Consider the following statements with respect to Indian Certification of Medical Devices (ICMED) Plus Scheme

It is an end to end quality assurance scheme that will undertake verification of the quality, safety and efficacy of medical devices sector in India.

The scheme was launched by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are incorrect?

a.   1 only

b.   2 only

c.   Both 1 and 2

d.   Neither 1 nor 2

2)New Shephard, sometimes seen in the news recently, is associated with?

a.   Space Station

b.   Space Tourism

c.   Space Telescope

d.   Space Defence Agency

3)World Competitiveness Index 2021 is released by which of the following organizations?

a.   Institute for Management Development (IMD)

b.   World Economic Forum (WEF)

c.   International Monetary Fund (IMF)

d.   World Bank

Map of the Day :-

Gulf of Aden is in between Red sea and Arabian Sea. Yemen touches the Gulf of Aden.

Prelims Specific News :-

AT&C losses:- Distribution loss consists of two parts:

a. Technical loss

b. Commercial loss.

It is also called AT&C loss.

AT&C loss is nothing but the sum total of technical and commercial losses and shortage due to non-realization of billed amount.

AT&C Loss = (Energy input – Energy billed) * 100 / Energy input.

2) What is an election petition?

The Election Commission’s role ends with the declaration of results, that is once the Returning Officer has signed the final result sheet (Form 20).

After that, an election petition is the only legal remedy available to a voter or a candidate who believes there has been malpractice in an election.

Such a person can challenge the result through an election petition submitted to the High Court of the state in which the constituency is located.

Such a petition has to be filed within 45 days from the date of the poll results; nothing is entertained by courts after that.

Although the Representative of the People Act of 1951 suggests that the High Court should try to conclude the trial within six months, it usually drags on for much longer, even years.

What happens if the court finds that a contention of malpractice is correct?

This depends on relief that is claimed by the petitioner in her election petition.

Under Section 84 of the RP Act, the petitioner may ask that the results of all or the winning candidates may be declared void.

In addition to that, the petitioner may also ask the court to declare her (in case the petition is filed by a candidate) or any other candidate as the winner or duly elected.

So the verdict on an election petition, if found in favour of the petitioner, may result in a fresh election or the court announcing a new winner.

3)Indian Certification of Medical Devices (ICMED) Plus Scheme :- The Quality Council of India (QCI), and the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AiMeD) have added further features to the ICMED Scheme for Certification of Medical Devices.

 ICMED 13485 PLUS :-

The ICMED 13485 PLUS, as the new scheme has been christened, will undertake verification of the quality, safety and efficacy of medical devices.

It was first launched in 2016.

It has been designed to integrate the Quality Management System components and product-related quality validation processes through witness testing of products with reference to the defined product standards and specifications.

This is the first scheme around the world in which quality management systems along with product certification standards are integrated with regulatory requirements.

This scheme will be an end-to-end quality assurance scheme for the medical devices sector in India.

4) Ashirvad Scheme in Odisha :- The Naveen Patnaik Government on Sunday launched a special scheme, ‘Ashirvad’ under which ₹2,500 will be given every month to children, who have lost both parents.

A comprehensive package announced by the government will support orphans. Beneficiaries have been divided into three categories — children who have lost both parents, loss of a single parent or loss of the earning parent.

“Under Ashirvad scheme, ₹2,500 per month will directly be transferred to account of children who have lost both of their parents. The government will continue to give the assistance till the child turns 18. 

If a child loses one of the earning parents, then he or she is entitled to get ₹1,500 per month. The scheme will be implemented retrospectively from April 1, 2020.

5) Rajasthan women vow to nurture ‘green family’ :- Taking a pledge to deal with the vegetation as “green members” of their households, 100 women every in 33 village panchayats of Taranagar block in Rajasthan’s Churu district planted a complete of 5,100 saplings earlier this week to mark the ‘World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought’. The initiative was a part of a singular Harit Marubhumi (inexperienced desert land) drive.

All the panchayats in Taranagar block joined the drive and recognized the land the place the plantation drive might be taken up. Block Development Officer Sant Kumar Meena stated the inaugural programme at Gajuwas panchayat witnessed the plantation of 251 saplings of desert species akin to khejri, rohida, neem, ber and sheesham.

6)Doval, Pak. NSA to attend SCO meet :- SCO meet is at Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.

It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.

It was created in 2001.

The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003.

It is a statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.

The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

Genesis

Prior to the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.

India and Pakistan became members in 2017.

Membership

Kazakhstan

China

Kyrgyzstan

Russia

Tajikistan

Uzbekistan

India

Pakistan

Observer states :-

Afghanistan

Belarus

Iran

Mongolia

Dialogue Partner :

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Cambodia

Nepal

Turkey

Sri Lanka

7)Navy team in U.S. for chopper training :- India is buying 24 MH-60R helicopters From USA. A team of 18 Navy personnel reached the U.S. for training on the MH-60R multirole helicopters, 24 of which were contracted in a $2.2billion deal signed during the visit of then President Donald Trump in February 2020.

