22nd JULY, 2022

NEWS TT DAY
NEWS DAY
CHEMICALS AND FERTILISERS MINISTRY ROLLED OUT 3 SCHEMES TO STRENGTHEN

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MSMES IN PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR
3 initiatives were rolled out under the Scheme of ‘Strengthening Pharmaceuticals Industry' (SPI).
Initiatives are aimed at making Indian pharma MSMEs a part of Global supply chain by incentivizing them to acquire Schedule
M or Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification by WHO.

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GMP certification is a standard defined by WHO for ensuring products are produced and controlled as per the quality

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standards.
Schemes features
Pharmaceutical It would facilitate pharmaceutical MSMEs with proven track records to upgrade their technology.
Technology It provides for a capital subsidy of 10 % on loans up to a maximum limit of Rs 10 crore with a
Upgradation Assistance minimum repayment period of three years or interest subvention of up to 5 % (6% in case of units
Scheme (PTUAS)
owned by SC/ST) on reducing balance basis.

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Assistance to Pharma It would strengthen the existing pharmaceutical clusters' capacity for sustained growth.
Industries for Common It provides for an assistance of up to 70% of the approved project cost (90% for Himalayan and
Facilities Scheme
north-east region) or Rs 20 crore, whichever is less.
(API-CF)

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Pharmaceutical and The scheme is aimed at creating a database of pharma and medical device sectors.
Medical Devices It would involve preparation of study reports on topics of importance for the Indian pharma and
Promotion and

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medical device industry.
Development Scheme
(PMPDS)

NITI AAYOG RELEASES 3RD EDITION OF INDIA INNOVATION INDEX (III) 2021

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Prepared by NITI Aayog and the Institute for Competitiveness, the III is a comprehensive tool that ranks states and the union
territories on their innovation performance to build healthy competition amongst them.

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Key highlights from the index
Karnataka (Major States); Manipur (North-Eastern and Hilly states); and Chandigarh (UTs and City-States) topped in their
respective categories
R&D investment in the country has declined from 0.8% of the

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GDP in 2008–09 to 0.7% in 2017-18.
Low private participation in R&D.
Current edition adopts the framework of Global Innovation
Index (GII) across 7 pillars (see infographics).
7 pillars in the index—five ‘Enabler’ pillars measure the
inputs(features that are crucial for promoting innovation) and
two ‘Performance’ pillars measure the output (represent a
nation’s benefits in knowledge creation and competitiveness.).
India ranked 46th in GII 2021, released by World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO).
Significance
Provide policymakers and other key stakeholders with a comprehensive assessment of the spatial dynamics of the innovation
ecosystem of India.
Identify the challenges that persist across regional economies in maximizing their innovative capacities and provide solutions to
address them.

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BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS) PUBLISHES 10 INDIAN STANDARDS ON SAFETY
ASPECTS OF TOYS
A total of 10 Indian Standards have been published, out of which 7 are the part of Quality Control Order (QCO) on ‘Safety of Toys’.
The QCO makes it mandatory, from Name of Traditional Toys State
Jan 1, 2021, that toys for children Channapatna toy, Kinnal toys Karnataka
under 14 years of age conform to Etikoppaka Toys, Kondapalli toys Andhra Pradesh
7 Indian Standards for Safety of Nirmal toys Telangana
Toys and bear a Standard Mark (ISI Tamil Nadu
Thanjavur Golu Dolls, Choppu saman
Mark) under licence from BIS.

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Laiphadibi Manipur
Before licence is granted, toys Asharikandi Terracotta Toys Assam
undergo stringent tests to ensure Sambalpur toys and paper mache and stone toy Odisha
that they are safe with respect to Chankana (a toy with a whistle), ghuggu (rattle box for babies), lattoo (spinning top), handwai Punjab
physical safety, safety against (kitchen sets)

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chemicals, flammability, electrical Thigda Dhingla Gujarat
safety etc.

