WHY IN THE NEWS?

• In order to promote AYUSH in Madhya Pradesh and to link it with employment, the government has made the ‘Devaranya’ scheme.
• The scheme has been made to provide employment to the people living in the tribal areas of the state.
• A complete value chain for the production of AYUSH medicines will be developed in the state through Devarnya Yojana. Self-help groups will also play an important role in this work.
• For this, medicinal plants should be cultivated in the beautiful plains of the villages.  AYUSH and tourism will be brought together.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch “e-RUPI Digital Payment Solution” on August 2, 2021. e-RUPI is an e-voucher-based payment solution.

• e-RUPI initiative will be launched to limit touchpoints between government and beneficiary.
• The platform will also ensure that benefits reach its intended beneficiaries in a targeted and leak-proof manner.
• e-RUPI is a one-time payment mechanism that will allow users to redeem vouchers without using the card, digital payments app or internet banking access.

What is e-RUPI Platform?        

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed e-RUPI platform on its UPI platform. It has onboarded banks to act as issuing entities.
• It was launched in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority.
• This platform was launched to ensure a leak-proof delivery of welfare services.
• The platform will be used to deliver services under schemes that are meant to provide drugs & nutritional support under Mother and Child welfare schemes, drugs & diagnostics under schemes such as Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, fertilizer subsidies and TB eradication programmes.
• The private sector can also leverage these digital vouchers under their employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programmes.

Working Mechanism of e-RUPI

e-RUPI will be delivered to mobile phones of beneficiaries through SMS string or a QR code. It will be like a prepaid gift voucher that can be redeemed at specific accepting centres without any credit or debit card, mobile app or internet banking. It will connect sponsors of the services with beneficiaries and service providers digitally without any physical interface.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

PV Sindhu, a 26-year-old badminton player, has become the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals after defeating ‘He Bingjiao’ of China.

About:

• Sindhu defeated ‘He Bingjiao’ by 21-13, 21-15 in the women’s singles bronze medal match at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
• She is the first Indian woman to win Olympic silver and also the first Indian woman to finish on the podium two times at Olympics.
• At Rio Olympics, Sindhu had won women’s singles badminton silver in her Olympics debut.
• She has become 2nd Indian athlete to win 2 Olympic medals in individual events following Sushil Kumar.
• Sushil Kumar had won wrestling bronze in 2008 in Beijing and went one step further to won Silver at the London Games in which India achieved its best-ever tally of 6 medals.

Where does Sindhu stand internationally?

• Sindhu has become the 4th athlete to win multiple medals in the women’s singles badminton category at Olympic Games.
• She has joined South Korea’s Bang Soo-Hyun who won silver at Barcelona Games in 1992 as well as a gold medal in the women’s singles badminton category at 1996 Atlanta Games.
• Apart from them, China’s Zhang Ning had won gold medal at 2004 Athens Games and defended it in Beijing.
• Indonesia’s Susi Susanti won 1992 Gold medal and won bronze at the 1996 Athens Games.

Who is PV Sindhu?

Sindhu is an Indian badminton player who came to the limelight at the international level after winning the Asian Championships bronze medal in 2014. In the same year she also won bronze medals at Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. She also won her first of 5 World Championship medals in 2014 it self.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Muslim Women Rights Day was observed on August 1 in India.

The year 2021 marks the second anniversary of the triple talaq bill which is officially called as Muslim Women Act (Protection of Rights on Marriage) passed in the Rajya Sabha.

About:

• Muslim Women Rights Day is observed on August 1 in the backdrop of the Triple talaq bill that was approved in Parliament on August 1, 2019.
• The triple talaq bill was a great milestone in liberating Muslim women from shackles of social evil that came in form of divorce terms.
• Cases like ‘Shah Bano Begum & Ors vs Mohd. Ahmad Khan’, ‘Shayara Bano vs Union Of India and Ors’ laid the foundation stones for the move.
• Shayara Bano in her writ petition asked Supreme Court to consider the three practices- talaq-e-biddat, polygamy, nikah-halala- as unconstitutional.
• Cases were filing citing the violation of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 of the Constitution.

Why this date is regarded as ‘Muslim Women Rights Day’?

The Triple Talaq law made ‘triple talaq’ a criminal offence. This law is considered a crucial step because it ensured the protection of Muslim women against gender inequality and empowerment by lawfully criminalising the practice of instantaneous ‘talaq’. Hence this day is observed as Muslim Women Rights Day. This law seeks to promote women’s self-reliance, self-respect, and boost self-esteem because it strengthens the fundamental and democratic rights of Muslim women.

About Triple Talaq Law

As per the Triple Talaq Act, the declaration of talaq would be treated as a cognizable offence. Law provides for imprisonment of 3 years imprisonment along with a fine.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs has informed that about 88,236 govt-funded vacant houses are available. They can be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes under the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes Scheme.

About Affordable Rental Housing Complexes Scheme:

• Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) is a Sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) to provide affordable rental housing to urban migrants/ poor close to their workplace.

Objectives:

• To address the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ significantly by creating a sustainable ecosystem of affordable rental housing solutions for urban migrants/poor.
• To achieve the overall objective of “Housing for All” encompassing the need for affordable rental housing for urban migrants/poor.
• Also, to create a conducive environment by incentivizing Public/Private Entities to leverage investment in rental housing.

