APPSC GROUP-II PRELIMINARY EXAM INITIAL KEY (EXAM HELD ON: 25-02-2024)

 

UPSC Combined Geo-Scientist (Preliminary) Examination 2023 General Studies Paper with Key

Assam PSC Junior Manager General Studies Paper (Exam Held on 03-12-2023)

 

Assam PSC CDO Exam General Studies Paper (Exam Held on 07-01-2024)

Kilkari Programme

Ministers of State for Health recently launched ‘Kilkari’ programme, a mobile health initiative for beneficiaries, in local content, in Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of Digital Health India Programme. 

Highlights: 

• ‘Kilkari’ (meaning ‘a baby’s gurgle’), is an IVR based mobile health service which delivers free, weekly, time-appropriate 72 audio messages about pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare directly to families’ mobile phones from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one year old.

• Kilkari Programme is centrally hosted by MoHFW for all the States/UTs and no further investment in the technology, telephony infrastructure or operational costs is required to be borne by States/UTs. 

• This service is FREE of cost for States/UTs and beneficiaries. 

• The programme is integrated with the centralized Reproductive Child Health (RCH) portal of MoHFW’s and is the single source of information for this mHealth service.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY)

The Central government has recently approved the “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY). 

Highlights: 

• It is a sub scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, for the micro and small enterprises operating in the fisheries sector with an expected investment of ₹6,000 crore in the next four years. 

• The sub-scheme PM-MKSSY is with 50% public finance, including the World Bank and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) external financing, and the rest 50% investment from the private sector leverage. 

• It will be implemented for four years from 2023-24 to 2026-27 across all the States and union territories. • Fishers, aquaculture farmers, fish workers and fish vendors are expected to benefit from the scheme. 

• It is aimed at gradual formalisation of the fisheries sector and enhanced access to institutional credit. 

• It will create 1.7 lakh new jobs, with a special emphasis on employing 75,000 women. 

• It will improve value chain efficiency and ensuring safe, quality fish by supporting 55,000 targeted micro and small enterprises.

• It will ensure environment friendly fisheries sector. 

• It will Facilitate Ease of Doing Business and transparency.

GOVERNANCE AND SCHEMES OF ANDHRA PRADESH

 

Haryana Public service Commission HCS General Studies Paper Key (Exam Held on 11-02-2024)

Haryana Public service Commission HCS CSAT Paper Key (Exam Held on 11-02-2024)

APPSC New Notifications

 

Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N)

The Government of India implements Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy under National Health Mission, which includes various activities to address the problem of anemia and malnutrition among women and children across the county. Interventions are as below:

 

1. Mothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA) is implemented to improve breastfeeding coverage which includes early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for first six months followed by age-appropriate complementary feeding practices through capacity building of frontline health workers and comprehensive IEC campaigns.
2. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to provide in-patient medical and nutritional care to children under 5 years of age suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications. In addition to curative care, special focus is given on timely, adequate and appropriate feeding for children, correction of micronutrient deficiencies, improving the skills for mother and caregivers on complete age-appropriate caring and feeding practices. and counselling support is provided to mothers for identifying nutrition and health problems in child.
3. Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) programme is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiaries age group - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and in women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. The steps taken to address the problem of anemia are:

1. Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation in all six target age groups
2. Intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Campaign for: (a) improving compliance to Iron Folic Acid supplementation and deworming, (b) enhancing appropriate infant and young child feeding practices, (c) encouraging increase in intake of iron-rich food through diet diversity with focus on harnessing locally available resources, and (d) ensuring delayed cord clamping after delivery in health facilities
3. Testing using digital methods and point of care treatment, with special focus on pregnant women and school-going adolescents
4. Addressing non-nutritional causes of anemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis
5. Providing incentives to the ANM for identification and follow-up of pregnant women with severe anemia in high priority districts (HPDs)
6. Management of severe anemia in pregnant women by administration of IV Iron Sucrose/ Blood transfusion
7. Awareness by ASHAs through community mobilization and IEC/BCC activities
8. Convergence and coordination with other line departments and ministries for strengthening implementation

4. Under National Deworming Day (NDD) albendazole tablets are administered in a single fixed day approach via schools and anganwadi centres in two rounds (February and August) to reduce the soil transmitted helminth (STH) infestation among all children and adolescents (1-19 years).
5. Monthly Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) is an outreach activity at Anganwadi centers for provision of maternal and child care including nutrition in convergence with the ICDS.
6. MCP Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet are distributed to the pregnant women for educating them on diet, rest, danger signs of pregnancy, benefit schemes and institutional deliveries.

 

As informed by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Government implements various schemes to improve the access to nutritious food, such as National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, which provides highly subsidized food grains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) for coverage up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population and under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), free food grains are provided to 81.35 crore beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana households and Priority Households, for a period of five years with effect from 1st January 2024.

As informed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, under Krishi Vigyan Kendra Scheme, 16681 nutri-gardens are established across 30310 farm families and awareness activities are conducted on health and nutrition literacy.

As informed by Ministry of Women and Child Development, under Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary Nutrition Program provides nutritional support to children less than 6 years age, adolescent girls (14-18 years), pregnant women and lactating mothers as per nutrition norms under Schedule II of NFSA Act 2013.  

Also, the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) under Ministry of Education provides one hot cooked meal in Government and Government-aided schools as per nutrition norms under Schedule II of NFSA Act, 2013 to school going children from Balvatikas (pre-school) to Class VIII.

The Government of India takes various measures to augment domestic availability and stabilize the prices of essential food commodities.

Schemes for Promoting Solar Energy

PM-KUSUM (Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan): Aimed at ensuring energy security for farmers in India, along with honoring India’s commitment to increase the share of installed capacity of electric power from non-fossil-fuel sources.

Solar park scheme: For Development of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) targeting 40,000 MW of solar power installed capacity by 2025-26.

Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY): The AJAY scheme was launched in September 2016 for the installation of solar street lighting (SSL) systems in states with less than 50% households covered with grid power.

National Solar Mission: The mission was launched in 2010 with the objective of establishing India as a global leader in solar energy.

International Solar Alliance: The ISA was launched in 2015 in Paris, on the side-lines of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21), with 121 solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn as prospective members.

One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG): It focuses on a framework for facilitating global cooperation, building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources.