Central Government of India rejects claims of inaccuracies in National Health Accounts

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that the recent NHA estimates (2018-19) show a substantial reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), reaffirming the government’s commitment towards easing the citizens’ financial burden.
• It further said that the main source of information for OOPE was based on NSO data of 2017-18 whereas the previous estimates were based on 2014.

National Health Accounts

• It provide detailed information on expenditure incurred within the health sector of the country. It is a tool to describe health expenditures and the flow of funds in both Government and private sector in the country.
• The NHA estimates are prepared by using an accounting framework based on the internationally accepted standard of System of Health Accounts, 2011, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• NHA 2018-19 is the 6th round of estimates in the series of annual Health Accounts for India.
• It is published by the National Health Systems Resource Centre under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India signed an MoU with Testing, Inspection, Certification Council, India.

• BIS is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• It is a statutory body established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017.
• BIS is involved in various activities such as Standards Formulation, Product Certification Scheme, Hall Marking Scheme, Laboratory Services etc.
• HQ: New Delhi.
• The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS.

Testing, Inspection, Certification Council

• It is an international non-profit association acting as the voice of the testing, inspection and certification industry.
• The TIC Council engages governments and key stakeholders to advocate for effective solutions that protect the public, facilitate trade and support innovation.

Centre notifies establishment of Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups

• CGSS is aimed at providing credit guarantee up to a specified limit against loans extended by Member Institutions (MIs) to finance eligible borrowers viz. Startups. This scheme would help provide collateral-free debt funding to startups
• The credit guarantee cover under the Scheme would be transaction-based and umbrella based.
  • In transaction-based guarantee cover, the guarantee cover is obtained by the MIs on single eligible borrower basis. It will promote lending by Banks/ NBFCs to eligible startups.
  • The umbrella-based guarantee cover will provide guarantee to Venture Debt Funds (VDF) registered under AIF regulations of SEBI.
• The exposure to individual cases would be capped at Rs. 10 crore per case or the actual outstanding credit amount, whichever is less.
• DPIIT will be constituting a Management Committee (MC) and a Risk Evaluation Committee (REC) for reviewing, supervising and operational oversight of the Scheme.
• The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) will be operating the Scheme.

Last date for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar extended to 31st October, 2022

• The National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement was instituted in 1996 to give recognition to children with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievements in the fields of innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture and sports.
• A medal and a cash prize are given to each awardee.
• From the year 2018, the award has been renamed as the Bal Shakti Puraskar and achievements of children in the field of bravery are also acknowledged.
• It is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

PM Modi to inaugurate first phase of Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Extension project

• Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, shrines which are said to be the most sacred abodes of Shiva.
• It is located in the ancient city of Ujjain in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The temple is situated on the side of the holy river Shipra.
• The temple’s Mahakal Lingam is believed to be Swayambhu (self-manifested) and unlike any other jyotirlingas in the country, the idol of Mahakaleshwar faces south.
• Mahakal temple complex expansion project was planned in the year 2017. This expansion project are being conducted in two phases. The second Phase will be completed in 2023-24.

12 Jyotirlingas in India

• The jyotirlinga shrines are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. A Jyotirlinga is a shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam.
• 12 Jyotirlingas In India ****are Somnath( Gujarat), Nageshwar (Gujarat), Bhimashankar (Maharashtra), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Grishneshwar (Maharashtra), Vaidyanath (Jharkhand), Mahakaleshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Kashi Vishwanath(Uttar Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu), Mallikarjuna (Andhra Pradesh).

