National
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command(ENC)
⇒ Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, AVSM, VSM assumed charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command (ENC) at an impressive Ceremonial Parade held at the Naval Base on 01 August 2023.
About Vice Adm Pendharkar:
- Commissioned into the Indian Navy in Jan 1987, Vice Adm Pendharkar an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Naval War College, Karanja, and Naval Command College, Newport, Rhode Island, USA. He holds a Master’s Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies.
- An Anti-Submarine Warfare specialist, the Vice Admiral has held various Operational, Staff and Command Appointments in the course of his distinguished career spanning over 36 years.
- The Flag Officer is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.
Addl Director General, Military Nursing Service (MNS)
⇒ Maj Gen Amita Rani assumed the appointment of Addl Director General, Military Nursing Service (MNS) on 01 August 2023.
About Maj Gen Amita Rani:
- The General Officer is an alumnus of the College of Nursing, Army Hospital (R&R), Delhi. Prior to assuming the present appointment, she held the post of Principal Matron of Army Hospital (Research & Referral).
- The General Officer was commissioned into the Military Nursing Service in the year 1983.
India’s first Indigenously developed, Affordable, lightweight, Ultrafast, High Field (1.5 Tesla), Next Generation Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh launched India’s first Indigenously developed, Affordable, lightweight, Ultrafast, High Field (1.5 Tesla), Next Generation Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner in New Delhi on 01 August 2023.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, as an indigenous MRI scanner is made available, the cost of MRI scanning is expected to reduce considerably for the common man thus allowing a wider access to the otherwise highly priced MRI scans.
Developed by:
Under the National Biopharma Mission, Voxelgrids Innovations Pvt Ltd has developed compact, lightweight, next generation MRI Scanner to solve the unmet need of the country.
Key Points:
- This is indeed a milestone achievement for National Biopharma Mission (NBM), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- The first indigenously developed state-of-the-art MRI scanner under Public-Private Partnership mode was unveiled.
- Out of Rs 17 Crore spent for developing the world class MRI, Rs 12 Crore was provided by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) through Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
2023 'UNMESHA' and 'UTKARSH' festivals in Bhopal
⇒ The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated ‘Unmesha’ – International Literature Festival and ‘Utkarsh’ – Festival of Folk and Tribal Performing Arts on August 3, 2023 at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
National festival ‘Unmesha’ and ‘Utkarsh’ were organized in Bhopal from 3 to 5 August 2023.
Organised by:
‘Unmesha’ and ‘Utkarsh’ were organised by the Ministry of Culture in association with Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi respectively.
‘UNMESHA’ 2023:
- The second edition of Unmesha, a 3-day international literature festival, hosted more than 575 authors from 14 different countries representing more than 100 languages.
- Asia’s largest literary event featured panel discussions on different aspects of independent India and freedom, contemporary issues like the use of AI in literature and multilingual poetry recitations.
- The first event was held in Shimla in June 2022.
‘Utkarsha’:
- Along with the literary meet, the National Festival of Folk and Tribal Expressions ‘Utkarsha’ was organised.
- As part of the ‘Utkarsha’ festival of expressions, artists from Madhya Pradesh and other states presented colourful programmes every evening.
Government introduces a new category of Ayush visa for foreign nationals
⇒ Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has notified the creation of a new category of Ayush (AY) visa for foreign nationals for treatment under Ayush systems/Indian systems of medicine.
Key Points:
- The introduction of Ayush Visa fulfills the proposal for introduction of a special visa scheme for foreigners visiting India for treatment under Ayush systems/Indian systems of medicine like therapeutic care, wellness and Yoga.
- A new chapter i.e. chapter 11A – Ayush Visa has been incorporated after Chapter 11 – Medical visa of the Visa Manual, which deals with treatment under the Indian systems of medicine and accordingly necessary amendments has been made in various chapters of the Visa Manual, 2019.
Background:
- It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had announced a creation of a special Ayush Visa category for facilitating foreign nationals travel to India seeking Ayush therapy, at Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in April 2022.
- Introduction of Ayush Visa category is part of India’s roadmap for the Heal in India initiative of the government, which is intended at promoting India as a medical value travel destination.
- Ministry of Ayush and the ministry of Health & Family Welfare are working together to develop a one stop Heal in India portal to promote India as a Medical tourism destination of the world.
Other Points:
- Medical Value Travel has seen significant growth in India in recent years. According to the report ‘The Global Wellness Economy: Looking beyond COVID’ by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the Global Wellness economy will grow at 9.9% annually.
- Ayush based healthcare & Wellness economy is estimated to grow to $70 billion by 2025.