Summary of Daily News Analysis - by Jatin Verma 23rd August, 2019 https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 1 ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 2 Important News Articles (Taking Delhi/Noida edition as the base) Page 1: Macron: no space for third party mediation in Kashmir Page 1: Trump suggests India should fight Islamic State in Afghanistan Page 1: Rajasthan’s free medicine scheme gets first rank Page 9: SC refers Oxytocin ban to larger bench Page 10: New norms Page 10: Increasing investment to stimulate growth Page 13: FATF Asia-Pacific Group may blacklist Pakistan Page 13: India-U.S. 2+2 meeting being held in California Page 14: Crucial talks between the US and Taliban begin in Doha Page 15: Rupee hits eight-month low Page 15: Tax holiday only for start-ups with turnover up to ₹25 crore ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 3 Page 1: Macron: no space for third party mediation in Kashmir • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the government’s move to suspend Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and split the State into two Union Territories. • Mr. Macron said France would support any policy that would give the region “stability”, adding that no one should “provoke violence” there. • Upcoming G7 summit will be hel d in Francewhere India has been invited as a special guest. • PM Modi also said India looks forward to the first delivery of the Rafael fighter jets in September. • G7 is a term that is used to describe the Group of Seven. This is a group of seven countries that have the largest and most advanced economies in the world. These are the most industrialized nations in the world. This year, the 45th G7 summit will be held on August 24-26, 2019, in Biarritz, France. It will focus on fighting income and gender inequality and protecting biodiversity. Seven members of G7 1. France 2. Italy 3. Japan 4. Germany 5. Canada 6. United States 7. United Kingdom The European Union is also represented at the G7 summit. What does the G7 do? • The group has expanded its brief to cover a large number of international issues, including energy security, trade, climate change, global health issues, gender equality, poverty - and any other topic the country holding the G7 presidency chooses to put on the agenda. • Today, the G7 are reckoned as the seven wealthiest and most advanced nations in the world because China, which holds the second largest net worth in the world, nonetheless has a low net worth per individual and an economy that has not yet fully modernized. Prelims question Which of the following is true regarding G7 Summit? 1. It’s held between US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy 2. The 44th G7 summit was held in Tokyo, Japan 3. The summit is held to discuss the burning issues happening around the globe a) Only 1 b) 1 and 2 ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 4 c) All three are correct d) 1 and 3 are correct Page 1: Trump suggests India should fight Islamic State in Afghanistan • U.S. President Donald Trump named India as one of the countries that ought to be fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan. • He also appeared to suggest that Russia, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan were countries that should be fighting the IS in Afghanistan. • Mr. Trump had said the U.S. would not completely withdraw from Afghanistan but “always have intelligence [in Afghanistan]. • The U.S. is currently negotiating an agreement with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. • The process has been criticised for side-lining the Afghan government and prioritising the withdrawal of some 14,000 U.S. troops over building a peace that can withstand the complex political realities of the situation. ISIS • ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), is a Sunni jihadist group with a particularly violent ideology that calls itself a caliphate and claims religious authority over all Muslims. It was inspired by al Qaida but later publicly expelled from it. • It has now been defeated altogether but it is gaining strength in Afghanistan. Mains question: Q) Examine the causes of rapid and violent rise of the Islamic State (IS). Page 1: Rajasthan’s free medicine scheme gets first rank [GS2: Govt. welfare schemes] • The National Health Mission has given first rank to Rajasthan among 16 States in the implementation of its flagship free medicine scheme. • The performance of States was assessed on the basis of parameters such as stock of drugs, value of drugs about to expire and compliance with the drugs and vaccine distribution management system. What is the Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme? • The scheme provides commonly-used essential medicines free of cost to patients visiting government healthcare institutions. • The scheme consists of two components — free medicine and free tests. ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 5 • While the Free medicines scheme was implemented on October 2, 2011, the free test scheme was introduced on World Health Day – April 7 – in 2013. • To implement the scheme, Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL) was incorporated on May 4, 2011, as a Public Limited Company About National Health Mission (NHM) • National Health Mission (NHM) (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare) was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission. • It was further extended in March 2018, to continue till March 2020. • The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas for – 1. Reproductive-Maternal 2. Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) 3. Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases. • The NHM envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable & quality health care services that are accountable and responsive to people's needs. • The National Health Mission seeks to ensure the achievement of the following indicators: - Reduce MMR to 1/1000 live births Reduce IMR to 25/1000 live births Reduce TFR to 2.1 Prevention and reduction of anemia in women aged 15–49 years Prevent and reduce mortality & morbidity from communicable, non- communicable; injuries and emerging diseases Reduce household out-of-pocket expenditure on total health care expenditure Reduce annual incidence and mortality from Tuberculosis by half Reduce prevalence of Leprosy to <1/10000 population and incidence to zero in all districts Annual Malaria Incidence to be <1/1000 Less than 1 per cent microfilaria prevalence in all districts Kala-azar Elimination by 2015, <1 case per 10000 population in all blocks GS2, 2018 Q) Appropriate local community-level healthcare intervention is a prerequisite to achieve ‘Health for All ‘in India. Explain. ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 6 Page 9: SC refers Oxytocin ban to larger bench • The Supreme Court referred the matter to a larger bench to decide on whether it would be in public interest to impose a ban on private companies to manufacture the controversial but life-saving drug Oxytocin and restrict its manufacture to a single public sector undertaking. • The health ministry had in April 2018 notified a ban on private drug manufacturers from producing Oxytocin. • The government had restricted its imports and decided to confine manufacturing to Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a government company. • However All India Drugs Action Network (AIDAN) resisted the move to regulate the lifesaving drug and approached the court. • Manufacturers were of the view that availability will be severely hit if the government allows only one manufacturer to make it. • Oxytocin is included as a lifesaving drug in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). The issues • The twin issues which arise for consideration are 1. the unregulated and clandestine manufacture of the drug Oxytocin, which is reportedly misused in milch animals 2. The continued supply of an essential lifesaving drug, which is used as the first line drug for prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage at the time of childbirth. • Oxytocin, is a uterine stimulant hormone, prescribed for the initiation of uterine contractions and induction of labour in women, as well as stimulation of contractions during labour. • It is also used to help abort the foetus in cases of incomplete abortion or miscarriage, and to control bleeding after childbirth. • It may be used for breast engorgement. However, it is also used widely in the dairy industry, agriculture and horticulture to boost production. • It will also decide the scope of the powers of the Central government under Section 26-A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the rights of the persons, who are engaged in business of manufacture and sale of drugs specified under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act read with Essential Commodities Act. Drugs And Cosmetics Act It regulates the import, manufacture and distribution of drugs in India. The primary objective of the Act is to ensure that the drugs and cosmetics sold in India are safe, effective and conform to prescribed quality standards. The Act has been further amended as Drugs (amendment) Act 1964 (13 of 1964) to include Ayurvedic and Unani drugs. Issues with the act ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Page | 7 The Act lacks specific penalties for violating provisions relating to clinical trials. As a result, no penalties could be imposed on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) for violating norms in conducting the HPV vaccination trials on tribal girls in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. • Whether it would be in public interest to restrict the manufacture of a life-saving drug for domestic use, to a single public sector undertaking, to the complete exclusion of the private sector companies, particularly in view of the high maternal mortality rates in the country? • The larger bench will also decide on whether the Centre's notification has resulted in creating a monopoly in favour of public sector companies, to the complete exclusion of private sector companies".