The first National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB) in India was inaugurated at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST),Thiruvananthapuram.

About Biobank:

• A biobank is a collection of biological samples (such as blood) and health information.
• It can be used to understand molecular pathways and to improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of diseases.

About National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB):

• National Heart Failure Biobank(NHFB) is the first heart failure Biobank in the country that would collect blood, biopsies, and clinical data as a guide for future diagnosis and treatment of Heart Failure Patients.
• The biosamples collected by the biobank will include the blood, serum, tissue samples obtained during open-heart surgery and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and genomic DNA collected from heart failure patients.
• The samples will be collected after informed consent from patients who are willing to donate specimens.
• Moreover, the biobank activity will be supervised by a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) with a member from the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR).

What was the need for National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB)?

• Heart failure (HF) is emerging as a major health problem in India, with a reported mortality of nearly 60% at five years, which is higher than many common cancers.
  • Hence, there was a need for more research in the field of Heart Failure(HF) and it was in this background that the heart failure biobank was inaugurated.
• This Biobank will help in providing insights into heart diseases and heart failure among Indian children and adults, which are very different from that seen in the West.
• The facility will also be useful for the research and treatment of post-covid heart failure.

Indian government approved the appointment of Dr. Dhriti Banerjee as new director of ZSI.

About:

• Dhriti Banerjee is a prolific scientist. She had been conducting research in zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology and molecular systematics.
• She will take charge of Zoological Survey of India in a week.
• She has worked as the co-ordinator of ZSI’s Digital Sequence Information Project, since 2012.
• While sharing her experience and achievement, she mentioned that women scientists in ZSI had been conducting regular surveys by examining faunal diversity from Himalayas to deep sea. About 60% of the new species have been discovered by women scientists.

About Zoological Survey of India

Zoological Survey of India was founded in July 1916. It is headquartered in Kolkata. It comprises of 16 regional centres and works under the ministry of environment, forests and climate change. It was set up as premier Indian organisation in zoological research. It studies and promote survey, explore & research of fauna in India.

Background

History of ZSI starts from the days of Asiatic Society of Bengal which was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784. Asiatic Society of Bengal was the mother institution to Indian Museum (1875), Zoological Survey of India as well as Geological Survey of India. Establishment of ZSI was a fulfilment of dream of Sir William Jones.  Asiatic Society had started to collect zoological and geological specimens since 1796.

When ZSI started hiring women?

ZSI started hiring women scientists in 1949. Mira Mansukhani was the first women employee of ZSI.

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, introduced a Bill in Parliament to nullify the provisions of Income Tax Act. This bill has put an end to contentious retrospective tax law which has hit the confidence of foreign investors like Vodafone and Cairn.

About:

• Government also proposed to refund amount paid in litigation by companies without any interest.
• According to Finance Secretary T V Somanathan, total amount involved in all cases is about Rs 8,100 crore. About Rs 7,900 crore is related to Cairn dispute.

About the Bill

Bill will withdraw the retrospective amendments in the Income Tax Act of 1961 that raised demands on Vodafone, Cairn and some others. This bill seeks to attract foreign investments. As per the bill, no tax demand would be raised in future based on the retrospective amendment for any indirect transfer of Indian assets, in case transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012.

Vodafone case

Vodafone case dates back to telco acquiring Indian assets of Hutchison Essar in 2007. There was a demand of Rs 22,100 crore. Government had filed an appeal against verdict in Singapore. India had also lost a case against taxing Cairn Energy Plc and Cairn UK holdings ltd in international arbitral tribunal at The Hague in 2020 on alleged capital gains that company made in 2006. Tribunal had asked India to pay Cairn an amount of $1232.8 million plus interest as well as $22.38 million towards arbitration and legal costs.

Retrospective Taxation

Retrospective Taxation allows any country to pass a rule on taxing certain products, items or services. It charges companies from time behind the date on which any law is passed. This route is used by countries to correct any anomalies in their taxation policies. Countries like USA, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Italy and Australia and have retrospectively taxed companies.

Thailand has banned sunscreens comprising of chemicals that damage coral from all of its marine national parks.

About:

• Sun protection used by tourists are harming slow-growing corals in the Island nation.
• According to Thai Department of Conservation, four ingredients found in sun creams were destroying coral larvae, obstruct coral reproduction and cause reef bleaching.
• A fine of 100,000 baht will be put on people violating the rule.
• Banned lotions comprises of oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor or butylparaben.
• Similar bans have been put by Pacific Island of Palau and the US state of Hawaii.

Coral Reef

It is an underwater ecosystem, characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps that are held together by calcium carbonate. Most of the reefs are built from stony corals. Coral belongs to the Anthozoa class in animal phylum Cnidaria. It comprises of sea anemones and jellyfish. Corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons. Such exoskeletons support and protect coral. Reefs are mostly grown in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. First ever coral reefs were appeared some 485 million years ago. Corals are also called as rainforests of the sea. Corals comprises of less than 0.1% of world’s ocean area. They are commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters. In deep water and cold water, coral reefs exist on smaller scales. Great Barrier reefs of Australia is the largest reef of World.

Location of coral reefs

Coral reefs cover an area of 284,300 km2 under 0.1% of oceans’ surface area. Indo-Pacific region including Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and Pacific makes 91.9% of 0.1% area

WHY IN NEWS?

