PRISM Scheme

• Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (PRISM) is an initiative of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology.
• It aimed at transforming an individual innovator into a successful technopreneur by promoting, supporting, and funding implementable and commercially viable innovations created for the society.
• Under the initiative, an innovator of Indian nationality - student, professional and common citizen - is provided technical, strategic, and financial assistance by DSIR-PRISM for idea development, prototype development and pilot scaling, and patenting.
• The programme is implemented across various sectors from energy to healthcare to waste management and others.
• The grant is given in two phases: Phase I and Phase II, catering to both the initial innovation stage and the advanced enterprise setup phase through DSIR outreach-cum-cluster innovation centres available throughout India.

Vaccine wastage

• It is an expected component of any large vaccination drive, and a vaccine is procured from the maker with an estimated wastage.
• For each vaccine type, the wastage has to be within recommended limits.
• In general, high vaccine wastage inflates vaccine demand and increases unnecessary vaccine procurement and supply chain costs.

Reasons

Wastage in unopened vials

It can occur due to six broad reasons:

1. if the expiry date has been reached
2. if the vaccine is exposed to heat
3. if the vaccine has been frozen
4. breakage
5. missing inventory and theft
6. while discarding unused vials returned from the vaccination site

Wastage in opened vials

It can occur due to five broad reasons:

1. while discarding remaining doses at the end of the session
2. not being able to draw the number of doses in a vial
3. submergence of opened vials in the water
4. suspected contamination
5. poor vaccine administration practices

National Rare Diseases Policy

• The Union Government has released the National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021.
• The policy was first prepared by the Centre in 2017 but put on hold due to some implementation challenges mainly about cost sharing between Centre and States.

Rare Diseases

• There are 7,000-8,000 classified rare diseases, but less than 5% have therapies available to treat them.
• About 95% rare diseases have no approved treatment and less than 1 in 10 patients receive disease-specific treatment.
• India has said it lacks epidemiological data on the prevalence here and hence has only classified certain diseases as ‘rare.’

National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021

Accordingly, a ‘rare disease’ has been categorised into three groups.

Group 1 Diseases

• Financial support upto Rs. 20 lakh under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya Arogaya Nidhi shall be provided by the Central Government for treatment, of those rare diseases that require a one-time treatment (diseases listed under Group 1).
• Beneficiaries for such financial assistance would not be limited to BPL families, but extended to about 40% of the population, who are eligible as per norms of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, for their treatment in Government tertiary hospitals only.

Group 2 Diseases

• State Governments can consider supporting patients of such rare diseases that can be managed with special diets or hormonal supplements or other relatively low cost interventions (Diseases listed under Group 2).

Group 3 Diseases

• The new policy has absolutely no consideration for Group 3 patients, who require lifelong treatment support.
• The policy states that, keeping in view the resource constraint and competing health priorities, it will be difficult for the Government to fully finance treatment of high cost rare diseases.
• The gap can however be filled by creating a digital platform for bringing together notified hospitals where such patients are receiving treatment or come for treatment, on the one hand, and prospective individual or corporate donors willing to support treatment of such patients.

• Union Finance Minister has announced an outlay of INR 1.97 Lakh Crores for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes across 13 key sectors, to create national manufacturing champions and generate employment opportunities for the country’s youth.
• In addition to the three schemes announced earlier in March 2020, GoI has further introduced 10 new PLI schemes in November 2020.

PLI Schemes approved so for:

1. Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs): Department of Pharmaceuticals
2. Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
3. Manufacturing of Medical Devices: Department of Pharmaceuticals
4. Electronic/Technology Products: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
5. Pharmaceuticals drugs: Department of Pharmaceuticals
6. Telecom & Networking Products: Department of Telecommunications
7. Food Products: Ministry of Food Processing Industries
8. White Goods (ACs & LED): Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
9. High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
10. Automobiles & Auto Components: Department of Heavy Industry
11. Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery: Department of Heavy Industry
12. Textile Products: MMF segment and technical textiles: Ministry of Textiles
13. Specialty Steel: Ministry of Steel

Counter Cyclical Capital Buffer

• Following Basel-III norms, central banks specify certain capital adequacy norms for banks in a country.
• The CCCB is a part of such norms and is calculated as a fixed percentage of a bank’s risk-weighted loan book.
• However, one key respect in which the CCCB differs from other forms of capital adequacy is that it works to help a bank counteract the effect of a downturn or distressed economic conditions.
• With the CCCB, banks are required to set aside a higher portion of their capital during good times when loans are growing rapidly, so that the capital can be released and used during bad times, when there’s distress in the economy.
• The CCCB is supposed to be in the form of equity capital, and if the minimum buffer requirements are breached, capital distribution constraints such as limits on dividends and share buybacks can be imposed on the bank.
• Although the RBI had proposed the CCCB for Indian banks in 2015 as part of its Basel-III requirements, it hasn’t actually required the CCCB to be maintained, keeping the ratio at zero per cent ever since.

