Current Affairs 9th and 10th Oct 2016.

1. Indian pharmaceutical companies have ranked low at 19th position with an overall score of 59 out of 100 among in the Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness & Investment (BCI) Survey.

• The survey of 28 countries was commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and executed by the Pugatch Consilium. 
• It was third edition of survey.
  
  
  
  
  
  

2. India’s first Medipark (Medical Park) will be set up in Tamil Nadu at Chengalpet near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

• It will boast of the first medical devices manufacturing park in the country. 
• In this regard, the Union Cabinet has allowed HLL Lifecare, a miniratna public sector company to sub-lease over 300 acres of land for the purpose. 
• The Medipark will be funded through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with HLL being a 50% shareholder.

Importance 

First manufacturing cluster in the medical technology sector in the country envisaged to boost local manufacturing of hi-end products at a significantly lower cost.

3. Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA).

The first International Arbitration Centre of India was inaugurated in Mumbai, Maharashtra to provide an arbitration platform for Indian business houses to negotiate commercial disputes. 

• With this Maharashtra becomes first state in the country to clear policy for institutional arbitration. 
• It is also considered as a major step towards making Mumbai an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). 
• The MCIA will be an independent, not-for-profit organization (NGO) governed by a council comprising eminent national and international legal luminaries. 
• It will provide world-class infrastructure for arbitration, 24×7 functionality and live transcription services recording during arbitration proceedings for transparency. 

4. In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 by ordering deletion of the words "adult male" from it, paving the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.

Apex court bench paved way for prosecution of any person irrespective of gender or age under the DV Act, ordered deletion of the words "adult male" from the statute book saying it violated right to equality under the Constitution. The verdict came on an appeal against the Bombay High Court judgement, which had resorted to the literal construction of the term 'adult male' and discharged four persons, including two girls, a woman and a minor boy, of a family from a domestic violence case on the ground that they were not "adult male" and hence cannot be prosecuted under the DV Act. 5. Haiti: Hurricane Matthew death toll hits 1,000. Haiti is grappling with the unfolding devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean country's hard-hit south. (Read more at previous blog post http://kulwind3r.blogspot.in/2016/10/current-affairs-oct-6-and-oct-7-2016.html) 6. Two US-based academics Oliver Hart and Bengrt Holmstrom won the Nobel Economics Prize 2016 for groundbreaking research on contract theory that has helped design insurance policies, executive pay and even prison management. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their theories “are valuable to the understanding of real—life contracts and institutions, as well as potential pitfalls in contract design.” (Read_more at  http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/zp1CpB5xgjl8IPZJiqgexH/Why-the-2016-economics-Nobel-for-contract-theory-really-matt.html) 7. China ready for consensus NSG but opposed to UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar China had announced the extension of its "technical hold" on India's bid to get Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN on October 1, days before it was to expire. WATCH VIDEO http://vidshare.indianexpress.com/previews/a4yaqTgt-xe0BVfqu      8.  Janani Suraksha Yojana pays dividends: Study As per the new study Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) has played important role in reducing ‘socioeconomic disparities’ existing in maternal care.  The study was conducted by researchers from Delhi based National Council of Applied Economic Research.  This is for first time study has shown JSY has reduced socioeconomic inequalities in maternal care compared to earlier studies which showed impact of JSY in reducing maternal mortality. Key Findings  JSY has led to reduction of prevalent differences in access to maternal care between individual people of higher or lower socioeconomic status.  It has led to enhancement in utilisation of health services among all groups especially among the poorer and underserved sections in the rural areas.  Utilisation of all three maternal healthcare services was remarkably higher among illiterate or less educated and poor women.  Usage of all three maternal healthcare services by the Dalit, Adivasis, OBC and Muslim women increased between the surveys. However, inequalities still exist in access to maternal care but JSY has narrowed gap in access to healthcare between the marginalised group of women and financially better-off.  Women in their early 20s more likely avail maternal health care services as compared to their older women.  The incidence of women availing maternal healthcare decreases with the increase in the number of children.  Background In India, high incidence of maternal mortality continues to plague. As per the latest report on maternal health, India accounted for 15% the total maternal deaths in the world in 2015 second only to Nigeria with 45,000 women dying during pregnancy or childbirth. About Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) The JSY was launched as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005 to improve maternal and neonatal health by promotion of institutional deliveries (childbirth in hospitals).  It is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme (CSS). It integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care.  Under it, ASHA (Accredited social health activist) is considered as a link between Government and poor pregnant women for encourage institutional deliveries among poor women. 9. International Energy Agency (IAE) is going to partner with India to implement its Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) initiative globally for energy savings.  IAE has been impressed with performance of India’s UJALA programme in terms of vastly improving access to LED lighting while reducing their cost drastically. Key Facts  The UJALA scheme is implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power.  The price at which EESL has been purchasing LED lights to distribute under UJALA scheme has been consistently falling over the last couple of years Along with this, production has also been ramped up to about 4 crore per month from the 10 lakh a month in 2014 to support the implementation of scheme.  About Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme  UJALA scheme is LED-based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) that aims to promote efficient lighting, reducing energy consumption and energy savings.  It was launched as National LED programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015. It was renamed UJALA in March 2016. Under it, every grid-connected consumer having a metered connection from their respective Electricity Distribution Company will get the LED bulbs at subsidized rates.  Benefits: (i) Electricity savings (ii) Reduction of load (iii) Reduction of consumer bills (iv) Greenhouse gas emission reductions. LED bulbs have a very long life, almost 50 times more than ordinary bulbs. They are 8-10 times that of CFLs, therefore provide both energy and cost savings in medium term. 10.  CHINA moots FTA ahead of BRICS 2016 Goa Summit.  Ahead of the BRICS Summit in Goa, China mooted a free trade area for the five-member bloc of emerging countries saying that such a move would constitute “significant form of cooperation”. By setting up a free trade area, BRICS countries would be able to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers, give play to their comparative advantages and advance trade and investment liberalisation between them A free trade area would help BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — achieve mutual benefit and development and promote South—South cooperation on a global scale BRICS bloc has made steady progress establishing the New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB is established with an initial subscribed capital of $50 billion with total paid-in capital of $10 billion. The founding members of the NDB have already brought in capital of $ one billion as initial contribution.

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