Government seeks Lalit''s recommendation on next and 50th Chief Justice of India

• CJI Lalit retires on November 8. The second seniormost judge on the Bench is Justice D Y Chandrachud. Upon recommendation by CJI Lalit and appointment by the President, Justice Chandrachud will be CJI for a little more than two years until November 10, 2024.
• The MoP is the playbook agreed upon by the government and the judiciary on the appointment of judges. It is a crucial document because the Collegium system of appointing judges is a judicial innovation that is not mandated through legislation or text of the Constitution.
• The MoP has evolved as the standard based on three decisions of the Supreme Court, known as the First Judges Case (1981), Second Judges Case (1993) and the Third Judges Case (1998). These three judgments form the basis of a peer selection process for the appointment of judges.
• The MoP was first drawn up in 1999. It was re-negotiated in 2016 following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
• MoP says that the “Union Minister of Law, Justice…would, at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India”.
• Although the MoP mentions an “appropriate time”, the process is by convention begun a month before the date of retirement of the incumbent CJI.

Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian Activists

• Ales Bialiatski, who is in jail since 2021, is a vocal critic of Putin’s ally, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. In 1995, Bialiatski founded the Belarus human rights group Viasna (Spring).
• He was first jailed in 2011 for evading taxes. He was released in 2014, before being arrested again in 2021 during mass public protests in Minsk against elections that opposition activists said had kept Lukashenko in power the previous year.

Memorial group of Russia

• It was established by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union during the Gorbachev years of glasnost and perestroika, and among its founders were 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and Russian mathematician Svetlana Gannushkina.
• Its objective was to record atrocities committed during the communist regime, especially under Joseph Stalin. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Memorial grew to become the largest human rights organisation in Russia.

Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine

• It is a Ukrainian rights organisation that is documenting alleged war crimes by Russia in Ukraine.
• The Center was founded in Kyiv in 2007 with the aim of advancing human rights and democracy in Ukraine.

CAQM reviews the progress of commissioning of gas infrastructure/ PNG/ CNG connectivity in the NCR

• Considering the compelling necessity to fight air pollution arising out of industrial activities and vehicles, CAQM has directed expeditious commissioning of gas infrastructure in the entire NCR well before the next winter season.
• According to the CAQM, about 74 per cent of industrial areas of NCR have gas connectivity like PNG which is cleaner and emits less pollutants as compared to the conventional fuel like coal or diesel.
• The panel directed the 11 city gas distributors to ensure that the gas infrastructure covers the entire NCR.
• The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) was established under Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act,2021.

Online gaming task force may set spend limits in framework

• The task force has proposed the creation of a central regulatory body for the sector, clearly defining what games of skill and chance are, and bringing online gaming under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Recommendations of the task force

• A central-level law for online gaming should apply to real money and free games of skill, including e-sports, online fantasy sports contests, and card games etc.
• Casual games with no real money element in the form of stakes may be kept outside the scope of such rules, unless they have a high number of users in India.
• Creating a regulatory body, which will determine what qualifies as a game of skill or chance, and accordingly certify different gaming formats, seek compliance etc.
• A three-tier dispute resolution mechanism, similar to that prescribed under the Information Technology Rules, 2021 for online streaming services.
• Any online gaming platform – domestic or foreign– offering real money online games to Indian users will need to be a legal entity incorporated under Indian law.

Why a central-level law?

• Online gaming so far has been a state subject, but state governments find it extremely difficult to enforce certain rules like geo-blocking certain apps or websites within the territory of their state.
• Also, rules passed in one state are not applicable in another, which has caused inconsistency.
• State governments also do not have enough blocking powers like the Centre to issue blocking orders for offshore betting sites.

Online gaming market in India

• The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach $5 billion in 2025.
• The industry in the country grew at a CAGR of 38% between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8% in China and 10% in the US.
• India’s percentage of new paying users (NPUs) in gaming has been the fastest growing in the world for two consecutive years, at 40% in 2020 and 50% in 2021.

RBI to soon launch Digital Rupee on pilot basis for limited use

• The RBI in its concept note detailed various aspects including the technological measures to operationalise its electronic currency, its underlying digital infrastructure and various technological options the central bank is exploring.
• e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless instrument for digital payment.
• It is a QR code or SMS string-based e-Voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries.
• The users of this seamless one-time payment mechanism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the service provider.
• It has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India on its UPI platform, in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority.