One Health Mission

In News 

• The government launched the “ Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI)” as well as the World Bank-funded Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH) project under the aegis of the National One Health Mission.

Why Needed?

• India with its diverse wildlife, one of the largest livestock populations, and high-density human population carry heightened risks for the inter-compartmental spread of diseases. 
• The Covid pandemic, recent outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle, and the constant threat of Avian Influenza show that it is not just about addressing diseases from a human health point of view (zoonosis) but we need to address the livestock and wildlife aspects. 
• This also opens opportunities for leveraging the complementarity and strengths that are inherent in each sector and devising integrated, robust, and agile response systems.

About Recent Initiatives 

• Animal Health System Support for One Health(AHSSOH): It aims to create an ecosystem for a better animal health management system using the One Health approach.
  • The project will be implemented in five States and it envisages improving the capacity building of stakeholders involved in animal health and disease management. 
  • The project calls for participation by the Human Health, Forest and Environment Department at the national, regional as well as local for creating and strengthening the One Health architecture including community engagement.
  • The collaborative project will be implemented over a five-year period as a Central sector scheme with a financial provision of Rs. 1228.70 Cr. 
• Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI)

• It will create an “integrated disease reporting system for enhanced surveillance of zoonotic and other animal diseases
• The key activities under APPI which are at different stages of execution are as follows:

• Defined joint investigation and outbreak response teams (National & state)
• Design an overall integrated disease surveillance system (built on National Digital Livestock Mission)
• Strengthening the Regulatory system (e.g., Nandi online portal and Field trial guidelines)
• Creating disease modelling algorithms and early warning systems
• Strategizing Disaster Mitigation with National Disaster Management Authority
• Initiate targeted R&D to develop vaccines/diagnostics/therapies for priority diseases
• Build genomic and environmental surveillance methods to improve the timeliness and sensitivity of disease detection

What is One Health?

• One Health is an integrating idea that brings different sectors together to solve the health, productivity, and conservation challenges and has major implications for India. 
• WHO formed a One Health Initiative to integrate work on human, animal, and environmental health across the Organization.
  • WHO is also working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a One Health Quadripartite.

Present Scenario In India 

• The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) approved to set up of a National One Health Mission with a cross-ministerial effort that will serve to coordinate, support, and integrate all the existing One Health activities in the country and fill gaps where it is appropriate.
  • The Mission aims to coordinate across achieving overall pandemic preparedness and integrated disease control against priority diseases of both human and animal sectors, with early warning systems built on integrated surveillance systems and response readiness for endemic as well as an emerging epidemic or pandemic threats.  
• The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, launched in 2004 for disease outbreak detection and rapid response functions, has generated information on the flow of certain disease outbreaks but the program has been unable to integrate human and animal (livestock and wildlife) surveillance. 
• A multi-disciplinary Road Map to Combat Zoonoses (2008) was laid to create an integrated mechanism for the surveillance, detection, and treatment of zoonoses. 

Challenges 

• Absence of standardized methods to measure the complexity of the benefits achieved from the holistic approach.
• Lack of systematic methodology to prove the nature of health impacts across the animal and human health sectors.
• Lack of agreement in leadership issues, resource allocation, and work distribution.

Suggestions

• India has combatted several zoonotic diseases and has a robust institutional network for biomedical research, which can lead and operationalize the One Health approach.
• For One Health Science, it is important to develop databases and models with a consolidated approach of ecologists, field biologists, epidemiologists, and other scientists.
• Understanding and responding to the drivers that threaten health; optimising the effectiveness of public health systems in achieving these goals within each sector
• Institutionalise strong, continuous, and mutually beneficial coordination and collaboration between all stakeholders through multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional joint planning and implementation
• Therefore, a nexus of science, social science, indigenous knowledge, and policy at national, state, and local levels can put forward strategies and institutions for the implementation of One Health.

Dabba Trading

In News

• Recently, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) issued a string of notices naming entities involved in ‘dabba trading’. 

More about the news

• NSE cautioned retail investors to not subscribe (or invest) using any of these products offering indicative/assured/guaranteed returns in the stock market as they are prohibited by law. 
• NSE also added that the entities are not recognised as authorised members by the exchange.

What is ‘Dabba Trading’?

