IASbaba Press Information Bureau 25th to 31st March, 2018

ARCHIVES

GS-2

Setting up of National Academic Depository (NAD) for Digitalization of School Records

(Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources)

A 24×7 online store house of academic awards digitally lodged by various academic institutions/school boards/eligibility assessment bodies.

CBSE has introduced “Parinam Manjusha” which acts as:-

• Academic Repository
• Facilitates Online Verification
• Students can get digital documents such as Mark Sheet, Pass Certificates and Migration Certificates of CBSE examination through Digi Locker

Strategic plan to tackle Dengue and Chikungunya

(Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources)

Prevention and control of Dengue and Chikungunya is one of the components of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). The strategies introduced under the programme are:

• Surveillance: Disease and Entomological   Surveillance
• Case management: Laboratory diagnosis and Clinical management
• Vector management: Environmental management for Source Reduction, Chemical control, Personal protection and Legislation
• Outbreak response: Epidemic preparedness and Media management
• Capacity building: Training, Infrastructure development and Operational research
• Behaviour Change Communication: Social mobilization and Information Education and Communication (IEC)
• Inter-sectoral coordination: Health and non-health sector
• Monitoring and Supervision: Review, field visit, feedback and Analysis of reports
• A network of 618 Sentinel Surveillance Hospitals supported by 16 Apex Referral Laboratories have been established where dengue kits are provided free of cost.
• Advisories are issued to the States for sensitization from time to time.
• Training is given on dengue and chikungunya case management.
• Financial and technical assistance are provided to the States.

Cabinet Approves

MoU between India and Zambia: In the field of Judicial Cooperation which will further enhance good relations between the two countries and add new dimensions in the field of judicial reforms.

MoU between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland: India and U.K. already have an agreement concerning the investigation and prosecution of crime and the tracing, restraint and confiscation of the proceeds and instruments of crime (including crimes involving currency transfers) and terrorist funds, which was signed in 1995. Both the countries desire to further strengthen cooperation in fighting international criminality and serious organized crime.

MoU between India and South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme: For cooperation on the response to Oil and Chemical Pollution in the South Asian Seas Region – the MoU intends to promote closer cooperation between India and other maritime nations comprising the South Asian seas region namely Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for protection and preservation of marine environment in the region.

MoU between India and Canada: The MoU establishes a broad and flexible framework through which both countries can exchange best practices and work together on training programs and technical exchanges to raise awareness on IPRs and better protect intellectual property rights (IPRs).

Re-structuring of National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC):

• Ensure better corporate governance, transparency and accountability in operations of NSDC besides strengthening the oversight role of NSDF
• The approval would lead to restructuring of composition of Board of NSDF and the NSDC to strengthen governance, implementation and monitoring framework.

Enhancing the coverage of Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana: The informal sector workers would get social safety net and there would be more job creation

Continuation, strengthening and establishment of Krishi Vigyan Kendras till 2019-20: KVKs would act as knowledge and resource centre in the field of agriculture in the district and would build models of technology uptake and farmers’ empowerment leading to support Government of India’s initiative of doubling farmers’ income.

Union Government’s Special incentives for new Industrial units in Northeast

(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)

North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) will play a crucial role in promoting new industrial units in the region by providing several special incentives.

Central Capital Investment Incentive for Access to Credit (CCIIAC):

• 30% of the investment in the industrial plant and machinery with an upper limit of Rs. 5 crore will be provided as the incentive amount per unit.
• Central Interest Incentive (CII) will be available to the tune of 3% on working capital credit advanced by eligible Banks/Financial Institutions for first 5 years from the commencement of commercial production by the Unit.

Central Comprehensive Insurance Incentive (CCII): Will provide for reimbursement of 100% insurance premium on insurance of building and Industrial plant & machinery for 5 years from the date of commencement and commercial production by the Unit.

Relief on GST and a unique provision has been provided for reimbursement up to the extent of Central Government share of CGST and IGST for 5 years from the date of commencement of commercial production by the unit.

Incentive on transportation to the tune of 20% of the cost of transportation including the subsidy currently provided by Railways/Railway PSUs for movement of goods by rail.

• On the Inland Waterways, there will be 20% incentive for finished goods
• For transportation by Air freight on perishable goods, it will be 30% of the cost of transportation from the airport nearest to the place of production to any airport within the country.

India and China Agree to a Roadmap for Addressing Trade Imbalance

(Topic: India and its neighbourhood- relations)

The Chinese side:

• Noted India’s concern regarding the long existing trade imbalance and requests for market access of Indian products and services
• Reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the provision of market access for Indian agricultural products pertaining to non-basmati rice, rape-seed meals, soya-meals, pomegranate and pomegranate arils, okra, banana and other fruits and vegetables and bovine meat expeditiously

Both the countries:

• Reaffirmed their aim to promote bilateral trade in the field of pharmaceuticals including resolution of issues of Indian pharma products exports to Chinese markets
• Agreed to draw-up a medium and long term roadmap with action points and timelines for increasing bilateral trade between the two countries in a balanced and sustainable manner, as the two countries are the largest emerging economies of the world with 35% of the world’s population and around 20% of the world’s GDP but the relative volume of bilateral trade is less than 1% of global trade.
• Agreed to strengthen cooperation within WTO, and other multilateral and regional frameworks, to maintain their common interest. Both the sides reiterated their commitment to rules based multilateral global trade.

