Parliament passes Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill 2019
Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: Governance: Health
- Parliament has passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019, with the Rajya Sabha approving it today after an elaborate discussion. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
Key highlights:
- Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan told the Upper House that the legislation is aimed at ending the menace of e-cigarettes at the beginning itself.
- He reasoned that controlling any social evil after allowing it to grow would be challenging. The Minister asserted that the ordinance brought earlier on e-cigarettes was with pious intentions to wean away the country’s youth from the harmful substance.
- Dr Harsh Vardhan added that 28 per cent of the people in India are now using one or other forms of tobacco, therefore, an outright ban on all tobacco products at this stage would be challenging.
- He said controlling the spread of e-cigarettes at this stage is a must since they come in several flavours and appealing manners, to attract vulnerable segments.
- The Minister said global tobacco companies have gone into the manufacture of e-cigarettes as the conventional cigarette industry is facing a decline in sales and turnover.
- He also warned that e-cigarette is not a tobacco product but has the ability to bring serious health complications.
- The intention of the bill is not to criminalize users but to prevent the availability of e-cigarettes and their use in India.
- The Prohibition of the Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019 bans production, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisements of e-cigarettes with stringent punishments for any violation. It replaces the ordinance promulgated on the 18th of September this year.
Exercise Hand-in-Hand-2019
Relevance: Mains: G.S paper III: Defence and security
- The 8th India-China joint training exercise ‘HAND-IN-HAND 2019’ with the theme counter terrorism under United Nations mandate is scheduled to be conduct at Umroi, Meghalaya from 07 to 20 December 2019.
- The Chinese contingent from the Tibet Military command comprising of 130 personal and the Indian Contingent of similar strength will participate in the 14 day long training exercise.
Key highlights:
- The exercise is planned at the company level with respective Battalion Headquarters controlling the training.
- The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter terrorist operations in semi urban terrain.
- The exercise schedule is focused upon training on various lectures and drills associated with counter terrorist handling and firing with each others weapons, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in counter terrorist environment.
- Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training; one on counter terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
Power of Siberia gas pipeline cements China-Russia bond
Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: International
- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin inaugurated the “Power of Siberia” gas pipeline.
Key highlights:
- Under the contract, Russia will deliver 1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas to China over the next 30 years. The 30-year project is anchored by a $400 billion gas deal.
- From Siberia to China’s Yangtze River delta in Shanghai, the massive pipeline will cover 8,000 km, with 5,111 km inside China, passing through nine provinces and municipalities.
- Gas is being sourced from Chayandinskoye and Kovytka fields in eastern Siberia, and is then piped to Blagoveshchensk — the last town on the Russian side of the border. From there, it is tunneled under the Amur River, before entering Heihe on the Chinese side.
Indradhanush 2.0
Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: Governance: Health
- Government of India launched nationwide vaccination drive to prevent eight diseases under Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0 on December 2, 2019.
Key highlights:
- The scheme is aimed at immunizing children under the age of 2 years and pregnant women against eight vaccine preventable diseases.
- The IMI covers vaccines for diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles, meningitis and Hepatitis B. Vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and hemophilus influenza are also being provided in selected areas.
- The IMI 2.0 aims to achieve targets of full immunization coverage in 272 districts spread over 27 States.
- The Immunization activity under IMI 2.0 will be carried out in 4 rounds between December 2019 and March 2020.
- Under this campaign, vaccination services will be provided free of cost to the drop out and left out children and pregnant women.