06, March 2019 06/03/2019 – Posted in: Press Information Bureau – Tags: , , , ,

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2019

(President Secretariat)

 

WHAT

  • The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2019.
  • India has made remarkable progress towards achieving the goals of rural and urban sanitation.
  • The Survey was the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.
  • The winners were awarded a statue of Mahatma Gandhi’s memento.

About Swachh Survekshan Award 2019:

  • Indore in Madhya Pradesh wins the first prize.
  • Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh secured second position.
  • Mysore in Karnataka secured third position.
  • Ahmedabad has been named the cleanest big city.
  • Ujjain has been awarded cleanest medium city.
  • New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the ”Cleanest Small City” award.
  • Bhopal has been named the cleanest capital.
  • Raipur won the ‘Fastest Moving Big City’.
  • Mathura-Vrindavan won the tag of Fastest Moving Medium City.

Source: PIB

 

Amendment in Hazardous Waste (Management& Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016

(Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change)

WHAT

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has amended the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016

  • To strengthen the implementation of environmentally sound management of hazardous waste in the country.

WHY AMENDMENT NEEDED

  • The amendment has been done keeping into consideration the “Ease of Doing Business”.
  • The amendment will boost “Make in India” initiative by simplifying the procedures under the Rules.
  • Upholding the principles of sustainable development and ensuring minimal impact on the environment.

SALIENT FEATURES OF HAZARDIOUS AND OTHER WASTES (MANAGEMENT & TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT) AMENDMENT RULES, 2019:

  • Solid plastic waste has been prohibited from import into the country including in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU).
  • Exporters of silk waste have now been given exemption from requiring permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • Electrical and electronic assemblies and components manufactured in and exported from India, if found defective can now be imported back into the country, within a year of export, without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • Industries which do not require consent under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, are now exempted from requiring authorization also under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, provided that hazardous and other wastes generated by such industries are handed over to the authorized actual users, waste collectors or disposal facilities.

Source: PIB

 

MoU: National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA)

(Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions)

WHAT

The NCGG and IICA have signed an MoI.

WHY

IICA will support NCGG for utilization of infrastructure facilities during the training programme of NCGG at Delhi and for academic & intellectual interactions for 5 years.

NCGG

  • NCGG has been set up by the Government of India (GoI) under the aegis of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
  • It aims to promote good governance through Capacity Building on Public Policy and Governance both at National and International Level and carrying out studies/ action research on issues relating to governance.

IICA

  • IICA, under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of Indiaasa society registeredon 12th September, 2008 with the primary objective of establishing, managing, maintaining and running a world class institute.
  • The vision is to function as a holistic, Capacity building Institution and think-bank for corporate regulations and reform, though synergised knowledge creation and management, global partnership for real time solutions.

Source: PIB

 

Science for People and People for Science

(Ministry of Science & Technology)

WHAT

  • Nine Science and Technology Missions with Focus on Science for People and People for Science.
  • Nine national missions guided by the Prime Minister Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
  • Collaborations across scientific ministries, research institutions and industry partners.

WHY

To build stronger foundations in education, fundamental research, applications in agriculture, health, environment, energy etc.

PM-STIAC AIM

  • It aims to facilitate the process of collaboration and focus needed to solve complex problems in a reasonable time-frame.
  • It also aims to understand and conserve our biodiversity and develop sustainable processes.
  • It aims to leverage precision health for personal wellbeing.
  • It helped to recover wealth from waste.
  • It aim to develop and use artificial intelligence, quantum computing, connected mobility solutions and other technologies to address frontier scientific questions and our challenges, thereby enabling sustainable development for India and, indeed, the planet.

PSA

Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) office aims to build on India’s rich cultural and traditional practise, to position India as a pioneer in the areas of biodiversity research and deep ocean exploration.

NINE MISSION

  1. Natural Language Translation.
  2. Quantum Frontier.
  3. Artificial Intelligence.
  4. National Biodiversity mission.
  5. Electric Vehicles.
  6. Bioscience for human health.
  7. Waste to health.
  8. Deep Ocean Exploration.
  9. Agnii

Read More : http://pibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2019/mar/p20193601.pdf

Source: PIB

 

‘Web Wonder Women’

(Ministry of Women and Child Development)

WHAT

  • A felicitation event hosted by The Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  • Organised in collaboration with Twitter India and Breakthrough India.
  • The women were selected under the categories media, awareness, legal, health, governmental, food, environment, development, business and art.

AIM

The event aimed to recognise the fortitude of Indian women stalwarts from across the globe who have used the power of social media to run positive campaigns to steer a change in society.

WEB WONDER WOMEN

It was a campaign to recognise, honour and encourage such voices that have in their own capacity driven a positive impact on social media platforms.

FIRST LADIES

  • In 2018, the Ministry of Women and Child Development hosted ‘First Ladies’, a first-of-its-kind Government initiative to felicitate exceptional women who were the first to set a milestone in their respective fields.
  • In 2015, the Ministry had collaborated with Facebook to recognise ‘100 Women Achievers’ who have excelled in diverse sectors of public work.
  • ‘Web Wonder Women’ is the third leg of the ‘Women Achievers’ campaign of the Ministry.

Source: PIB

 

Quality Assurance Scheme

(Ministry of Commerce & Industry)

WHAT

National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) launches Quality Assurance Scheme for Basic Composite Medical Laboratories.

  • It is a voluntary scheme by NABL for Basic Composite (BC) Medical Laboratories (Entry Level).

ELIGIBLITY

The laboratories performing only basic routine tests like blood glucose, blood counts, rapid tests for common infections, liver & kidney function tests and routine tests of urine will be eligible.

SIGNIFICANCE

  • The scheme will help to bring quality at the grass root level of India’s health system.
  • Patients availing services of small labs in primary health centers, community health centers, doctor’s clinic, standalone small labs, labs in small nursing homes will also have access to quality lab results.
  • This scheme will also give a needed support to Ayushmaan Bharat Yojana of Government of India.
  • Laboratories have to follow the imperatives of quality in all their processes.
  • Successful laboratories will be issued a certificate of compliance to QAS BC scheme by NABL.

NABL

  • NABL is a Constituent Board of Quality Council of India.
  • NABL is Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) signatory to International bodies like International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC) and Asia Pacific Accreditation Co-operation (APAC) for accreditation of Testing including Medical and Calibration laboratories.
  • NABL is also having APAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Proficiency Testing Provider (PTP) & Reference Materials Producers (RMP).
  • NABL provides accreditation in all major fields of Science and Engineering such as Biological, Chemical, Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Fluid-Flow, Non-Destructive, Photometry, Radiological, Thermal & Forensics under testing facilities and Electro-Technical, Mechanical, Fluid Flow, Thermal, Optical & Radiological under Calibration facilities.

Source: PIB