9 PM Current Affairs Brief – April 3rd, 2020

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We are posting Todays 9pm Current Affair Brief

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COVID-19: NPPA sets up drug price monitoring, resource unit in J-K

News:The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has set up price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Facts:

• PMRU is a registered society which functions under the direct control and supervision of State Drug Controllers.
• Funding: By the NPPA.
• Functions: 
• • Help the NPPA and the State Drug Controller in ensuring availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices
  • Collect and analyse data and make reports with respect to availability and over-pricing of medicines.
  • Organise seminars, training programs and communication activities in the areas of availability and affordability of medicines

Additional Facts:

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority

• It is an independent body set up in 1997 under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• Its mandate is to fix/revise controlled bulk drugs prices and formulations, enforce prices and availability of medicines under the Drug(Price Control) order, 2013.

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COUNTERCYCLICAL CAPITAL BUFFER (CCyB)

News: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has deferred implementation of countercyclical capital buffers (CCyB). RBI had put in place the framework on countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) in 2015

Facts:

Capital Buffer: 

• Mandatory capital that financial institutions are required to hold.
• They were mandated under the Basel III regulatory reforms, which were implemented following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

Countercyclical Capital Buffer:

• Capital Buffer that banks need to hold when credit is growing rapidly. This buffer can be reduced if the financial cycle turns down or the economic and financial environment becomes poor

Patriot air defence missile

News: The United States has deployed Patriot air defence missiles in Iraq.

Facts:

• Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

Additional Facts:

Other Air Defense system in News:

• Iron Dome: It is a mobile all-weather air defence system developed by Israel to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from short distances.
• Falaq: It is a mobile radar air defence system developed by Iran.

Aarogya Setu App

News: The National Informatics Center (NIC),Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) has launched a mobile app named Aarogya Setu.

Facts:

• The app uses Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence to enable people to assess the risk of catching the Corona Virus infection based on their interaction with others.

Additional Facts:

• Corona Kavach: It has been developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to track the location of COVID-19 infected people and alert subscribers when they come near their locations.
• Pragyaam app:It has been developed by Jharkhand Government for issuance of e-passes to those working in essential services and to support the concerned officials in verifying the details of the person.

Track and Trace Platform for Businesses

News:The World Economic Forum has launched the Track and Trace Platform for Businesses.

Facts:

• It is the first-ever Blockchain-based tracking platform which aims to assist businesses in addressing consumer demands for ethical and environmentally friendly products.

Additional Facts:

World Economic Forum(WEF)

• It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation with its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland.
• Reports: a) Global Competitiveness Report b) Global Gender Gap Report c) Global Risks Report and d) Global Travel and Tourism Report among others.

e-NAM Platform

News: Union Agriculture Minister has launched new features of the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform.

Facts:

New Features:

• Warehouse based trading module:It allows farmers to directly trade their stored produce from registered warehouses based on negotiable warehouse receipts in electronic form(e-NWR).
• Farmer Producer Organizations(FPO) trading module:Under this, FPOs can trade their produce from their collection center without bringing the produce to APMC. 
• Enhanced version of the logistic module has been released to facilitate inter-mandi and inter-state trade at this juncture.

Additional Facts:

E-NAM(National Agriculture Market):

• It is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
• Implementation: Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

Negotiable warehouse receipts(NWR):

• Warehouse Receipts are documents issued by warehouses to depositors against the commodities deposited in the warehouses for which the warehouse is the bailee.These receipts are issued in negotiable form making them eligible as collateral for loans.
• Regulation: Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).

Anti Smog Gun

News:Anti-smog guns have been installed at 14 large project sites in Delhi.

Facts:

• Anti-smog gun is a device designed to reduce air pollution by spraying water into the atmosphere so that all the dust and polluted particles get clear from the environment.
• The gun is attached to a water tank built on a movable vehicle which can be taken to various parts of the city.

Additional information:

• Smog Towers:They are large-scale air purifiers usually fitted with multiple layers of air filters which cleans the air of pollutants as it passes through them.
• Smog: Smog is basically derived from the merging of two words; smoke and fog.It is a yellowish or blackish fog formed mainly by a mixture of pollutants in the atmosphere.

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