Important Facts:

• India’s pharma sector witnessed a growth of 103% since 2013-14, from Rs. 90, 415 crores in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,83,422 crore in 2021-22.
• India’s pharma exports in 2021-22 sustained positive growth despite the global trade disruptions.
• The trade balance continues to be in India’s favor.
• The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world’s 3rd largest by volume and 14th largest in terms of value.
• India’s top five pharma export destinations are the US, UK, South Africa, Russia, and Nigeria.
• The current market size of the domestic pharmaceutical industry is $50 billion.
• India allows 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in greenfield (new) pharma projects under the automatic route. For brownfield pharma, or investments in existing companies, up to 74%, FDI is allowed under the automatic route, and approval is required beyond that.

• The office of the PSA, established in 1999, aims to provide advice to the Prime Minister and cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation.
• It is currently a Secretary level position.
• First Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the government of India was Dr. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

About Basavanna

• Basavanna was a philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I in Karnataka.
• Basavanna spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as
• Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals.
• He introduced new public institutions such as the Anubhava Mantapa (or, the “hall of spiritual experience”), which welcomed men and women from all socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life, in open.
• As a leader, he developed and inspired a new devotional movement named Virashaivas, or “ardent, heroic worshippers of Shiva”. This movement shared its roots in the ongoing Tamil Bhakti movement, particularly the Shaiva Nayanars traditions, over the 7th- to 11th-century.

Key Takeaways:

• The 36th edition of AAHAR was jointly organized by APEDA and the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) at Pragati Maidan this week.
• AAHAR is a part of the series of export promotion initiatives taken by APEDA, which works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to showcase agricultural and processed food products to the global players
• The millets are a rich source of protein, fibre, minerals, iron, calcium and have a low glycemic index. In March, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 2023 as International Year of Millets.
• Exporters from the country’s North-East region, as well as Himalayan states such as Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, have dedicated stalls set up by APEDA.
• Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), women entrepreneurs, millet exporters, and start-ups, among others, are among the participant
• APEDA has put on display Geographical Indication(GI) agricultural products at AAHAR.

The products include:

1. Punjab – Basmati Rice,
2. Karnataka – Gulbarga Tur Dal,
3. Maharashtra –Sangli Raisin, Kolhapur Jaggery,
4. Manipur – Chak-Hao and Kachai Lemon,
5. Mizoram – Ginger and Chili,
6. Sikkim – Large Cardamom,
7. Kerala – Navara Rice, Pokkali Rice, Kaipad Rice,
8. Himachal Pradesh – Kala Jeera, Chulli Oil,
9. West Bengal – Gobindobhog Rice, Tulaipanji Rice, Banglar Rasgulla,
10. Rajasthan – Bikaneri Bhujia and
11. Odisha – Kandhamal Haladi.

About World Tuna Day:

• World Tuna Day is observed globally on 2nd May every year.
• This day is established by the United Nations (UN) to raise awareness about the importance of tuna fish.

Tuna is a significant source of food for humans as the fish has several rich qualities such as Omega 3, Vitamin B12, proteins and other minerals

About Whitley Gold Award:

• Snow leopard expert and wildlife conservationist Charudutt Mishra has won the prestigious Whitley Gold Award for his contribution to involving indigenous communities in the conservation and recovery of big cat species in Asia’s high mountain ecosystems.
• Princess Anne presented the award to Mishra at London’s Royal Geographic Society. This is his second Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) Award. He got the first in 2005.

About Charudutt Mishra

• Mishra is co-founder of Mysore (Karnataka)-based Nature Conservation Foundation and executive director of the Snow Leopard Trust.
• Mishra established India’s first community-based initiatives to save the endangered snow leopard. These include innovative livestock insurance programmes to boost income and discourage retaliatory killings and locally-managed wildlife reserves on community land.

About Atal New India Challenge

• Atal New India Challenge is a flagship program of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
• The program aims to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance.
• ANIC solicits innovations in the prototype stage and supports the selected start-ups through to the commercialization stage over a course of 12 – 18 months.

Objectives:

• To incentivize innovations in areas critical to India’s development and growth – Education, Health, Water and Sanitation Agriculture, Food Processing, Housing,Energy, Mobility, Space Application etc.

To address the Commercialization Valley of Death (Gap between the research and commercialization) – supporting innovators scale over the risks associated with access to resources for testing, piloting and market creation

About M15 Petrol:

• M15 is a blend of 15 % methanol and 85 % Petrol.
• It helps lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 5 to 10%. Blending 15% methanol in petrol would bring down GHG emissions by 20% in terms of particulate matter, NOx, and SOx, thereby improving the urban air quality.
• Coal reserves and municipal solid waste can be converted into methanol.
• It helps in achieving fuel independence and reducing the import burden. Blending of 15% methanol in petrol can result in at least a 15% reduction in the import of crude oil.

Methanol economy

• According to NITI Aayog, Methanol Economy will create close to 5 million jobs through methanol production/application and distribution services. Additionally, Rs 6000 crore can be saved annually by blending 20% DME (Dimethyl Ether, a derivative of methanol) in LPG. This will help the consumer in saving between Rs 50-100 per cylinder.

Key Highlights:

• According to the report, the Indian economy is likely to take over 12 years to overcome the COVID-19 losses.
• Taking the actual growth rate of (-) 6.6% for 2020-21, 8.9% for 2021-22, and assuming a growth rate of 7.2% for 2022-23, and 7.5% beyond that, India is expected to overcome COVID-19 losses in 2034-35.
• The supply constraints and longer delivery times pushed up shipping costs, and commodity prices, thereby intensifying inflationary pressures and threatening the nascent economic recovery across the world.
• While the RBI expects the Indian economy to grow at 6.35 in FY24, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report pegged India’s growth rate for FY24 at 6.9%.

Theme of the report

• The theme of the report is “Revive and Reconstruct” in the context of nurturing a durable recovery post-COVID and raising trend growth in the medium term.

Other Findings of the Report:

• The report states that for the country to hop on to a strong and sustainable growth path, price stability is a necessary precondition.
• Reducing general government debt to below 66% of GDP over the next five years is important to secure India’s medium-term growth prospects.
• The report emphasized providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses.
• India’s free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations should focus on the transfer of technology and better trade terms for high-quality imports from partner countries.
• The report says that the task is to create a virtuous cycle of greater opportunity for entrepreneurs, businesses, and the fiscal authority.

Reforms Highlighted in the Report

• Seven Wheels of Economic Progress: The blueprint of reforms proposed in the Report revolves around seven wheels of economic progress:
• Aggregate demand.
• Aggregate supply.
• Institutions, intermediaries and markets.
• Macroeconomic stability and policy coordination.
• Productivity and technological progress.
• Structural change.

About e-Shram Portal

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the e-Shram portal.
• It is a government portal, launched six months ago, with the aim of creating a national database of unorganised workers and to facilitate social security schemes for them.
• Unique IDs on the e-Shram portal carry the same series from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) universal account number (UAN).
• If a worker is registered on the eSHRAM portal and meets with an accident, he will be eligible for Rs 2.0 Lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1.0 lakh on partial disability