Relevance IN - Prelims ( about I-Lab + BIRAC + about DBT-AMTZ COMManD +Mains ( GS III Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Science & Technology inaugurated and flagged off India's first I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic lab) for Covid testing in rural and inaccessible areas of India,

Know! about I-Lab

• The I-Lab, infectious disease diagnostic laboratory is a mobile testing facility to provide Covid testing access to rural India.
• This mobile testing facility will be deployed through the DBT testing hubs to remote regions of the country for Covid testing.
• This I-Lab has been created in a record time of 8 days by the Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone (AMTZ) team with the support of DBT under the National Biopharma Mission being implemented by the Public Sector BIRAC.
• I-Lab has biosafety facility and is capable of performing RT-PCR as well as ELISA tests.

Know! more about DBT-AMTZ COMManD

• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology along with Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone (AMTZ) has initiated the DBT-AMTZ COMManD [COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development] Consortia to address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency.
• Under this Consortia, India's first I- lab (infectious disease diagnostic lab) has been built at AMTZ
• This is a mobile diagnostic unit with biosafety facility. The I- lab is a BSL-2 facility with on-site ELISA, RT-PCR, Bio chemistry analysers.
• It can run 50 RT-PCR reactions and about 200 ELISA in a day.

Know! about the initiatives of Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science & Technology, promotes and accelerates the development of biotechnology in India, including growth and application of biotechnology in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, environment and industry.
• AMTZ is Asia's first medical equipment manufacturing ecosystem, uniquely dedicated for Medtech and supported by various Ministries.

Know! more about INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY (I-LAB)

• To promote last mile access of testing to rural India, DBT under the Covid-Command strategy has supported building of mobile testing labs through AMTZ.
• The unique feature of these mobile testing labs is their utility in diagnosing other infectious diseases (like for TB, HIV etc ) beyond the Covid period
• The first I- lab was launched in New Delhi on 18th Jun, 2020
• The labs will be provided to the regional/City hubs and they will deploy it further in the interior, inaccessible parts of the region.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

• It is a not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation
• BIRAC is a industry-academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives

National Biopharma Mission (NBM)

• The National Biopharma Mission has been approved by the Cabinet for implementation in May 2017 with a total cost US$ 250 million which is co-funded World Bank 50%.
• It is an Academia-Industry Collaborative Mission for Accelerating Discovery Research to Early Development for Biopharmaceuticals.
• The objective of the Mission is to enable and nurture an ecosystem for preparing India's technological and product development capabilities in biopharmaceuticals
• Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the aegis of Department of Biotechnology is the Implementing Agency for the Mission.
• Under the National Biopharma Mission, skill development training programmes shall be facilitated for young professionals
• The National Biopharma Mission has engaged Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) to organize a series of hands-on and lecture-based workshops in different areas of the biopharmaceuticals across the country.

Additional info
Innovate in India (i3)

• Towards strengthening the emerging biotechnology enterprise in India, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Ministry of Science & Technology has initiated the Mission Program entitled "Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission for Accelerating Discovery Research to Early Development for Biopharmaceuticals - Innovate in India (i3) Empowering biotech entrepreneurs & accelerating inclusive innovation"
• Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) setup by DBT is the implementing Agency of i3 Program through a dedicated Program Management Unit (PMU).

International
India elected unopposed to UNSC's non-permanent member seat

Relevance IN - Prelims (about UN and UNSC) + Mains (GS II Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.)
What's the NEWS

• India elected to the UN Security Council as non-permanent member with 184 of the 192 votes for a two-year term starting January 1, 2021.

