(National) Current Affairs 8-14 August, 2019

national current affairs 14 august 2019
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Table of Contents:
National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 passed by Parliament
India’s First Underwater Train to be launched in Kolkata
National Film Awards 2019
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People 2019 observed
BCCI to come under NADA
Gogabeel Lake delclared Bihar’s First Community Reserve
Vikram Sarabhai’s 100th Birth Anniversary observed
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 passed
Aishwarya Pissay became First Indian Women Motorsports Champion
Center to launch ‘Uber for Tractors’ to aid Farmers

National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 passed by Parliament

  • President has given assent to the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 to regulate medical education and practices in India.

Key features of the Bill include:

  • Constitution of the National Medical Commission: 
    • The Bill sets up the National Medical Commission (NMC) and State Medical Councils at the state level. 
    • The NMC will consist of 25 members, appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a search committee which consists of seven members including the Cabinet Secretary and five experts nominated by the central government (of which three will have experience in the medical field).
       
  • Functions of the National Medical Commission: 
    • Framing policies for regulating medical institutions and medical professionals
    • Assessing the requirements of healthcare related human resources and infrastructure,
    • Ensuring compliance by the State Medical Councils of the regulations made under the Bill
    • Framing guidelines for determination of fees for up to 50% of the seats in private medical institutions and deemed universities which are regulated under the Bill.
       
  • Medical Advisory Council:  
    • The Council will be the primary platform through which the states/union territories can put forth their views, concerns and advise for NMC. 
       
  • Autonomous boards: 
    • The Bill sets up autonomous boards for UG, PG medical education under the supervision of the NMC.  Each autonomous board will consist of a President and four members, appointed by the central government. 
    • It also provides for a Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) to maintain the minimum standards in medical education and also Ethics and Medical Registration Board to maintain a National Register of all licensed medical practitioners, and regulate professional conduct.  
  • Community health providers (CHPs): 
    • The NMC may grant a limited license to certain mid-level practitioners connected with the modern medical profession to practice medicine.  
    • These mid-level practitioners may prescribe specified medicines in primary and preventive healthcare.   
  • Entrance examinations: 
    • It prescribes a uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to UG and PG medical education in all medical institutions.  
    • Also a common final year undergraduate examination called the National Exit Test (NEXT) for the students graduating from medical institutions to obtain the license for practice.  This test will also serve as the basis for admission into post-graduate courses at medical institutions.

IMA’s Major Concerns:

Opposition of NMC Bill
  • The first one is over the CHPs being allowed to practice modern medicine. This may open the door for persons with inadequate training in modern medicine to practice, putting patients at risk and lowering standards of healthcare.
  • National Exit Test (NEXT) for giving both licenses for practice (to those who have already cleared the MBBS exam) as well as for admission to post-graduate. While for practicing medicine, a minimum level of competence is required (passing the MBBS), admission to post-graduate courses calls for a higher level of competence and only the cream of the profession gets selected.
  • Framing guidelines to determine fees and all other charges for 50% of seats in private medical institutions and deemed to be universities (the MCI did not have such powers). At present state governments “regulate” fees for 85% of such seats and the rest (15%) are for the management to decide, thereby increasing the cost of medical education.
  • The power with the central government to give policy and other directives to the NMC and its autonomous boards which will be binding and final. This is contradictory to the very concept of autonomy of the four boards.

Further Reading

India’s First Underwater Train to be launched in Kolkata

  • Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India’s first underwater train project is set to launch in Kolkata, West Bengal under the Hooghly river.
  • The tunnel is provided with four-layers of protection to shield the tunnel from the water of the Hooghly River.
  • It will connect Salt Sector 5 with Howrah Maidan. It is a 16-kilometer long Kolkata Metro project.

Further Reading

National Film Awards 2019

  • Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Badhai Ho (Hindi)
  • Best Film on Social Issues: Padman (Hindi)
  • Best Actor: Ayushmann Khurrana (Andhadhun) and Vicky Kaushal (Uri: The Surgical Strike)
  • Best Actress: Keerthy Suresh (Mahanati-Telugu)

Further Reading

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People 2019 observed

  • International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was observed on August 9.
  • It is celebrated to raise awareness about the protection of the rights of the world’s indigenous population.
  • The theme of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2019 is ‘‘Indigenous Languages”.
  • On 23 December 1994, the UNGA declared August 9 as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The date marks the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 1982.

