Environment
International Blue Flag hoisted at 8 beaches across the Country

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about International Blue Flag Certification + about BEAMS) + Mains ( GS III environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change virtually hoisted the international blue flags in 8 beaches across the country.
• India secured the International Blue Flag Certification for these beaches on 6^th October 2020, when an International Jury comprising of member organizations UNEP, UNWTO, UNESCO, IUCN, ILS, FEE etc. announced the award at Copenhagen, Denmark.

Blue Flag certification

• Blue Flag certification is a globally recognised eco-label accorded by "Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark" based on 33 stringent criteria.
• The beaches where the International Blue Flags were hoisted are: Kappad (Kerala), Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).

• The Flags were also simultaneously hoisted on these beaches physically by state ministers and senior officials of the respective state and Union territories.
• BEAMS(Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services).
• India started its journey of sustainable development of coastal regions on World Environment Day in June' 2018 by launching its beach cleaning campaign - I-AM- SAVING-MY-BEACH simultaneously at 13 coastal states and thereafter implementing ministry's coveted program BEAMS(Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services).
• The introduction of BEAMS program in 10 coastal states have resulted into international level of cleanliness at beaches with over 500 tonnes of solid waste collected, recycled and scientifically disposed at these beaches reducing the menace of marine litter by over 78% and marine plastic by over 83%.
• Approximately 11000 KL of water was saved by recycling & reuse with BEAMS program, which has resulted into an increase in footfall at these beaches by over 85% cumulative.

Know! about Blue Flag certification

• The ‘Blue Flag' is a certification that can be obtained by a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator, and serves as an eco-label.
• The certification is awarded by the Denmark-based non-profit Foundation for Environmental Education, which sets stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria that applicants must meet and maintain.
• It is awarded annually to beaches and marinas in FEE member countries.
• The Blue Flag programme was started in France in 1985 and in areas out of Europe in 2001.
• The programme promotes sustainable development in freshwater and marine areas through four main criteria: water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety.

Government Schemes
DPIIT to organise global summit on startups
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the summit + about Start up India ) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions + good governance)
What's the NEWS

• The commerce and industry ministry will be organising a global summit on startups on January 15 and 16 next year with a view to promoting the growth of the sector
• Startups from Asian countries, domestic players and global entrepreneurs would participate in the virtual summit which is going to be organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)
• Global and domestic venture capital funds, regulatory authorities like SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), Reserve Bank of India, Central Board and taxation agencies - CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) and CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) would also participate in the summit.
• The government has taken several measures to strengthen startup ecosystem in the country to promote innovation.
• The department is also working on setting up credit guarantee fund and national seed fund for the sector.
• Startup India
• Startup India is a flagship initiative of the government launched in January 2016, intends to build a strong ecosystem for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities.
• Startup India is a Government of India flagship initiative to build Startups and nurture innovation.
• Through this initiative, the Government plans to empower Startup ventures , to boost entrepreneurship, economic growth and employment across India.
• The Government's Action Plan will help accelerate the growth of Startups throughout India, across all important sectors - in Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities, including semi-urban and rural areas - and includes promoting entrepreneurship among SCs/STs and women communities.
• The 19-point Action Plan, organized by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), focuses both on restricting hindrances and promoting faster growth by way of:

1. Simplification and Handholding
2. Funding Support and Incentives
3. Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation

• The 19-point Action Plan envisages several incubation centres, easier patent filing, tax exemptions, ease of setting-up of business, a INR 10,000 crore corpus fund, a faster exit mechanism, among others.

Definition of a Startup (a Startup means an entity)

• incorporated or registered in India not prior to five years
• with an annual turnover not exceeding INR 25 crore in any preceding financial year
• working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property

Miscellaneous
National Medicinal Plants Board Launches Consortia for Medicinal Plants

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NMPB + about NMPB Consortia )
What's the NEWS

• National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH envisages the necessity of connectivity between stakeholders in the supply chain and value chain of Medicinal Plants.

NMPB Consortia

• NMPB Consortia will address on Quality Planting Material, Research & Development, Cultivation, Trade of medicinal plants/market linkage etc.
• To establish the linkage between the farmers and manufacturers, a ‘Seed to Shelf' approach is being introduced, wherein, aspects related to Quality Planting Materials (QPM), Good Agriculture Practices (GAP's), Good Post Harvest Practices (GPHP's) would be addressed.

• In the first phase NMPB consortia is proposed for medicinal plant species - Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Pippali (Piper longum), Aonla (Phyllanthus emblica), Guggulu (Commiphora wightii), Satavari (Asparagus racemosus).
• Registration link for NMPB Consortia is available on the website of NMPB wherein, eligible organizations viz, Farmers/ FPOs/ FPCs/QPM centres/ Seed banks/ Nurseries/ SHGs/ NGOs/ Traders/manufactures/Exporters/Pharma/Research institutes / Agriculture Universities can register to be part of consortia.

