IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 31st May 2018

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(PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS)

India launches 2nd IT corridor in China

Part of: Mains GS Paper II, III- International relations, Infrastructure

Key pointers:

• India recently launched its second IT corridor in China to get access to the growing Chinese software market. It will provide market access to Indian IT firms in the huge Chinese market.
• The new IT corridor in Guiyang.
• The corridor is aimed at setting up local offices and assisting companies from Guiyang to establish software and IT units in India.
• Few months back NASSCOM had established its first Digital Collaborative Opportunities Plaza or SIDCOP platform in the Chinese port city of Dalian.
• Dalian corridor’s focus was on Internet of Things- IoT but the Guiyang corridor will focus on Big Data.
• The platform in Guiyang intends to create online and offline presence to promote a “co-create culture” between two large neighbours in the Big Data space.

Background:

• India IT firms have a presence in more than 70 countries in the world, generating employment for up to 12 million people worldwide. In China, Indian IT companies are present in 10 cities around the country, with a total work-force of around 25,000 employees.
• For India, getting access to China’s IT market is important to address the massive trade deficit which has now spiralled to over USD 51 billion.
• India has been demanding China to provide market access to Indian IT and pharmaceutical firms for several years to reduce bilateral trade deficit.

Ruthenium: Fourth single element to show ferromagnetism

Part of: Mains GS Paper III- Science & Technology

Key pointers:

• Scientists have demonstrated that the chemical element ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth single element to have unique magnetic properties at room temperature.
• It could be used to improve sensors, devices in the computer memory and logic industry, or other devices using magnetic materials.
• Ferromagnetism is the basic mechanism by which certain materials (such as iron) form permanent magnets or are attracted to magnets.
• Till now only three elements on the periodic table have been found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature — iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni).

GI Tag for rural crafts in W.B.

Part of: Mains GS Paper III- Inclusive growth

Key pointers:

• The Chau mask of Purulia, the wooden mask of Kushmandi, the Patachitra, the Dokras of Bengal, and Madhurkathi (a kind of mat) have been presented with the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India.
• GI tags for these five rural crafts will help the artisans create their own brand and will provide legal protection to artisans practising the crafts against attempts to duplicate them in other regions.

GI Tags:

• GI tags are given on the basis of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
• A GI tag connects the quality and authenticity of a given product to a particular geographical origin, thereby ensuring that no one other than the authorised user can use the popular product’s name.
• The first product to be included in the list was Darjeeling Tea.

Digital literacy programme for women: Fb in partnership with NCW

Part of: Mains GS Paper I- Social issues, Women empowerment

Key pointers:

• Facebook has entered into a partnership with National Commission for Women (NCW) to launch a digital literacy programme aimed at training 60,000 women in universities across India on safe use of the Internet, social media and email in a year.
• Launched in collaboration with Cyber Peace Foundation, the pilot programme will enable trainees to differentiate between credible and questionable information.
• The training will be conducted in vernacular languages.
• The digital literacy programme will benefit women in universities across major cities in Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Manipur, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
• With more women going online, NCW has witnessed a surge in cyber crime related complaints registered at the Commission in the past three years. There is a need to ensure that while online, the women feel safe and secure on the Internet.

(MAINS FOCUS)

NATIONAL

TOPIC:General Studies 2:

• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
• Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
• Inter-State Water Dispute

Cauvery Dispute: Lessons from international treaties

Introduction:

More than 80 per cent of Indian rivers are inter-state rivers. According to the Central Water Commission, there are 125 inter-state water agreements in India. Many of these agreements are more than 100 years old and had been executed without seriously considering socio-economic, political and geographical factors.
These treaties have now become permanent sources of problems for many states. Continuous redrawing of state boundaries during the British regime and after Independence have kept the disputes alive.

Basic principles:

• For effective settlement of these disputes, equitable sharing of benefits is more important than equitable distribution of water. The principle of downstream benefit-sharing is crucial for the successful implementation of these treaties.
• Water-sharing principles must be based on the size of the river basin, population growth, historical claims, efforts taken by the state governments for water conservation, rainfall and changes in cropping patterns, scientific use of water, priority for agriculture, allocation for industry and power generation, flood control and domestic uses.

These issues should be given due importance in negotiations.

