Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
GS-2
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP
Why in news?
Under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), a total of 5440 dedicated retail outlets
selling affordable generic medicines are functional in the country as on 15.07.2019.
About PMBJP:
 ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by the Department of
Pharmaceuticals, Govt. Of India, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses
through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra (PMBJK) have been set up to provide generic
drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive
branded drugs.
 Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementing agency of PMBJP. BPPI (Bureau of
Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under the Department of
Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs.
SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SCHEME:
 Ensure access to quality medicines.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
 Extend coverage of quality generic medicines so as to reduce the out of pocket expenditure on
medicines and thereby redefine the unit cost of treatment per person.
 Create awareness about generic medicines through education and publicity so that quality is not
synonymous with only high price.
 A public programme involving Government, PSUs, Private Sector, NGO, Societies, Co-operative
Bodies and other Institutions.
 Create demand for generic medicines by improving access to better healthcare through low
treatment cost and easy availability wherever needed in all therapeutic categories.

What is a generic medicine?
 There is no definition of generic or branded medicines under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940
and Rules, 1945 made thereunder. However, generic medicines are generally those which
contain same amount of same active ingredient(s) in same dosage form and are intended to be
administered by the same route of administration as that of branded medicine.
 The price of an unbranded generic version of a medicine is generally lower than the price of a
corresponding branded medicine because in case of generic version, the pharmaceutical
company does not have to spend money on promotion of its brand
Migration in India
A report
Census 2011 data on migration released last week show Maharashtra had more migrants from Madhya
Pradesh than from Bihar, and Gujarat had almost double the number of migrants from Rajasthan than
from Bihar.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
Details
 Data from Delhi show only 2,321 persons declared Bangladesh as their last place of residence.
Over 1.17 lakh said Pakistan — not surprising given the history of Partition.
 The data come at a time when migration is a major phenomenon across the world, and “illegal
Bangladeshis” is a hot-button political issue in India.
 The data are also very late — it’s almost time for Census 2021 — and do not reflect the current
situation.
 Over 45.58 crore Indians were found to be “migrants” for various reasons during the
enumeration exercises of Census 2011. The previous Census (2001) had recorded the number of
migrants at 31.45 crore — more than 30% lower than the 2011 figure.
Who is migrant?
 According to the website of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, “When a
person is enumerated in Census at a different place than his/her place of birth, she/he is
considered a ‘migrant’.”
 Migration data began to be collected with the Census of 1872, but was not very detailed until
1961. Changes introduced in 1961 continued until 2001; in the Census of 2011, a more detailed
format for collecting information on migrants was adopted.
What data from Census 2011 show on migrations
 Marriage and employment are the major reasons for migration, Census data show. The bulk of
the migration takes place within individual states — out of the total number of persons
registered as “migrants” in the 2011 Census, only 11.91% (5.43 crore) had moved to one state
from another, while nearly 39.57 crore had moved within their states.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
Women representation in Parliament
why in news?
The Global Gender Gap report for 2018 said that the widest gender disparity is in the field of political
empowerment. To cite the Inter-Parliamentary Union 2018 report, women legislators account for barely
24% of all MPs across the world.
However, the experience of the top-ranked countries in the IPU list does give an indication of how
women’s presence in political spaces took an upward turn in those nations.
What is global scenario?
 Rwanda, a landlocked nation with a population of 11.2 million, tops the list, with 61.3% seats in
the Lower House and 38.5% in the Upper House occupied by women.
 Since 2003, the country has implemented a legislated quota of 30% in all elected positions,
which has enabled a steady inflow of women parliamentarians after successive elections
 . Its Constitution has also set a quota of 30% in all elected offices.
 However, some believe that the higher representation of women in the country cannot be
attributed solely to quotas — women were thrust into the political limelight due to the huge
vacuum that emerged in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in a large chunk of
the country’s male population getting killed.
 Cuba, the largest Caribbean island nation with a population of about 11.1 million, holds the
second rank, with 53.2 % seats of its 605-member single House being occupied by women
representatives.
 Sweden, the fifth-rank holder in the IPU, has a professedly feminist government and has
maintained a women’s parliamentary representation of at least 40% since 90s. The 349-member
single House, Swedish Parliament, now has 161 women with 46.1% representation.
 Sweden does not have any constitutional clause or electoral law earmarking representation for
women in elected bodies.
 The issue of compulsory gender quota didn’t find favour in Sweden as it was believed that such
a quota will create reverse discrimination and violate the principles of equal opportunities.
 Almost all political parties there have adopted measures to ensure a fair representation for
women at all levels. In 1993, the Social Democratic Party adopted the ‘zipper system’, described
as “a gender quota system whereby women and men are placed alternately on all party lists.”
This further boosted women’s seat share.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
Nepal’s example
 Closer home, Nepal occupies the 36th position in the IPU and its 275-member Lower House has
90 women, about 32.7% of the total strength.
 The Nepal Constitution stole a march over many others in the South Asia by earmarking 33%
seats for women in all state institutions, including the legislature.
India's status
 India, at 149 among the 192 countries in the IPU list, had barely 11.8% women’s representation
in the 16th Lok Sabha, which improved to 14.5% in the current Lower House. At least seven out
of the 29 States have not sent a single woman MP.
 The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill stipulating 33% quota for women in the Parliament
and in State Assemblies remains in political cold storage.
 The system of voluntary party quotas, which has worked well in many countries, is not likely to
cut much ice in India’s deeply embedded patriarchal society.
 As has happened in the case of panchayats and municipalities, only a legally mandated quota
could perhaps ensure a large-scale entry of Indian women into the higher echelons of political
power.
GS-3
Global warning
Why in news?
While average global temperatures are currently around 1°C hotter than pre-industrial times, there have
been a number of periods of cooling and warming over the centuries. This had led sceptics of manmade
global warming to suggest that human activity is not the main driver of climate change.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
Details of study
 Researchers used data compiled from nearly 700 temperature indicators — tree rings, sediment
cores, coral reefs and modern thermometer readings — to provide a comprehensive timeline of
the planet’s recent climate history.
 The findings are clear: at no point in modern human history did temperatures rise so quickly and
so consistently as in the late 20th century — the period where the world’s post-war, fossil fuelpowered economy reached unprecedented heights of production and consumption.
 The study found that pre-industrial temperature fluctuations were largely driven by volcanic
activity.
 But it also concluded that humans had never witnessed such rapid global warming as in the
latter part of the 20th century.
 Commenting on the studies, Mark Maslin, Professor of Climatology at University College London,
said their results “should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed
coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle”.
While average global temperatures are currently around 1°C hotter than pre-industrial times, there have
been a number of periods of cooling and warming over the centuries. This had led sceptics of manmade
global warming to suggest that human activity is not the main driver of climate change.
Tiger census
Why in news?
 The survey — divided into four phases — began last winter.
 India accounts for most of the 3,500-odd tigers that are scattered among Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand,
and Vietnam.
The goal
 As part of an agreement in 2010 among these countries, there is a goal to double the global
tiger count by 2022.
Daily Current Affairs Dated On 26-July-2019
Concerns
 However, there have been doubts on tiger numbers by independent researchers. “...the claims
of a 58% tiger population rise in India over the past 8 years [from 2006-2014] based on
estimates from the three National Tiger Estimate surveys lack reliable scientific support,” a
research paper of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bengaluru; Bengaluru, claims.
 They say that a flawed methodology is being by the WII which exaggerates tiger numbers.