Know! more about it

• India will begin its eighth two-year term on January 1
• India is hoping to use it to further bolster its claim to a promotion to the permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council.
• India was the endorsed candidate of the Asia-Pacific Group of UN member countries and faced no competition.
• It is elected to one of the five open seats on the 15-member council
• The 193 UN members countries were vote to elect five non-permanent members in a phased manner, for the first time in the world body's 75-year history.
• India won 187 votes in 2010, and started its seventh term on January 1, 2011. Its previous terms were 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985 and 1991-1992.
• Mexico was the other endorsed candidate that is likely to go through unopposed from the Latin American and the Caribbean Group seat.
• Canada, Ireland and Norway were contesting for the the two seats for the Western European and Other Group and Kenya and Djibouti were running for the African Group seat.

Know! about Security Council

• The Security Council has 15 members. Five of them are permanent members - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China - and 10 are non-permanent.
• Half the non-permanent members are elected every year, each for a two-year term, starting January 1.

How this position will be Used by India?

• India expects to use its eighth term to further build its case for a permanent seat in a reformed Security Council
• It has been pushing for years along with other claimants such as Japan, Germany and Brazil - the G-4 - calling the current council outdated and out of sync with the changed global realities.
• India will pursue these priorities through a Five-S approach, according to the "priorities paper": Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Sahyog (cooperation) and Shanti (peace); to create Samriddhi (Prosperity).

Know! all about United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States.
The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.
Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations is a member of the General Assembly.
States are admitted to membership in the UN by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
The main organs of the UN are

1. the General Assembly
2. the Security Council
3. the Economic and Social Council
4. the Trusteeship Council
5. the International Court of Justice, and
6. the UN Secretariat.

• All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.
• The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
• It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.

International Organisations
The US sanctions against International Criminal Court
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ICC and ICJ ) + Mains ( GS III international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• President Donald Trump authorised sanctions against ICC officials involved in investigations into possible war crimes by US troops or those of its allies.

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

• The ICC, a permanent judicial body based at The Hague in the Netherlands
• It was created by the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal and began functioning on 1 July 2002 when the Statute came into force.

The forum was established as a court of last resort to prosecute offences that would otherwise go unpunished, and has jurisdiction over four main crimes:

1. genocide
2. crimes against humanity
3. war crimes, and
4. the crime of aggression.

• 123 nations are States Parties to the Rome Statute and recognise the ICC's authority; the notable exceptions being the US, China, Russia, and India.

Know! the difference between ICC and ICJ

• Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC is not part of the United Nations system
• The UN-ICC relationship being governed by a separate agreement.
• The ICJ, which is among the UN's 6 principal organs, mainly hears disputes between nations.
• The ICC, on the other hand, prosecutes individuals- its authority extending to offences committed in a member state or by a national of such a state.

• The ICC has been criticised for not pursuing investigations in Western countries (all 4 of its guilty verdicts pronounced so far are in trials from Africa), as well as for working inefficiently.

Prelims Factoids
World Investment Report 2020

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about UNCTAD + about World Investment Report and its findings)
What's the NEWS

• India received USD 51 billion in foreign investment in 2019 and was the world's 9^th largest recipient of foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2019, according to a report by the UN's trade body.

Know! the highlights of the report

• UNCTAD said in a report that in the post-COVID19 pandemic period India's large market will continue to attract market-seeking investments to the country.
• India was the 9^th largest recipient of FDI in 2019, with 51 billion dollars of inflows during the year, an increase from the 42 billion dollars of FDI received in 2018, when India ranked 12 among the top 20 host economies in the world.
  In the "developing Asia" region, India was among the top five host economies for FDI.
  The report said that global FDI flows are forecast to decrease by up to 40 per cent in 2020, from their 2019 value of USD 1.54 trillion.
  This would be for the first time since 2005 that global FDI falls below the USD 1 trillion mark.

Know! about UNCTAD

• The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
• UNCTAD is the part of the United Nations Secretariat dealing with trade, investment, and development issues.

Reports published by UNCTAD

• The Trade and Development Report
• The Trade and Environment Review
• The World Investment Report
• The Least Developed Countries Report
• The Information Economy Report
• The Review of Maritime Transport
• The Technology and Innovation Report
  
  

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