Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | 21st Feb 19

Table of Contents

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

NABH revamps Entry-Level Certification process for Hospitals National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (NABH) has revamped Entry-Level Certification Process to make it simpler, digital, fasterand user-friendly. The revised process is driven through a new portal called HOPE – Healthcare Organizations’ Platform for Entry-Level-Certification with a focus to promote quality at nascent stages by enrolling a wide range of hospitals across the country including Healthcare Organizations (HCOs) and Small Healthcare Organizations (SHCOs).
The aim is to create a momentum for HCOs and SHCOs that want to avail benefits associated with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Ayushman Bharat by getting themselves NABH certified along with the primary aim of creating a quality healthcare ecosystem in India. The idea of cashless payment to patients under insurance coverage has been promoted by IRDAI to reduce financial burden on households. The IRDAI has mandated hospitals to ensure a quality healthcare ecosystem through NABH Entry-Level Certification Process. HOPE is not just confined to certification of HCOs/SHCOs but also enables them to comply with quality protocols, improve patient safety and the overall healthcare facility of the organization. It is an online platform for smooth and secure registration. It provides a self-explanatory questionnaire to be filled by the HCO/SHCOs. A mobile application has also been developed to support HCO/SHCOs for directly uploading geotagged and timestamped evidences required for compliance to the standards. It has also changed the assessment process which is now carried out on a technology based application where the data is captured and validated on a real-time basis.
To ensure an active participation of HCO/SHCOs in the HOPE process, various activities have been initiated:
Nationwide awareness workshops to sensitize the hospitals on the entire process of assessment.
Call center support to hospitals through an active helpline for resolving issues while filling the application form.
Platform to connect hospitals with certified consultants for assistance in the certification process following a cost effective manner.
Knowledge bank providing a comprehensive guidebook, presentation etc. with detailed information of the stepby-step certification procedure.
Created a larger and stronger network of qualified assessors.
In order to support maximum HCO/SHCOs in the country, QCI and NABH have partnered with several organizations like, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Patient Safety and Access Initiative of India Foundation (PSAIIF), Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) and other stakeholders for spreading awareness about the process.
Established in 1997 Quality Council of India (QCI) is an autonomous organization under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is the Quality Apex and National Accreditation Body for accreditation and quality promotion in the country. The Council was established to provide a credible, reliable mechanism for third party assessment of products, services and processes which is accepted and recognized globally.
NABH, a constituent body of QCI, has been working to ensure reliability, efficiency and global accreditation in Indian healthcare sector using contemporary methodologies and tools, standards of patient safety and infection control. NABH accreditation provides assurance of quality and care in hospitals at par with international benchmarks. NABH has designed an exhaustive healthcare standard for hospitals and healthcare providers that have been accredited by ISQUA the apex international accreditation body. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
The Agricultural Science Congress marks the confluence of researchers, intellectuals and the custodians of global food security In his inaugural address of the 14th Agricultural Science Congress today he said that it is nothing short of an Agri-Research Kumbh. He stated the churning of science, technology and knowledge outcomes during this Congress will be of immense value to the welfare of farmers as well as humanity. He added that the government recently announced a new scheme PM-KISAN for assured income support to the farmers. The scheme is being implemented with effect from December 2018. A direct income support of Rs 6,000 per annum to the farmers will be provided. Around 12 crore farming families will be directly benefitted from this scheme.
Shri Singh appreciated the role of ICAR in launching a mega project called NICRA to address the issues of climate change through the KVKs, adding that the “Soil Health Card Scheme” has been launched to improve crop productivity through judicious use of inputs without deteriorating soil health further.
Shri Singh further said that the IARI has developed ‘Pusa Soil Testing and Fertilizer Recommendation Meter’ for facilitating the reach of soil testing at the farmers’ doorstep. During the last 4 and a half years, 1014 varieties of different crops were developed among which more than 800 varieties are tolerant/resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses.
He expressed pride in the IARI celebrating 50 years of remote sensing in India. The first national initiative on application of remote sensing technology was attempted way back in 1969 by IARI along with ISRO and NASA for the early diagnosis of root (wilt) disease in coconut at Kayamkulam, Kerala.
The implementation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sampada Yojana will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management. It will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of farmers’ income.
He further said that the agri-based start-ups and entrepreneurship development need to be promoted and the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) including Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) is government’s endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovations will play a critical role in developing solutions and pathways for addressing the agrarian challenges.