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar, is to launch ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App on August 7, 2021 in Nalanda Auditorium at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, Delhi.

About:

• PM-DAKSH portal and Mobile App was developed in by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with National e-governance division (NeGD).
• Portal and app have been developed to make skill development schemes accessible to target groups of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Safai Karamcharis.
• With the help of this initiative, youth of the target groups will be able to avail benefits of skill development training programmes in an easier manner.

About PM-DAKSH

PM-DAKSH stands for Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi Yojana. This scheme is being implemented by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from the year 2020-21.  Under this scheme, eligible target group will be provided skill development training programmes on:

• Up-skilling or Re-skilling Programmes
• Short Term Training Programme
• Long Term Training Programme and
• Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP).

About National e-Governance Division (NeGD)

NeGD was created in 2009 by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. It was created as an Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation. NeGD has been playing a significant role in supporting Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology in management & implementation of Programme since 2009. It has been implementing several e-Governance Projects and initiatives at the Central as well as State levels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award has been renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

About:

• Khel Ratna award is the highest sporting honour in India.
• This move of renaming award after sportsman was welcomed on social media.

About Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in Sports and Games after Dhyan Chand who was an Indian field hockey player. This award was instituted in 1991-1992. Its first recipient was chess legend Viswanathan Anand. The award is given annually by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Recipient(s) is/are selected by a committee constituted by Ministry. They are honoured for their “spectacular and most outstanding performance in sports over a period of four years. Award comprises of a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹25 lakh. Some winners of the award are Leander Paes, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhanraj Pillay, Abhinav Bindra, Pullela Gopichand, Mary Kom, Anju Bobby George, and Rani Rampal in 2020.

About Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand, popularly known as The Wizard, was an Indian field hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest in the history of sport. He was well known for his extraordinary goal-scoring feat. He earned three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936. His influence extended beyond these victories because India won field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics in between 1928 to 1964. August 29 (his birthday) is celebrated as National Sports Day in India every year.

Government announced on August 7, 2021 that approximately five crore beneficiaries have been enrolled and four crores have been trained under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan Scheme.

About:

• According to Union Minister for women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, over two crore women beneficiaries are registered under the scheme.
• Out of them, one crore women beneficiaries are certified under scheme which accounts for 54 percent of the total certified beneficiaries under it.
• Government had the target of reaching six crore households by March 2022.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan

This scheme was launched to make six crore persons residing in rural areas, across States and UTs, digitally literate. It was launched with the aim of bridging digital divide and specifically targeting rural population. It also includes marginalised sections of society such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Minorities, Below Poverty Line (BPL), women, differently-abled persons and minorities. This scheme is being initiated under Digital India Programme and would cover 6 crore households in rural areas in order to make them digitally literate. The implementation of the Scheme would be carried out under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), etc.

Who are eligible for the scheme?

This Scheme is applicable only in rural areas of India. All the households where not a single family member is digitally literate will be eligible under the Scheme. The beneficiary must be Digitally Illiterate. Only one person per eligible household would be provided with training in the age group of 14 – 60 years

Ladakh Administration has removed the need of an Inner Line Permit (ILP) for all Indian nationals who seeks to visit protected areas of union territory.

About:

• Ladakh administration issued notification regarding the Inner Line Permit on August 6, 2021.
• According to notification, requirement of an Inner Line Permit for Indian nationals, including domestic tourists and local residents has been completely removed in order to visit the protected areas.
• Restriction on stay of foreign tourists has also been relaxed from seven days to 15 days in tour circuits of bordering areas like Nyoma, Nubra and places in Leh and Kargil districts.
• This move will help Indian nationals to move to Ladakh and extension of foreigners will boost rural tourism in the Union Territory.

Inner Line Permit (ILP)

ILP is a document required by non- natives to visit or stay in states which are protected under ILP system. Presently, four North-eastern states Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland are covered under this system. Duration of stay and areas allowed to be accessed for any non-native are decided by ILP. It is issued by concerned state government and can be availed by applying online or in person.

Background of ILP

ILP is an extension of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act 1873 under which Britishers framed regulations to restrict entry in certain designated areas. This was done to protect interest of the Crown in some states by preventing Indians (British Subjects) from trading within these regions.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• European Space Agency (ESA) launched ‘Eutelsat Quantum’, the world’s 1st commercial reprogrammable satellite into space aboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. It is a fully flexible software-defined satellite.
• The satellite has been developed under a European Space Agency partnership project with satellite operator Eutelsat, Airbus & Surrey Satellite Technology.
• Eutelsat Quantum is a UK flagship project with most of the satellites developed and manufactured by British industry.
• Airbus is the prime contractor and was responsible for building the satellite’s innovative payload, while Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd manufactured the new platform. The innovative phase array antenna was developed by Airbus in Spain.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The IndusInd Bank has been empanelled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as an ‘Agency Bank’. As an Agency Bank, IndusInd becomes eligible to carry out transactions related to all kinds of government-led businesses.
• This decision is based on the RBI guideline that authorises scheduled private sector banks as agency banks of the regulator for the conduct of government business.
• IndusInd Bank now joins few other private banks of the country listed as Agency Bank of RBI, to carry out general banking business on behalf of the central and state government, apart from offering its customers the convenience of undertaking routine financial transactions through its banking platform.