Prelims 10-02-2018

Healthy States, Progressive India Report

The National Insititue for Transforming India(NITI) Ayog’s report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other’s.
It is the first attempt to establish an annual systematic tool to measure and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of the nation’s performance in Health.
The Health Index is a weighted composite Index, which for the larger States, is based on indicators in three domains: (a) Health Outcomes (70%);

(b) Governance and Information (12%); and

with each domain assigned a weight based on its importance.

Among the Larger States, Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu ranked on top in terms of overall performance.
Among Smaller States, Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur on overall performance
Among UTs, Lakshadweep showed both the best overall performance as well as the highest annual incremental performance

ASH TRACK App

Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.
The Platform will provide a better interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.
Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in the coal based thermal power plants.
It is a proven resource material for construction industries and currently is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
Now the usage of flyash stands at 63% and the aim is to raise to 100 %.

White -naped tit bird

White-naped tit was the centre of attention at the 21st Indian Birding Fair, Jaipur.
White-Naped is a robust, strongly patterned, mainly black-and-white coloured bird with yellow in the flanks and sides of the breast
The white-naped tit (Machlolophus nuchalis) is endemic to India where it is found in dry thorn scrub forest in two disjunct populations, in western India and southern India.

International Union For conservation of nature (IUCN) classifies the bird as vulnerable.
The Bird is considered vulnerable to extinction because of the scarcity of suitable habitats.

Indian Agriculture Research Institute

The President praised the Institute for its critical role in green revolution that changed the food production in the country.
One of the mandates of the institute is to provide basic, strategic and anticipatory research in field and horticultural crops for enhanced productivity and quality.
IARI has different international collaborations with following organizations:

United State Agency for International Development(USAID)
International Development Research Centre(IDRC)
United Nations Environment Program Regional Research Centre for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP)

The institute was started in 1905 at PUSA, Bihar then shifted to Delhi. Its name was changed from Imperial Institute of Agriculture Research (IARI) to Indian Research Institute of Agriculture (IARI) in 1936.

International Conference on Unani Medicine

Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) under Ministry of Ayush is organizing a two-day ‘International Conference on Unani Medicine’ as part of celebration of National Unani Day (Feb 11)
The theme of the conference is Integration of Unani System of Medicine in main stream healthcare.
National Unani Day is celebrated to mark the contribution of Hakim Ajmal Khan, founder of Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia (medical) College,Delhi.
Hakim Ajmal Khan was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was versatile genius, freedom fighter, educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani Medicine.

Hunnar Haat

Union Home Minister will inaugurate “Hunar Haat” tomorrow at New Delhi.
The theme of the Haat is ‘Development with Dignity’.
The objective of the Haat is to provide an opportunity, as well as domestic and international exposure to the master artisans from across the country.
The people visiting will also have a glimpse of the traditional music such as Ghazals, Qawwalis etc., along with the exquisite handloom products at display.

Source: The Hindu, Business Standard,PIB