Daily Current Capsules

05 May 2023

Prelims Factoids

Food Street Project

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about the Food Street project)

What’s the NEWS

• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, reviewed the ‘Food Street Project’ to develop 100 healthy and hygienic food streets across the country with senior officers of the Health Ministry and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Know! about the project

• The aim of this project is to encourage safe and healthy food practices among food businesses and community members, thus, reducing foodborne illnesses and improving overall health outcomes.
• To operationalize the food streets, the National Health Mission (NHM) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will provide assistance of Rs. 1 crore per food street as a pilot project to support 100 such food streets at different locations across the country.
• The grant will be routed under NHM, in the ratio of 60:40 or 90:10, with the condition that branding of these food streets will be done as per FSSAI guidelines.
• The initiative will be implemented through NHM in convergence with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), apart from FSSAI’s technical support.

Associated Organisation

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

• It is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
• The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, of 2006, which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
• FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

Government Initiatives

River-Cities Alliance (RCA) Global Seminar

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about RCA + NMCG-NIUA) + Mains ( GS II government policies and initiatives)

What’s the NEWS

• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in association with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) organized the ‘River-Cities Alliance (RCA) Global Seminar: Partnership for Building International River-Sensitive Cities’ in New Delhi.

Objective of RCA

• The purpose of the RCA Global Seminar was to provide a platform for officials of member cities and international stakeholders to discuss and learn good practices for managing urban rivers.

NMCG-NIUA Collaboration

• The NMCG-NIUA collaboration has witnessed the historic establishment of the ‘River Cities Alliance (RCA)’ of 110 river cities across India with one international member city – the city of Aarhus from Denmark.
• RCA was a significant initiative at NMCG’s Side Event during the ‘UN 2023 Water Conference – Water Action Agenda’ on March 23, 2023, which highlighted the importance of Germany as a key partner for the commitment related to ‘River Cities Alliance: Partnership for Building International River Sensitive Cities’.

River Cities Alliance

• The River Cities Alliance (RCA) is a joint initiative of the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) & the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), with a vision to connect river cities and focus on sustainable river centric development.
• Beginning with 30 member cities in November 2021, the Alliance has expanded to 109 river cities across India and one international member city from Denmark.

DHARA 2023

• The first annual meeting of the RCA – DHARA 2023 (Driving Holistic Action for Urban Rivers) was held on February 13–14, 2023, in Pune.
• DHARA 2023 featured key sessions on international best practices and examples for urban river management.
• DHARA 2023 was aimed to inspire members of the RCA to engage in progressive actions for urban river management in their cities.
• The event shone a light on the unaddressed issues and challenges for river management in cities, which helped NIUA and its partners formulate an effective work plan.

Associated Organisation

Know! about the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)

• The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is an institute for research, training, and information dissemination in urban development and management in New Delhi, India.
• It was established in 1976 as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act.
• The Institute is supported by the Ministry of Urban Development, the Government of India, State Governments, urban and regional development authorities, and other agencies concerned with urban issues

Government Initiatives

BizAmp

What’s the NEWS

• Secretary, Ministry of MSME presided over BizAmp, an outreach program organized by the Ministry of MSME in association with  NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL) under its Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund at Dimapur Nagaland

Objective

• The program, aimed at empowering MSMEs from the North Eastern States and amplifying their businesses utilizing benefits under SRI Fund, saw participation from MSMEs across the north east region, daughter funds, and other state dignitaries.

SRI Fund

• The Government of India, launched SRI Fund with an outlay corpus of Rs 10,006 crore, concentrated towards financing an infusion of capital to MSMEs through Daughter Funds.
• The SRI fund which is being managed by NVCFL, is an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) providing growth capital to MSMEs through equity/quasi-equity/equity-like structured instruments.

About BizAmp

• BizAmp, the first outreach program in the North East Region of the country focused on maximizing capital benefits through NVCFL’s SRI Fund.
• It served to provide a platform for the empaneled daughter funds of the SRI Fund to reach the MSMEs in the NE Region of India.

Associated terminologies

Alternate Investment Fund (AIF)

• Alternative Investment Fund means any fund established or incorporated in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors.
• AIF does not include funds covered under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999, or any other regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities.

1. Category I AIF

• Venture capital funds (Including Angel Funds)
• SME Funds
• Social Venture Funds
• Infrastructure funds

2. Category II AIF

3. Category III AI

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