International Organisations
Ministers of Health of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries

Relevance in - Prelims ( about NAM) ) + Mains ( GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually participated in a meeting with Ministers of Health of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries
• Minister of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan for organizing this conference and giving India an opportunity to meet, even if it is virtually, to continue its collaboration in ensuring the right to health for all our citizens.

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

• Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), international organization dedicated to representing the interests and aspirations of developing countries.
• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
• After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
• In the early 21st century the Non-Aligned Movement counted 120 member states.
• The Non-Aligned Movement emerged in the context of the wave of decolonization that followed World War II.
• At the 1955 Bandung Conference (the Asian-African Conference), the attendees, many of whose countries had recently gained their independence, called for "abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defense to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers.
• In the context of the Cold War, they argued, countries of the developing world should abstain from allying with either of the two superpowers (the United States and the U.S.S.R.) and should instead join together in support of national self-determination against all forms of colonialism and imperialism.
• The Non-Aligned Movement was founded and held its first conference (the Belgrade Conference) in 1961 under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, and Sukarno of Indonesia.
• Unlike the United Nations (UN) or the Organization of American States, the Non-Aligned Movement has no formal constitution or permanent secretariat.
• All members of the Non-Aligned Movement have equal weight within its organization.
• The movement's positions are reached by consensus in the Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government, which usually convenes every three years.
• The administration of the organization is the responsibility of the country holding the chair, a position that rotates at every summit.
• The ministers of foreign affairs of the member states meet more regularly in order to discuss common challenges, notably at the opening of each regular session of the UN General Assembly.

Science & Technology
Eni International Award for Research in Energy Frontiers

Relevance in - Prelims ( about Eni Award 2020)
What's the NEWS

• Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award. This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
• Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.
• Hydrogen storage, photochemical and electrochemical production of hydrogen, solar production of hydrogen, and non-metallic catalysis were the highlights of his work.

Know! about Eni Awards 2020

• The Eni Award is a prize awarded by the Italian oil and gas company Eni with the aim of encouraging better use of energy sources and increased environmental research.
• The Eni Awards 2020 will be presented on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, attended by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
• The award, which has become internationally recognized over the years in the field of energy and environmental research, aims to promote better use of energy sources and encourage new generations of researchers in their work.
• It bears witness to the importance that Eni places on scientific research and innovation. It includes a cash prize and a specially minted gold medal.

Defence
SeHAT OPD portal

Relevance in - Prelims ( about SeHAT OPD portal)
What's the NEWS

• Raksha Mantri launched ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal through video conferencing on May 27, 2021.

Know! all about the portal

• The portal provides tele-medicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families.
• The services can be availed by registering on the website https://sehatopd.in/.
• This is the final version of the SeHAT OPD portal with advanced safety features.
• The trial version was made functional in August 2020. More than 6,500 medical consultations have already been carried on the beta version by service doctors.
• Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Centre for Development of Artificial Computing (C-DAC) Mohali and other organisations involved in the development of the portal
• The portal will help reduce the load on hospitals and patients will be able to get contactless consultations in an easy and effective manner.

Economy
RBI balance sheet grew 7% in 9 months to March
Relevance in - Prelims ( about RBI balance sheet highlights and change in RBI's accounting year)
What's the NEWS

• The size of the Reserve Bank's balance sheet, which is reflective of activities carried out by it in pursuance of currency issue function as well as monetary policy and reserve management, has increased by 6.99% to Rs.57,07,669.13 crore during the nine-month period ended March 31.

Know! the factors behind these data (Annual Report for FY21)

• The increase on the asset side was mainly due to increase in foreign and domestic investments by 11.48% and 13.75%, respectively," it said in the
• On liabilities, the increase was due to growth in deposits, notes issued and other liabilities.
• While income for the year decreased 10.96%, expenditure declined 63.1%,
• The year ended with an overall surplus of ₹99,122 crore compared with ₹57,127.53 crore in the previous year, representing an increase of 73.5%,
• On account of the transition to April-March accounting year from July-June accounting period, the reserve bank has come out with data for nine months for 2020-21 as compared to twelve months for the previous year.
• Earlier this month, the Central Board of Directors of RBI had approved the transfer of the ₹99,122 crore surplus to the Centre.

Polity
The draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the draft regulation and its provisions + process of finalizing a law in Union territory)
What's the NEWS

• The draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021, which gives sweeping powers to the Administrator to take over land and relocate people among others, will require ratification from the Home Ministry and the Union Cabinet before it is implemented.
• It was yet to receive the draft regulations from the Lakshadweep administration.
• The regulation was drafted by the Lakshadweep administration, and the Home Ministry had no role to play.
• Home Ministry is the administrating authority for the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

Know! the process of changing of law in the Union territory

• Any proposed change to the laws in the Union territory of Lakshadweep is to be brought through regulations, instead of a Bill as is the case in other UTs with a legislature such as Delhi and Puducherry.
• These regulations are then put up for public consultation and once the response is received it is sent to the Home Ministry.
• The Ministry will examine the regulations, and only after it clears them will the draft be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval.
• Till now, the Ministry has not received the regulations

Draft Regulation ( highlights)

• The draft regulation proposes seven years' imprisonment for consumption or sale of beef, and those who have more than two children cannot contest panchayat elections.
• The draft was placed in the public domain seeking comments on April 28 and the last date to send suggestions was May 19.

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