Further Reading

BCCI to come under NADA

  • The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has agreed to come under the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and abide the Indian law after years of resisting the move.
  • BCCI had some concerns regarding the dope test kit, quality of the dope control officers, and the time period for the report.
  • NADA uses the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recognized dope test kit.
  • BCCI calling itself an autonomous body, and was against the signing up with NADA for a period of time. The Indian cricket board decided in March 2019 to work with the country’s anti-doping agency on a trial period of 6 months.
National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)
1. The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) was set up as registered society on November 24, 2005. The primary objectives of NADA are to made anti-doping rules as per WADA code, to promote education and research and create awareness about doping and make Indian sports dope free.
2. It is responsible for controlling and monitoring the use of dopes in the all sports in India.
3. NADA is formed by the Union Government under the societies Registration Act. NADA includes scientists and representatives from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Further Reading

Gogabeel Lake delclared Bihar’s First Community Reserve

  • Gogabeel, an ox-bow lake in Bihar’s Katihar district, has been declared as the state’s first ‘Community Reserve’.
  • Gogabeel is formed from the flow of the rivers Mahananda and Kankhar in the north and the Ganga in the south and east. It is the 15th Protected Area (PA) in Bihar.
  • In 2004, Gogabeel, including the neighbouring Baghar Beel and Baldia Chaur, were given the status of an IBA (Important Bird Area of India) by the IBCN (Indian Bird Conservation Network).

Further Reading

Vikram Sarabhai’s 100th Birth Anniversary observed

  • The founder of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and is known as the Father of the Indian Space Program, Vikram Sarabhai’s 100th birth anniversary observed on 12 August,2019 across the country.
  • He was born on 12 August 1919 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He established Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad in 1947 and Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962, which was later renamed the ISRO.
  • He also founded the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) and the Nehru Foundation for Development (NFD) in Ahmedabad. He also served as chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission.
  • ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-2 mission having lander called  Vikram to honour the late Dr. Vikram Sarabhai that is scheduled to touch down on the lunar surface on September 7, 2019.
  • In 1973, a crater on the moon was named after him i.e. “Sarabhai”. It is located on the Mare Serenitatis, in the northeast quadrant of the Moon.

Further Reading

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 passed

  • President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to a legislation under which individuals can be declared as terrorists and their properties seized.
  • The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 also provides for putting travel ban on such individuals once they are declared as terrorists.
  • India’s most wanted, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, are likely to be the first two individuals to be designated as terrorists under the legislation.
  • The amendments give powers to the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to attach properties acquired from proceeds of terrorism. Earlier, the law required that the NIA take prior permission from the respective state police chief to attach the proceeds of terrorism.

Further Reading

Aishwarya Pissay became First Indian Women Motorsports Champion

Aishwarya Pissay
  • Aishwarya Pissay created history by becoming the first Indian to claim a world title in motorsports.
  • The 23-year-old from Bengaluru lifted the FIM World Cup in the women’s category after the final round of the championship in Hungary. She also finished second in the FIM Junior category.
  • She was placed second in the junior category with 46 points, behind championship winner Tomas de Gavardo (60) of Chile.

Further Reading

Center to launch ‘Uber for Tractors’ to aid Farmers

  • The agricultural Ministry and the centre decided to launch a farm equipment rental app to aid farmers in accessing cutting- edge technology at affordable prices.
  • Farmers can book and hire agricultural equipment and use them on rent basis.
  • The name ‘Uber for tractors’ was kept by the govt. keeping in mind the popular app ‘Uber’ which connects to cabs, this ‘Uber for tractors’ will reach the grass root level people and farmers.
  • There are a total of 38,000 Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) across the country that can rent out 2.5 Lakh equipments each year.
  • Trial run for the app was conducted in four states. They are Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab.

Further Reading


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