The Gist of Press Information Bureau (PIB): July 2016

The Gist of Press Information Bureau: July 2016

Indigenously developed fecal incontinence management system ‘Qora’ launched

Aimed to train the next generation of medical technology innovators in India to develop innovative and affordable medical devices to augment unmet clinical needs of India, an innovative medical device has been developed under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology supported Bio design Programme by M/s. Consure Medical, New Delhi. A spin-off from the Program Bio design is a Med-Tech innovation Program of DBT. This Program is implemented at AIIMS and IIT, Delhi in collaboration with International partners such as Stanford University, USA, Queensland University of Technology, Australia and Tottori University and Japan.

Fecal incontinence (FI) is a medical condition marked by inability to control one’s bowel movements, causing stool (feces) to leak unexpectedly from the rectum. It affects nearly 100 million bed ridden patients worldwide. Furthermore, about 50% of the psychiatric ward patients have FI due to long-term neurological diseases. Absorbent pads and fecal drainage catheters are the only available solutions for this condition a need for a better solution was felt by the team.

M/s. Consure Medical has been founded in 2012 by Mr. Nishith Chasmawala and Mr. Amit Sharma, the inventors of the technology. This Company has developed this novel technology ‘Fecal Incontinence Management System-Qora’ to address the clinical and economical implications of fecal incontinence by expanding indications for use, reducing skill level required to use a device, and introducing a new level of care for patients outside the ICU. The product was clinically validated at AIIMS, New Delhi. After nearly two years of intense development, the Consure Medical has developed the QoraTM Stool Management Kit, the world’s first FDA 510(k) approved indwelling fecal drainage device for the management of fecal incontinence that can be used across a continuum of care facilities from ICUs to nursing homes. In select markets like India, caretakers of bedridden patients at home can use the device.

The intellectual property for the company’s core QoraTM technology under DBT’s ownership has been granted in key markets, including US, EU, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and Japan. As a result of its elegant and versatile design, the QoraTM technology has the potential to expand globally and benefit more than 100 million fecal incontinent patients each year.

States urged to exempt pulses from VAT

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has urged the States to exempt pulses from VAT and other local taxes. It may help cool the prices of the pulses by 5% to 7%. Briefing the media about the deliberations and decisions taken in the States Food and Consumer Affairs meeting held here today, Shri Paswan said that State Food Minister’s conference noticed that, the prices of the specified food items like pulses, sugar, edible oil seeds commodity shoot up abnormally due to hoarding, profiteering and cartelling by traders and middlemen- without any benefit to the farmers. It was pointed out that the traders hoard the stock of a commodity in a bordering State where stock limits are not imposed. Therefore, there is a need that all States & UTs impose and implement stock There should be a logical and scientific formula for stock limits separately in consuming states and surplus states limits and also for millers, producers and importers. so that supply chain mechanism remains smooth and pulses are available at reasonable prices It was also recommended that importers of pulses should display stock position on public platforms such as portals of Ministry of Consumer Affairs or States Government portals to bring in more transparency about availability of stock. It was strongly felt that Government agencies should opt for long term supply contracts in place of tenders for time to time import of pulses for building up buffer stock. Shri Paswan said the government is effectively using Price Stabilization Fund for creating buffer stock of pulses and onions. So far about 50,000 MT Kharif and about 25,000 Rabi pulses have been procured and 26,000 MT contracted for import for buffer stock. Out of this 10,000 MT have allocated to the States. Requests from other States are awaited for further allocations.

Shri Paswan said decision was also taken to ensure online allocation of food grain up to FPS within two months in the States where it has yet to be done. So far it is being made in 25 States. States were also requested to expedite preparation for online procurement of food grains by their agencies. Farmers mobile numbers should be registered and their accounts numbers should be taken for direct deposit of system generated cheques. Remaining non-DCP States were requested to take up DCP operations as it would help in saving food subsidy, enhancing the efficiency of procurement and public distribution & encouraging local procurement to the maximum extent thereby extending the benefits of MSP to local farmers. In order to strengthen storage facilities Government has approved a road map for construction of steel Silos of 100 LMT capacity in the next 4-5 years in three phases for both wheat and rice. Depot-Online has been launched for monitoring the operations in 30 FCI Depots on pilot basis and by July this year all the 554 depots of FCI will be online. Shri Paswan expressed hope that these efforts will result in improving food grain management. He said as decided by the conference State Governments will work in coordinated way to ensure availability of essential commodities at reasonable prices.

After deliberations, the meeting adopted an action plan to improve the availability and to contain prices of essential food items. Salient features of the Action Plan are: -

  •  Rationalisation of imposition of stock limits
  • Streamlining of the price monitoring mechanism to make it more scientific and accurate.
  • Utilisation of full potential of the price Stabilisation Fund and States to consider setting up their own PSF
  • Notification of Rules under NFSA.
  • Implementation of end to end computerisation of TPDS off taking
  • The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) is used to assist Central/State agencies to procure agri-commodities from the farmers at the time of fresh arrivals in market. Assistance is also provided to for setting up State Level PSF.

States may consider setting up their State Level PSF for managing the price concern.

  • All States and UTs shall implement the End-to-end Computerisation of TPDS Operations and draw timelines for completion of the key activities under the scheme. Online allocation of food grains and automation of the whole supply chain under TPDS has to be implemented immediately. Smart devices e PDS devices have to be installed on all FPS, so that all transactions under TPDS are biometric verified and are shown online in public domain. All this has to be accompanied by setting up of robust grievance redressal machinery up to the district level.

  • In a time bound manner all States/UTs must seek the aadhar numbers of the beneficiaries into the database to make it error free and to weed out bogus ration cards. This will also enable portability of the entitlements of the beneficiaries on a regional, State and ultimately on the national basis. More States /UTs must adopt cash transfer model of DBT in manageable areas and then scale it up.

India’s Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator

ISRO successfully flight tested India’s first winged body aerospace vehicle operating in hypersonic flight regime. In this experimental mission, the HS9 solid rocket booster carrying RLV-TD lifted off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 07:00 hr IST. After a successful flight of 91.1 second, HS9 burn out occurred, following which both HS9 and RLV-TD mounted on its top coasted to a height of about 56 km. At that height, RLV-TD separated from HS9 booster and further ascended to a height of about 65 km. From that peak altitude of 65 km, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). The vehicle’s Navigation, Guidance and Control system accurately steered the vehicle during this phase for safe descent. After successfully surviving a high temperatures of re-entry with the help of its Thermal Protection System (TPS), RLV-TD successfully glided down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal, at a distance of about 450 km from Sriharikota, thereby fulfilling its mission objectives. The vehicle was successfully tracked during its flight from ground stations at Sriharikota and a shipborne terminal. Total flight duration from launch to landing of this mission of the delta winged RLV-TD, lasted for about 770 seconds. In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management have been successfully validated. ISRO acknowledges the support of Indian Coast Guard and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) for the mid-sea wind measurement and shipborne telemetry respectively in this mission.

This is Only Sample Material, To Get Full Materials Buy The Gist 1 Year Subscription - "Only PDF"Click Here

Click Here to Download More Free Sample Material 

<< Go Back To Main Page

Magazine
The Gist- Hard & Soft Copy
Civil Services EXAM
Civil Services Preliminary
Civil Services Mains
UPSC
संघ लोक सेवा आयोग - UPSC