Gram Ujala Programme

Shankar School of Banking March 20 , 2021 434

NATIONAL NEWS

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare addressed and assumed the charge as the Chairmanship of the Board of Stop TB Partnership on 18 MAR 2021
Dr Harsh Vardhan will serve a three-year term, commencing from July this year.
The Stop TB Partnership is a unique international body with the power to align actors all over the world in the fight against TB.
Established in the year 2000, the ‘Stop TB Partnership’ is mandated to eliminate Tuberculosis as a public health problem.

Ministry of Power has recently launched the Gram Ujala Programme in Arrah, Bihar through a virtual event.
This new scheme is a customized program for rural India, based uniquely and innovatively on carbon finance.
Under this programme, 7 watt and 12-Watt LED bulbs with 3 years warranty will be given by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) to rural consumers against submission of working Incandescent bulbs.
It will be implemented in villages of the 5 districts namely Aarah (Bihar), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra) and village in western Gujarat.
The consumers can exchange a maximum of 5 LED bulbs available for only Rs.10 each.
Gram Ujala Programme will be financed entirely through carbon credits and will be the first such programme in India.

Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anaemia Reduction (SAAMAR) campaign aims to tackle malnutrition in Jharkhand.
It will identify anaemic women and malnourished children and converge various departments to effectively deal with the problem in a state where malnutrition has been a major problem.
SAAMAR has been launched with a 1000 days target, under which annual surveys will be conducted to track the progress.
The campaign also tries to target Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

Minister for Road Transport and Highways announced the Vehicle Scrapping Policy in Lok Sabha.
According to the policy the commercial vehicles and the vehicles under centre and state governments are to be de-registered after 15 years in case of failure to get the fitness certificate.
The scheme shall provide strong incentives to owners of old vehicles to scrap old and unfit vehicles through registered scrapping centres.
The policy rules to be implemented in a phased manner from October 2021 to June 2024.

The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) has recently launched the US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative.
The initiative aims to focus on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries.
USIAI will serve as a platform to discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers for bilateral AI research and development collaboration, enable AI innovation, help share ideas for developing an AI workforce, and recommend modes and mechanisms for catalysing partnerships.

In India, Anti Leprosy Day is observed on 30th January every year, i.e., Mahatma Gandhiji's martyrdom day, as Gandhiji was deeply committed to the cause of leprosy.
World Leprosy Day is observed internationally every year on the last Sunday of January to increase the public awareness of Leprosy or Hansen's Disease
The theme of World Leprosy Day 2021 is “Beat Leprosy, End Stigma and advocate for Mental Wellbeing”.

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