GS-3

National Agricultural Research System

(Topic: Indian Agriculture)

The NARS is continuously developing improved varieties, value added products, production and protection technologies which resulted to increase production and productivity of food crops in the country.

ICAR is initiating the new research programme in the areas of Hybrid technology, Transgenic, Molecular Breeding, Gene Editing, Agro-biodiversity and Bio-fortification etc. to fulfil the future food requirement of the ever growing population of the country.

Banana & Sugarcane are being cultivated in Tropical and subtropical areas of the country due to suitable agro-climatic conditions and availability of adequate irrigation facility. The Government is encouraging banana cultivation through

• Sensitization
• Training
• Supply of quality planting material and other inputs

Govt. has introduced CHAMAN (Co-ordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management Using geoiNformatics) Scheme for 7 horticultural crops (Potato, Onion, Chilli, Tomato, Mango, Banana and Citrus) in 12 major states in 180 districts to carry out research on horticultural crop condition studies, diseases assessment and precision farming.   

Approval of Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)

(Topic: Public Distribution System)

Key objectives

• To integrate PDS system/portals of States/UTs with Central System/portals
• Introduction of National Portability
• De-duplication of ration cards/beneficiary

Impact: Will bring more transparency and efficiency in distribution of food-grains as it will improve the mechanism to identify fake/duplicate ration cards and provide the option to PDS beneficiaries to lift their entitled food-grains from the Fair Price Shops of their choice at the national level.

Digitization of Targeted Public Distribution System: The scheme comprises digitization of ration cards/beneficiaries, online allocation, computerisation of supply chain management, etc.

Guidelines for safe Disposal of Expired Medicines

(Topic: Environmental pollution and degradation)

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Requirements of Premises, Plant and Equipment for pharmaceutical products laid down in   Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 prescribe the requirements for disposal of waste including the rejected drugs. Details are as under:

• The disposal of sewage and effluents (solid, liquid and gas) from the manufactory shall be in conformity with the requirements of Environment Pollution Control Board.
• All bio-medical waste shall be destroyed as per the provisions of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1996.
• Additional precautions shall be taken for the storage and disposal of rejected drugs. Records shall be maintained for all disposal of waste.
• Provisions shall be made for the proper and safe storage of waste materials awaiting disposal. Hazardous, toxic substances and flammable materials shall be stored in suitably designed and segregated, enclosed areas in conformity with Central and State Legislations.

3R – ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ for India

(Topic: Environmental pollution and degradation)

India is getting ready to host the 8th 3R Regional Forum in Asia and the Pacific: At Indore; Indore was ranked the cleanest city of India according to the Swachh Survekshan 2017, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs since 2016.

Theme: “Achieving Clean Water, Clean Land and Clean Air through 3R and Resource Efficiency- A 21st Century Vision for Asia-Pacific Communities”.

• The Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific was launched in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan and since then has provided a strategic platform for addressing the needs and priorities of 3R in Asian countries and sharing best practices from the region, including emerging concerns in waste management.
• In the last seven years, the Forum has been organised in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Maldives, Japan and Australia and has been instrumental in providing innovative, effective and smart 3R based solutions.

Urban India produces an estimated 54.75 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually.

• The Forum comes at an opportune time with the Indian government’s focus on scientific management of 100% municipal solid waste through its ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
• Through this Forum, India aims to strengthen this focus through its ‘Mission Zero Waste’ approach thereby encouraging cities, industries and other diverse stakeholders to look at waste as a resource.
• Parallely, the Forum will also recognise and reward industries and civil society organisations carrying out exceptional work in the area of 3R for waste management through the 3R Awards scheduled for April 12.

Prelims oriented News:

Health: State subject

ISRO: Successful launch of GSLV-F08 with indigenous cryogenic stage

• India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08) successfully launched GSAT-6A Satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)
• GSAT-6A is a communication satellite built by ISRO to provide mobile communication services through multi beam coverage.  For this, it is equipped with S and C band transponders.

Public Financial Management System (PFMS): Provides platform for efficient management of funds through tracking of funds and real time reporting of expenditure and receipts through Treasury and Bank Interface. PFMS is also used for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments under MGNREGA and other notified schemes of the Government of India.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of 55770 fully covered tribal habitations with the safe drinking water in the country followed by Odisha 52427, Jharkhand 53476 numbers of habitations.

