Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the role of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 + about NTAGI)

What's the NEWS

• National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, met for the first time on 12th August.
• The meeting was chaired by Dr V K Paul, Member Niti Aayog along with Secretary (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) as co-Chair.

Know! about the meeting highlights

• The expert group deliberated on conceptualization and implementation mechanisms for creation of a digital infrastructure for inventory management and delivery mechanism of the vaccine including tracking of vaccination process with particular focus on last mile delivery.
• They discussed on broad parameters guiding the selection of COVID-19 vaccine candidates for the country and sought inputs from Standing Technical Sub-Committee of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI).
• The group delved on the procurement mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine, including both indigenous and international manufacturing along with guiding principles for prioritization of population groups for vaccination.

Know! about NATGI

• The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) was established by an order of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in 2001.
• As India's apex advisory body on immunization, the NTAGI provides guidance and advice to the MoHFW on provision of vaccination and immunization services for the effective control of vaccine preventable diseases in the country.
• Since its establishment, the NTAGI has been reconstituted twice, in 2010 and 2013.
• NTAGI now includes a Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC).
• The STSC is tasked with undertaking technical review of scientific evidence on matters related to immunization policy and programmes.
• Final recommendations are drafted by the NTAGI taking into account the scientific review by the STSC and any other relevant evidence.
• The overall objective of the NTAGI is to provide advice to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the strategies to control the burden and appropriately evaluate the impact of immunization on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) in the country.

Prelims Factoids
Apparel Export Promotion Council
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about AEPC and its objective)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has called upon the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) to take measures for increasing exports 2 times.
• The Virtual Workshop- A Joint initiatives of Apparel Expert Promotion Council and MSME inaugurated by the Ministry
• The Workshop had participants from the MSME and apparel industry

Know! about AEPC

• The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is the official organisation recognised by the government for promoting the export of apparels.
• Objective - To promote, advance, increase, develop export of all types of readymade garments, excluding, woollen knitwear and garments of leather, jute and hemp.
• Incorporated in 1978, AEPC is the official body of apparel exporters in India that provides invaluable assistance to Indian exporters as well as importers/international buyers who choose India as their preferred sourcing destination for garments.
• AEPC today is a powerful body for the promotion and facilitation of garment manufacturing and their exports.
• For Indian exporters, AEPC is a one-stop shop for information advise technical guidance workforce and market intelligence.

Social Justice
The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Hindu Succession Act, 1956 + about The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 + Mains ( GS II Social issues + Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments
What's the NEWS

• A three-judge Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra ruled that a Hindu woman's right to be a joint heir to the ancestral property is by birth and does not depend on whether her father was alive or not when the law was enacted in 2005.

Know! about the recent ruling

• The ruling now overrules the verdicts from 2015 and April 2018.
• It stated that a Hindu woman's right to be a joint heir to the ancestral property is by birth and does not depend on whether her father was alive or not when the law was enacted in 2005.
• It settles the law and expands on the intention of the 2005 legislation "to remove the discrimination as contained in section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 by giving equal rights to daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara coparcenary property as the sons have

Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956

• Section 6 made provision of the devolution of interest in a coparcenary property of a person who died intestate.
• The law provided that when a person dies intestate leaving only male heirs, the coparcenary property will devolve accordingly to his male sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons.

The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005

• The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 gave Hindu women the right to be coparceners or joint legal heirs in the same way a male heir does.
• Women were recognised as coparceners or joint legal heirs for partition arising from 2005.
• Section 6 of the Act was amended that year to make a daughter of a coparcener also a coparcener by birth "in her own right in the same manner as the son".

Hindu Succession Act, 1956

• The Mitakshara school of Hindu law codified as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governed succession and inheritance of property but only recognised males as legal heirs.
• The law applied to everyone who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion. Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj are also considered Hindus for the purposes of this law.
• The law also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities "in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son".

Prelims Factoids
World's 'first' COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Sputnik V vaccine)
What's the NEWS

• Russia became the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing

Know! about the vaccine

• Developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry, the vaccine underwent necessary tests
• The COVID-19 vaccine offers lasting immunity from the virus.
• The vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years
• Vaccine used inanimate particles created on the basis of adenovirus
• It is based on the DNA of a SARS-CoV-2 type adenovirus, a common cold virus.
• To make it effective, the vaccine uses the weakened virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.

Know! about Sputnik V

• Moscow has dubbed its new coronavirus vaccine "Sputnik V" after the Soviet satellite
• Sputnik was the first-ever artificial Earth satellite launched mankind.
• The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957.
• At the time, Sputnik was an invention way ahead of its time and had left the USSR's then adversary USA in a state of shock.
• Sputnik gave birth to the space age. The successful launch shocked the world, giving the former Soviet Union the distinction of putting the first human-made object into space.

Prelims Factoids
International Youth Day ( 12 August)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about International youth day and National Youth day)
What's the NEWS

• International Youth Day was designated by the United Nations (UN) in the year 1999, in an attempt to raise awareness regarding the cultural and legal issue concerning youth.

• The first IYD was observed on 12 August 2000 and has been observed annually ever since.
• In 1999, the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made the ‘World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth', and subsequently International Youth Day came to be celebrated annually.
• This day is meant to signify and highlight the importance of young people, not just as a future generation, but also as the current driving force of change in the world.
• The theme of International Youth Day 2020, "Youth Engagement for Global Action" seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions
• In observance of the day, the UN has launched a social media campaign, #31DaysOfYouth, that is celebrating young people all throughout the month of August, leading up to and following International Youth Day.

This year's IYD seeks to put the spotlight on youth engagement through the following three interconnected streams:

• Engagement at the local/community level
• Engagement at the national level
• Engagement at the global level.

National Youth Day (12 January)

• Since 1985, India celebrates National Youth Day on January 12 every year.
• This day is celebrated on the birthday of the social reformer, philosopher and great thinker Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary.
• In 1984, it was declared by the Government of India that 12th January will be observed as National Youth Day.
• The motive behind the government's move to celebrate this day was to imbibe the students and youth with the philosophy and ideals of the Vivekananda, who brought a change in the thought process of the youth.

Know! about Swami Vivekananda

• January 12 marks the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, who was a true luminary, credited with enlightening the western world about Hinduism.
• He was an ardent disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India.
• He pushed for national integration in colonial India, and his famous speech remains as the one that he gave in Chicago in 1893.
• To honour his many contributions to the country, the government of India, in the year 1984, declared his birthday as National Youth Day, and the day has been celebrated since.

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