• Meaning:
  • Dabba (box) trading refers to informal trading that takes place outside the purview of the stock exchanges.
    • Traders bet on stock price movements without incurring a real transaction to take physical ownership of a particular stock as is done in an exchange. 
  • In simple words, it is gambling centered around stock price movements.
• For example, 
  • An investor places a bet on a stock at a price point, say ?1,000. If the price point rose to ?1,500, he/she would make a gain of ?500. 
  • However, if the price point falls to ?900, the investor would have to pay the difference to the dabba broker. 
  • Thus, it could be concluded that the broker’s profit equates to the investor’s loss and vice-versa. 
  • The equations are particularly consequential during bull runs or bear markets.
• How?
  • The primary purpose of such trades is to stay outside the purview of the regulatory mechanism, and thus, transactions are facilitated using cash and the mechanism is operated using unrecognised software terminals. 
  • Other than this, it could also be facilitated using informal or kaccha (rough) records, sauda (transaction) books, challans, DD receipts, cash receipts alongside bills/contract notes as proof of trading.
• Luring the investors:
  • Despite the risk involved, dabba trading can be profitable since it is not governed by any rules and regulations.
  • What lures potential investors is the aggressive marketing of brokers, ease of trading (using apps with quality interface) and lack of identity verifications. 
  • Depending on the individual’s trading profile, observable volumes and trends, brokers keep their fees and margins open to negotiation as well.

• Legal status:
  • ‘Dabba trading’ is recognised as an offence under Section 23(1) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act (SCRA), 1956 and upon conviction, can invite imprisonment for a term extending up to 10 years or a fine up to ?25 crore, or both.

Issues

• Loss of government exchequer:
  • Since there are no proper records of income or gain, it helps dabba traders escape taxation. 
  • They would not have to pay the Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) or the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on their transactions. 
  • The use of cash also means that they are outside the purview of the formal banking system. All of it combined results in a loss to the government exchequer.  
• No investor protection:
  • In ‘dabba trading’, the primary risk entails the possibility that the broker defaults in paying the investor or the entity becomes insolvent or bankrupt. 
  • Being outside the regulatory purview implies that investors are without formal provisions for investor protection, dispute resolution mechanisms and grievance redressal mechanisms that are available within an exchange.
• Harassment of clients:
  • It is also noticed that clients, on entering the dabba ecosystem, were harassed by the broker’s ‘recovery agents’ for default payments and refused payments upon profit.
• Black money & money laundering:
  • Since all activities are facilitated using cash, and without any auditable records, it could potentially encourage the growth of ‘black money’ alongside perpetuating a parallel economy. 
  • This could potentially translate to risks entailing money laundering and criminal activities.
• Loss & volatility:
  • The source warns that the mechanism could potentially translate into ripple effects for the regulated bourse as well by inducing volatility when dabba brokers look to hedge their exposures (take position in an alternate asset or investment to reduce the risk/loss with the current position). 
  • It also contributes to the bourse losing out on volumes, “even though they may not be significant”.

Stock Market TradingStock market trading is the process of buying and selling shares in a particular company.If you own certain stocks and shares of a company, it translates to you owning a piece of the firm.The first exchange for online trading in India and Asia was the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which was established in 1875. BSE, along with the National Stock Exchange in India, are the two main houses where stock market trading takes place. National Stock Exchange (NSE)About:National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is one of the leading stock exchanges in India, based in Mumbai. NSE is under the ownership of various financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies.It is the world’s largest derivatives exchange by number of contracts traded and the third largest in cash equities by number of trades for the calendar year 2022.NIFTY 50:NSE’s flagship index, the NIFTY 50, a 50 stock index is used extensively by investors in IndiaSystemically important MII:Recently, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) noted that the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was a systemically important market infrastructure institution (MII).

Guidelines for Acceptance of Green Deposits

In News

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the framework for accepting green deposits.

• The framework will come into effect from June 1.

About  Green Deposits

• A green deposit means an interest-bearing deposit, received by the Registered Entities(RE )  for a fixed period, the proceeds of which are earmarked for being allocated towards green finance. 
• The investment in this fixed tenure deposit will go towards financing eligible businesses and projects that promote the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and sustainable economy.

Major Highlights of Recent Framework 

• Applicability: It is applicable to Scheduled Commercial Banks including Small Finance Banks excluding Regional Rural Banks, Local Area Banks, and Payments Banks, and all deposit-taking Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), including Housing Finance Companies.
• Registered Entities(RE ) will be allowed to issue green deposits on a cumulative or non-cumulative basis which could be renewed or withdrawn on maturity by the depositor.
  • All conditions applicable to other public deposits will also be applicable to green deposits.

