Health/GSII
NITI Aayog Releases Fourth Edition of State Health Index

What's the NEWS

• NITI Aayog today released the fourth edition of the State Health Index for 2019-20.
• The report, titled "Healthy States, Progressive India", ranks states and Union Territories on their year-on-year incremental performance in health outcomes as well as their overall status.
• Round IV of the report focuses on measuring and highlighting the overall performance and incremental improvement of states and UTs over the period 2018-19 to 2019-20.
• The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, and in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

• The State Health Index is annual tool to assess the performance of states and UTs.
• It is a weighted composite index based on 24 indicators grouped under the domains of ‘Health Outcomes', ‘Governance and Information', and ‘Key Inputs/Processes'.
• Each domain has been assigned weights based on its importance with higher score for outcome indicators.
• To ensure comparison among similar entities, the ranking is categorized as ‘Larger States', ‘Smaller States' and ‘Union Territories'.
• Among the ‘Larger States', in terms of annual incremental performance, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Telangana are the top three ranking states.
• Among ‘Smaller States', Mizoram and Meghalaya registered the maximum annual incremental progress.

• Among UTs, Delhi, followed by Jammu and Kashmir, showed the best incremental performance.
• On overall ranking based on the composite index score in 2019-20, the top-ranking states were Kerala and Tamil Nadu among the ‘Larger States', Mizoram and Tripura among the ‘Smaller States', and DH&DD and Chandigarh among the UTs.

• A robust and acceptable mechanism is used for measuring performance.
• Data is collected online through a portal maintained by NITI on agreed indicators.
• The data is then validated through an independent validation agency selected through a transparent bidding process.
• The validated data sheets are shared with the states for verification, followed by video conferences with the states for resolving any disagreements or disputes.
• The final sheets thus settled are shared with the states, and after agreement, the data is finalized and used for analysis and report-writing.
• The index is being compiled and published since 2017. The reports aim to nudge states/UTs towards building robust health systems and improving service delivery.
• The importance of this annual tool is reemphasized by MoHFW's decision to link the index to incentives under National Health Mission.

• PM Inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of hydropower projects worth over Rs 11,000 crore.
• Some of the hydropower projects are Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project and Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project.

• Capacity: 210 MW
• River : Satluj
• Location: Near Nirath Village, Distt. Shimla and Kullu (HP).
• Dam-toe-power house with dam height 80 m.
• Scheduled Commissioning: January 2026.

• Employment generation: 20 lakh mandays
• Free power value: Rs 1047 Crore during initial project life of 40 years.
• 100 units of electricity per month for 10 years to each Project Affected Families.
• Development of roads, bridges, healthcare and other local infrastructure.

• Addition of 758 MU of renewable energy to the grid.
• Important role in balancing the grid over intermittent nature of Solar & Wind power.
• Reduction in CO2 emissions by 6.1 lakh tons annually.

• Capacity : 66 MW
• River : Beas
• Location: Dhaulasidh, Distt. Hamirpur (HP)
• Dam-toe-power house with dam height 70 m.
• Scheduled Commissioning: Nov 2025.

• Employment generation: 8 lakh mandays.
• Free power value: Rs 461 Crore during initial project life of 40 years.
• 100 units of electricity per month for 10 years to each Project Affected Families.
• Development of roads, bridges, healthcare and other local infrastructure.

• Addition of 304 MU of renewable energy to the grid.
• Important role in balancing the grid over intermittent nature of Solar & Wind power.
• Reduction in CO2 emissions

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has said in order to substitute India's import of petroleum as a fuel and to provide direct benefits to farmers, the Automobile Manufacturers in India have now been advised to start manufacturing Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV) complying with BS-6 Norms in a time bound manner within a period of six months.
• This move will drastically reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from vehicles on a Well-to-Wheel basis, helping India to comply with its commitment made at COP26 to reduce the total projected carbon emissions by One Billion Tonnes by 2030.
• Government is enabling the use of various alternate fuels in an effort to shift from fossil fuels.
• In order to accelerate the introduction of Flex Fuel vehicles, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has included automobile & auto components and auto components of flex fuel engines.
• NITI Aayog, after acknowledging the strong foundation for the Ethanol blending programme (EBP), has formulated the road map for Ethanol blending for the period, 2020-2025.

Flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV)

• Flex Fuel Vehicles are capable to run on a combination of 100% Petrol or 100% bio-ethanol and their blends, along with strong Hybrid Electric technology in case of FFV-SHEVs.
• A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or methanol fuel, and both fuels are stored in the same common tank.

Social Issues and Social Justice/GSII
National Symposium on "Transforming Human Resource Development in the context of NEP-2020"

What's the NEWS

• The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) has been set up under the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 enacted by the parliament with mandate to standardize, regulate and monitor the training programmes in the field of special education and disability rehabilitation.
• The main functions of the Council are to prescribe minimum standards of education & training for 16 categories of professionals / personnel allocated to RCI, maintenance of Central Rehabilitation Register (CRR) and promote research in disability sector.
• After the implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD), 2016 by the Govt. of India and the provisions envisaged in the NEP-2020, it becomes essential for the Council to prepare a roadmap for transforming Human Resource Development in the field of Special Education & Disability Rehabilitation.
• Keeping in view of the above, the Council is organizing National Symposium on "Transforming Human Resource Development in the context of NEP-2020"

• During the National Symposium, the experts from the field of special education, inclusive education, speech & hearing, Clinical & Rehabilitation Psychology, Rehabilitation worker will deliberate on 06 identified themes and will make necessary recommendations for aligning RCI activities and programmes to Transform the Human Resource in the field of special education and disability rehabilitation in consonance of various provisions as envisaged in the RPwD Act,2016 and NEP,2020.

• India will chair the Counter-Terrorism Committee of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January 2022 after 10 years.

• The Counter-Terrorism Committee was established by Security Council resolution 1373 adopted unanimously on 28 September 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.
• The Committee was tasked with monitoring implementation of resolution 1373 which requested countries to implement a number of measures aimed at enhancing their legal and institutional ability to counter terrorist activities at home and around the world.
• This includes taking steps to criminalize the financing of terrorism, freezing any funds related to persons involved in acts of terrorism, deny all forms of financial support for terrorist groups, suppress the provision of safe haven, sustenance or support for terrorists and share information with other governments on any groups practicing or planning terrorist acts.
• Besides, the Committee monitors steps taken to cooperate with other governments in the investigation, detection, arrest, extradition and prosecution of those involved in terror acts and criminalizes active and passive assistance for terrorism.

Space Awareness/GSIII
James Webb Space Telescope

What's the NEWS

• World's largest and most powerful space telescope has been launched successfully into orbit to make breakthrough discoveries on the origins of the Universe and Earth-like planets beyond our solar system.

• The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's premier space observatory of the next decade, was launched in an Ariane rocket from the European Space Agency's base in French Guiana on Christmas Day.
• The Webb telescope will reach its destination in solar orbit some 1.5 million km from Earth - about four times farther away than the moon.
• Webb telescope's special orbital path will keep it in constant alignment with the Earth as the planet and telescope circle the sun in tandem.
• It will see farther into our origins, from the formation of stars and planets, to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe.
• It intends to show humans what the Universe looked like even closer to its birth nearly 14 billion years ago.
• The telescope is named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program. It is the successor to the Hubble telescope.
• Jointly built by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the new observatory is, however, 100 times more powerful.

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