Haryana State PCS

• 18 Jul 2024

Haryana Increases Agniveer Quota

Why in News?

Recently, the Haryana government announced a 10% horizontal reservation to Agniveers in recruitment for the posts of constable and forest guard, among others.

Key Points

• Agniveers will receive 5% horizontal reservation in Group-C direct recruitments and 1% in Group-B direct recruitments for civil posts.
• Private establishments that pay Agniveers a monthly salary of 30,000 or more will receive an annual subsidy of 60,000 from the state government.
• An Agniveer starting a business will receive interest benefits on loans up to 5 lakh.
• Agniveers will be prioritized for arms licenses and employment in government departments/boards/corporations.

Agnipath Scheme

• About:
  • It allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.
  • Under this scheme, the youth joining the army will be called Agniveer. Youth will be able to be recruited into the army for a short duration.
  • Under the new scheme, around 45,000 to 50,000 soldiers will be recruited annually, and most will leave the service in just four years.
  • However, after four years, only 25% of the batch will be recruited back into their respective services, for a period of 15 years.
• Eligibility Criteria:
  • It is only for personnel below officer ranks (those who do not join the forces as commissioned officers).
    • Commissioned officers are the army's highest ranked officers.
    • Commissioned officers hold an exclusive rank in the Indian armed forces. They often hold a commission under the president's sovereign power and are officially instructed to protect the country.
• Aspirants between the ages of 17.5 years and 23 years will be eligible to apply.

Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

Why in News?

Recently, Asia’s first pre-clinical network facility for health research was established at the Regional Centre of Biotechnology.

• It is under the Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) in Faridabad, as part of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Key Points

• CEPI has selected BRIC-THSTI as a pre-clinical network laboratory based on its capability to handle BSL3 pathogens.
• It is the 9^th network laboratory and will be the first in Asia, joining others in the USA, Europe, and Australia.
• The Animal Facility is one of the largest in the country, housing about 75,000 mice as well as immune compromised mice, rats, rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs.
• The "Genetically Defined Human Associated Microbial Culture Collection (Ge-HuMic) Facility" was also inaugurated to act as a "repository" for providing microbial cultures to research institutes, universities, and industries for research and development.
  • The facility will function as a Nodal Resource Center to facilitate collaborations between academic institutions, hospitals, and industry at national and international levels.
  • It will also store genetically characterized specific pathogen-free animals, including cryopreserved embryos and sperm, for researchers in the country.

Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)

• CEPI is a global partnership launched in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
• CEPI was founded in Davos (Switzerland) by the governments of Norway and India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.
• The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, and Government of India has been implementing the IndCEPI mission ‘India Centric Epidemic Preparedness through Rapid Vaccine Development: Supporting Indian Vaccine Development’.
  • The objectives of this mission are aligned with that of CEPI and aims to strengthen the development of vaccines and associated competencies/technologies for the diseases of epidemic potential in India.

Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)

• It is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• It is located in Faridabad (Haryana).

Biosafety Levels (BSL)

• BSL is used to identify the protective measures needed in a laboratory setting to protect workers, the environment, and the public.
• Activities and projects conducted in biological laboratories are categorized by biosafety level.
• The four biosafety levels are BSL-1, BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4, with BSL-4 being the highest (maximum) level of containment.