- Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission: Recently, the Pharmacopoeial Discussion Group (PDG) announced the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) as a PDG member during PDG Stakeholder’s meeting in Hyderabad.
It is an autonomous Institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.
It is created to set standards of drugs in the country. Its basic function is to update regularly the standards of drugs commonly required for treatment of diseases prevailing in this region.
It publishes official documents for improving Quality of Medicines by way of adding new and updating existing monographs in the form of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP). It further promotes rational use of generic medicines by publishing National Formulary of India. It prescribes standards for identity, purity and strength of drugs essentially required from health care perspective of human beings and animals. It also provides IP Reference Substances (IPRS) which act as a finger print for identification of an article under test and its purity as prescribed in IP.
- Lakhpati Didi Initiative: It was announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2023.It is to encourage women to start micro-enterprises within their villages. Under the Lakhpati Didi Initiative, the government aims to train two crore women.
The programme is aimed at training women in self-help groups (SHGs) so that they can earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum per household. The initiative has been initiated by DAY-NRLM, wherein each SHG household is encouraged to take up multiple livelihood activities coupled with value chain interventions, resulting in a sustainable income of Rs 1 lakh or more per year. Under this scheme, women will be trained in various skills, such as plumbing, LED bulb making, drone operation and repair, and tailoring and weaving. After completing the training, women will be provided with opportunities to earn income using their skills. The ministry of rural development is adopting a whole-of-government approach for maximum impact through convergence to transform the rural economy with the enabling of ‘Lakhpati Didis’.
- Gaza Strip: The Gaza Strip is a self-governing Palestinian territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The territory takes its name from Gaza, its main city. It forms the smaller of the two Palestinian territories — the other being the West Bank. It is bordered by Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south. It is a 41km (25-mile) long and 10km-wide territory.It has a temperate climate, with mild winters, and dry, hot summer. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. More than 2 million people live in the territory. The population is predominantly Palestinian, with the majority being Sunni Muslims. After Israel declared its statehood in 1948, Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades .Israel then gained control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank after its victory in the 1967 Six-Day War against its Arab neighbours. For the next 38 years, Israel controlled the strip and enabled the construction of 21 Jewish settlements. In 2005, under international and domestic pressure, Israel withdrew around 9,000 Israeli settlers and its military forces from the Gaza Strip, leaving the enclave to be governed by the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which also controlled parts of the occupied West Bank. Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist organisation, currently governs the Gaza Strip.
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