Thotlakonda Buddhist Site

• Historians and biologists campaign to protect the ancient Buddhist site of Thotlakonda - Home to around 90 species of birds.
• The site is found at a hill of Mangamaripeta Village, Bheemunipatnam Taluka of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh.

Background

• In 1976, during a helicopter survey by the Indian Navy to set up a naval facility, ruins of the Buddhist site were spotted.
• Subsequently, the entire hill was declared as an area comprising a protected monument under the Andhra Pradesh Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1960.
• The area housed remnants of a flourishing monastery, practising Hinayana Buddhism, which was most active for 400 years from 200 BCE to 200 CE.

Large Area Certification Scheme

• It provides organic certification under the Large Area Certification (LAC) Scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme.
• Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched this unique quick certification programme to harness these potential areas for organic farming.
• All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en-mass without the need to go under conversion period.
• Certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.
• As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic.
• During this period, farmers need to adopt standard organic agriculture practices and keep their farms under the certification process.
• On successful completion, such farms can be certified as organic after 2-3 years.
• The certification process also requires elaborate documentation and time to time verification by the certification authorities.
• Whereas under LAC requirements are simple and the area can be certified almost immediately.
• Area in Andaman and Nicobar has been certified as organic, the first large contiguous territory to be done under LAC Scheme.

Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

• A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data on a digital ledger called a block chain, where each NFT can represent a unique digital item, and thus they are not interchangeable.
• NFTs can represent digital files such as art, audio, videos, items in video games and other forms of creative work.
• The NFTs can be bought on an NFT market, it has access to any copy of the original file, however, is not restricted to the owner of the token.
• While the digital files themselves are infinitely reproducible, the NFTs representing them are tracked on their underlying block chains and provide buyers with proof of ownership of the NFTs.
• NFTs can be used to commodify digital creations, such as digital art, video game items, and music files.
• NFTs mostly run on a proof-of-work block chain, which is less energy efficient than a proof-of-stake block chain.
• Indian artists can place their digital assets including art pieces, audio files, videos, and even tweets, for auction over the block chain-based NFT marketplace to earn royalty thereafter.
• Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX has launched a non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplace for Indian artists and creators.
• Indian artists can place their digital assets including art pieces, audio files, videos, and even tweets, for auction over the blockchain-based NFT marketplace to earn royalty thereafter.

Stockholm+50

• It is a high-level meeting that the Government of Sweden plans to hold in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the first UN conference on the human environment the 1972 Stockholm Conference.
• The aim of Stockholm+50 is to leverage sustainable consumption and production patterns and nature-based solutions in order to achieve climate-neutral, resilient, circular and inclusive economies.
• The 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Conference, was the first UN conference on the environment and was held between 5 and 16 June 1972 in Stockholm.
• The meeting’s outcome document the Stockholm Declaration included several principles that are still important for environmental management.
• Another result of the meeting was the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Environment Day, held annually on 5 June.

Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code (HSN code)

• It is a 6 digit identification code developed by World Customs Organization
• Of the six digits, the first two denote the HS Chapter, the next two give the HS heading, and the last two give the HS subheading.
• It is called the “universal economic language” for goods, a multipurpose international product nomenclature.
• The system currently comprises of around 5,000 commodity groups.
• It has been made mandatory for a GST taxpayer having a turnover of more than Rs 5 crore in the preceding financial year, to furnish 6 digits HSN Code (Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code).
• Over 200 countries use the system as a basis for their customs tariffs, gathering international trade statistics, making trade policies, and for monitoring goods.
• The system helps in harmonising of customs and trade procedures, thus reducing costs in international trade.

World Customs Organization (WCO)

• It was established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations.
• As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO is the only international organization with competence in Customs matters and can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community.
• The WCO has divided its Membership into six Regions, Each of the six Regions is represented by a regionally elected Vice-Chairperson to the WCO Council.
• Besides the vital role played by the WCO in stimulating the growth of legitimate international trade, its efforts to combat fraudulent activities are also recognized internationally.
• WCO has also been responsible for administering the World Trade Organization’s Agreements on Customs Valuation, which provide a system for placing values on imported goods, and the Rules of Origin, which are used to determine the origin of a given commodity.