• The Cabinet, has approved the signing and ratification of an Agreement between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters.

• The Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences.
• The Agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries.
• The Agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences and the facilitation of legitimate trade.
• The draft text of the proposed Agreement has been finalized with the concurrence of the two Customs Administrations.
• The Agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in the area of exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value, tariff classification and origin of the goods traded between the two countries.

• National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT), the apex training institute of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India conducted a webinar on the topic "NavlC - Opportunities for the Telecom Industry" in collaboration with ISRO and Telecom Industry.

• ISRO briefed about the NaviC system and informed that it has higher accuracy than the peer systems.
• There are plans to make NavIC available on L-1 band in addition to the presently used L-5 band. He felt that the NavIC system should be made mandatory for mobile phones released in Indian markets to adopt.

• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system established and maintained by ISRO.
• It covers India and a region extending up to 1 ,500 km beyond Indian mainland (primary coverage area).
• It provides position accuracy better than 20 m (20) and timing accuracy better than 50 ns (20).
• The actual measurements demonstrate accuracy better than 5 m and 20 ns respectively.
• NavIC based applications are being used in various civilian sectors, including, transport, map applications, and timekeeping.
• Today major mobile chipset manufacturers like Qualcomm, MediaTek and Broadcom already support NavIC across various chipset platforms.
• A few mobile phone OEMs have also released handsets which can be enabled to receive NavlC through Over the Air firmware update. Some examples for NavlC enabled mobile phones include the Redmi Note 9 series from Xiaomi, the Realme 6 series, the OnePlus Nord, etc.
• NavlC is an indigenous positioning system that is under Indian control. There is no risk of the service being withdrawn or denied in a given situation.

• National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT) is the apex training institute of Department of Telecommunications involved in conduction of induction Training for probationary officers of Indian Telecommunication Service Group - A (ITS Group A) recruited through All India based Engineering Services Examination conducted by UPSC.
• Apart from Induction Training, NTIPRIT also conducts various In-Service Trainings, Management Development Programmes, Regional and International Trainings, Capacity Building workshops for Officers of Government of India in various aspects of Information and Communication Technology Administration in India.

• The Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, has come into effect from Apr 27. Now the government in Delhi means Lt Governor.

• It amended the Sections 21, 24, 33 and 44 of the 1991 Act.
• States that the "government" in the National Capital Territory of Delhi meant the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi.
• It gives discretionary powers to the L-G even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws.
• It seeks to ensure that the L-G is "necessarily granted an opportunity" to give her or his opinion before any decision taken by the Council of Ministers (or the Delhi Cabinet) is implemented.
• It bars the Assembly or its committees from making rules to take up matters concerning day-to-day administration, or to conduct inquiries in relation to administrative decisions.

• It added two new Articles 239AA and 239AB under which the Union Territory of Delhi has been given a special status.
• Article 239AA provides that the Union Territory of Delhi be called the National Capital Territory of Delhi and its administrator shall be known as Lt. Governor.
• It also creates a legislative assembly for Delhi which can make laws on subjects under the State List and Concurrent List except on these matters: public order, land, and police.
• It also provides for a Council of Ministers for Delhi consisting of not more than 10% of the total number of members in the assembly.
• Article 239AB provides that the President may by order suspend the operation of any provision of Article 239AA or of all or any of the provisions of any law made in pursuance of that article. This provision resembles Article 356 (President's Rule).

• In the Government of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India and Another in 2018 case, the SC held that:
• The government was not under obligation to seek the concurrence of the L-G on its decisions and
• That any differences between them should be resolved keeping in view the constitutional primacy of representative government and cooperative federalism.
• Essentially, the SC judgment made it extremely difficult for the L-G to refer such matters to the President.

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global problem to which the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic may further contribute.
• With resources deployed away from antimicrobial stewardship, evidence of substantial pre-emptive antibiotic use in Covid-19 patients and indirectly, with deteriorating economic conditions fuelling poverty potentially impacting on levels of resistance, AMR threat remains significant.

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the phenomenon by which bacteria and fungi evolve and become resistant to presently available medical treatment.
• AMR represents an existential threat to modern medicine.
• Without functional antimicrobials to treat bacterial and fungal infections, even the most common surgical procedures, as well as cancer chemotherapy, will become fraught with risk from untreatable infections.

• AMR is already responsible for up to 7,00,000 deaths a year.
• A threat to prevention and treatment of infections - medical procedures such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, diabetes management and major surgery (for example, caesarean sections or hip replacements) become very risky.
• Increases the cost of healthcare with lengthier stays in hospitals, additional tests and use of more expensive drugs.
• It is putting the gains of the Millennium Development Goals at risk and endangers achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• No new classes of antibiotics have made it to the market in the last three decades, largely on account of inadequate incentives for their development and production.
• Without urgent action, we are heading to antibiotic apocalypse - a future without antibiotics, with bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment and when common infections and minor injuries could once again kill.

• India, with its combination of large population, rising incomes that facilitate purchase of antibiotics, high burden of infectious diseases and easy over-the-counter access to antibiotics, is an important locus for the generation of resistance genes.
• The multi-drug resistance determinant, New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1), emerged from this region to spread globally.
• Africa, Europe and other parts of Asia have also been affected by multi-drug resistant typhoid originating from South Asia.
• In India, over 56,000 newborn deaths each year due to sepsis are caused by organisms that are resistant to first line antibiotics.
• India has undertaken many activities like Mission Indradhanush - to address low vaccination coverage - strengthened micro-planning and additional mechanisms to improve monitoring and accountability.
• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) identified AMR as one of the top 10 priorities for the ministry's collaborative work with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• India has also launched the National Action Plan on AMR resistance 2017-2021.

Polyherbal drug AYUSH 64
Relevance IN - Prelims (about AYUSH 64 + CCRAS +NRDC)
What's the NEWS

• AYUSH- 64, the polyherbal Ayurvedic medicine, for treating of COVID-19 has been one of the most significant developments in this area.

Know! about AYUSH -64

• AYUSH- 64 was originally developed in 1980 for treatment of malaria, and it complies with all regulatory requirements and quality and pharmacopoeia standards.
• CCRAS recently concluded extensive robust clinical trials of the drug focusing on the management of asymptomatic, mild to moderate COVID-19 in collaboration with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and many other research organizations and medical colleges across the country.
• The trials led by reputed scientists of the country showed AYUSH 64 has notable antiviral, immune-modulator and antipyretic properties.
• It is found to be useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild and moderate COVID-19 infection. Consequently, the drug is now repurposed for COVID-19.
• The Ministry has since taken steps to streamline the distribution of AYUSH 64 across the country and ramp up its production, so that it becomes available to a large number of people in a short time.
• As part of this effort, CCRAS and National Research and Development Centre (NDRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the larger production and commercialization of AYUSH 64 with mutual cooperation.

Know! about CCRAS

• The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) is an autonomous body of the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India.
• It is an apex body in India for the formulation, coordination, development and promotion of research on scientific lines in Ayurveda and Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine.

National Research Development Corporation (NRDC)

• It was established in 1953 by the Government of India, with the primary objective to promote, develop and commercialise the technologies / know-how / inventions / patents / processes emanating from various national R&D institutions / Universities and is presently working under the administrative control of the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology.
• NRDC has forged strong links with the scientific and industrial community in India and abroad and developed a wide network of research institutions, academia and industry and made formal arrangements with them for the commercialisation of know-how developed in their laboratories and is now recognised as a large repository of wide range of technologies spread over almost all areas of industries, viz. Agriculture and Agro-processing, Chemicals including Pesticides, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Bio Technology, Metallurgy, Electronics and Instrumentation, Building Materials, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics etc.
• It has licensed the indigenous technology to more then 4800 entrepreneurs and helped to establish a large number of small and medium scale industries.
• Besides being the torch bearer in the field of technology transfer, NRDC also undertakes number of activities under its structured promotional programme for encouragement and advancement of research, promotion of inventions and innovations such as meritorious inventions awards, Techno-Commercial support, Technical and financial assistance for IPR Protection, Value addition services and support for further development of technologies and much more.
• NRDC has also successfully exported technologies and services to both developed as well as the developing countries.
• NRDC is recognised, particularly in the developing countries, as the source of reliable appropriate technology, machines and services, which are typically suitable for these countries.

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