developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, the proposed digitalization of the KCC lending process is expected to make the process more efficient, and reduce costs for borrowers and the Turn Around Time – TAT significantly.
• Currently, the customers are required to visit the bank branch in person along with the proof of land ownership and other documents with the Turn Around Time from loan application to disbursement ranging from two to four weeks.
• Based on the learnings from the pilot, RBI plans to gradually expand the digitalization of KCC lending across the country.
• RBI has said that this pilot project is expected to play a pivotal role in facilitating credit flow to the unserved and underserved rural population.
• According to RBI that the project when implemented fully will have the potential to transform the rural credit delivery system.

About Kisan Credit Card:

• The scheme wasintroduced in 1998 for providing adequate and timely credit support from the banking system, under a single window with flexible and simplified procedure to the farmers for their cultivation and other needs like purchase of agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. and draw cash for their production needs.
• The scheme was further extended for the investment credit requirement of farmers viz. allied and non-farm activities in the year 2004.
• In the Budget-2018-19, government announced the extension of the facility of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to fisheries and animal husbandry farmersto help them to meet their working capital needs.

• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has topped among all Ministries and Departments in resolving Public Grievances.
• This was stated in the ranking report published by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances for the month of August 2022.
• UIDAI has been a top performer in the resolution of cases received through Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
• By the end of July this year, more than 134 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated so far for the residents. During that month more than 53 lakh Aadhaars were generated, of these, a majority were of children below the age of 18 years.
• According to the Ministry that Aadhaar saturation level among adult residents is now near universal, and the overall saturation level is 93.41 percent.
• At least 26 states and UTs have now a saturation of over 90 percent.

About the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• The Aadhaar Act 2016 has been amended by the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• Aadhaar number is a 12-digit random number issued by the UIDAI (“Authority”) to the residents of India.
• The Aadhaar number is a proof of identity, however, it does not confer any right of citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder.
• Aadhaar is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public sector delivery reforms, managing fiscal budgets, increase convenience and promote hassle-free people-centric governance.

• Himurja, the state government’s nodal agency for renewable energy programmes, has been awarded with three runners-up awards by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• It bagged the awards for installing the second highest number of solar street lights till March 31 this year, for installing the second highest small hydro power installed capacity and the highest small hydro power capacity during 2021-22.
• The awards were received by Himurja CEO Rahul Kumar at Willingdon Island Kochi, Kerala on the occasion of the eighth foundation day of the Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States.
• Himurja has so far installed 90 small hydroelectric projects with the installed capacity of 334.25 MW.

• Thirty-five industrial units in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) belt have been served a show-cause notice by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) for flouting norms.
• Several violations like having non-functional air pollution control devices and a lack of record of effluent treatment plants and the storage and disposal of hazardous waste were found at these units during a recent surprise check conducted by the board.
• Praveen Gupta, Chief Environmental Engineer, SPCB, Baddi, said the show-cause notice had been issued to the 35 units engaged in manufacturing textiles, pharmaceuticals, home appliances, etc, for various violations under Sections 41,43 and 44 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,1974, and Section 31-A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,1981.
• The BBN industrial units are already under the scanner of the National Green Tribunal for failing to adhere to the norms and for flagrantly discharging toxic effluent into the water bodies.
• The SPCB was directed to take strict action against such units and also monitor the working of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant in Baddi after laxities were found in its working.
• The Sirsa river stretch in Baddi is rated the most polluted and contaminated by the Central Pollution Control Board. Various water bodies of the BBN area drain into this river.
• Baddi also figures in the Central Pollution Control Board’s list of non-attainment cities as it does not meet the national ambient air quality standards.

• Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has announced to build of India’s first and one of the world’s largest Carbon Fibre plants at Hazira, Gujarat.
• The plants will have a capacity of 20,000 MTPA based on Acrylonitrile feedstock.
• Overall, in the Oil to Chemical segment (O2C), Ambani Ambani announced an investment of Rs 75,000 croreover the next five years to expand capacities in existing and new value chains.
• These value chains are – Polyester value chain, Vinyl chain, and New Materials. The first phase of the plant will be completed in
• The company will further integrate its composites business with Carbon Fibre to produce Carbon Fibre composites.
• Apart from other applications, Carbon Fibre composites are also used to meet the rapidly growing light-weight requirements of Mobility and Renewable Energy.
• Thus, Carbon Fibre promises to be a multi-decade growth engine for O2C, Ambani highlighted.
• Reliance has commenced its journey to becoming net carbon zero by 2035 with a set of concrete actions.

• With fears of a nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant growing, the European Union has decided to pre-emptively supply 5.5 million anti-radiation pills to be distributed among residents in the vicinity.

Radiation emergency

• These are unplanned or accidental events that create radio-nuclear hazard to humans and the environment.
• Such situations involve radiation exposure from a radioactive source and require prompt intervention to mitigate the threat.
• Dealing with such an emergency also involves the use of anti-radiation tablets.

Anti-radiation pills

• Potassium iodide (KI) tablets, or anti-radiation pills, are known to provide some protection in cases of radiation exposure.
• They contain non-radioactive iodine and can help block absorption, and subsequent concentration, of radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland.
• The thyroid gland, which uses iodine to produce hormones to regulate the body’s metabolism, has no way of telling radioactive from non-radioactive iodine. Potassium iodide (KI) tablets rely on this to achieve ‘thyroid blocking’.

• The Sri Lankan government and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a preliminary agreement for a loan of 2.9 billion dollars to support country’s economic policies with 48-month arrangement under Extended Fund Facility.
• The IMF said that Sri Lanka’s new Fund-supported programme aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.
• It also safeguarding financial stability, protecting the vulnerable, and stepping up structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and unlock growth potential.
• A senior IMF official Peter Breuer told that the staff level agreement is only the beginning of a long road for Sri Lanka.
• The agreement is subject to approval by IMF management and its executive board. The IMF also requires receiving financing assurances from Sri Lanka’s official creditors, besides ensuring efforts are made to reach a collaborative agreement with private creditors.
• Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
• The island nation’s worst economic crisis also led to a shortage of foreign exchange that stalled imports of essential items.

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced the scientific completion of India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent HPV vaccine.
• It is India’s first indigenously produced affordable and cost effective qHPV vaccine for eliminating cervical cancer.
• Scientific completion implies that R&D activities pertaining to the vaccine are complete and now the next step of making them available to the public would take place.
• Despite being largely preventable, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, according to the WHO.
• In 2018, an estimated 570,00 women were diagnosed with the disease and it accounted for 311,000 deaths across the world.
• India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer, with 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths per year.
• Cervavac was developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in coordination with the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• HPV vaccines are given in two doses and data has shown that the antibodies that develop after both are administered can last up to six or seven years.
• Until now, the HPV vaccines available in India were produced by foreign manufacturers at an approximate cost of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 per dose.
• Cervavac is likely to be significantly cheaper, slated to cost approximately Rs 200 to 400. It has also demonstrated a robust antibody response that is nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline against all targeted HPV types and in all dose and age groups.