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Daily Current Capsules 11th November 2020

International Organisations
20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of State

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 20th Summit of SCO -highlights ) + Mains (GS II. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests)
What's the NEWS

  • 20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of State was held on November 10, 2020 (in Video Conference Format).

Know! about the summit highlights

  • The Meeting was chaired by the President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi led the Indian delegation.
  • Other SCO Member States were represented by their Presidents, while India and Pakistan were represented at the level of Prime Minister.
  • Other participants were: Secretary General of the SCO Secretariat, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, the Presidents of the four Observers (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia) of the SCO.
  • This was the first SCO Summit held in Virtual Format and third meeting that India participated after becoming a full member in 2017.
  • President Emomali Rahmon of the Republic of Tajikistan will assumes the chairmanship of SCO next year

Prime Minister address ( highlights)

  • The P.M highlighted the imperative of a reformed multilateralism to meet the expectation of a world suffering from the social and financial after-effects of the pandemic.
  • India, as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, beginning from 1 January 2021, will focus on the theme of ‘reformed multilateralism' to bring about desirable changes in global governance.
  • India's brave soldiers participated in about 50 UN peacekeeping missions and India's Pharma industry supplying essential medicines to more than 150 countries during the pandemic.
  • India's firm commitment towards strengthening connectivity in the region with initiatives like International North-South Transport Corridor, Chabahar Port and Ashgabat Agreement.
  • To support observing the 20th anniversary of SCO in 2021 as the "SCO Year of Culture" and spoke of India's own initiatives to hold the first SCO exhibition on Shared Buddhist Heritage to be organized by National Museum of India, SCO Food Festival in India next year and the translation of Ten regional language literary works into Russian and Chinese.
  • India has also proposed to set up a Special Working Group on Innovation and Startups and a Sub Group on Traditional Medicine within SCO.

Know! about SCO

  • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance
  • The creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter, formally establishing the organisation, was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
  • The original five nations, with the exclusion of Uzbekistan, were previously members of the Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996.
  • Since then, the organisation has expanded its membership to eight countries when India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO, it meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.

Health
Indian Railways engages RailTel to implement an HMIS across its health facilities

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about HMIS + RailTel) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources)
What's the NEWS

  • Indian Railways with the objective of bringing hospital management on a single architecture to prevent pilferage and making operations seamless has entrusted RailTel Corporation of India Limited ("RailTel") with implementation of hospital management information system ("HMIS") an integrated clinical information system for its 125 health facilities and 650 polyclinics across India for improved hospital administration and patient healthcare.
  • The features of the software extend from customizing clinical data according to the departments and laboratories, multi hospital feature that provide cross consultation, seamless interface with medical and other equipment's and the patients will have the benefit of accessing all their medical records on their mobile device.

Know! about Hospital management information system(HMIS)

  • HMIS is implemented in a hospital for managing patient care and related administrative functions. It has the potential to improve the efficiency of overall system through automation and generates necessary reports for managing operations, performance, quality, planning, decision-making and reporting for projects.
  • RailTel and Ministry of Railways have signed an MOU with regard to the modalities for execution of the work. The open source HMIS software is to be deployed over the cloud.
  • The HMIS platform will be connected to the Unique Medical Identity System. A Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is underway which will drive these technological changes be it artificial intelligence, data analytics or app based services.
  • HMIS has already been established by the implementation of the hospital management information system in South Central Railway and a pan India deployment is being considered in a phased manner.
  • Traditional forms of record keeping has its own limitations and we believe that the integration of technology is the only way to achieve scale, cost efficiencies, ease of access besides other benefits.

Know! about RailTel

  • RailTel, a "Mini Ratna (Category-I)" Central Public Sector Enterprise is an ICT provider and one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure providers in the country owning a Pan-India optic fiber network on exclusive Right of Way (ROW) along Railway track. The OFC network covers all important towns & cities of the country and several rural areas.
  • RailTel offers a diversified portfolio of ICT services and solutions such as MPLS- VPN, Leased line services, TPaaS, E-Office & Data Centre Services, large network hardware system integration, software and digital services.
  • RailTel was incorporated on September 26, 2000 with the aim of modernizing the existing telecom system for train control, operation and safety and to generate additional revenues by creating nationwide broadband and multimedia network, laying optical fiber cable using the right of way along railway tracks.

Science & Technology
Thirty Meter Telescope Project

 

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project ) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS

  • 2020 Physics Nobel Laureate Prof. Andrea Ghez had worked closely with Indian astronomers on the design of back-end instruments and possible science prospects of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project being installed at Maunakea in Hawaii, which can revolutionized the understanding of the universe and the enigmas in it.

The Thirty-meter telescope (TMT) project

  • The Thirty-meter telescope (TMT) project is an international partnership between CalTech, Universities of California, Canada, Japan, China, and India; through the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
  • The Thirty Meter Telescope, which seeks to advance scientific knowledge while fostering connection among the partner countries and their citizens, and in which Indian astronomers worked closely with Prof. Andrez Ghez, is expected to provide facilities with even greater capabilities to gather the observations needed to answer new and emerging questions in astronomy and physics in general.

Know! more about the Thirty Meter Telescope

  • The Thirty Meter Telescope is a new class of extremely large telescopes that will allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity.
  • With its 30 m prime mirror diameter, TMT will be three times as wide, with nine times more area, than the largest currently existing visible-light telescope in the world.
  • This will provide unparalleled resolution with TMT images more than 12 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
  • When operational, TMT will provide new observational opportunities in essentially every field of astronomy and astrophysics.
  • Observing in wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared, this unique instrument will allow astronomers to address fundamental questions in astronomy ranging from understanding star and planet formation to unraveling the history of galaxies and the development of large-scale structure in the universe.
  • The Thirty Meter Telescope is being designed and developed by the TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO).
  • The TIO is a non-profit international partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada).

Social Issues
New UN alliance to stave off ‘catastrophic food crisis'
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about global alliance on Food Coalition + about FAO) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to poverty and hunger)

What's the NEWS

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations launched a Food Coalition on November 5, 2020

Know! about the global alliance on Food Coalition

  • FAO Director virtually inaugurated it along with the Prime Minister of Italy, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
  • The two countries have already pledged and delivered financial resources and technical support to the coalition. Italy has supported the alliance with an initial contribution of $1.2 million.
  • Proposed by Italy and led by FAO, the global alliance aims to help countries get back on track to achieve the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, especially the ones on ending hunger and poverty. More than 30 countries have already expressed interest in joining the coalition.
  • The alliance would work as a network of networks and a multi-stakeholder coalition for a unified global action to support measures to ensure food access and increase the resilience of agricultural food systems in response to COVID-19.
  • The alliance involves a devoted trust fund and a web-based hub allowing participants to access a basket of project-focused information and data, as well as the funding and types of assistance needed for many on-the-ground projects.

The Food Coalition would work towards:

  • Mobilising resources, expertise and innovation
  • Advocating for a joint and coordinated COVID-19 response
  • Promoting dialogue and exchange of knowledge and expertise among countries
  • Working towards solution-oriented plans and programmes
  • Expanding international cooperation and partnership for a longer term impact

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

  • It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
  • The FAO is headquartered in Rome, Italy and maintains regional and field offices around the world, operating in over 130 countries.
  • It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources.
  • It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.
  • Composed of 197 member states, the FAO is governed by a biennial conference representing each member country and the European Union, which elects a 49-member executive council.

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