Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 May 2021

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Public procurement portal GeM has implemented several steps such as rapid onboarding of sellers of oxygen cylinders and concentrators.
It aims to enable easy buying of critical health equipment by government agencies in the wake of on-going second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

About:

The Commerce Ministry launched Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement, in August 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for government, which runs in several lakh crore.
GeM created a dedicated page on its platform for medical and protective equipment like thermal scanners, biohazard bags and disinfectants to help the government fight the pandemic.
Oxygen cylinders and concentrators are in huge demand due to increasing COVID-19 infections in the country.
Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and Central Armed Police Forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.
The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories.
Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, are listed on the portal.
So far, 17,88,490 sellers and service providers are registered with the portal to sell 3,12,6567 products and several services. Over Rs 1,14,270 crore worth of transactions have happened so far at the portal.

National Backward ClassesFinance & DevelopmentCorporation (NBCFDC)andNational Scheduled CastesFinance and DevelopmentCorporation(NSFDC)are conducting the initiatives like Food distribution Programme for providing relief toCovid patients.
NBCFDC and NSFDC are incorporated as company not for profit operated under Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment.
NBCFDC is a Government of India Undertaking under Companies Act 1956 with an objective to promote economic and developmental activities for the benefit of Backward Classes.
NSFDC is incorporated as a fully owned Government of India Company under the Companies Act, 2013.
NSFDC facilitate, finance and mobilize funds for the economic empowerment of people belonging to theSC category and living below double the poverty line.

Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a global nutrition expert of Indian descent has won the prestigious 2021 World Food Prize for her groundbreaking research in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems.

Key highlights:

Thilsted’s trailblazing research on small native fish species in Bangladesh led to the development of nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems at all levels, from the farm to food processing to final consumers.
It resulting in improved diets for millions of the most vulnerable people in Asia and Africa, the World Food Prize said on its website.
Nutrition-sensitive approaches place nutrition and public health at the core of how food is produced, processed, transported, priced, distributed and consumed.
Thilsted expanded the evolution of food systems from feeding to nourishing hundreds of millions of people who depend on fish and other aquatic foods as an integral part of their food and nutrition security, livelihoods and culture.

About her:

Thilsted, who is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and a citizen of Denmark, was born in 1949 in the Caribbean island of Trinidad in the small village of Reform.
Most of the inhabitants, including her family, were descendants of Indian Hindu migrants brought to Trinidad to engage in agricultural labour.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved this vaccine for kids between 12 and 15 years of age, making it the first for children.
It is mRNA-based vaccine developed by USA.
mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein— or even just a piece of a protein— that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a circular notifying new disclosure norm on sustainability related reporting for the top 1,000 listed companies by market cap by FY23.
The reporting will be under a new BRSR format.
BRSR is a notable departure from the existing business responsibility report and a step towards bringing sustainability reporting at par with financial reporting.
Now, companies will need to provide an overview of their material environmental, social, governance (ESG)risks and opportunities and approach to mitigate or adapt to the risks along with financial implications.

About:

It is a disorder where people have trouble in social relationships.
It belongs to the autism spectrum which can severely inhibit a person’s mental and social development.
The disorder is named after German doctor Hans Asperger, who first described it in 1944.
In 2013, it became part of one umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5).