Know! about National Medicinal Plants Board

• In order to promote medicinal plants sector, Government of India set up National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) on 24th November 2000.
• Currently the board is working under the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy), Government of India.
• The primary mandate of NMPB is to develop an appropriate mechanism for coordination between various ministries/ departments/ organization and implementation of support policies/programs for overall (conservation, cultivation, trade and export) growth of medicinal plants sector both at the Central /State and International level.
• NMBP focusses on in-situ & ex-situ conservation and augmenting local medicinal plants and aromatic species of medical significance.
• The NMPB also promote research & development, capacity building through trainings, raising awareness through promotional activities like creation of Home/School herbal gardens.

Prelims Factoids
Giant Rock Bee Honey, a Unique Variant of Honey Sourced From Malayali Tribes of Tamil Nadu
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Malayali Tribes)
What's the NEWS

• More than 35 new, attractive, immunity-boosting tribal products have found a new home in Tribes India outlets and website in the 8th edition of "From Our Home to your Home"' campaign.
• The campaign had been launched 8 weeks back by TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs in order to source as many effective, natural, and attractive products from diverse indigenous tribes across the country so that these can reach a wide variety of audience.
• Key among the products are the natural, fresh, organic produce from the Malayali tribes of Tamil Nadu, such as Giant Rock Bee Honey, honey, variants of millet rice, tamarind and black pepper.

Malayali tribes of Tamil Nadu

• Malayali is a tribal group from the Eastern Ghats in North Tamil Nadu. With a population of around 3,58,000 people they are the largest Scheduled tribes in that region. The tribals are usually hill farmers and they cultivate different types of millet.

Health
Country's First Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine inaugurated

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) + about Pneumosil)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare inaugurated India's first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV).
• The vaccine "Pneumosil" has been developed by the Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SIIPL) in collaboration with partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Know! all about Pneumosil

• SIIPL developed and got license of first indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) from Government of India during COVID-19 pandemic
• Serum Institute's first Indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine will be available in the market under brand name "Pneumosil" at an affordable price in single dose (vial and pre-filled syringe) and Multidose (vial) presentations.
• Pneumosil has been extensively evaluated in 5 randomized controlled clinical trials and has demonstrated comparable safety and immunogenicity against licensed pneumococcal vaccines across diverse populations of India and Africa, where Pneumosil was administered to adults, toddlers and infants using different vaccination schedules.
• Pneumosilwas found to be safe and effective in the prevention of Pneumonia disease and based on which Pneumosil has been licensed by Drugs Controller General (India) in July 2020 after approval from Subject Expert Committee (SEC)
• Till now we are fully dependent on Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine manufactured by Foreign Manufacturers which are available at very high prices
• The vaccine will make SII the world's third supplier of PCVs under the pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment, and the first developing country vaccine manufacturer to access the global PCV market.

Know! about Pneumonia

• Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death among children under five years of age worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 lakhs deaths globally.
• Pneumococcal disease is a significant contributor under-five mortality rate worldwide. In view of its widespread fatality, the World Health Organization in 2018 recommended the inclusion of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in routine childhood immunisation programmes in all countries.
• Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.
• The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing.
• A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is a pneumococcal vaccine and a conjugate vaccine used to protect infants, young children, and adults against disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae.
• The unique feature of the WHO pre-qualified PCV is its composition which is specially tailored to the serotype of the bacterium, S penumoniae, in India and other regions of the world
• The vaccine targets the pneumococcal bacterium, which causes pneumonia and other serious life-threatening diseases such as meningitis and sepsis, and is estimated to cause nearly four lakh deaths in children under five years of age each year worldwide.

Health
The 7^th NHM National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 7^th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices - objective and highlights)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare digitally inaugurated the 7^th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices
• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare holds the National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare Systems in India.

National Summit on Good & Replicable Practices & Innovations in Public Health Care System

• National Consultations are organized by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to capture and share the best practices and innovations at various levels of health services delivery under National Health Mission.
• The consultations are attended by officials of MoHFW who are involved in providing technical support to states; State officials who share their experiences; and stakeholders who contribute to implementation of best practices
• The first National summit was held in 2013 at Srinagar to recognize, showcase and document various best practices and innovations in public healthcare system
• In the year 2020, 210 new initiatives were uploaded by the States and UTs in the National Healthcare Innovation Portal.
• The ultimate goal of these innovations is to improve the health status of the people on one hand and strengthen Public Health Systems in a sustainable manner on the other.
• The National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare Systems in India, has, in a short space of time, become an institutional mechanism for the sharing of innovations supported by the National Health Mission.
• The 7th summit captures 98 best practices and innovations, including health programmes, medical devices and technologies.
• They span programmatic areas ranging from health systems, maternal and new-born health, family planning, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and mental health.

additional info
National Health Innovation Portal

• It is being launched to serve as a platform in public domain to facilitate collection and dissemination of good practices and innovations that are found to be replicable.
• This portal would serve as a gateway for integrating innovations into mainstream healthcare and has potential to bring about transformative improvements in healthcare delivery by accelerating the uptake of successful innovations of products, processes and programs.

National Health Systems Resource Centre

• National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) has been set up under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Government of India to serve as an apex body for technical assistance.
• Established in 2007, the National Health Systems Resource Centre's mandate is to assist in policy and strategy development in the provision and mobilisation of technical assistance to the states and in capacity building for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at the centre and in the states

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