SAUBHAGYA (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna): Aims to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country in a time bound manner. Around 4 crore households are expected to get electricity connections under the scheme.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY): To provide social security during old age and to protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above against a future fall in their interest income due to uncertain market conditions. The scheme enables old age income security for senior citizens through provision of assured pension/return linked to the subscription amount based on government guarantee to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

Regulation of E-Cigarettes: As per a report prepared by WHO, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) (also known as e-cigarettes) emits nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco products. In addition to dependence, nicotine can have adverse effects on –

• The development of the foetus during pregnancy and may contribute to cardiovascular disease
• Although nicotine itself is not a carcinogen, it may function as a “tumour promoter” and seems to be involved in the biology of malignant disease, as well as of neurodegeneration.
• Foetal and adolescent nicotine exposure may have long-term consequences for brain development, potentially leading to learning and anxiety disorders.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): Provides strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions. The objective is to achieve the target of Gross Enrolment Ratio of 30% by the year 2019-20 with equity and inclusion.

Key findings of NARSS 2017-18:

• 77% of households were found to have access to toilets during the survey period
• 93.4% of the people who had access to toilets used them
• 95.6% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF were confirmed to be ODF. The remaining 4.4% villages also had sanitation coverage of over 95%
• 70% of the villages surveyed found to have minimal litter and minimal stagnant water

India’s Representative to the Executive Board of UNESCO: Professor J S Rajput, former Director NCERT

• Has a four-year term of office and 58 seats
• One of the constitutional organs of UNESCO and is elected by the General Conference.
• The executive board examines the work for the organization and the corresponding budget estimates. In practice, the executive board is the main organ responsible for all policies and programmes of UNESCO.
• Being a member of the board enables us in principle to play a role in shaping and reviewing UNESCO’s policies and programmes corresponding to its five major programs on education, the natural science, the social and human Sciences, Culture and Communication and Information.

Down Syndrome: A chromosomal condition associated with intellectual and learning disabilities.

e-Tribes India: Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, (TRIFED), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has developed its own e-commerce (electronic commerce) website i.e., tribesindia.com for sale of all its products and to tap m-commerce (mobile commerce) too.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

Aim: To alleviate rural poverty by organizing the rural poor women into their own institutions like Self-Help Groups and their federations, Producers’ Collectives etc.

• Ensure their financial inclusion
• To increase the productivity of farms and promote diversified livelihoods, especially by promoting entrepreneurship

Deen Dayal Upadhyay –Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) under DAY-NRLM

Aim: A placement Linked Skill Development scheme which seeks to build the skills of the poor rural youth and place them in relatively higher wage employment sectors of the economy.

Provides support for establishing Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) in each district of the country in collaboration with the Banks and the State Governments to provide training to the rural youth from the poor households to take-up economic activities.

Mahila Kisan Sahshaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), as a sub scheme under DAY-NRLM

Aim: Promoting agriculture based livelihoods of rural women by strengthening community institutions of poor women farmers to promote sustainable agriculture.

MKSP focuses on agriculture, non-timber forest produce and livestock interventions. It provides three kinds of services to the farmers, namely:

• Extension services
• Training capacity building and handholding services
• Facilitation for convergence with other line department to access the benefit from other schemes/ programmes

SARAS Aajeevika Mela: An endeavour of DAY-NRLM to provide to the rural women (huge socio-economic transformation) producers a national platform and an opportunity to showcase their products, and seek buyers, either individuals or bulk buyers for sale nationally / internationally.

Quotes:

The Vice President of India, Shri M, Venkaiah Naidu

On Language

• Language is a living tool – you must use it or you lose it. If we lose a language we lose an important part of cultural identity.
• Language is a tool for transmission of culture and it is truly the life blood of a civilization.
• Mother tongue, the language of home, is the root of the huge tree of life.
• Higher education has a unique role in preparing torchbearers of tomorrow in different fields from medicine to management. It is essential for higher educational institutions to mould the next generation by inculcating the core values of patriotism, honesty, responsibility, discipline, compassion, respect for women and pluralism

On Women

• We need to build coalitions against gender discrimination. Government and the civil society must be active collaborators to achieve tangible results.
• Adi Shankaracharya opens his beautiful hymn called “Saundarya Lahari” (The wave of beauty) with a clear statement on how Lord Shiva is totally powerless without his wife Shakthi. One complements the other.

Mahatma Gandhi:

On Women

• Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading , so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex.
• To call woman the weaker sex is a libel. It is man’s injustice to woman.

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi

On Innovation

• IPPP i.e. Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper – lead our country towards faster development

Schemes by Government to facilitate research and innovations –

• Introducing Modern Techniques based on Educational and Learning concepts in Atal Tinkering Labs. Students of class 6th to 12th will be benefitted from this.
• Prime Minister Research Fellowship to around 1000 best students of BTech, MTech and MSc courses in institutes like IITs, IISc and NIT every year. These students will be given financial assistance of about 70-80 thousand rupees per month over a period of five years.
• Focus on providing greater autonomy to Higher Educational Institutions.
• Setting up of 20 world class Institute of Excellence