National Medical Devices Promotion Council

Overview: 

The government is planning to set up a National Medical Devices Promotion Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• The announcement was made on the occasion of 4th WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices at Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone in Vishakhapatnam.

National Medical Devices Promotion Council:

The Council will be headed by Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Apart from the concerned departments of Government, it will also have representatives from health care industry and quality control institutions.

Nasa’s ICESat-2

Overview: 

NASA’s ICESat-2 — launched less than three months ago — has mapped melting ice sheets in Antarctica and the resulting sea level rise across the globe, which could help improve climate forecasts.

• The satellite is measuring the height of sea ice to within an inch, tracing the terrain of previously unmapped Antarctic valleys, surveying remote ice sheets, and peering through forest canopies and shallow coastal waters.
• With each pass of the ICESat-2 satellite, the mission is adding to datasets tracking Earth’s rapidly changing ice. Researchers are ready to use the information to study sea level rise resulting from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and to improve sea ice and climate forecasts.

Behind the scene:

As the name suggests, ICESat-2 is a follow-on project. The original spacecraft flew in the 2000s and pioneered the laser measurement of the height of polar glaciers and sea-ice from space. But the mission was plagued by technical problems that limited its observations to just a couple of months in every year.

Top 5 online Test Series for UPSC Examination

The Indian Civil Services exam, commonly referred to as the IAS exam, is conducted by the Union 

Public Service Commission (UPSC) each year.

The exam is considered as one of the toughest in India, but with thorough preparation and strong determination, one can crack it.

Here are top 5 online Test Series to help you prepare for the IAS exam.

ClearIAS and InsightIAS' Test Series will help you crack UPSC

ClearIAS: ClearIAS Test Series covers all the major aspects of the UPSC exam, in a comprehensive manner. The Test Series comprises Previous Years' Prelims Papers, NCERT-based exams, Subject-specific exams, CSAT exams, and Full-topic exams.

UPSC Syllabus

UPSC Syllabus – Civil Services Preliminary Exam

The Civil Services Preliminary exam comprises of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II). 

The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type. The marks in prelims will not be counted for final ranking, but just for qualification for the main exam.

The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Service (Main) Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper-II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission.