PIB Summary- 26th February, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Sustainable Cities India Program

Why in News?

Recently, the World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) signed a MoU to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’.

About Sustainable Cities India Program

• The ‘Sustainable Cities India’ intends to enable cities to decarbonise in a systematic and sustainable way that will reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems.
• This initiative is in synergy with India’s commitment to turn net zero by 2070 as a climate mitigation response at COP26.
• The program aims to create an enabling environment for cities to generate decarbonization solutions across the energy, transport, and the built environment sectors.
• The Forum and NIUA will adapt the Forum’s City Sprint process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonization in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years.
  (i) City Sprint Process: The City Sprint process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops involving business, government, and civil society leaders to enable decarbonization, especially through clean electrification and circularity.
  (ii) Toolbox of Solutions: It provides a digital platform containing over 200 examples of clean electrification, efficiency and smart infrastructure best practices and case studies across buildings, energy systems and mobility from over 110 cities around the world.

National Ayush Mission (NAM)

Why in News?

Cost effective Ayush services under the National Ayush Mission (NAM) have gotten major boost in the Union Budget 2022 presented by Finance Minister.

• The total allocation of budget to Ayush Ministry in last 7 years has increased over four times from 691 Cr to Rs 3050 Cr.

About NAM

Nodal: Ministry of AYUSH

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implementing through States/UTs for development and promotion of AYUSH system of medicine including Homoeopathy.
• Under NAM, Grant-in-aid is being provided to State/UT Governments for development and promotion of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) as per their proposed State Annual Action Plans (SAAPs).

Salient features of NAM

• Co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and Districts Hospitals (DHs).
• Up-gradation of exclusive State Government AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries.
• Setting up of up to 50 bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital.
• Upgradation of State Government Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Educational Institutions.
• Setting up of new State Government AYUSH Educational Institutions in the States where it is not available in Government Sector.
• Strengthening of State Government/State Government Co-operatives/PSUs for manufacturing of quality medicines in AYUSH Systems.
• Strengthening of State Drug Testing Laboratories
• Support for the cultivation of Medicinal Plant including processing and post-harvest management to ensure supply of quality raw material for AYUSH medicine and other products.

Components of the Mission

• AYUSH Services
• AYUSH Educational Institutions
• Quality Control of ASU &H Drugs
• Medicinal Plants

The expected outcomes of the mission are as follows:

• Better access to AYUSH healthcare services through increased healthcare facilities offering AYUSH services and better availability of medicines and trained manpower,
• Improvement in AYUSH education through a well-equipped enhanced number of AYUSH Educational institutions,
• To focus on reducing communicable/non-communicable diseases through targeted public health programmes using AYUSH systems of Healthcare.