8)Pact signed to conserve rare turtle in Assam :- A major temple in Assam has signed a MoU with NGOs, the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden and the Kamrup district administration for the long-term conservation of the rare freshwater black softshell turtle or the Nilssonia nigricans.

Nilssonia nigricans

• Until sightings along the Brahmaputra’s drainage in Assam, the black softshell turtle was thought to be “extinct in the wild”.
• It was confined only to ponds of temples in northeastern India and Bangladesh.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature had in 2021 listed the turtle as “critically endangered”.
• But it does not enjoy legal protection under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, although it has traditionally been hunted for its meat and cartilage, traded in regional and international markets.

Q.Consider the following pairs

Which of the pairs given correctly matched? (CSP 2019)

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Editorial of the Day

Editorial 01 :- Russia’s advocacy of China’s global vision and its implications for India

The article highlights Russia’s increasing inclinations towards China and its implications for India.

Context

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently asserted that both the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, are “responsible” enough to solve issues between their countries, while underlining the need to debar any “extra-regional power” to interfere in the process.

Implications for India-Russia ties :-

• By this remark, Russia expects India to give up all efforts to reverse Beijing’s encroachment strategies.
• The remarks can only be seen as reinforcing China’s claim that the Quadrilateral or Quad is aimed at containing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Russia’s continued criticism of the Indo-Pacific and the Quad suggests the divergent perspectives of India and Russia on how to deal with China’s rise to global prominence.
• While India needs Russia’s partnership for its defence needs, India cannot endorse the Russian perspective on the Indo-Pacific and the Quad
• The Russian attitude toward China’s growing power and influence will be the touchstone of Russia’s relations with India.
• Russia has rejected the Indo-Pacific construct in favour of the Asia-Pacific on the ground that the first is primarily an American initiative designed to contain both China and Russia.
• With the rise of populist nationalism amidst the decline of globalisation, the resolution of the Sino-Indian boundary dispute appears a difficult task.

Background of India’s balancing strategies :-

• Following the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), India soon realised Russia was much weaker than the erstwhile USSR and incapable of helping India balance potential threats from Beijing. 
• On the other hand, Russia began to cast Moscow as the leader of a supposed trilateral grouping of Russia-India-China against a U.S.-led unipolar world.
• Russia became an early proponent of the ‘strategic triangle’ to bring together the three major powers.
• India’s fear of the unipolar moment too made it easier for India to become part of this initiative.
• But China’s dismissive attitude toward Indian capabilities, coupled with an emerging China-Pakistan nexus, prevented the success of this trilateral.
• India, instead, invested its diplomatic energies in rapprochement with the United States.
• Thus, India decided to get integrated in the economic order it once denounced.
• Economic liberalisation also allowed India to buy sophisticated weapons from a wider global market that included suppliers such as Israel and France.
• As the logic of intensive engagement with the West was effectively established, strategic partnership with the U.S. was a logical corollary.
• India has been searching for other major powers to balance against China as it does not have the sufficient means for hard balancing.
• India has deepened its ties with Japan and Australia in a way that is close to soft balancing. 
•  among all of India’s balancing efforts, the stupendous growth in ties with the U.S. has been the greatest source of concern for China which views the India-U.S. rapprochement as containment.

Way forward for India-Russia ties :-

• While other powers such as France, Australia, Japan and Russia will have an impact on the emerging maritime structures of the Indo-Pacific region, it is the triangular dynamic between India, China and the U.S. that is going to be the most consequential.
• Russia is yet to realise that it will gain immensely from the multilateralism that the Indo-Pacific seeks to promote.
• Being China’s junior partner only undermines Moscow’s great-power ambitions.
• Given Russia’s preoccupation with ‘status’ rivalry with the U.S., Russia’s view of India-China relations seems understandable.
• But there is a danger in permitting it to harden into a permanent attitude as an increasingly pro-Beijing Russia might adopt more aggressive blocking of India’s policy agendas.
• That is why India is particularly interested in a normalisation of relations between Washington and Moscow.
• The normalisation of relations between the U.S. and Russia will help India steer ties among the great powers.

India-China ties :-

• Non-alignment, painful memories of colonial subjugation, opposition to great-power hegemony, and strong beliefs in sovereignty and strategic autonomy have been the key influencers in shaping India’s and China’s engagement with each other as well as the western world.
•  But this has begun to change as Beijing is asserting its hegemony over Asia.
• In such circumstances, multilateral forums such as the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have little practical value for Indian diplomacy.
• Without China’s reciprocity, options before India are limited.
• The response cannot be just symbolic or rhetorical. The absence of any material evidence of reciprocity is bound to doom an attempt at Sino-Indian rapprochement.

Conclusion

China is undoubtedly the most powerful actor in its neighbourhood but it cannot simply have its way in shaping Asia’s new geopolitics.