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About Indian Toy Industry
Estimated to be $1.5 bn making up 0.5% of global market share. UK-NITI AAYOG COLLABORA-
Manufacturing is mostly located in NCR, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and clusters across central Indian states. TIVE INITIATIVES ON ELEC-
The sector is fragmented with 90% of the market being unorganized.
Steps taken by government to promote toy industry
TRIC MOBILITY
In the backdrop of COP 26 President visit to India,

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National Action Plan for Indian Toy Story to boost local manufacturing. NITI Aayog launched two initiatives namely,
Need-based interventions for toy industry in 13 identified handicrafts toy E-AMRIT (Accelerated e-Mobility
clusters. Revolution for India's Transportation)
Under National Education Policy 2020 toy- making will be introduced to mobile application to raise awareness on
students from the sixth standard onwards. electric mobility.

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Report on Advanced Chemistry Cell
(ACC) Battery Reuse supported by UK’s
INDIA ADOPTS US' JOINT STATEMENT OF THE 2022

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Green Growth Fund Technical Cooperation
SUPPLY CHAIN MINISTERIAL FORUM ON COOPERATION Facility.
Report aims to promote battery recycling of
OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS current and evolving battery technologies,
A partnership of 18 economies, including India, US and European Union has and battery supply chain as uptake of electric

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unveiled a four-point roadmap for building collective, long-term resilient supply vehicles increase in India.
chains (RSC) to counter risks arising from supply dependencies and Recycling potential in India will be around
165 GWh by 2030.

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vulnerabilities.
Roadmap was formulated in the backdrop of supply chain summit that was Need for battery recycling and reuse
held in US, in 2021. Limited availability of raw materials
Untreated battery waste contaminates soil
Statement recognises shocks to global supply chains from pandemics, wars
and groundwater.
and conflicts, extreme climate impacts, and natural disasters.

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India’s dependence on imports from
Building RSC roadmap is based on global principles of transparency, developed countries to cater growing
diversification, security and sustainability. Lithium-ion batteries market.
Currently, the global Mineral mining activities tends to
supply chain is destroy terrestrial ecosystems, leads to
dominated by China. loss in ecological balance, deforestation,
Measures are aimed GHG emissions etc.
at reducing the Recommendations
dependence of Disposal of batteries in landfills should be
partners on Chinese made illegal.
supply chains against Explicitly state the responsibilities of
the backdrop of its assertive actions, including on economic and trade issues. corporates.
India, Japan and Australia have also launched Supply Chain Resilience Implement Deposit Refund System to
Initiative (SCRI) to counter China’s dominance of supply chain in the incentivise customers to return batteries
Indo-Pacific region.
Supporting start-ups in developing
Significance of RSC recycling of battery products.
Risk reduction by allowing visibility into all operations across the network.
ACC are new generation technologies that can
More efficient operations leading to more investment in innovation and store electric energy either as electrochemical or
growth. as chemical energy and convert it back to electric
Improved productivity. energy as and when required.
NO NEED TO AMEND ANTI-DEFECTION LAW AS IT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME, LAW MINISTER
TELLS RAJYA SABHA Anti-defection law, was introduced in
The statements was made by in a written response to a question on whether the 1985 with a view to curb the tendency
anti-defection law in its present form is adequate to stop induced defections. among legislators to switch loyalties
from one party to another and
Issues with anti-defection law facilitate the toppling of regimes and
Anti-defection law encouraged group defections to bring down the strength of an formation of new ones.
Assembly and facilitate a government change. Anti-defection law provided for the
disqualification of legislators
Thus, the law is seen as ineffective in ensuring stability of the elected government.
belonging to a political party if they
Meaning of the term ‘merger’ in anti-defection law is not clear voluntarily gave up membership of
Legislators interpreted for themselves the term ‘merger’ to mean the merger of two their party or defied whip of their
thirds of legislators and that the merger of their original party is not necessary. party by voting contrary to its
directions.

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However, experts believe that if there is no merger of the original party, then these However, if two-thirds of the
dissidents cannot claim any exception from disqualification no matter whether members agree to a merger with
strength is. another party, they will not be
Speaker or chairpersons of the legislatures makes the final decision on defection. disqualified.

However, this power is subject to judicial review (Kihoto Hollohon Vs Zachilhu, 1992).

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Law does not provide a time-frame within which Presiding officers has to decide on anti-defection case.

