Supported by WHO, UNICEF and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners, World Breastfeeding Week is held in the first week of August every year. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival and yet currently, fewer than half of infants under 6 months old are exclusively breastfed.
In 2018, a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy. With a different theme each year, it aims to promote the enabling environments that help women to breastfeed – including support in the community and the workplace, with adequate protections in government policies and laws.
Theme 2024: - Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.
For better implementation and efficient monitoring, all schemes implemented by the Ministry for the betterment of children have been clubbed into three verticals, Saksham Anganwadi Poshan 2.0 (for improving nutrition and health indicators in the country), Mission Shakti (for safety, protection and empowerment of women) and Mission Vatsalya.
Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0: Under this programme, Anganwadi Services Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls have been reorganized into 3 primary sub-verticals: (i) Nutrition Support for POSHAN and for Adolescent Girls (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] and (iii) Anganwadi Infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadis.
Mission Shakti: Mission Shakti comprises of two sub-verticals, i.e., ‘Sambal’ for safety and security of women and ‘Samarthya’ for empowerment of women. The existing schemes of One Stop Centres (OSC), Women Helpline (181) and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) have been made part of Sambal sub-vertical; while the existing schemes of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).
Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh (renamed as Shakti Sadan) and Working Women Hostel (renamed as Sakhi Niwas), National Hub for Empowerment of Women (NHEW) and National Creche Scheme (renamed as Palna) have been subsumed in the ‘Samarthya’ sub-vertical.
Mission Vatsalya: Mission Vatsalya has subsumed the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for better outreach and protection for children in need and care in a mission mode with the objective to: (i) Support and sustain Children in difficult circumstances. (ii) Develop context-based solutions for holistic development of children from varied backgrounds.
(iii) Provide scope for green field projects for encouraging innovative solutions. (iv) Cement convergent action by gap funding, if required. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme is not implemented in State of West Bengal. Regular correspondence and constant review meetings/ VCs through sustained engagement are done with the State Government for implementation of this scheme.
In a major boost to the domestic MRO industry and to the aviation sector, the Government has announced that a uniform rate of 5% IGST will apply to imports of Parts components, testing equipment, tools and tool-kits of aircraft, irrespective of their HSN classification subject to specified conditions.
The Government has taken several steps to facilitate setting up of aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services in India through various policy, regulatory and other incentives which include:
i. As part of the announcements made in Union Budget 2024-25, the period for export of goods imported for repairs has been extended from six months to one year.
ii. New MRO Guidelines announced on 1st Sep, 2021 inter alia abolish royalties and build in transparency and certainty in land allotments for MROs in AAI airports.
iii. GST on MRO has been reduced from 18% to 5% with full Input Tax Credit from 1st April 2020.
iv. Transactions sub-contracted by foreign original equipment manufacturers to domestic MRO are treated as 'exports'
with zero-rated GST from 1st April, 2020
v. Exempted Customs Duty on tools and tool kits
vi. Simplified clearance processing of parts
vii. 100% Foreign Direct Investment permitted via automatic route for MRO
Indian Navy’s frontline frigate, INS Tabar arrived in the St. Petersburg, Russia on 25 Jul 24 for a four-day visit to participate in 328th Russian Navy Day Parade celebrations. India and Russia share warm bilateral relations and maritime cooperation that span diverse fields.
The MPX involved a series of complex naval manoeuvers, including communication drills, Search & Rescue tactics and Replenishment at Sea serials. The MPX with the Russian Navy reinforces the strong bilateral naval ties, further strengthening our resolve and commitment towards ensuring enhanced cooperation in the maritime domain.
The Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of Inderjit Camotra as managing director & chief executive officer of Unity Small Finance Bank. The central bank approved his extension for another two years. Unity Small Finance Bank was promoted by the Centrum Financial Services with fintech company Resilient Innovations as a joint investor.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued revised instructions on Bad and Doubtful Debt Reserve (BDDR) for co-operative banks to ensure uniformity in the treatment of this reserve for prudential purposes. The treatment of BDDR for regulatory capital and reckoning of net NPAs varies across banks and in many cases has been observed to be at variance with regulatory norms.
