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  1. Green Steel Policy –

 

  • TheSteel Ministry is developing a comprehensive green steel policy, encompassing the manufacturing process, required skill set, and funding support, as part of a complete decarbonization strategy.
  • Green steel is the eco-friendly production of steel with lower greenhouse gas emissions, possibly reducing costs and enhancing quality compared to traditional methods.
  • The steel manufacturing process, involving blast furnaces, basic oxygen furnaces, and electric arc furnaces, is a major global source of carbon emissions, primarily due to the high coal and coke consumption in blast furnace operations.
  • India’s domestic steel sector contributes 12% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, with an emission intensity of 2.55 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel, higher than the global average of 1.9 tonnes of CO2.

 

  1. Recently, a terror attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall claimed over 137 lives, reigniting concerns about the resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) –

 

  • Experts believe the attack was likely carried out by IS Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s Afghanistan-Pakistan branch.
  • IS-K, the Afghanistan-based arm of the IS, has been responsible for recent attacks, including the twin bombings in Kerman, Iran.
  • Established in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in 2015, IS-K comprises Central Asian militants and has gained prominence since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
  • IS-K targets Afghanistan’s Shia minorityand seeks to recruit radicalised youths from Central Asia and Afghanistan’s Tajik and Uzbek minorities.
  • IS-K utilises anti-Russian and anti-Iranian propaganda to recruit among Central Asians, Afghans, and Pakistanis.

 

  1. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has hiked the price of essential medicines including painkillers, antibiotics and anti-infectives –

 

  • NPPA was set up under the Department of Pharmaceuticals is an independent regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.
  • Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the majority of the population.
  • The essential medicines list needs to be country specific addressing the disease burden of the nation and the commonly used medicines at primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare levels.
  • The first country in the world to compose its EML was Tanzania in 1970.
  • In India, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare prepared the first National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) in 1996. Subsequently, the list has been revised.
  • Drug Price Control Order, 2013 was issued by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers for fixing the ceiling price of medicines included in NLEM.
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