ALSO IN NEWS

MIST Submarine Cable

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The Expert Appraisal Committee under the Ministry of Forests has recommended Coastal

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Regulatory Zone clearance for the 8,100-KM long Myanmar/Malaysia-India-Singapore Transit
(MIST) Submarine Cable System.
MIST is an international submarine cable communication network.
It will provide secure, reliable, robust and affordable telecom facilities in Asia.
The main trunk route is from Tuas (Singapore) to Mumbai (India).

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Submarine cables use Fiber-optic technology (lasers on one end fire at extremely rapid rates down
System thin glass fibers to receptors at the other end of the cable).

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Serotonin is a kind of neurotransmitter, a chemical that helps transmit messages or signals from
one nerve cell to another for communicating.
It helps regulate mood, sleep, appetite, and other major aspects of daily functioning.
For decades, low serotonin in the brain has been widely seen to be responsible for depression.
Also, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) , which temporarily increases the

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availability of serotonin in the brain, is prescribed as antidepressants.
Serotonin Now, researchers have reported there is "no convincing evidence" for the same.

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The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly
for the first time to its red list of threatened species and categorized it as "endangered".
This is one of the most recognisable butterflies in the world.
In North America, millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect
species known to science.

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Threats: Loss of habitat, increased use of herbicides and pesticides for agriculture, and climate
Monarch butterfly change.
Way ahead for recovery: Planting milkweed, a plant that the caterpillars depend upon.

A 165-km rivulet in Punjab that runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers
Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.
A rivulet is a small stream.
Waste water as well as industrial waste from nearby areas flowed into the rivulet, turning its waters
Kali Bein black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet).
Minister of Jal Shakti said that KLIS was not eligible for inclusion under the National Project (NP)
Scheme as Telangana has obtained investment clearance from Centre.
KLIS is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram (Telangana).
NP Scheme is implemented with a view to expedite completion of identified National Projects
for the benefit of the people.
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Such projects will be provided financial assistance by Centre in the form of Central grant,
Project (KLIS) which will be 90% of the estimated cost of such projects.

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 The President-elect Droupadi Murmu belongs to the Santhal Tribe.
She has made history by becoming the first woman tribal President of India.(15th President of
India).
About Santhal Tribe
Third-largest scheduled tribe community in the country
Mostly distributed in Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
Santhals speak Santhali, which belongs to the Austro- Asiatic language family.
Santhals have their script called Olchiki, which was developed by Dr Raghunath Murmu in 1925.
The Santhals are credited for taking on the force of the East India Company through the Santhal
Santhal tribe
Hul (revolution) of 1855-56.
Raja Serfoji II
A rare 19th century painting of Raja Serfoji and his son Sivaji, stolen from Saraswathi Mahal,
Thanjavur, has been traced to a US Museum.
Raja Serfoji II, scion of the Bhosle dynasty, was the ruler of the dominions of the Maratha
principality of Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) .

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Chhatrapati Shivaji's half-brother Venkoji founded the Thanjavur Maratha dynasty in 1675.
Contributions:
Established Dhanvantari Mahal, a hospital that took care of patients of all specialties.
He also carried out ophthalmic practices.
Personality in news
Also compiled a medical book called Sarabhendra Vaidhya System.

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Promoted women’s education through the Navavidhya Kalanidhi Sala, a school.
Created the 1st Zoological Garden in Tamil Nadu.

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Values: Humanist, Visionary, Educationist
Argentina (Capital: Buenos Aires)
Recently, the city of Buenos Aires blocked the use of gender-inclusive language in schools.
Political and Boundaries:
Situated in the southern part of South America.

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Borders Chile (West), Bolivia (Northwest), Paraguay
(North), Brazil (Northeast) and Uruguay (East).
Surrounded by Southern Atlantic ocean (East)
Shares maritime borders with the Falkland
Islands (United Kingdom).

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Geographical features:
Places in News
Divided into four regions: Andes, North, Pampas, and

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Patagonia.
Highest Mountain: Cerro Aconcagua
Longest River: Parana
Desert: Patagonian Desert also known as Patagonian Steppe

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