Andhra CM Jagan launches 'Netanna Nestham' welfare scheme for weavers

STATE NEWS

Andhra CM Jagan launches 'Netanna Nestham' welfare scheme for weavers

• Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the latest scheme in a series of welfare schemes promised during his election campaign.
• The YSR Netanna Nestham (weaver's friend) scheme provides an annual incentive of Rs 24,000 for handloom weavers in the state.
• The CM launched the scheme in Dharmavaram, a town in Anantapur district which is known for its handloom sarees and is home to a large community of weavers.

Rajasthan Government starts first Janta Clinic

• The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government has given a special gift to the people of Jaipur – Janta Clinics, located close to their homes and mohallas.
•  Chief Minister Gehlot inaugurated the first Janta clinic at Valmiki Basti in the Malviya Nagar area to provide free primary health care to people living in slums.
• In its first phase, 12 Janta Clinics will be opened in Jaipur where people would get free medicines, and free medical examination in some cases.
• Later, in the second and third phases of this scheme, Janta Clinics will be opened in other areas.
• It is to provide free primary health care to poor people living in city slums and we hope to serve as many people as possible.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

WHO prequalifies first biosimilar medicine to increase worldwide access to life-saving breast cancer Treatment

• World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified its first biosimilar medicine – trastuzumab – in a move that could make this expensive, life-saving treatment more affordable and available to women globally.
• Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. 2.1 million women contracted breast cancer in 2018. 630 000 of them died from the disease, many because of late diagnosis and lack of access to affordable treatment.
• Trastuzumab – a monoclonal antibody – was included in the WHO Essential Medicines List in 2015 as an essential treatment for about 20% of breast cancers. It has shown high efficacy in curing early stage breast cancer and in some cases more advanced forms of the disease.

BANKING

Bank of Baroda partners with Gujarat Government to provide MSME Loans

• The flow of credit in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Bank of Baroda signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government.
• The credit will be provided to the MSME sector for greenfield projects, startups, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from backward areas under the Gujarat Single Window Clearance Act 2017 & Ordinance Number 1 of 2019 dated October 24, 2019.
• The customers can register their request on the link available on the Gujarat government’s single window portal from where Bank of Baroda will initiate further action after receiving the details.
• The MoU with the Gujarat government is a step forward for MSME entrepreneurs. The state government is committed to supporting the MSME sector in the state for economic development, and this is a significant initiative taken by the government whereby exemption provided to the entrepreneurs from certain approvals and inspections before the establishment of units. This MoU would speed up the process of credit offtake as well as industrial development.

APPOINTMENT

Sangita Reddy is FICCI President

• Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, has taken over as the President of industry chamber FICCI for 2019-20.
• She succeeds Sandip Somany, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HSIL.
• The Walt Disney Company APAC President and Star & Disney India Chairman Uday Shankar has been elevated as Senior Vice-President of the chamber, and Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL, has taken charge as Vice- President.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Prez Kovind releases mobile app of Red Cross Society of India in Hyderabad

• President Ram Nath Kovind released the mobile app of the Red Cross Society of India in Hyderabad. The President is in Hyderabad on his Southern Sojourn.
• He inaugurated the mobile app formally at a dinner hosted by Telangana governor Tamilisai Sounderarajan at Rajbhavan in his honour. 
• Developed by the Telangana Centre for Good Governance in less than three months, the mobile app is accessible in all languages. So far, 13 lakh members including junior red cross members downloaded the app.
• The developers informed that the access to blood bank and Red Cross membership will become easy with the launching of the mobile app.

India is world's third largest producer of scientific articles

• with over 1.35 lakh scientific papers published, India has become the world's third largest publisher of science and engineering articles, according to a US government agency data, topped by China.
• As per the statistics compiled by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the number of scientific papers published worldwide increased from 17,55,850 in 2008 to 25,55,959 in 2018.
• The global research output, as measured by peer-reviewed science and engineering (S&E) journal articles and conference papers, grew about four per cent annually over the last 10 years.

OBITUARY

Renowned classical vocalist Savita Devi dies at 80

• Renowned Indian classical vocalist Savita Devi, known for her thumris, breathed her last at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram. She was 80.
• Daughter and disciple of late Siddheshwari Devi and recipient of the Padmashri award, Savita Devi had carved a niche for herself in the world of Indian classical music as an inimitable vocalist.
• She imbibed the nuances of various semi-classical vocal forms such as thumri, dadra, chaiti, kajri and tappa of the Banaras Gharana (Purabang).