Rapid Fire Current Affairs

• 09 Sep 2023

National Ayush Mission 

• Recently, the Regional Review meeting of the National Ayush Mission (NAM) was ceremonially inaugurated. 
  • At the meeting, following robust programmes of AYUSH were highlighted:
    • Ayurvidya: Promotion of healthy lifestyle through Ayush for school children 
    • Supraja: Ayush for Maternal & Neonatal intervention
    • Vayomitra: Ayush based geriatric programme; prevention and management of Osteoarthritis and other Musculoskeletal disorders 
  • NAM is being implemented with the vision and objectives to provide Ayush health care services throughout the country by strengthening and improving facilities, to provide informed choice to the needy public. 
    • Under NAM, the Ministry of Ayush is working on operationalisation of 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres (AHWCs) through support of State/UT Governments by 2023-24. 

Read More: National Ayush Mission

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Quad Leaders Invited on India’s Republic Day 

India is discussing the possibility of inviting leaders of the Quad grouping to the Republic Day parade on January 26, 2024. 

• January 26 is also observed as Australia Day - the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788.
• Quad is the grouping of four democracies – India, Australia, the US, and Japan which aims to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.
• The idea of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. However, it came into being in 2017.

Read More: Quad

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Sandes App

• Delhi Police’s official communication on G20 security arrangements will now take place on an Indian instant messaging platform, Sandes.
• On this app Sandes, users can only access information and cannot forward it to anyone whose number is not registered on the app. 
• Sandes is a secure and user-friendly messaging platform.  It has been designed to provide a reliable and efficient means of communication among various government organizations. 
• The first version of the app was released by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in 2020.        
• The launch of the app is also a part of the government’s strategy to push for the use of India-made software so as to build an ecosystem of indigenously developed products.

Read More: Sandes: Government Instant Messaging System

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White Sambar in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary

• The first time a leucistic sambar has been observed in the Sangama range of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
• A White Sambar Deer was previously recorded in Bandipur Tiger Reserve in 2014.
• Leucism is a condition in which the pigmentation of an animal’s skin is missing, causing white or pale skin. 

  • This condition can occur naturally from birth due to a phenotype (a trait of any living being) that may have formed from a defect in the animal’s development. 

• It is different from albinism which is a condition that arises due to a lack of melatonin in the animal’s skin and the animal will have pink or reddish eyes in albinism. 

  • The animal lacks the pink eyes in leucism.

• IUCN Status: Vulnerable

Read More: Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary