1. DAVA project bags 2015 eASIA award for trade facilitation
i. The Drug Authentication and Verification Application (DAVA) project
of The Department of Commerce has won the 2015 eASIA Award under Trade
Facilitation category. The award was announced by Asia Pacific Council
for Trade Facilitation (APCTF) and Tehran based (Iran) Electronic
Business.
ii. The eASIA award is administered by AFACT which aims to development
and promotion of trade facilitation, electronic business policies and
activities in the Asia Pacific region.
iii. DAVA project was launched by Union Government in June 2015. It
seeks to create an integrated platform for implementation of the Track
and Trace system for exporters and domestic markets of Drugs and
Pharmaceuticals. The project aims to cover all the drugs manufactured in
India and contribute considerably in enhancing the brand image of our
pharmaceutical exporters.
iv. It will also provide simpler platform for the regulatory agencies
and consumer for establishing drug authentication. Under this project,
the DAVA application has been incorporated with value-added features
like availability of stocks for a drug in an area/retailers/ wholesalers
at a point of time.
v. Using it drugs can easily be identified and recalled due to
traceability of stocks which in turn helps in prevention of black
marketing which especially arises during epidemics.
2. Vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam conferred 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award
i. Foremost south Indian classical vocalists Sanjay Subrahmanyam has
conferred with prestigious 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award. The prestigious
award was bestowed upon him by renowned mathematician Manjul Bhargava
at 89th annual conference of the Madras Music Academy in Chennai, Tamil
Nadu.
ii. With this, he became seventh artistes to be conferred with this
award before completing 50 years of age. Others are Ariyakudi Ramanuja
Iyengar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer,
Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer, G.N. Balasubramaniam, M.L. Vasanthakumari
and M. Balamuralikrishna
iii. By profession he is Charted Accountant but in 2000 became full-time
musician. He had started performing Carnatic music from 1987. Gaana
Padhmam (2013), Vani Kala Sudhakara (2010) and the title Kalaimamani by
Tamil Nadu Government (2006) etc.
iv. It is a prestigious award bestowed annually upon an expert of
Carnatic Music by the Madras Music Academy. The award’s name has been
derived from Sanskrit which means treasure of Music and art in English.
This honour is considered one of the highest awards in Carnatic music.
3. Government constitute Kamlesh Chandra Committee to study wage structure of Gramin Dak Sevaks
i. The Union Government has constituted a committee to examine the wage
structure, service conditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the
Department of Posts (DoP). It is one member committee comprising of
Kamlesh Chandra, Retired Member of Postal Services Board.
ii.
The Committee will be assisted by Senior Administrative Grade Officer
T.Q. Mohammad who will act as Secretary to the GDS Committee. The
Committee will go into the service conditions of GDS and suggest changes
as considered necessary. Examine the present system of Branch Post
Offices, engagement conditions and existing structure of wage and
enrolments paid to the GDS and recommend necessary changes.
iii. Review the existing Services Discharge Benefits Scheme and also
other social security benefits for the GDS and suggest necessary
changes. Review the existing facilities as well as welfare measures
provided to the GDS and suggest necessary changes.
iv. Examine and suggest any changes in the
(a) method of minimum qualification for engagement as GDS.
(b) Conduct and disciplinary rules of GDS, particularly keeping in view
the proposed induction of technology in the Rural Post Offices.
4. Indian-origin cancer expert Harpal Singh Kumar knighted
i. An Indian-origin cancer research expert Harpal Singh Kumar was
honoured with a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his influential
work on prevention and treatment of cancer. Mr. Singh’s name has
appeared in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list that includes several other
Indian-origin individuals.
ii.
Harpal Singh Kumar was born in India in 1965. He had founded Nexan
Group, a venture capital-backed medical devices company in 1997. Later
he had joined Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRTL) as chief
executive in 2002 and was promoted as COO of Cancer Research UK in 2004.
iii. He is the chairman of the Board at the National Cancer Research
Institute (NCRI) and also chairman of the Cancer Outcomes Strategy
Advisory Group (COSAG) in England. He has won the Mobil Prize, Metal Box
Prize, and Hughes Prize.
iv. Knighthood is one of the highest honours bestowed upon an individual
in the UK and it doesn’t carry any military obligations to the
sovereign. The knighthoods are conferred by the Queen or a member of the
Royal Family acting on her behalf in Britain. Queen usually presents
insignia at the ceremony.
5. CMPDI Chairman assumes charge
i.
Shekhar Saran has taken over as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of
Ranchi-based Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI)
from this month. Prior to this, he served as the Director (Technical) of
CMPDI.
ii. A mining engineer and MBA, he started his career in the coal
industry from Sohagpur area of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in
1981.
6. Eight states to implement DBT in kerosene from April 1
i. Eight states have agreed to implement direct benefit of transfer in
kerosene in 26 districts, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said
on Friday. The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2016 and till
then state governments will be consulted in the run up to the scheme.
ii The scheme will be implemented in three districts of Chhattisgarh,
two in Haryana, three in Himachal Pradesh, six in Jharkhand, four in
Madhya Pradesh, two in Maharashtra, three in Punjab and three in
Rajasthan.
iii. In these districts, the consumer will pay the un-subsidised price
of kerosene at the time of purchase and subsequently the subsidy amount
will be directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary, an
official statement said.
iv. Calculations of the savings will be based on the net savings in
kerosene consumption at the state level from the baseline which would be
90 per cent of the 2015-16 allocation. The implementing states will be
advised to take all necessary steps to ensure that eligible and genuine
beneficiaries particularly in rural areas are able to access the full
entitlement of kerosene.
v. Kerosene subsidy outgo for the financial year 2014-15 was ₹ 24,799
crore. The government expects DBT in kerosene to ensure that genuine
beneficiaries get the subsidy benefit while preventing illegal
diversion.
7. Telangana become first state to accept e-motor insurance policies
i. Electronic motor insurance policies are legally accepted by the
police and transport authorities in Telangana from today, making it the
first state in the country to do so. The e-Vahan Bima, an electronic
motor insurance policy issued in digital form with Quick Response (QR)
code, has been formally launched here by the Minister for IT, K T
Ramarao.
ii.
As these policies can be stored and accessed on smart phones, the
process of verification will become easier for commuters as well as
police. There are 84 lakh vehicles in the state and 50 per cent of them
do not have insurance.
iii. Driving a vehicle without a motor third party insurance is an
offence under Motor Vehicle Act 1988 as it pays for legal liability in
case of any injury or damage to any third party life or property caused
by the use of vehicle in a public place.
iv. "The launch of e-Vahan Bima and digital acceptance will help the
poor accident victims in the state and also ensure better compliance,’’
Ramarao said after formally launch of the initiative here on Saturday.
v. Going forward, registration certificates of vehicles and driving
licences should be verified electronically, he added. The initiative was
a joint effort by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
(IRDA) of India, Department of Information Technology, police and
transport departments of the state.
8. Film-maker Shyam Benegal to head panel on Censor Board revamp
i. To put an end to recent controversies surrounding the Censor Board,
the Centre has set up a Committee headed by noted film-maker Shyam
Benegal to work out a revamp plan and submit its report within two
months.
ii. Noting that film certification has to ensure that in doing so
(giving certification), “artistic creativity and freedom do not get
stifled/curtailed and the people tasked with the work of certification
understand these nuances,” the committee is expected to provide a
“holistic framework and enable those tasked with the work of
certification of films to discharge their responsibilities keeping in
view this framework,” a statement from Information & Broadcasting
Ministry said.
iii. The other members of the Committee are Hindi film director Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra, adman Piyush Pandey, film critic Bhawana Somaaya, Nina
Lath Gupta of National Film Development Corporation and Joint Secretary
(Films).
iv. Among other things, the committee would be expected to take note of
the “best practices in various parts of the world, especially where the
film industry is given sufficient and adequate space for creative and
aesthetic expression.”
v. It has been tasked with recommending broad guidelines/procedures
under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act/Rules for the benefit of
the chairperson and other members of the Screening Committee.
vi. The committee will also look into the staffing pattern of Central
Board of Film Certification, known as the Censor Board, and recommend a
framework to provide efficient/transparent user-friendly services.
