General Awareness

GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION - July 2019

Jul 2019

Nov 06, 2019

Proposal to Ban Junk Food near Schools

In a move to ensure healthy eating among children, the food regulator has come up with draft regulations proposing a ban on sale, advertisement and promotion of unhealthy food— high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS)— in school premises and within 50 metres of the school campus.
The draft regulation titled — 'Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and healthy diets for School Children) Regulations, 2019' — also listed measures for monitoring the quality of food supplied to schoolchildren.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has sought public comments on the draft by December 2019, after which it will be finalised for implementation.
The proposal also contains guidelines for providing safe and wholesome food to schoolchildren.
For instance, it suggests 75-80% of the foods should be cereals, pulses, milk products, eggs, fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts etc.
It also advises discouraging availability of HFSS foods such as deep fried foods like french fries, fried chips, samosa, chola bhatura, gulab jamun etc., sugar sweetened carbonated or non-carbonated beverages, ready to eat food, noodles, pizzas, burgers, confectionery items, sugar and sugar based products etc.
The school authority or business contracted by it and FBOs contracted by department of school education for operation of the mid-day meal scheme will have to "obtain a registration or license"and comply with the hygiene requirements.

Women-only Buses to Hit Roads Soon in Mumbai

More women in Mumbai and suburbs can expect a safer ride with the BEST administration receiving three of 37 Tejaswini buses, to be deployed exclusively for them, within 15 days.
As of now, ladies special double-decker bus between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) runs in the city.
BEST has a ridership of around 33 lakh, of which nearly seven lakh are estimated to be women.
The 35-seater non-AC diesel buses, manufactured in Jaipur, cost around Rs 29.5 lakh and are presently parked at the Dharavi depot. The remaining 34 will arrive in December 2019.
The state government has under the Tejaswini scheme given a grant of Rs 11 crore. Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport has been running 10 such buses since March 2018.
Initially, the buses will run only during peak hours between 7am-11am and 5pm-9pm. If demand swells, the frequency can be increased to non-peak hours. The yellow buses have Tejaswini embossed on them to mark them out for women.
A proposal to procure 37 mini non-AC diesel buses for the Tejaswini fleet was cleared by BEST committee in June 2019. This will be the first time in recent months that BEST will purchase its own buses.

Nov 05, 2019

MSDE, IBM jointly launch Skills Build platform

The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched the Skills Build platform in collaboration with IBM.
As part of the programme, a two-year advanced diploma in IT, networking and cloud computing, co-created and designed by IBM, will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).
The platform will be extended to train ITI & NSTI faculty on building skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

India may phase out M.Phil, allow students to pursue Ph.D. after graduation

India may phase out M.Phil degree from academic institutions and allow students to pursue doctorate after a four-year graduation course.
"The M.Phil programme shall be discontinued," says the final draft of the new education policy prepared by the human resource development (HRD) ministry.
"Undertaking a Ph.D. shall require either a Master's degree or a 4-year bachelor's degree with research," the draft said.

Nov 04, 2019

AYUSH Minister Inaugurates National Research Institute Of Unani Medicine For Skin Disorders

Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders (NRIUMSD) at Hyderabad.
The institute has been upgraded from Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM). Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy was also present on the occasion.

Nov 03, 2019

Robotic Surgery Facility Inaugurated At Centre-Run Safdarjung Hospital

A robotic surgery facility was opened for public at the Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital. Safdarjung Hospital is the first central government-run healthcare institution to have this latest facility.
Robotic surgery has the advantage of providing minimally invasive surgery, reducing significantly morbidity and mortality of critically ill, cancer and kidney failure patients.
The operating time also decreases resulting in improvement in turnover of patients and decrease in waiting list of patients for surgery significantly.
Already 25 surgeries have been done using robotic facility by Anup Kumar, Head of Department, Urology and Renal Transplant, at the hospital.

Women Help Desks, More Anti-Human Trafficking Units To Be Set Up Using Nirbhaya Fund

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that women help desks will be set up in police stations across the country and more anti-human trafficking units established in all districts using the Nirbhaya fund.
The Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Centre in 2013 after the sensational December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case in the national capital. Its aim was to support initiatives of the government and the NGOs working towards the safety of women.

Nov 02, 2019

Australian University Students To Take Part In Study, Projects In India

As part of the 2020 New Colombo Plan Mobility Program, over 1,600 Australian university students will take part in study and projects in India. According to the Australian Embassy in New Delhi, Australian universities will mobilise students through 64 exciting projects in India.
It includes the development of Indian physical education programs and another on improving organic waste management and drinking water quality.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26