Daily current affairs – April 7

GS – 2

Health and Welfare scheme,

Ayushman Bharat scheme:

• The Central government has decided to provide free testing and treatment of COVID-19 under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. 
• These tests would be carried out as per the protocol set by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).  
• Private labs approved by the ICMR can carry out the tests.  
• Private hospitals shall also be covered under Ayushman Bharat Scheme to increase the rate of testing.  
• About scheme:
• It is a flagship scheme of the Indian government’s National Health Policy.  
• It aims to provide free health coverage at the secondary and tertiary level to its bottom 40% poor and vulnerable population.  
• It is the world’s largest and fully state sponsored health assurance scheme.  

 “MHRD AICTE COVID-19 Student Helpline portal” launched

• The Ministry of Human Resource and Development has launched “MHRD AICTE COVID-19 Student Helpline Portal”.
•  The portal aims to support students facing difficulties due to closure of hostel and colleges.
• The AICTE is All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE): It is a statutory body operating under Ministry of HRD. It was an advisory body till 1945 and gained statutory status after parliament passed a law in 1987. The Council has powers to determine examination rules, curriculum, fee structure, etc. However, according to Supreme Court judgement 2013, the council has no rights to enforce sanction on an educational institution.
• The ministry has launched a website https://helpline.aicte-india.org with the main objective of connecting those who are in need of help with those that are willing to help.

 “Force Majeure” does not apply for COVID-19 cases:

• Force Majeure clause was introduced for unforeseen circumstances. This includes natural disasters, accidents, epidemics, pandemics.
• On April 6, 2020, the Life Insurance council announced that the “Force Majeure” clause will apply to COVID-19 deaths. Apart from the council, Kolkata Port Trust has also invoked force majeure.
• Force Majeure is a French phrase. It is embodied under Indian Contract Act, 1972 under Sections 32 and Sections 56.

GS – 3

Science and Technology

Jeevan: Prototype ventilator

• The Railways’ Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala has become the first PSU to develop a prototype ventilator that has an original design and will cost a fraction of what regular ventilators cost. 
• The prototype is named Jeevan.  
• It shall go for final testing at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) before being put to production to aid the country’s fight against COVID-19. 
• The heart of the device is the compressed air container to work the Ambu bag with air. 
• It doesn’t have any moving parts like servo motor or piston or link mechanism. 

Artemis: First Human Base Camp on moon’s south pole by 2024

• The NASA project Artemis aims at placing first woman and next man on the moon.
• The project aims to build a base camp on the moon’s south pole
• The Artemis project aims to land humans on the moon by 2024. The project also aims to make a one month or two-month stay on the moon.
• This project is first of its kind as no country has launched a stay mission to the moon.
• The project is carried out in collaboration with European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Space Agency and Australian Space Agency.
• ARTEMIS: She was worshipped as the primary goddess of midwifery and child birth. Her temple Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple is currently located in Ionia, Turkey.

CAWACH: To support startups working on COVID-19

• The CAWACH is being established by the DST (Department of science and technology) to support the start-ups. It is to be implemented by SINE, IIT Bombay.
• The initiative will help identify innovative solutions to address the country’s need in diagnostics, ventilators and therapeutics.
• The expertise of DST will be deployed to support the startups in order to fast track the journey and scale up across geographies.
• The initiative will also help in fund deployment for the startups. It will identify 50 innovative startups based on factors such as novelty, cost, solutions for sanitizers, therapeutics, disinfectants, respiratory aids, informatics and protective gears.
• SINE: SINE is Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It is an incubator for technology solutions at IIT Bombay and is supported by Department of Science and Technology.