PM SVANidhi Scheme

• It is a Central Sector Scheme i.e., fully funded by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with the following objectives:
  • To facilitate working capital loan;
  • To incentivize regular repayment; and
  • To reward digital transactions
  • The loans would be without collateral.

   

  Around 49.48 lakh street vendors have been identified in India. Uttar Pradesh has the maximum at 8.49 lakh, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 7.04 lakh. Delhi has only 72,457 street vendors. No street vendor has been identified in Sikkim.

   

  Major features of the scheme

  • The Scheme is available to all street vendors engaged in vending in urban areas.
  • On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer on a six monthly basis.
  • Microfinance Institutions, Non-Banking Financial Company, Self Help Groups have been allowed due to their ground level presence and proximity to the urban poor including the street vendors.

 

---

 

Cell-free DNA

• In the human body, most of the DNA in a genome is neatly packed inside cells with the help of specific proteins, protecting it from being degraded.
• In a variety of scenarios, some fragments of DNA are ‘released’ from their containers and are present outside the cell, in body fluids. These small fragments of nucleic acids are widely known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA).

How they are generated/released?

• It can be generated and released from a cell in a number of possible situations, including when a cell is dying and the nucleic acids become degraded.
• Since an array of processes modulates the degradation, the amount, size, and source of the cfDNA can vary across a range as well.
• This could occur together with a variety of processes, including those required for normal development, those related to the development of certain cancers, and those associated with several other diseases.

Applications of cfDNA

• One of the most widely used applications of cfDNA has been in screening foetuses for specific chromosomal abnormalities, an application known as non-invasive prenatal testing.
• It is useful tool to understand human diseases and to use the knowledge to improve diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis.
• It is useful in understanding why a body is rejecting a transplanted organ.
• This  could be used as a biomarker for neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, neuronal tumours, stroke, traumatic brain injury.