•  Allocation of fund
  • The allocation of funds raised through green deposits by REs during a financial year shall be subject to an independent Third-Party Verification/Assurance which shall be done on an annual basis.
  •  The green deposits shall be denominated in Indian Rupees only. 
• Usage : 
  • The proceeds from green deposits will be utilised for various activities like renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation among others.
• Exclusion 
  • Some of the sectors which are excluded are nuclear power generation, direct waste incineration, alcohol, weapons, tobacco, gaming, palm oil industries, and hydropower plants larger than 25 MW, among others.

Aims and objectives

• The idea is to foster and develop a green finance ecosystem in the country.
• It aims to encourage regulated entities (REs) to offer green deposits to customers, protect the interest of the depositors, aid customers to achieve their sustainability agenda, address greenwashing concerns, and help augment the flow of credit to green activities/projects. 

Present status 

• Currently, various banks like Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank, and DBS Bank India accept green deposits.

Future Outlook 

• Climate change has been recognised as one of the most critical challenges and globally, various efforts have been taken to reduce emissions as well as promote sustainability.
• The financial sector can play a pivotal role in mobilising resources and their allocation thereof in green activities/projects. Green finance is also progressively gaining traction in India,
• The allocation of proceeds raised from green deposits should be based on the official Indian green taxonomy.
• The projects must encourage energy efficiency in resource utilisation and improve natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
• Banks and NBFCs will have to put in place a comprehensive board-approved policy on green deposits.

Galaxy GN-z11

In News

• The latest spectroscopic results from GN-z11 which is one of the distant and early galaxies has confirmed a complete absence of dust particles from its surroundings for an interim time period despite possessing a very high star formation rate.

About GN-z11 Galaxy

• It was first discovered in 2015 by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
• It is located approximately 32 billion light years away from the Earth.
• It has been in existence since the Universe was 400 million years old post the Big Bang event.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. It was launched and deployed in 1990 and is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble and is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space.It has made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of astronomy since its launch. Hubble has made more than 1.4 million observations over the course of its lifetime.

What are Galaxies?

• A galaxy starts to form by accumulation of hydrogen gas in the form of a very large cloud called a nebula.
• Eventually, growing nebula develop localised clumps of gas.
• These clumps continue to grow into even denser gaseous bodies, giving rise to formation of stars.
• The Sun is  one of a vast number of stars within a galaxy and the Milky Way is only one of the billions of galaxies in the universe. 
• Astronomers generally classify galaxies into three major categories: spiral – like Milky Way – elliptical, and irregular.

Star Formation Process

• Stars are the most widely recognized astronomical objects, and represent the most fundamental building blocks of galaxies. 
• The age, distribution, and composition of the stars in a galaxy trace the history, dynamics, and evolution of that galaxy. 
• Stars are born within the clouds of dust and scattered throughout most galaxies.
• Turbulence deep within these clouds gives rise to knots with sufficient mass that the gas and dust can begin to collapse under its own gravitational attraction. 
• As the cloud collapses, the material at the center begins to heat up. Known as a protostar, it is this hot core at the heart of the collapsing cloud that will one day become a star.
• The process of star formation and the subsequent stellar evolution inevitably generates massive amounts of dust and makes the host galaxy opaque to some extent due to the apparent view of a thick veil around it. 
• This phenomenon has been missing in GN-z11’s behaviour, leaving astronomers amazed beyond measure.

Reasons Decoded by Scientists for this 

• Some of the possible reasons to explain this temporary disappearance of dust clouds are – the suppression of dust by reverse shocks from a supernovae explosion, destruction of dust by supernovae-triggered shocks, evacuation of dust by gaseous outflow driven by other stellar activity.
  • A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.
• Likewise, the re-emergence of the dust veil could be linked with the massive gravitation force possessed by GN-z11.

Solar Energy Corporation Gets Miniratna Status

In News

• State-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) has got the status of Miniratna Category-I Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE). 

About Miniratna Status

• In October 1997, the government granted certain autonomy & financial powers to some profit making organisations on the basis of certain criterias.
• The criteria laid down by the Government for grant of Miniratna status to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is given below:
  • Miniratna Category-I status: The CPSEs which have made profit in the last three years continuously, pre-tax profit is Rs.30 crores or more in at least one of the three years and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-I status.
  • Miniratna Category-II status: The CPSEs which have made profit for the last three years continuously and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-II status.
    • Miniratna CPSEs should have not defaulted in the repayment of loans/interest payment on any loans due to the Government.
    • Miniratna CPSEs shall not depend upon budgetary support or Government guarantees.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)

• It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and set up on 20th Sept, 2011 to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission (NSM).
• It is the only CPSU dedicated to the renewable energy sector. Through the amendments under the Companies Act, 2013, the mandate of the company has been broadened to cover the entire renewable energy domain.
• HQ: New Delhi

Exercise Orion

In News

• Indian Rafale combat aircraft are set to participate in a multinational wargame codenamed Orion, which is being hosted by France at Mont-de-Marsan, an Air Force base of the French Air and Space Force (FASF).

