International Financial Services Centres Authority (FinTech Incentive) Scheme 2022

• The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), with an overall objective to promote the establishment of a world-class FinTech Hub, at GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India.
• It launched the IFSCA (FinTech Incentive) Scheme for providing financial support to FinTech activities in the form of specific grant(s).
• FinTech Start-up grant- This grant shall be utilized for developing a product or a service and related ‘go-to market’ initiatives for a start-up with a novel FinTech idea or solution with a focus on converting the idea into an MVP.
• Proof of Concept (PoC) grant- This grant shall be utilized for the purpose of conducting a PoC by an early or mature FinTech Entity (FE) in domestic market or overseas.
• Sandbox grant- This grant shall be utilized by FEs to experiment with innovative products or services in a sandbox.
• Green FinTech Grant- This grant shall be utilized towards developing solutions facilitating sustainable finance and sustainability linked finance, including ‘Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)’ investments.
• Accelerator Grant- This grant shall be utilized for supporting accelerators at the IFSC for capacity building, build capabilities around mentors, bringing investors, bringing more projects or PoC, tie ups, etc.
• Listing Support Grant - The grant shall be utilized for supporting Domestic FE aspiring to go for listing on stock exchanges recognised by the Authority.

Sea Turtle & Climate Change

• Climate change is exposing sea turtles to greater existential threats.
• Sea level rise and stronger storms will erode and destroy their beach habitats.
• Warming oceans will change ocean currents, potentially introducing sea turtles to new predators and harming the coral reefs some of them need to survive.
• Since the temperature of the beach sand that female sea turtles nest in influences the sex of their offspring.
• Climate change has alters the sand temperatures, the warmer the sand, the higher the ratio of female turtles.
• The sea turtle family includes the hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, green and olive ridley turtle.
• These five species are found worldwide, mainly in tropical and subtropical waters. 
• Other than the five species, there are two more types of sea turtles that have restricted ranges.
• Kemp’s Ridley is found mainly in the Gulf of Mexico and the flatback turtle around northern Australia and southern Papua New Guinea.
• Nearly all species of sea turtles are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered.

National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)

• The Union Health Ministry prepares the list of drugs eligible for price regulation.
• Primary purpose of NLEM is to promote rational use of medicines considering three important aspects i.e. cost, safety and efficacy.
• The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) then incorporates NLEM into Schedule 1 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO).
• DPCO was issued by government under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to regulate prices for essential and lifesaving medicines.
• DPCO follows a market-based pricing mechanism.
• Following this, NPPA fixes the prices of drugs in this schedule.
• Drugs which are declared essential by NPPA would automatically come under price control.
• NPPA regularly publishes this list and their maximum ceiling prices.

Natural rubber

• Humid tropical climate prevails in the rubber-growing tract. Average annual rainfall in the tract varies from about 2000-4500 mm. The southern parts of the traditional tract enjoy southwest and northeast monsoons almost equally while the northern areas receive mostly the southwest monsoon.  

 Climatic Conditions for Optimum Growth of Rubber Tree

• Rainfall of 2000 to 3000 mm evenly distributed without any marked dry season and with 125 to 150 rainy days per annum.
• Soil in the rubber tract is generally highly weathered and consists mostly of laterite, lateritic types.
• Maximum temperature of about 29°C to 34°C and minimum of about 20°C or more with a monthly mean of 25 - 28°C
• High atmospheric humidity of the order of 80%
• Bright sunshine amounting to about 2000 h per annum at the rate of 6 h per day through all the months
• Absence of strong winds

Antibiotics

• National Immunisation Programme (NIP) automatically becomes the part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
• The rotavirus vaccine became part of the NIP in 2016 and was included in the NLEM 2022.
• Medicines that feature in the NLEM are called scheduled drugs.
• The NPPA fixes the prices of these drugs based on the wholesale price index inflation.
• For other drugs, companies are allowed to take a maximum hike of up to 10 per cent annually.
• NLEM list will only includes those drugs that are approved by the Indian regulator.
• The NLEM is usually revised every three years, but this time the task was done after seven years.
• Covid-19 affected the process of preparing the new NLEM.
• Under the new NLEM, even patented drugs like bedaquiline and delamanid (anti-TB), dolutegravir (anti-HIV), and daclatasvir (Hepatitis C) were part of the NLEM 2022.