Prelim Bits 25-03-2018

Sarora Paintings

• Saora paintings are painted by Lanjia Saora tribals in the mud walls of their homes.
• The tribe inhabits the great Bansadhara River in southern Odisha.
• The tribe finds mention in the Hindu epic Ramayana with Savari, Lord Ram’s devotee.

• A Saora painting is called Idital and the person who creates it is known as the iditalma.
• Saura paintings are done to appease their presiding deity, Edital, who is invoked during all rituals and celebrations.
• Each painting has a rectangular frame, and features icons of deities, or those drawn from nature.

• The frequently featured motifs include Labasum (the earth god), Jodisum (the village deity), Manduasum (the sun god) and Jananglosum (the wind deity).

Nikshay Asudhi Portal

• On World TB day, the health secretary released the TB INDIA 2018 Report, National Drug Resistance Survey Report, Nikshay Aushadi Portal and shorter regimen for Drug Resistant TB.
• Nikshay Aushadhi is a logistics and supply chain management solution portal.
• It will enable real time visibility into stock status at all levels and enable forecasting, quantification & further distribution of TB drugs and diagnostics.
• It is not to be confused with NIKSHAY portal which a web based solution for monitoring of TB patients.
• Also Nikshay portal is to monitor Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP) effectively that was developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).

e-Asuhadhi

• Health Informatics technologies help to improve quality of healthcare, reduce medical errors, reduce healthcare costs, increase administrative efficiency, and expand access to affordable healthcare.
• e-Aushadhi is one among such health informatics technology developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.

• Each state government has its separate e-asuhadhi portal.
• e-Aushadhi' deals with the management of stock of various drugs, sutures and surgical items required by different district drug warehouses.
• The main aim is that all the required materials/drugs are constantly available to be supplied to the user district drug warehouses without delay.

Earth hour

• Earth hour is a global campaign raising awareness about the impact of climate change.
• Earth Hour, which started in Australia in 2007, is set to be observed by millions of supporters in 187 countries.
• People were urged to join Earth Hour's "Give Up to Give Back" campaign by switching off all non-essential lights between 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
• This year’s theme is the impact of warming on biodiversity and wildlife.
• Some of the species at risk include Australia’s green turtles, black-flanked rock wallabies and koalas, as well as the Adelie penguin colonies in Antarctica.

Lithium-ion Cells

• ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells.
• ISRO uses Li-Ion batteries as power sources for satellite and launch vehicle applications due to their high energy density, reliability and long cycle life.
• These cells are currently being used for various satellite and launch vehicle applications.
• Lithium ion batteries are more reliable than older technologies such as nickel-cadmium.
• Lithium-ion batteries don't contain cadmium, a toxic, heavy metal.
• It is used in every modern cell phone, laptop, tablet, and most other rechargeable gadgets.

Resource Efficiency

• NITI aayog initiated implementation of strategy on Resource efficiency.
• Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimizing impacts on the environment.
• In 2017, the NITI Aayog along with EU Delegation to India released the Strategy paper on Resource Efficiency (RE).
• The objective of the RE Strategy is

1. To make recommendations for enhancing the resource-use efficiency in the Indian economy and industry
2. To develop indicators for monitoring progress
3. To create an ecosystem for improving the resource security and minimizing environmental impacts.

Source: PIB, The Hindu, Business Standard