National
SARAS FOOD FESTIVAL, 2022
⇒ Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste inaugurated “SARAS FOOD FESTIVAL, 2022” on 28 October 2022.
» On this occasion, the Minister also launched the e-commerce portal www.esaras.in for better and more effective marketing of Saras products prepared by women of self-help groups.
Organized by:
The Saras Food Festival-2022 was organized in the national capital by the Union Ministry of Rural Development from 28th October, 2022 to 10th November, 2022 at Handicraft Bhawan, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi.
About Saras Food Festival:
» The Saras Food Festival is a unique example of women’s empowerment. Women from self-help groups, formed under the flagship program ‘National Rural Livelihoods Mission’ of the Union Ministry of Rural Development are participating in this festival.
- This is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Rural Development as an effort to empower women on a large scale.
Participation:
» About 150 women entrepreneurs and members of self-help groups from 18 states participated in this event, which gave them an opportunity to showcase their skills in the field of food making and introduce people to the food culture of our country.
- These SHG women are proficient in making rural products and preparing traditional dishes of their states. Other skilled people across the country also participated in this grand event.
- People who came to the festival also showed their interest to know how different types of food from across the states are being prepared.
International
WHO Global TB Report 2022
⇒ The WHO released the Global TB Report 2022 on October 27, 2022. The Report notes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and burden of disease for TB all over the world.
About WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2022:
» The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2022 provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels.
- The 2022 edition of the report is as usual, based primarily on data gathered by WHO from national ministries of health in annual rounds of data collection.
- In 2022, 202 countries and territories with more than 99% of the world’s population and TB cases reported data.
Highlights of the Report:
» The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a damaging impact on access to TB diagnosis and treatment and the burden of TB disease.
- Progress made in the years up to 2019 has slowed, stalled or reversed, and global TB targets are off track.
» The most obvious and immediate impact was a large global drop in the reported number of people newly diagnosed with TB.
- From a peak of 7.1 million in 2019, this fell to 5.8 million in 2020 (–18%), back to the level last seen in 2012. In 2021, there was a partial recovery, to 6.4 million (the level of 2016–2017).
» The three countries that accounted for most of the reduction in 2020 were India, Indonesia and the Philippines (67% of the global total).
- They made partial recoveries in 2021, but still accounted for 60% of the global reduction compared with 2019.
» Other high TB burden countries with large relative year-to-year reductions (>20%) included Bangladesh (2020), Lesotho (2020 and 2021), Myanmar (2020 and 2021), Mongolia (2021) and Viet Nam (2021).
» An estimated 10.6 million people (95% UI: 9.9–11 million) fell ill with TB in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 10.1 million (95% UI: 9.5–10.7 million) in 2020.
- The TB incidence rate (new cases per 100 000 population per year) rose by 3.6% between 2020 and 2021, reversing declines of about 2% per year for most of the previous 2 decades.
- The net reduction from 2015 to 2021 was 10%, only halfway to the first milestone of the End TB Strategy.
» Globally, the estimated number of deaths from TB increased between 2019 and 2021, reversing years of decline between 2005 and 2019.
» Globally, the success rate for people treated for TB in 2020 was 86%, the same level as 2019, suggesting that the quality of care was maintained in the first year of the CO VID-19 pandemic.
» Other negative impacts on TB during the CO VID-19 pandemic include a fall between 2019 and 2020 in the number of people provided with treatment for RR -TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB)b (–17%, from 181533 to 150469, about 1 in 3 of those in need), with a partial recovery (+7.5%) to 161 746 in 2021; and a decline in global spending on essential TB services (from US $ 6.0 billion in 2019 to US $ 5.4 billion in 2021, less than half of what is needed).
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI, took note of the WHO Global TB Report 2022 and clarified that India has, in fact, performed far better on major metrics as compared to other countries over time.
- India’s TB incidence for the year 2021 is 210 per 100,000 population – compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India); there has been an 18% decline which is 7 percentage points better than the global average of 11%.
- These figures also place India at the 36th position in terms of incidence rates (from largest to smallest incidence numbers).
1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival 2022
⇒ Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, inaugurated the 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival (AISF) on 27th October 2022 in Bogor, Indonesia.
- The festival was inaugurated in the presence of Mr. Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community and Ambassador Mr. Jayant Khobragade, Indian Mission to ASEAN (IMA).
- The National COSTI Chairperson of Indonesia and the Chairman National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia, were also present at the inauguration of the festival.
About AISF:
» The AISF was part of a series of events to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India diplomatic relationship.
- The four-day event was hosted in conjunction with the Indonesia Research and Innovation Expo (INA-RIE) from 27 to 30 October, 2022 at the Innovation Convention Centre, Cibinong Bogor, Indonesia.
Key Points:
- The festival was part of the over-all ASEAN-India Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation program between the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) and the Department of Science and Technology (Govt of India).
- The festival was supported under the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund (AISTDF) of Govt of India which is jointly contributed by Department of Science and Technology and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The festival comprised of four main events:
Startup exhibitions; Seminar and talk show; G2G meetings and B2B meetings, as well as Startup pitch battle
» It brought together government officials, startups, research institutes, universities, inventors and innovators, and other financial institutes.
» The festival provided a platform to further expand the national startup ecosystem to global networks, seeking cooperation for cumulative growth and creating of more opportunities.
» The festival commemorated and strengthened cooperation and collaboration in science, technology, and innovation between the ASEAN countries and India.