Ministry of Defence

‘Runway to a Billion Opportunities’ – Raksha Mantri Inaugurates Aeroindia 2019 Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the 12th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition and declared the Aero India 2019 open today amidst a lot of fanfare at Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru. This edition of Aero India, for the first time, combines the defence and civil aviation segments into a holistic event with the coinvolvement of the defence and civil aviation ministries in the event. More than 600 Indian Companies and 200 Foreign Companies are participating and witnessing the largest Air show of Asia.
During her address, Raksha Mantri hailed several policy initiatives of the Government under the ‘Make in India’ viz. 100% FDI in Defence Manufacturing, Defence Offset Policy 2016, Delicensing of Defence items, iDEX and the Defence Investor’s cell.
She quoted S 92 Helicopter cabin, Advance Aircraft Cockpit, Glass Cockpit for Dornier and CH-47 Pylon for Boeing as some recent successes displayed at the Indian Pavilion. She also hailed Indian PSUs for manufacturing more than 4000 aircraft including LCA, LCH, ALH, C295 etc.
She applauded the 10,000 MSMEs which made 80% of components, aggregates and assemblies of complex weapon systems and aircrafts. She also informed that more than 424 companies had obtained the licence for Defence production which was almost double the number in last four years. Raksha Mantri mentioned the ‘Defence Investor cell’ which was set up in Jan 2018, to enhance the ‘Ease of doing Business’ and informed that over 350 industries had been facilitated till date. She also mentioned that 275 Ordnance Factory items had been de-notified and also that testing facilities of DPSUs and OFs had been opened up for private industry.
She told that 34 projects relating to Army, Navy and Air Force had already been accorded ‘Approval in Principle’ under the ‘Make-II’ category. The Raksha Mantri mentioned that the FDI policy had been revised and now foreign investments upto 49% were allowed through the automatic route and above 49% under Government route. She also mentioned that in last four years, six companies in Defence and Aerospace sectors had obtained government approval for FDI of Rs 237 Cr while FDI of over Rs 200 Cr had been received through the automatic route.

Ministry of Electronics & IT

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Inaugurate VIVID 2019 “VIVID-Vision Insight and Voices as India goes Digital”- the District Informatics Officer (DIO) meet, is being organised by National Informatics Centre (NIC) on 21st and 22nd February, 2019. NIC TechGov Awards and Swachhta Awards. Hon’ble Minister will also release/launch a number of other initiatives as given below:
Release of Digital India Compendium
Launch of Digidhan Mitra Chatbot
Technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs 2.0 scheme
Centre of Excellence on:
IOT Open lab, STPI Bengaluru
ESDM Incubation, STPI Bhubaneswar
Emerging Technologies, NASSCOM, Gandhinagar
Emerging Technologies, NASSCOM, Vishakapatnam
VIVID started in 2017, as an annual event, with the objective to empower NIC officials in the field of technology. Continuing its tradition from previous years, VIVID 2019 will be a landmark event for NIC. VIVID this year would once again provide a cohesive and extensive platform for interaction and knowledge sharing,
The National meet will cover a wide range of relevant topics in various technical sessions sessions including Emerging Technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Big Data Analytics), Cyber Threats & Counter Measures (Changing Digitisation Paradigm & its impact on Security), Enterprise Level Applications, and many other relevant topics.

Ministry of Home Affairs

MHA approves entitlement of air travel to all personnel of CAPFs In a significant decision, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the entitlement of air travel on Delhi-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi, Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar-Jammu sectors to all the personnel of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces. The decision will immediately benefit approximately 7,80,000 personnel of the CAPFs in the ranks of Constable, Head Constable and ASI who were otherwise not eligible earlier. This includes journey on duty and journey on leave, i.e; while going on leave from Jammu and Kashmir to home and return. This facility is in addition to the existing air courier services for CAPFs that have been steadily extended in all sectors by the MHA to help the jawans cut down on travel time during their journey to and fro from home on leave. In Jammu and Kashmir Sector, it may be recalled that Air Courier Service for CAPF jawans was approved for the Jammu-Srinagar-Jammu sector. Subsequently, the Service was extended to cover 1) Delhi-Jammu, 2) Jammu-Srinagar, 3) Srinagar-Jammu and 4) Jammu-Delhi sector in Dec 2017. The number of flights were further extended in Dec 2018. In addition, air support is provided from IAF as and when required.