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Recently, National drug pricing regulator NPPA has fixed the retail prices of 36 formulations, including those used for treatment of cancer, diabetes, infections, asthma, seizures, inflammation and pain, among others. As per data available with NPPA, the MRP for 105 brands will be reduced up to 85% entailing minimum saving of Rs 105 crore to consumers. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) currently fixes prices of drugs placed in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) under Schedule-I of the DPCO. So far, around 1000 drugs have been brought under price control under the initiative. It also monitors annual price increase for these and the non-scheduled drugs. It also administers Pharma Sahi Dam and Pharma Jan Samadhan platforms for information on medicine prices and registering public grievances. The headquarters of NPPA is located in New Delhi.

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The National Science Day (NSD) is observed every yearon 28th of February to mark the discovery of Raman effect by Physicist C V Raman on 28th February, 1928. For his discovery, Sir CV Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. In honour of this discovery and as a mark of tribute to the scientist, National Science Day was marked for the first time on February 28, 1987. The purpose of the day is to spread the message of importance of science and its application among the people. This year, the theme for the 2019 NSD is, ‘Science for the People and the People for Science’. The Raman Effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon by molecules which are excited to higher energy levels. It forms the basis for Raman spectroscopy which is used by chemists and physicists to gain information about materials.

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The National Book Trust (NBT) has appointed educationist and author Govind Prasad Sharma as its new Chairman. Born in 1939, Sharma has served as the Principal of Government P.G. College, Madhya Pradesh. Later, he was appointed as the Additional Director of Higher Education (Gwalior Chambal Division) and has also been the Director of Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Akademi. He is the author of more than six academic books and several research papers, and has edited a few collected works. NBT is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Higher Education of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD). The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, promotion of Indian books abroad, assistance to authors and publishers, and promotion of children’s literature.

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On Feb 26, the former England opener Alastair Cook has officially received the knighthood for his services to cricket by the Queen in an official ceremony at the Buckingham Palace. He is the first English cricketer to get the honour since Sir Ian Botham in 2007. Overall, Cook is the 11th Englishman to be knighted for services to cricket. Cook, who made his Test debut in 2006 against India, captained England for a record 59 Test matches and led the country to 24 wins in the longest format of the game. He has appeared in a total of 160 Tests for the national side. He retired from the Test cricket following the five-match series against India in September 2018.

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In New Delhi, the Minister for Human Resources Development, Prakash Javadekar has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates through the National Apprenticeship Promotional Scheme (NAPS). The aim of the program is to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’ and earning of stipend. SHREYAS is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three central ministries, including the HRD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.