National
National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021
- The Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan approved the “National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021” on 30th March 2021.
Key Points:
- The Rare Diseases Policy aims to lower the high cost of treatment for rare diseases.
- The policy also envisages creation of a national hospital based registry of rare diseases.
- The policy focuses on early screening and prevention through primary and secondary health care infrastructure such as Health and Wellness Centres and District Early Intervention Centres (DEICs) and through counseling for the high-risk patients.
- The policy also aims to strengthen tertiary health care facilities for prevention and treatment of rare diseases through designating 8 health facilities as Centre of Excellence. These CoEs will also be provided one-time financial support of up to Rs 5 crores for upgradation of diagnostics facilities.
- Provision for financial support up to Rs 20 lakhs under the Umbrella Scheme of Rastriya Arogya Nidhi is proposed for treatment, of those rare diseases that require a one-time treatment.
Book titled 'Neelimarani – My Mother, My Hero'
- Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled ‘Neelimarani – My Mother, My Hero’, on 02 April 2021.
The book is written by Lok Sabha member, Dr Achyuta Samanta. The book is a biography of his late mother, Smt Neelimarani.
Director General of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation
- IAS Officer, Shri Mukhmeet S. Bhatia took over the charge of Director General of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) under Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt of India on 01 April 2021. He is an IAS Officer of 1990 batch of Jharkhand cadre.
Headquarters of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is located at New Delhi.
Bihar Museum Biennale 2021
- The first Museum Biennale in India, and the world was organized in a hybrid avatar–physical and digital, by The Bihar Museum. The Bihar Museum is located at Patna.
The Bihar Museum Biennale was inaugurated by Mr Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, on March 22, 2021 i.e. Bihar Divas. It was organized by the Department of Arts, Culture and Youth Affairs, Government of Bihar from 22 March to 28 March, 2021.
The seven-day event included curated virtual & unground tours of participating museums.
International
Multilateral Maritime Exercise 'La Pérouse'
- Multilateral Maritime Exercise ‘La Pérouse’ was conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region from 05 to 07 April 2021. The Exercise ‘La Pérouse’ was led by French Navy.
Indian Navy:
Indian Navy Ships INS Satpura and INS Kiltan alongwith P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft were participated for the first time in the Exercise.
Participants:
The Indian Navy ships and aircraft exercised at sea with ships and aircraft of French Navy (FN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and United States Navy (USN) during the three day exercise at sea.
Naval Operations:
The ‘La Pérouse’ Exercise witnessed complex and advanced naval operations, which included surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises, weapon firing exercises, cross deck flying operations, tactical manoeuvres and seamanship evolutions such as replenishment at sea. The exercise showcased high levels of synergy, coordination and inter-operability between the friendly navies.