Do you know?The Indian Air Force has previously participated in wargames with foreign countries, including ones with the French Air Force in Jodhpur codenamed Desert Knight.Exercise Cope India 23, a bilateral Air Exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF) is being held at Air Force Stations Arjan Singh (Panagarh), Kalaikunda and Agra.

Exercise Orion

• About: 
  • It is a multinational exercise hosted by the French government.
  • The backdrop of this excercise is the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, where NATO led by the US is opposing Russian moves against Ukraine.
  • It is reportedly the largest ever multinational exercise being carried out by the French defense forces which have involved their Army, Navy and Air Force.
  • Exercise Orion  would be the first overseas exercise for the IAF’s Rafale aircraft.
• Participation:
  • It involves many of France’s NATO and other important allies like Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and the United States of America.

Significance

• It highlights the growing importance of India in the international arena and its close ties with key allies such as France.
• The participation of Indian Rafales in multinational wargames helps in improving their capabilities and also in enhancing the interoperability of Indian forces with their foreign counterparts.
• Participation in this exercise would further enrich the employment philosophy of the India Air Force, by imbibing the best practices from other Air Forces.

A HELP Program

In News

• ‘A HELP Program’ launched in the State of Uttarakhand.

What is an A-HELP Program?

• About: 
  • The ‘A-HELP’ training programme is being run jointly by the Union Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
  • In the programme, members of women self-help groups registered under State Rural Livelihood Mission, who are helping in various animal husbandry activities in the form of Pashu Sakhi, will be trained as ‘A-HELP’ (Accredited Agent for Health and Extension of Livestock Production).
• Significance:
  • A-HELP are community-based women activists, who assist veterinarians in local departmental activities, help livestock farmers to take loans for entrepreneurship development, fill applications, mark the ear tagging of animals and register them in INAF portal and help with insurance etc. 
  • ‘A-HELP’ assistance can be taken in implementation of various schemes and in providing information to the farmers at grassroots level.

Rashtriya Gokul Mission

• The Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) has been implemented for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014. 
• The scheme is also continued under the umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana from 2021 to 2026.
• Objectives:
  • To enhance productivity of bovines and increase milk production in a sustainable manner using advanced technologies.
  • To propagate use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.
  • To enhance Artificial insemination coverage through strengthening breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers doorstep.
  • To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.

National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP)

• To vaccinate over 600 million cattle in the country in an effort to mitigate the two diseases namely, the Foot & Mouth Disease, & brucellosis.
• To control livestock diseases by 2025, and eradicate them by 2030.
• The livestock that will be covered under the programme includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs against the FMD.
• The project will be fully funded by the Central Government.
• The programme envisages 100% ear tagging of the eligible animal population.

Other Initiatives

Maternity Benefits to Adoptive Mothers

In News

• The Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

• It states that a woman who legally adopts a child below three months old will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.
• The petition challenges Section 5(4) of the Act on grounds of being “discriminatory” and “arbitrary” towards adoptive mothers and orphaned children over three months.

Maternity Benefit Amendment Act 2017

• The original 1961 legislation did not have specific provisions for mothers who adopt.
• The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 amended Section 5 of the erstwhile Act to allow 26 weeks of paid leave after childbirth, although only to biological mothers.
  • According to Section 5(4) of the amended Act, “A woman who legally adopts a child below the age of three months or a commissioning mother shall be entitled to maternity benefit for a period of twelve weeks from the date the child is handed over to the adopting mother or the commissioning mother, as the case may be.”
  • The term commissioning mother would be the mother who seeks to obtain a child through a rented womb of a surrogate mother. However, the commission mother remains the biological mother of the child and retains all rights in respect of the child.
• Option to work from home: The Bill introduces a provision that states that an employer may permit a woman to work from home.
• Crèche facilities: The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance.  The woman will be allowed four visits to the crèche in a day.  This will include her interval for rest.
• Informing women employees of the right to maternity leave.
• It does not apply to the unorganized sector.