10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : December 19, 2018

Important Provisions:

A policy has four aspects — creating awareness, prevention, reporting and responding,

Provided code of conduct for employees of all organisations and a declaration signed by them agreeing to ensure the safety of children

As per the draft, the policy will apply to “all institutions, and organisations (including corporate and media houses), government or private sector

It recommends that all organisations must have a code of conduct based on “zero tolerance of child abuse and exploitation”.

It requires organisations to lay down that employees don’t use language or behavior that is “inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning or culturally inappropriate”.

Institutions should also designate a staff member to ensure that procedures are in place to ensure the protection of children as well as to report any abuse

The document also comprises a list of behaviors towards children that are punishable by law, including the POCSO and JJ Acts

Major Criticism:

It doesn’t talk about children who may need additional special protection measures: including those affected by migration, communal or sectarian violence, children forced into begging or in conflict with the law, and those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Policy lacks role of the state for ensuring the protection of child rights or addressing local grievances.

While it talks about organisations laying down a code of conduct, it doesn’t explain what is acceptable behavior such as conduct of teachers in schools

Wildlife Institute of India (WII)

Established in 1982 as an attached office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Subsequently, it was granted autonomous status in 1986

It is an internationally acclaimed Institution, which offers training program, academic courses and advisory in wildlife research and management.

It carries research in areas of Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Wildlife Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Forensics, Spatial Modelling, Eco-development, Habitat Ecology, Climate Change, Forensics, Remote Sensing and GIS, Laboratory, Herbarium, and an Electronic Library are the spheres of research too.

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is a macroeconomic concept used in official national accounts. GFCF is a component of the expenditure on gross domestic product (GDP), and thus shows something about how much of the new value added in the economy is invested rather than consumed. GFCF is not a measure of total investment, because only the value of net additions to fixed assets is measured, and all kinds of financial assets are excluded, as well as stocks of inventories and other operating costs (the latter included in intermediate consumption).

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) has been established by Government of India to coordinate with all matters relating to Medicinal Plants and Support Policies and Programs for growth of trade, export, conservation and cultivation. The board is working under Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homeopathy (AYUSH).

Pharmacovigilance is a crucial part of drug development process which helps in assessing any drugs adverse event profile. Years after the start of WHO’s International Drug Monitoring Programme, Government of India launched the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) in 2010. The main function of PvPI is monitoring the Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR) efficiently by setting up various Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centres (AMC) across India and training personnel who can perform this function. PvPI has played an important role in generating awareness amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) about the importance and the process of reporting ADRs which has led to a multifold increase in ADR reporting

To give a fillip to the medical device sector, which is a sunrise sector, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, announced setting up of a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

According to the government, the NMDPC will facilitate, promote and develop the medical device industry. It will identify redundant processes and render technical assistance to agencies and departments to simplify the approval processes.