International treaties:

• The water distribution agreement proposed by the World Bank in 1960 continues to be the basis of the Indus Water Treaty. The permanent Indus Commission regularly exchanges information and ensures cooperation between India and Pakistan on the use of river waters amicably.
• The US-Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission has been successfully implemented since 1884 with the changing course of the rivers, the Rio Grande and Colorado.
  This treaty has been amended more than seven times since its inception, based on the changes in irrigation uses, river boundaries, flood control, population growth, urbanisation, etc. The sharing of water during surplus and drought years is based on a five-year cycle of water flow data.
• The 1996 Indo-Bangladesh Treaty on Water Sharing is based on lean season water availability. The assured minimum water quota sharing between the two countries was fixed on alternate three 10-day cycles during the lean season. The joint committee decides the daily flow and in case of disputes, it will be referred to the JRC and further to the governments.
  The water sharing arrangements is reviewed at five-year intervals or earlier on request from either side. Based on the bilateral negotiations in 1977, 1982, 1985 and the recent one, the two countries reached an effective mechanism for water sharing. Now JRC and JCE settle water disputes between the two countries.

The Indo-Bangladesh treaty can be the model for the resolution of the Cauvery dispute.

The Cauvery dispute:

The bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is about sharing water during the lean/scarce period. This dispute is alive for more than 200 years. It started between Mysore and Madras in 1807, which led to an agreement in 1892 and 1924. Though this agreement allowed for changes after 50 years, the linguistic re-organisation of states in 1956 triggered new problems.

Lesson from international treaties:

• There is an immediate need to constitute a permanent dispute settlement body like the JRC, JCE of Indo-Bangladesh treaty, the Indus Commission, the US-Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission etc. for the Cauvery dispute.
  The Cauvery Management Board proposed by the Supreme Court may act like these bodies.
• The states can even re-negotiate the existing treaty, involving mutually agreed third parties like World Bank to arrive at a permanent settlement.

Connecting the dots:

• There are 125 inter-state water agreements in India. These treaties have now become permanent sources of problems for many states. In this background, discuss how international treaties can be taken as an example to solve matters like Cauvery dispute.

NATIONAL

TOPIC:General Studies 2:

• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
• Development processes and the development industry the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders

Digital Interface between citizens and governement: Building trust

Introduction:

Trust in governments — even democratically elected ones — is dropping.
Trust is the basis of all governance. It underpins the success of public schemes, the volume of public sector investment, and even institutional level compliance.
The most effective measures a government can undertake to build trust is improving how its services reach and are perceived by citizens.

Digital interface:

Younger populations, rising smartphone access, and the private sector’s consumerisation of services are changing how people interface with government services.
Digital is fast becoming the de-facto citizen-government interface, and the digital service delivery quality is therefore pivotal to overall perceptions of governance.
Better designed online services improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and create more accessibility.

Best practices

• The private sector has always excelled in forging a deeper connection with the masses. Brands have striven to build the best user experience.
• The National Portal of India (India.gov.in) is a notable example of a government initiative striving to meet online sensibilities. From fishery licences to tax filing, it has everything that citizens could require. Consolidating the universe of citizen-government relations, it’s also easily navigable.

Considering that India’s next digital billion will have preferences shaped by sophisticated online experience, the government needs to quickly develop a change management and capacity building culture.

The digital journey:

More than just serving as paperwork details, citizen data should provide context to engage with government offerings.

• For example, geolocation can enable event recommendations, or alert people of service touchpoints. In emergencies, we can immediately be alerted of relief shelters and aid sites. For such services to develop a following, local language support can bring more citizens into the digital fold.
• Similarly, with greater mobile penetration, the government should use a mobile-first approach to communicate, measure, and optimise services and information dissemination.
• Building trust also requires transparency, which almost every major government globally has struggled with. For India, enabling citizens to benefit from government commitments is one of the simplest ways of showcasing commitment.
  To make development a dialogue, citizens should be able to provide feedback on service quality, and be apprised of corresponding changes, increasing belief in transparency.
• Governments should have a clear imperative: match technology’s march, and its ability to increase the range and quality of digital services; capture the next digital opportunities; and anticipate citizen needs and design services, moving away from traditional reactive approaches.

Conclusion:

The governments today need to build deeper, more personalised relationship by enriching the online experience. A digital interface, that is incredibly fluid and easily navigable, is required. Government services online must aspire to become effortless, seamless, and easy on every device.

Connecting the dots:

• For more responsible governance, governments today must provide a more enriching digital interface with their citizens. Comment.

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)

Q.1) The Singchung Bugun Community Reserve has won the India Biodiversity Award 2018. Which of the following statements are true regarding the reserve?

1. GI tags are given on the basis of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
2. A GI tag connects the quality and authenticity of a given product to a particular geographical origin, thereby ensuring that no one other than the authorised user can use the popular product’s name.
3. The first product to be included in the GI list was Chanderi Sarees.

Select the correct option

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 1 and 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None of the above

Q.2) Which of the following elements shows ferromagnetism?

Select the correct option

1. Cobalt (Co)
2. Nickel (Ni)
3. Ruthenium (Ru)
4. All of the above

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