Duration:

• ARHCs to be considered till PMAY (U) Mission period, i.e. March 2022.

Beneficiaries:

• Beneficiaries for ARHCs will be varied groups of urban migrants/ poor from EWS/ LIG categories including industrial & construction workers, migrants working with market/ trade associations, educational/ health institutions, hospitality sector, long-term tourists/ visitors, students, etc.

Implementation Strategy: The ARHCs will be built through a two-pronged strategy: –

• Strategy-1: Utilizing existing Government funded vacant houses to convert into ARHCs through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or by Public Agencies.
• Strategy-2: Construction, Operation & Maintenance of ARHCs by Public/ Private Entities on their own available vacant land.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Central Government has announced that it will provide 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% reservation for the economically weaker section (EWS). It will be provided under the All India Quota (AIQ) scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical/dental courses in state medical and dental colleges from 2021-22.

About All India Quota(AIQ) Scheme:

• The All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
• Purpose: It provides for domicile-free merit-based opportunities to students from any State to aspire to study in a good medical college located in another State.
• All India Quota consisted of 15% of total available UG seats and 50% of total available PG seats in government medical colleges.
• Initially, there was no reservation in the AIQ Scheme up to 2007. In 2007, the Supreme Court introduced a reservation of 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs in the AIQ Scheme.
• Moreover, when the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective in 2007 providing for uniform 27% reservation to OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central Educational Institutions.
• However, this was not extended to the AIQ seats of State medical and dental colleges. This has been done now.

Significance of this decision:

• OBC and EWS students from across the country will now be able to take advantage of this reservation in the AIQ scheme to compete for seats in any state.
• Moreover, being a central scheme, the central list of OBCs shall be used for this reservation.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Environment Minister has recently released the report ‘Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores-2018’. The report points out that India’s official leopard count increased 63 per cent from 2014-2018.

About:

• The Environment Minister has recently released the report ‘Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores-2018’. The report points out that India’s official leopard count increased 63 per cent from 2014-2018.

Key findings of the report:

• The report mentions that in 2014, the number of leopards in India was 7,910. The number of leopards in 2018 rose to 12,852. This is a 63 per cent increase in leopard count.

Why separate leopard census is necessary?

One could not ‘piggyback leopard surveys on tiger surveys, because there were vast areas where the distributions of the two species did not overlap.

About Indian Leopard or Common Leopard:

• The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. These are the smallest of the big cats, known for their ability to adapt to a variety of habitats.
• Vegetation: In India, the leopard is found in all forest types, from tropical rainforests to temperate deciduous and alpine coniferous forests. It is also found in dry scrubs and grasslands, the only exception being desert and the mangroves of Sundarbans.
• Distribution: Its range stretches from the Indus river in the west, the Himalayas in the north, and all the way to the lower course of the Brahmaputra in the east.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
  • Wildlife (Protection)Act,1972: Schedule I
  • CITES Appendix I

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The world’s largest star sapphire cluster has been found by accident in a backyard in Sri Lanka. The newly found rock is named the ‘Serendipity Sapphire’.

Discovery of largest star sapphire:

During the cleaning process of the cluster, a few stones fell out and were found to be of high-quality star sapphires, a pale blue in colour.

The experts, however, have warned that though the specimen found has a high carat value of 2.5 million, it is a probability that all the stones inside the found cluster may not be of high quality.

A renowned gemologist, Dr. Gamini Zoysa, said that he has never seen such a large specimen before and that this was probably formed before 400 million years ago.

What will happen to the newfound Star Sapphire Cluster?

The official of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka said that it is a special Star Sapphire specimen, probably the biggest in the world.

Given the size and the value of the Sapphire, it might be of interest to private collectors or museums.

About Star Sapphire:

A Star Sapphire is a type of sapphire that exhibits a star-like phenomenon called asterism.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

An 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the Alaskan Peninsula. As per the United States Geological Survey, it has prompted a Tsunami warning in parts of Alaska.

Alaska earthquake: History

• In March 1964, Alaska was hit by a 9.2 magnitude earthquake, which was the strongest ever recorded in North America. 
• It had devastated Anchorage and had unleashed a Tsunami that had slammed the Gulf of Alaska, the US West Coast. More than 250 people were killed by the tsunami and the quake.
• A 7.5 magnitude earthquake had also caused the tsunami waves on the Southern Coast in Alaska in October 2020; however, no casualties were reported.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population on July 27, 2021, confirmed the detection of the mutant Kappa variant (B.1.617.1) of COVID-19’s Delta variant. Nepal had already confirmed the presence of Alpha and Delta variants in the country.

What is Kappa variant (B.1.617.1)?

• The Kappa (B.1.617.1) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants are the mutants of the B.1.617 variant that was earlier commonly referred to as the Double Mutant or ‘Indian variant’.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the Kappa variant as Variant of Interest (VoI).

Why were the COVID-19 variants labelled?

• In order to end the linkage of the variants with origin countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) named these variants after the letters of the Greek alphabet.
• As per WHO, the new naming system aims at making the discussion of variants as simple, easy to say, and remember as possible.

The naming of different COVID-19 variants

• The UK variant (B.1.1.7) was named Alpha, the South Africa variant (B.1.351) was named Beta, and the Brazil variant (P.1) was named Gamma.