13 August 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Facing criticism, Govt withdraws new draft of broadcast Bill
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GS2- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
- THE MINISTRY of Information and Broadcasting is learnt to have withdrawn the new draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, which triggered a controversy and criticism over fears that the government was trying to exert greater control over online content.
- The draft Bill had raised several questions on the freedom of speech and expression, and the government’s powers to regulate it.
- Last month, the ministry had shared the new draft Bill with a handful of stakeholders and invited their comments.
Naveen urges centre to continue support to UNESCO Kalinga Prize
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Prelims Syllabus- Current Affairs
- BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged the Centre to ensure continuation of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize amidst reports that the ministry of Science and Technology has decided to stop supporting the award.
- In a letter to Union minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, the former chief minister said the UNESCO Kalinga Prize, instituted by the legendary Biju Patnaik in 1952, is one of the prestigious international awards in the field of science.
- Since its inception, the award has been given to 72 great scientists including seven Nobel laureates.
- “However, I am now pained to learn that the ministry of Science and Technology, government of India, has decided to stop supporting the prize,” he said.
Western Ghats: State’s submission on ESAs to Centre’s committee based on old surveys
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GS3- Conservation
- The Centre’s expert panel — tasked with finalising the extent of eco-sensitive areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats — has received submissions broadly based on old ground truthing surveys carried out by states governments, The Indian Express has learnt.
- The Environment Ministry’s expert panel headed by Sanjay Kumar, former Director General of Forest, is currently examining objections and submissions by six states to arrive at a consensus after the Centre last week reissued a draft notification demarcating ESAs in the Western Ghats across 56,825 sq km.
- New mining projects, thermal power plants, sand mining, quarrying, township constructions are banned in villages proposed as ESAs.
For Patient’s Sake
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GS2- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
- Last week, the Centre waived the requirement of clinical trials for five categories of drugs if they have been approved by regulators in the US, UK, Australia, Japan, Canada and the EU.
- The regulatory relaxation covers drugs that provide “significant therapeutic advances over the current standard care, gene and cellular therapy products, medicines used to treat rare diseases, therapies that become necessary during a pandemic, and drugs used for special defence purposes”.
- Currently, a drug launched in developed economies takes between three to 15 years before becoming available in the Indian market.
- The waiver could be the first step in enabling doctors in the country to deploy novel therapies for Alzheimer’s, advanced stages of cancer and autoimmune disorders.
- The global pharma majors will save on the costs of conducting local trials and incentivise them in passing on some of the benefits to Indian patients.
- However, more needs to be done to ensure that cutting-edge therapies become available in the country’s pharmacies without imposing a high financial burden on the seriously ill.
Relook at Dhaka
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GS2- India and its neighborhood- relations
- On August 5, Gopal Rajbongshi, who runs Manda Pharmacy in Dhaka, was at home when he saw visuals of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaving the country.
- He rounded up his staff at the store, told them to shut shop and head home.
- By 4.30 pm, a group of people vandalised his pharmacy: they broke open the shutters, looted the medicines, the computer system, and cash of about Rs 27,000 (in local currency).
- “My shop had medicines and equipment worth about Rs 21.5 lakh, they took away everything,” he told The Indian Express.
How Tungabhadra dam gate was swept away, why farmers are fearful
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GS3- Infrastructure
- A flood alert has been sounded downstream of the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka’s Koppal district after one of the 33 crest gates of the massive stone masonry dam across the Tungabhadra river was washed away late on Saturday evening (August 10).
- Repairs can be carried out only after two-thirds of the dam is emptied, the Tungabhadra Board, which manages the project, said. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, visited the dam on Sunday.
Once thriving, now all but gone: a history of Kerala’s Jewish communities
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GS1- Diversity of India
- Queenie Hallegua, 89, died in Kochi on Sunday (August 11).
- She was the last woman of Kerala’s once-vibrant Paradesi Jewish community.
- Her death left her nephew Keith, 65, as the last Paradesi Jew in Kerala.
- From boasting a population of 20,000-50,000 in the mid-1940s, India’s Jewish population today is estimated to comprise 4,000-5,000 members.
- Almost all belong to the Marathi-speaking Bene Israel community, settled on the Konkan coast for hundreds of years.
- They are not, however, the oldest Jewish community of India.
- That honour goes to one of Kerala’s two main Jewish communities.
Factory output slows to 4.2% in June as manufacturing drops to seven-month low
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- India’s factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), eased to 4.2 per cent in June, the lowest level since January 2024, mainly due to a slower growth in manufacturing output.
- Manufacturing, which accounts for 77.6 per cent of the weight of the IIP, slowed to a seven-month low of 2.6 per cent compared with 5 per cent in May and 3.5 per cent in June 2023.
