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Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 08 JULY 2019
::NATIONAL::
New amendments by govt.will make doctors prescribe only generics
- The Central Government is considering amendments to the Drugs and
Cosmetic Rules, 1945 to ensure that registered medical practitioners
dispense only generic medicines.
- The matter was recently brought before the Drugs Consultative
Committee (DCC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
- “A proposal was received by the CDSCO committee wherein the DCC
was apprised that registered medical practitioners can supply different
categories of medicines, including vaccines to their patients under the
exemption provided, with certain conditions, under Schedule K of the Drugs
and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
- As of now, there are no specified types of medicines which can be
supplied by doctors to their patients,” a senior health official said.
- A senior Association member said: “While we welcome the move to
ensure that generic medicines are supplied, the government also has to
ensure easy availability, unclogged supply chain, and strict quality control
of generic medicines. We welcome the move to keep drugs affordable but we
have to ensure availability and effectiveness also of generic medicines.”
Vice President calls for a national innovation movement
- The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for
creating a National Innovation Movement to promote path-breaking ideas and
innovations that improve the living conditions of the people and generate
wealth.
- Speaking after presenting Gandhian Young Technological Innovation
(GYTI) Awards-2019 at a function organised by the Department of
Biotechnology, here today, Shri Naidu stressed the need to tap the huge
talent present in every section of the society across the length and breadth
of the country to build a new and inclusive India.
- On the plans to make India a five trillion dollar economy by 2025,
Shri Naidu said the engines driving this growth would be start-ups and
digitisation. In this context, he suggested that every school and college
should setup innovation departments and promote the culture of
entrepreneurship.
- The Vice President said that the Government has identified 117
Aspirational Districts for their overall transformation and exhorted the
young innovators to be part of the mass movement to transform those
districts.
::ECONOMY::
Increase of gold duty in Budget draws flak
- Gem and jewellery exporters on Saturday expressed disappointment
over the significant increase in import duty on gold and other precious
metals, saying the move would result in shifting of businesses to
neighbouring countries.
- Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)
chairmanPramodAgrawal said: “We, as an industry, are greatly disappointed
with the increase of import duty on precious metals, gold and silver.”
- The sector was already going through very tough times with decline
in exports and job losses, he added. According to industry experts, the
decision could lead to an increase in smuggling of the yellow metal in the
country.
- In the Budget 2019-20, the government proposed to raise the import
duty on gold and other precious metals from 10% at the present to 12.5%.
Mr.Agrawal said they had urged the government to cut the import duty as they
were important raw materials for the sector.
- The government’s move “will result in growth of business in the
neighbouring countries as foreign tourists will stop buying jewellery from
here and processing of larger diamonds will shift to competing countries
like China, Vietnam,” he said.
Fiscal target revised to 3.3% in budget
- The government is estimating a fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP in
financial year 2019-20, lower than the 3.4% estimated earlier in the interim
Budget presented in February.
- The main reason for this is an increase on the revenue side, while
expenditure is being controlled, Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg
said. Ratings agencies and tax analysts say there is a risk of missing the
3.3% target if tax revenue falls short of the target.
- The government has budgeted a higher disinvestment target for
2019-20 of ₹1.05 lakh crore, compared to the ₹80,000 crore budgeted in the
previous year. Apart from this, Mr.Garg said, the government had budgeted a
dividend from the Reserve Bank of India amounting to about ₹90,000 crore.
- While the government predicted a total revenue of ₹17.2 lakh crore
in its revised estimates for 2018-19, the data in the Survey showed this was
actually ₹1.6 lakh crore lower. The bulk of this reduction in collections
was due to tax receipts falling well short of the mark.
- Notably, the government has cut the allocations for several major
schemes. Most significant of these is the ₹4,334 crore cut for the Swachh
Bharat scheme.
::INTERNATIONAL::
China talks on quicker implementation of BCIM corridor
- A statement on the Chinese foreign ministry’s website on
Ms.Hasina’s talks with President Xi on Friday says that the Prime Minister
pledged to “promote the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar
Economic Corridor”.
- On Thursday, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang advocated that
Beijing and Dhaka should “work together to build the BCIM- EC, in a bid to
connect the market covering nearly 3 billion people”
- The revival of Chinese interest in the BCIM-EC in coordination
with India was evident when Mr. Xi singled out the project as an example of
expanding the India-China ties, which had entered a “new phase” after the
Wuhan informal summit held last year in April, following last month’s talks
with Mr.Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
summit in Bishkek.
- In tune with China’s intent to engage with India to spur the BCIM-EC,
President Xi and Prime Minister Hasina acknowledged that “the initiative
would have to be revived working together with India,” the United News of
Bangladesh (UNB) reported on its website.
- After the Wuhan summit, China has been advocating “China-India
Plus” cooperation, aimed at adopting a joint approach towards some of the
major issues in the region, including the Rohingya refugee crisis along with
possible initiatives in Nepal, Afghanistan and Iran.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
MoeFCC to consider contraceptives for animals
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC)
has launched a project for undertaking ‘immunocontraceptive measures’ for
population management of four species of wild animals elephant, wild boar,
monkey and blue bull (Nilgai).
- Human-animal conflict has emerged as a major challenge in managing
wildlife in the country and human-elephant conflict causes the maximum
number of causalities every year.
- According to reply tabled in Parliament on June 28, 2019, nearly
494 persons were killed by elephants last year alone. Between 2014 and March
2019, 2,398 people died in elephant attack in the country, with West Bengal
accounting for maximum number of such deaths .
- Professor Sukumar said the birth-control method has been tried in
Africa in areas like the Kruger National Park but added that the
implementation of such a project in India will not be a simple task. It will
involve multi-disciplinary effort over a long period of time, he said.
- Professor Sukumar said that after developing the technology, the
test will be to deliver the contraceptive and the logistics around it. In
Africa the system has worked in private reserves with a relatively small
elephant population, where every individual can be easily identified, he
added.
::SPORTS::
Indian athletes perform well in Qasanov memorial meet
- Indian track and field athletes won six medals, including three
gold, on the first day of the Qasanov Memorial Meet at Almaty in Kazakhstan
today.
- Mohammed Afsal won the men's 800m gold in a good time of one
minute 49.12 seconds.
- Gagandeep Singh added another gold in men's discus throw with a
best effort of 52.39m. Senthil Kumar Mithravarun took the silver with a
49.54m throw.
- NavjeetKaurDhillon, who had won a bronze in the 2018 Commonwealth
Games, won the third gold for India recording discuss throw covering 54.80m.