The revised instructions come as the current procedure of not recognising the required provisions for non performing assets (NPAs) as an expense while arriving at the net profit in the P&L account is not in consonance with extant Accounting Standards (AS).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has confirmed Inderjit Camotra’s reappointment as MD & CEO of Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank) for a two-year term. Unity Bank is a Scheduled Commercial Bank promoted by Centrum Financial Services Limited (a subsidiary of BSE and NSE-listed Centrum Capital Limited), with Resilient Innovations Private Limited as a co-investor.
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has collaborated with IDBI Bank to establish the ‘IDBI – IITM Secure Systems Lab’ (I2SSL), a state-of-the-art cybersecurity laboratory aimed at developing and deploying security solutions across crucial sectors such as healthcare, fintech, and aerospace.
With the increasing reliance on Internet connectivity and automation, critical sectors such as banking, finance, insurance, transportation, government, power, energy, telecom, and strategic public enterprises face heightened risks from cyber-attacks. The I2SSL aims to address these vulnerabilities by focusing on cybersecurity solutions for systems in industries.
RBL Bank, one of India’s largest private sector banks, has achieved a critical milestone by integrating Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) capabilities into RuPay credit cards. With this integration, RBL Bank becomes India’s first private sector bank to offer such a comprehensive array of payment capabilities in a single card.
The RuPay network’s widespread adoption enhances the benefits of these cards, ensuring broad usability across numerous platforms and services. Combining UPI’s secure, instant payment capabilities with NCMC’s travel convenience will offer users a holistic payment solution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE) in New Delhi today. Mr Modi will also address the gathering on the occasion. The Conference is being held in India after 65 years. The conference will witness the participation of around one thousand delegates from around 75 countries.
The theme of the six-day triennial conference, organised by the International Association of Agricultural Economists, is Transformation Towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems. It aims to tackle the pressing need for sustainable agriculture in the face of global challenges such as climate change, natural resource degradation, rising production costs and conflicts.
The ICAE 2024 will serve as a platform for young researchers and leading professionals to present their work and network with global peers. It aims to strengthen partnerships between research institutes and universities, influence policymaking on both national and global scales, and showcase India’s agricultural progress.
In the Paris Olympics, Lakshya Sen today scripted history by reaching the semifinals in the men’s singles Badminton. He became the first Indian shuttler to enter the men’s singles semifinal in the Olympic games. Lakshya defeated 12th seed Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in the quarterfinals
Despite a drop in its agriculture exports in 2023 to $51 billion from $55 billion in 2022, India maintained its position as world’s eighth largest exporter of agriculture products in the year as seven of the top ten exporting nations witnessed a decline, per figures collated by the WTO.
Among the leading exporters of agricultural products, Brazil, the European Union and Thailand increased their exports by 6 per cent, 5 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively in 2023. The other seven economies in the top 10 saw a decrease in their exports of agricultural products.
The 5th AITIGA Joint Committee and related meetings for review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) were held in ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia from 29th July to 1st August 2024, marking a significant milestone in enhancing economic cooperation between ASEAN and India.
AITIGA Joint Committee had initiated discussions for review of AITIGA in May 2023 and after finalising its Terms of Reference and Negotiating Structure, AITIGA JC and its Sub-Committees started negotiations in February 2024. The first 2 rounds of negotiations were held in February 2024 in New Delhi and in May 2024 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.
ASEAN is an important trade partner of India with about 11% share in India’s global trade. The review of AITIGA, signed in 2009, will help create further opportunities for businesses on both sides to enhance the level of India-ASEAN trade. The next meeting of AITIGA Joint Committee will be held in India from 19-22 November 2024.
The 14th Indian Organ Donation Day is being observed across the country. To mark the day, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organised an Organ Donation awareness program in New Delhi.
Indian Organ Donation Day is observed annually since 2010, to augment awareness about brain stem death and organ donation, dispel myths and misconceptions associated with organ donation and motivate and encourage the citizens of the country to donate organs and tissues after death.
