Facts Corner-Part-155

Operation Oliva

The Coast Guard has launched the ‘Operation Oliva’ exercise as part of its annual mission to ensure the safe mid-sea sojourn of breeding Olive Ridley sea turtles.
The exercise launched along the serene sea waters of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Odisha.
The Coast Guard has chalked out a pro-active plan for these marine animals conservation.

Olive Ridley Turtles

The olive ridley sea turtle, also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
These sea turtle is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
They can also be found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
These turtles, along with the related Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
The olive ridley sea turtle has been listed on Schedule – I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 1991).
The species is listed as vulnerable under IUCN.

WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices

4th WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices “Increasing access to medical devices” concluded Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
It was the first time the WHO Global Forum on Medical devices was being held in India.
The aim of the Forum was to face the challenges present in the selection, regulation, and use of medical devices.
To define methods of increasing and measuring access to essential and priority medical devices under Universal Health Coverage in compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals.
To share country evidence of best practices in regulating, assessment and management of medical devices
To demonstrate the development and use of innovative appropriate affordable technologies to respond to global health priorities
The forum also shares WHO tools and guidelines on medical devices for better implementation.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power which is mandated to implement policy and programmes in the area of energy efficiency and conservation.
The objective of such initiatives is to reduce energy intensity in our country by optimizing energy demand and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) which are responsible for global warming and climate change.
India has committed to the reduction of 33-35% GHG emission by 2030 as part of the document submitted to UNFCCC.

15 new breeds of livestock and poultry

ICAR has approved the registration of record 15 new breeds of livestock and poultry this year alone taking the total to 40 during 2014-18.
The 15 newly registered breeds include:
(a) two cattle breeds – Ladakhi (J&K) and Konkan Kapila (Maharashtra & Goa);
(b) three buffalo breeds – Luit (Assam & Manipur), Bargur (Tamil Nadu), Chhattisgarhi (Chhattisgarh);
(c) one sheep breed – Panchali (Gujarat);
(d) six goat breeds – Kahmi (Gujarat), Rohilkhandi (UP), Assam Hill (Assam & Meghalaya), Bidri (Karnataka), Nandidurga (Karnataka), Bhakarwali (J&K);
(e) one pig breed – Ghurrah (UP);
(f) one donkey breed – Halari (Gujarat) and
(g) one chicken breed – Uttara (Uttarakhand).

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

The Cabinet cleared the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to release deposit free LPG connections to poor families.
The list included those
(a) Who has not been considered earlier for the release of LPG connections under PMUY on account of their names not been covered either in Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) list or
(b) The seven identified categories i.e. SC/STs households, beneficiaries of Pradhan MantriAwasYojana(PMAY) (Gramin), Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY), Forest dwellers, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes, people residing in Islands / river islands, whose names did not appear in the SECC List.

Blended Bio-Jet Fuel Flown by IAF

Experimental Test Pilots and Test Engineer from IAF’s premier testing establishment ASTE, flew India’s first military flight using blended bio-jet fuel on the An-32 transport aircraft.
The project is a combined effort of IAF, DRDO, Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.
Indian Air Force now carried flight trials using 10% biojet blended ATF.
This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun.
IAF intends to fly the An-32 transport aircraft using biojet fuel on 26 January 2019, in the Republic Day fly past.

PMSSY

It was announced in 2003 with objectives of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.
PMSSY has two components-
(i) Setting up of AIIMS like Institutions
(ii) Upgradation of Government Medical College Institutions.
Six AIIMS-like institutions, one each in the States of Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur) and Uttaranchal (Rishikesh) have been set up under the PMSSY scheme.

Trans-Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN)

India signed an ascension pact to the 30-member Trans-Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) that will give it an access to the information on ships passing through the Indian Ocean Region.
The pact will give India the access to information on ships which pass through the Indian Ocean region that will greatly help the security forces in keeping a tab on any suspicious activity.
The IOR is India’s backyard and first respondent to any crisis situation.
India already has bilateral White Shipping Agreements with 36 countries.
The Network comprises 30 countries & is steered by Italy.

National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project

Recently Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) has given details on the status of implementation of NeVA Project.
MoPA organized a two-day workshop on 24th and 25th September 2018 at New Delhi.
It aimed to familiarize officers from State Legislatures/Councils with the features and functionalities of NeVA.
In order to provide assistance to the Members, a NeVA Kendra (e-Facilitation Center) would be set up at each location under a Nodal Officer.
Central Project Monitoring Unit (CPMU) under MoPA will be responsible for reviewing the financial and technical progress of the project.
Himachal Pradesh is already the first Digital Legislature of the country.
It is mission Mode Project (MMP) under Digital India Programme.
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all the 31 States/ UTs with Legislatures.
It enables automation of the entire lawmaking process, tracking of documents and sharing of information.
It completely eliminates the process of sending out a notice/request for collection of data.
Live webcasting of Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV is also available on this application.

Silao Khaja

GI Registry at Chennai has granted GI tag to Silao Khaja, the traditional delicacy of Nalanda district of Bihar.
Silao Khaja is known for its taste, crispness and multi-layer appearance attributed to local water and climate of Silao.
It consists of twelve to sixteen very thin dough-sheets placed one above another.
Silao is located close to Buddhist sites.

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