Health/GSII
Sixth Edition of National Formulary of India (NFI)

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the Sixth Edition of National Formulary of India (NFI).
• NFI has been published by Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) to promote rational use of medicines in the country.

• NFI, 2021 would act a guidance document for all the healthcare professionals such as clinicians, pharmacists, nurses, dentists etc.
• It will play a crucial role in daily clinical practices.
• Medicines behave differently in different bodies. It is important to know about the content, impact and side effects of medicines.
• The NFI is published to promote rational use of medicines in the country.
• It will be very beneficial for Clinicians and Healthcare professionals while prescribing the medicines to the patients.
• The 6th Edition of NFI 2021 has been drafted by adopting the principle ‘do not miss critical and do not overload' the information by revising the appendices, chapters and drug monographs.

• 34 therapeutic categories chapters including 591 drug monographs and 23 appendices are included in this edition.
• The NFI is aligned with National Health Programmes and National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
• Important Weblinks related to NLEM, Drugs banned in India, NHP, Drugs banned in sports, Immunization schedule, wherever necessary are provided for information to readers.
• Only indications approved by the Indian drug regulator (CDSCO), clinically relevant and as per standard care are included
• Chapter on Medicines banned in sports in previous edition has been considered under appendices in this edition
• Considering the prevalence of diabetes in the country a separate Chapter on Management of Diabetes is included after revising completely
• New appendix on Good Distribution Practices is incorporated

• Defence Minister visited Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Chandigarh
• Defence Minister inaugurated the Augmented Environmental Test facility.
• Transfer of Technology for TRBL-developed warhead for Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) Mk-II was handed over to Economic Explosives Limited, Nagpur

• The first munition manufactured by the private sector for the Armed Forces, which was handed over to the Indian Army in August
• The grenade achieved a functional reliability of more than 99.5 per cent in production.

• Designed and developed by TBRL
• It was handed over to the Indian Army last Month
• The device is used to reduce the height of Ditch-cum-Bund obstacles to enhance the mobility of mechanised infantry during wartime.

• advanced level of development of 4th generation electronic fuses which will be contemporary as well as safer and more reliable
• development of Baffle Range of just 20 acres from 500 acres that will provide full training of the troops using less land.

• The indigenously built Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Sarthak' was commissioned and dedicated to the nation on October 28, 2021 at Goa by the Director General of Indian Coast Guard
• ICGS Sarthak will be based at Porbandar in Gujarat and operate on India's Western Seaboard under the Operational and Administrative Control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (Northwest).

• ICGS Sarthak is 4th in the series of five OPVs being built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the ICG.
• These OPVs are multi-mission platforms capable of undertaking concurrent operations.
• The 105-meter-long ship displacing 2,450 tons is propelled by two 9,100 kilowatt diesel engines designed to attain a maximum speed of 26 knots.
• The ship is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, machinery, sensors and weapons which enables it to function as a command platform and undertake mandated Coast Guard charter of duties including search & rescue, combating maritime crimes and preserving & protecting the marine environment.
• Indian Coast Guard is a pioneer in inducting indigenous platforms and ICGS Sarthak is a glowing example of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat'.

• Environmental think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water has carried a first-of-its-kind district-level climate vulnerability assessment, or Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI), in which it has analysed 640 districts in India to assess their vulnerability to extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods, heatwaves, droughts, etc.

• According to CVI, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar are most vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts and cyclones in India.
• While 27 Indian states and union territories are vulnerable to extreme climate events, 463 districts out of 640 are vulnerable to extreme weather events
• Dhemaji and Nagaon in Assam, Khammam in Telangana, Gajapati in Odisha, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Sangli in Maharashtra, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu are among India's most climate vulnerable districts
• More than 80 per cent Indians live in districts vulnerable to climate risks - that is 17 of 20 people in India are vulnerable to climate risks, out of which every five Indians live in areas that are extremely vulnerable
• More than 45 per cent of these districts have undergone "unsustainable landscape and infrastructure changes''.
• 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate events

• The CVI maps exposure (that is whether the district is prone to extreme weather events), sensitivity (the likelihood of an impact on the district by the weather event), and adaptive capacity (what the response or coping mechanism of the district is).
• It helps map critical vulnerabilities and plan strategies to enhance resilience and adapt by climate-proofing communities, economies and infrastructure.
• Instead of looking at climate extremes in isolation, the study looks at the combined risk of hydro-met disasters, which is floods, cyclones and droughts, and their impact.
• The study does not take into consideration other natural disasters such as earthquakes.

• The National e Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and IT is organising AI Pe Charcha (AI Dialogue) on October 28, 2021 on the theme, "AI for Date Driven Governance".
• The session aims at covering the importance of data driven and AI-enabled governance along with the global best practices.

• An initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT, AI Pe Charcha is a series of panel discussions involving various global and domestic leaders from the Government and industry, researchers and academicians sharing their views & experiences around Artificial Intelligence, related case studies, global best practices, breakthrough innovations and the challenges faced in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
• The ‘AI for Data Driven Governance' session will involve experts speaking about leveraging AI for Public Sector, Defence and Security, Postal Services and Future Cities.

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