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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 15 June 2022

::NATIONAL::

Agnipath Scheme

The Union Cabinet approved Agnipath, a new recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the armed forces.

About:

The scheme will allow youths to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.
The scheme is a major defence policy reform introduced by the government to usher in a new era in the human resource policy of the three services.
The policy, which comes into immediate effect, will hereafter govern the enrolment for the three services.
Agniveers (the name given to the selected youths under the scheme) will be given an attractive customised monthly package along with risk and hardship allowances as applicable in the three services.
On completion of the engagement period of four years, Agniveers will be paid one time ‘Seva Nidhi’ package, which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest.

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Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight

Union Minister for Health launched the Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF)-2022. IDCF programme is being implemented from 13th June to 27th June, 2022 in the States/UTs.

About:

The Intensive Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF) has been organized since 2014 with the aim of "reducing the number of deaths from diarrhea in children to zero".
These 14 days are specially organized during the summer/monsoon to allow preventive measures such as raising awareness and setting up ORS-Zinc corners.
According to the latest SRS2019 report, the infant mortality rate in the country fell from 45 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 35 per 1,000 live births in 2019.But even today, diarrheal diseases are one of the main causes of death in children under the age of five.
According to the NFHS5, only 60.6% of children under five with diarrhea received ORS and only 30.5% received zinc. This means that there is a lack of awareness among mothers.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Russia becomes India’ssecond biggest oil supplier

Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India’s second-biggest supplier of oil behind Iraq as refiners snap up Russian crude available at a deep discount following the war in Ukraine, industry data showed.

About:

Indian refiners bought about 25 million barrels of Russian oil in May or over 16 per cent of all their oil imports.
Russian-origin crude hit 5 per cent of India’s total seaborne imports in April for the first time, rising from under 1 per cent throughout 2021 and Q1 2022, the data showed.
The oil ministry had last month stated that "energy purchases from Russia remain minuscule in comparison to India’s total consumption."
Iraq remained the top supplier to India in May and Saudi Arabia is now the third biggest supplier.
India has taken advantage of discounted prices to ramp up oil imports from Russia at a time when global energy prices have been rising.
After the US and China, India is the world’s third-largest consumer of oil, over 85 per cent of which is imported.

BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Centre

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved a Memorandum of Association (MoA) by India for establishment of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Technology Transfer Facility (TTF).

About:

It was signed by the BIMSTEC member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held at Colombo, Sri Lanka on 30th March, 2022.
The main objectives of the BIMSTEC TTF are to coordinate, facilitate and strengthen cooperation in technology transfer among the BIMSTEC Member States by promoting the transfer of technologies, sharing of experiences and capacity building.
The TTF shall have a Governing Board and the overall control of activities of the TTF shall be vested in the Governing Board. The Governing Board shall consist of one nominee from each Member State.
The expected outcomes of the BIMSTEC TTF are:

1.   Databank of technologies available in BIMSTEC Countries,
2.   Repository of information on good practices in the areas of technology transfer management, standards, accreditation, metrology, testing and calibration facilities,
3.   Capacity building, sharing of experiences and good practices in development, and

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::ECONOMY::

Indian Railway Innovation Policy - StartUps for Railways

Minister of Railways launched Indian Railway Innovation Policy - “StartUps for Railways”. Through this platform start-ups will get a good opportunity to connect with Railways.

About:

Grant up to an amount of Rs 1.5 crore to innovator on basis of equal sharing with provision of milestone-wise payment.
Entire process from floating of problem statement to prototype development is online with defined time line to make it objective and transparent.
Prototypes’ trials will be done in Indian Railways. On successful performance of prototypes, enhanced funding will be provided to scale up deployment.
Innovators will be selected by a transparent and fair system which will be dealt through online portal.
Developed Intellectual property rights will only remain with the innovator
Assured developmental order to innovator.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Nixtamalisation

A study has thrown light on how Maya people fortified their maize with the chemical process known as ‘nixtamalisation’ and also built indoor toilets in pitsthey dug into the limestone bedrock of the Yucatan peninsula in Mesoamerica.

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Nixtamalisation is a method by which the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica (a term used to describeMexico and Central America) like the Maya used to soak and cook their maize in an alkaline solution and make it more palatable, nutritious and non-toxic.
Process ensures that maize contains amino acids, calcium and Vitamin B2, which can be utilisedby the human body.

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