Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 March 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 18 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020

The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020 was introduced in RajyaSabha by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, on September 15, 2020. The Bill seeks to regulate and standardise the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals. Key features of the Bill include:
Allied health professional: The Bill defines ‘allied health professional’ as an associate, technician, or technologist trained to support the diagnosis and treatment of any illness, disease, injury, or impairment. Such a professional should have obtained a diploma or degree under this Bill. The duration of the degree /diploma should be at least 2,000 hours (over a period of two to four years).
Healthcare professional: A ‘healthcare professional’ includes a scientist, therapist, or any other professional who studies, advises, researches, supervises, or provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or promotional health services. Such a professional should have obtained a degree under this Bill. The duration of the degree should be at least 3,600 hours (over a period of three to six years).
Allied and healthcare professions: The Bill specifies certain categories of allied and healthcare professions as recognised categories. These are mentioned in the Schedule to the Bill and include life science professionals, trauma and burn care professionals, surgical and anaesthesia related technology professionals, physiotherapists, and nutrition science professionals. The central government may amend this Schedule after consultation with the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Profession.
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions: The Bill sets up the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions. The Commission will consist of: (i) the Chairperson, (ii) Vice-Chairperson, (iii) five members (at the level of Joint Secretary) representing various Departments/ Ministries of the central government, (iv) one representative from the Directorate General of Health Services, (v) three Deputy Directors or Medical Superintendents appointed on a rotational basis from amongst medical institutions including the AIIMS, Delhi and AIIPMR, Mumbai, and (vi) 12 part-time members representing State Councils, among others.
Functions of the Commission: The Commission will perform the following functions with regard to Allied and Healthcare professionals: (i) framing policies and standards for regulating education and practice, (ii) creating and maintaining an online Central Register of all registered professionals, (iii) providing basic standards of education, courses, curriculum, staff qualifications, examination, training, maximum fee payable for various categories, and (iv) providing for a uniform entrance and exit examination, among others.
Professional Councils: The Commission will constitute a Professional Council for every recognised category of allied and healthcare professions. The Professional Council will consist of a president and four to 24 members, representing each profession in the recognised category. The Commission may delegate any of its functions to this Council.
State Councils: Within six months from the passage of the Bill, state governments will constitute State Allied and Healthcare Councils. The State Councils will consist of: (i) the Chairperson (at least 25 years of experience in the field of allied and healthcare science), (ii) one member representing medical sciences in the state government, (iii) two members representing state medical colleges, (iv) two members representing charitable institutions, and (v) two members from each of the recognised categories of allied and healthcare professions, nominated by the state government, among others. The State Councils will: (i) enforce professional conduct and code of ethics to be observed by allied healthcare professionals, (ii) maintain respective State Registers, (iii) inspect allied and healthcare institutions, and (iv) ensure uniform entry and exit examinations.
Establishment of institutions: Prior permission of the State Council will be required to: (i) establish a new institution, or (ii) open new courses, increase the admission capacity, or admit a new batch of students to existing institutions. If such permission is not sought, then any qualification granted to a student from such an institution will not be recognised under the Bill.
Offences and penalties: No person is allowed to practice as a qualified allied and healthcare practitioner other than those enrolled in a State Register or the National Register. Any person who contravenes this provision will be punished with a fine of Rs 50,000.

::INTERNATIONAL::

World Bank to provide USD 200 million to Bangladesh to support COVID 19 affected urban youth, returnee migrants

The World Bank has approved USD 200 million to help Bangladesh provide support and services to the low income urban youths impacted by COVID 19 pandemic and the migrants who had to return involuntarily.
The Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE) project is aimed to benefit about 1.75 lakh poor urban youth through training, apprenticeship programme, counselling, micro and self-employment support. It will also help about 2 lakh migrants who were forced to return to Bangladesh to reintegrate in the domestic labour migrate or prepare for re-migration. The funding will provide them cash grants and counselling services based on their needs and aspirations.
World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Mercy Tembon said that migration and the urban informal sector played a key role in Bangladesh’s remarkable success in reducing poverty over the years. The project will support both the groups of workers to overcome structural barriers to gain employment.
In order to provide the support and services to the identified group, the World Bank project will set up 32 district welfare centres in Bangladesh.

::ECONOMY::

Indian companies will collaborate with Finland to develop 5G and 6G technologies

Finnish tech company, Nokia has already started working in the rural areas of India so as to expand the 5G applications. This was announced after the PM Modi and Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin hold a virtual summit on 16th March 2021.

Bilateral collaboration

Northern European nation, Finland has been a pioneer in technologies such as 2G, 3G and 4G. So, the Indian tech companies Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra are working with the companies and institutes in Finland to further the collaboration and expansion of 5G technology and evolution of the 6G technologies.

Bilateral Virtual Summit

PM Modi and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin hold the virtual summit during which they reviewed the ongoing collaboration in the fields of innovation, research & development, energy & clean technologies and trade & investment.
During the summit, Both countries agreed over the “ongoing collaboration in joint development of Quantum Computer using the artificial intelligence”.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

KRAS releases first batch of MRSAM missiles

Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) has rolled out the first Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) batch for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and army.
KRAS is a joint venture (JV) between Indian firm Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
The roll-out is a major step towards India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.
The JV received a $100m contract to manufacture 1,000 BARAK – 8 MRSAM missiles kits in 2019.
The kits will be supplied for final integration to India’s state-run defence firm Bharat Dynamics (BDL), which is the lead integrator for the MRSAM missile systems.
The first batch was rolled out from the KRAS facility located near Hyderabad International Airport.
Kalyani Group chairman and managing director Baba Kalyani said: “This is the beginning of a new era filled with self-confidence, a marked step-change in technological expertise and a collective demonstration of capability to be the global manufacturing hub for defence products.
“We are confident to complete the order far ahead of the stipulated time, and support the armed forces with the best in class missile kits. Apart from the missile kits, we will extend our support in maintenance and repair operations (MRO) as in-service air defence missile system for the armed forces.”

::SPORTS::

Pressure mounting on stuttering table-toppers Atletico

Diego Simeone's side have won just two of their last five Liga fixtures, seeing their 10-point lead slashed to four by second-placed Barcelona and six by Real Madrid in third.
Their disappointing form continued on Wednesday as they crashed out of the Champions League in the last-16 after a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea to depart 3-0 on aggregate.
Simeone said that far from allowing his side to concentrate solely on their domestic title bid, the exit was a blow.