Daily Current Affairs 2 December 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

• The study is the first-ever estimate of outpatient antibiotic prescription rates and patterns in the private sector and has been published this month in PLOS One titled — “Outpatient antibiotic prescription rate and pattern in the private sector in India”.
• The private sector clocked high levels of antibiotic prescription rates (412 per 1,000 persons per year)
• The highest rate was seen among children aged 0–4 years (636 per 1,000 persons)
• And the lowest in the age group 10–19 years (280 per 1,000 persons).
• India is considered to be one of the top users of antibiotics and there is a growing problem of antimicrobial resistance
• The study noted that the per-capita antibiotic consumption in the retail sector has increased by around 22% in five years from 2012 to 2016.
• The prescription rates for certain classes are on a higher side in India as compared to the developed nations.
• The percentage of prescriptions for wide­spectrum antibiotics like cephalosporins and quinolones (38.2% and 16.3%) was significantly higher than the U.S. (14.0% and 12.7%) and Greece (32.9% and 0.5%). 

Clinical Guidelines

• Though clinical guidelines on judicious antibiotic use explicitly mention that they should not be prescribed for the common cold, non­specific upper respiratory tract infection (URI), acute cough illness and acute bronchitis, the study shows a high rate of prescriptions for respiratory infections in primary care
• The study highlighted that of the 519 million antibiotic prescriptions, the majority were dispensed for the diseases of the respiratory system (55%), followed by genitourinary system (10%) and symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical findings (9%); generally these infections are viral in origin and self– limiting in nature.

2) Polar Science Cooperation

• India and Sweden are likely to sign their first maritime cooperation agreement, Cooperation in Polar Science
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is being prepared, it is both for the Arctic and the Antarctic, so it is called Polar encompassing both... It has been in the works for some time
• India has signed a series of maritime information exchange as well as military logistics support agreements, extending the reach of its armed forces. The pact with Russia, in advanced stages of discussion, will give India access to Russian bases in the Arctic for logistics and operational turnaround. However, the agreement with Sweden is scientific in nature.

3)  The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX)

• France, UK, and Germany welcomed six new European countries to the INSTEX barter mechanism, which is designed to circumvent U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran by avoiding the use of the dollar.
• As founding shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), France, Germany, and the U.K. warmly welcome the decision taken by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, to join INSTEX as shareholders

About the INSTEX

• The Paris­-based INSTEX functions as a clearinghouse allowing Iran to continue to sell oil and import other products or services in exchange
• The system has not yet enabled any transactions

Reason for use of INSTEX

• In 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the international agreement governing Iran's nuclear program and reinstated heavy sanctions against Tehran.
• The accession of the six members “strengthens INSTEX and demonstrates European efforts to facilitate legitimate trade between Europe and Iran”

4) GST Revenue

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in November came in at ₹1,03,492 crore, crossing the ₹1 lakh crore mark once again.
• Average collections in the financial year 2019­20 so far stand at ₹1,00,646 crore. The collections in November 2019 are the third-highest since the GST was introduced, next only to April 2019 and March 2019. 
• After two months of negative growth, GST revenues witnessed an impressive recovery, with a positive growth of 6% in November 2019 over the November 2018 collections
• According to the government, the GST from domestic transactions saw a growth of 12%, the highest during the year. The GST collections from imports continued to contract, by 13%, compared with a contraction of 20% in the previous month.

5)  Illegal trade-in mongoose hair

• Operation Clean Art was the first pan India operation to crack down on the smuggling of mongoose hair in the country. There are six species of mongoose found in India and we have mostly recovered in the raids grey mongoose hair
• Ten manufacturing units in Sherkot were raided and approximately 26,000 brushes and over 100 kg of raw mongoose hair were seized. About 26 people were arrested in connection with illegal trade in mongoose hair
• Raids were carried out not only in Uttar Pradesh, but also at Jaipur in Rajasthan, Mumbai, and Pune in Maharashtra, and in Kerala
• An adult mongoose yields over 30­40 gm of long hair, from which only 20­25 gm of “brushmaking hair” is recovered. Operation Clean Art was conceived by WCCB with the singular aim of ensuring that the mongoose hair brush trade be closed down across the country
• About 49 arrests were made and 27 cases were registered under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972). 
• The mongoose has listed in Schedule II Part 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and any smuggling or possession of its body part is a non­bailable offense.
• For about 150 kg of mongoose hair, at least 6,000 animals would have been killed

Why Artist Use Mongoose Hair?

• The reason painters prefer brushes made of mongoose hair is that they are superior and hold color better 
• The alternatives available in the market are not of good quality. More research should be done to make paintbrushes that fit the requirements of an artist

6) PSLV gearing up 

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing for the 50th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), popularly called the agency’s workhorse. The lift­off of the PSLV­C-48 mission is scheduled for December 11. 
• The 50th flight would have 10 satellites on board, including India’s RISAT-­2BR1 and nine small satellites from abroad
• The successor to the SLV and the ASLV, the PSLV is the ISRO’s third­gen launch vehicle, capable of placing payloads in different orbits, including the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). 
• The PSLV has launched more than 45 Indian payloads including the Chandrayaan 1 and Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) spacecraft and 310 foreign satellites. The C37 mission has the distinction of placing 104 satellites in orbit, a record. 
• 49 PSLV missions have lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. They include the initial three developmental flights the designated PSLV D1, D2 and D3, and 46 operational flights. The total count includes two failed missions and the PSLV variants, such as PSLV­-XL and PSLV­-CA

7) Subiksha

• ‘Subiksha’, the first restaurant of Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Department in the State meant to provide quality food to the public at a reasonable price is turning out to be a major hit. Functioning since August 2019
• The department has set up the eatery as part of the State government’s Hunger-free Kerala project.
• According to officials, on an average, 350 people have midday meals from ‘Subiksha’ daily. “We are providing vegetarian meals at ₹20. But, if someone is low on cash, we serve them food free of cost
• Five Star Kudumbashree, Kommady, a unit of the Kudumbashree Mission, cook the rice and curries.  As part of the Hunger-­free Kerala project, food packets are also delivered to bedridden patients, the elderly and needy at their houses free of cost.

8) Soma Roy Burman takes charge as new Controller General of Accounts

• Smt. Soma Roy Burman, a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer, took charge as the new Controller General of Accounts here today.
• Smt. Burman is the 24th Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and is the seventh woman to hold this coveted position.
• The Government of India appointed Smt. Burman, as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure with effect from December 1, 2019.

About Soma Roy Burman

• Smt. Burman holds the degree of M.Phil in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Delhi.
• During her 33-year long career, she has held cadre positions at different levels in Ministries such as Home Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, Industry, Finance, Human Resource Development and Shipping, Road Transport & Highways. She has headed the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) as the Chief Controller (Pension) and the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance (INGAF), New Delhi, as Director.
• She has also handled important portfolios while on Central deputation to the Government of India, where she served as Deputy Secretary/Director in the Department of Economic Affairs (Budget Division) and as Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser, NATGRID, Ministry of Home Affairs. She has also held a charge as Director in the office of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on deputation.
• Prior to assuming the charge of CGA, Smt. Burman served as Additional Controller General of Accounts in the office of CGA handling the critical areas of Accounting Rules, Policy and reforms, Financial Reporting, Data Analytics, Cash and Budget Management.  Smt. Burman has been actively involved in the formulation of wide-ranging reforms in these areas for strengthening Public Financial Management in the Union Government.

Sources are from The Hindu and PIB

Donate us on Paytm Click Here