IASbaba Press Information Bureau 1st to

7th July, 2018

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GS-2

Agreement signed on repatriation of Bru persons to Mizoram

(Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections)

In a major breakthrough on repatriation of displaced Bru persons from Mizoram since 1997, an agreement has been signed by Government of India, Governments of Mizoram and Tripura and Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF)

• 5,407 families comprising of 32,876 persons presently in temporary camps in Tripura will repatriate to Mizoram before 30th Sept., 2018
• Government of India will provide financial assistance for rehabilitation of Brus in Mizoram and address their issues of security, education, livelihood etc. in consultation with Governments of Mizoram and Tripura.

The tribe: Bru (or Reang) tribals inhabit parts of some Northeastern states. In Mizoram, they are largely restricted to Mamit and Kolasib districts.

Why 32,000 Bru tribals from Mizoram were stuck in Tripura for 21 years?

In 1995, following a clash between Mizos and Brus, the Young Mizo Association and Mizo Students’ Association demanded that Brus be removed from the state’s electoral rolls, contending that the tribe was not indigenous to Mizoram. This led to an armed movement led by the militant outfit Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), and a political one by the Bru National Union (BNU).

On October 21, 1997, BNLF militants killed a forest official in Mizoram, leading to retaliatory ethnic violence. The BNU, which was demanding an autonomous tribal district, claimed that 1,391 Bru houses in 41 villages were burnt down and several people were raped and killed. Mizoram police put the number of homes torched at 325 in 16 villages, and did not confirm rape or murder.

A large number of Bru families fled to North Tripura. Thousands of families, with some 30,000 members, were given shelter in six relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar subdivisions.

Cabinet approves

Accession to WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996 and WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty, 1996

Proposal: It is regarding accession to the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty which extends coverage of copyright to the internet and digital environment

The approval is a step towards the objective laid in the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy adopted by the Government on 12thMay 2016 which aims to get value for IPRs through commercialization by providing guidance and support to EPR owners about commercial opportunities of e-commerce through Internet and mobile platforms.

Meeting the demand of the copyright industries, these treaties will help India:

• To enable creative right-holders enjoy the fruit of their labour, through international copyright system that can be used to secure a return on the investment made in producing and distributing creative works;
• To facilitate international protection of domestic rights holder by providing them level-playing field in other countries as India already extends protection to foreign works through the International Copyright order and these treaties will enable Indian right holders to get reciprocal protection abroad;
• To instil confidence and distribute creative works in digital environment with return on investment; and
• To spur business growth and contribute to the development of a vibrant creative economy and cultural landscape

Berne Convention: The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.

The Berne Convention formally mandated several aspects of modern copyright law; it introduced the concept that a copyright exists the moment a work is “fixed”, rather than requiring registration. It also enforces a requirement that countries recognize copyrights held by the citizens of all other parties to the convention.

Renewal of MoU between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India & Saudi Organisation for Certified Public Accountants: To promote mutual co-operation framework in the areas of Corporate Governance, Technical Research & Advice, Quality Assurance, Forensic Accounting, issues for Small and Medium Sized Practices (SMPs), Islamic Finance, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and other subjects of mutual interest related to Accountancy profession

• Develop a mutually beneficial relationship in the best interest of ICAI members, students and their organizations.
• Provide an opportunity to the ICAI members to expand their professional horizons and simultaneously ICAI will become an entity to aid and strengthen capacity building of local nationals.
• Enable ICAI to promote the Accounting and Auditing profession and all matters that might lead to the development of the profession and improve its status.
• Foster strong working relations between the ICAI & SOCPA thus giving strong professional opportunities to Indian Chartered Accountants in India and more confidence to employers in Eastern Province, thus creating significant employment opportunities for Indian Chartered Accountants.

Umbrella Schemes – Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates

• Central Assistance for one-time settlement of displaced families from Pak Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Chhamb settled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Rehabilitation   Package and up-gradation   of infrastructure of the
• Bangladeshi Enclaves and Cooch Behar District after transfer of enclaves between India and Bangladesh under Land Boundary Agreement
• Relief assistance to Sri Lankan refugees staying in camps in Tamil Nadu and Odisha
• Grant-in-Aid to Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for five years for administrative and social welfare expenses of Tibetan settlements.
• Grant-in-Aid to Government of Tripura for maintenance of Brus lodged in relief camps of Tripura.
• Rehabilitation of Bru/Reang families from Tripura to Mizoram
• Grant of enhanced relief of Rs. 5.00 lakh per deceased person, who died during 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
• Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED blasts on Indian Territory’

Extension of Scheme of Recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks upto 2019-20: Enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent. A strong capital structure and minimum required level of CRAR will ensure financial stability of RRBs which will enable them to play a greater role in financial inclusion and meeting the credit requirements of rural areas.

RRBs: RRBs were set up with the objective to provide credit and other facilities, especially to the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas for development of agriculture, trade, commerce, industry and other productive activities. RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50%, 15% and 35% respectively.

MoU between India and United Kingdom on cooperation in the sphere of Law & Justice and establishing a Joint Consultative Committee

DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018: For expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.

By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that with the proposed expanded use of this technology in the country, there is also the assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.

• Speedier justice delivery
• Increased conviction rate
• Bill’s provisions will enable the cross-matching between persons who have been reported missing on the one hand and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country on the other, and also for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.

Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Higher Education (RISE) by 2022: Has approved the proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs. 10,000 crore and tasking it to mobilise Rs. 1,00,000 crore for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022.

HEFA: Set up on 31st May 2017 by the Central Government as a Non ­Profit, Non-Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central Govt. State-of-the-art labs and research facilities will help in retaining the brightest young minds in India, and will attract Overseas Citizens of India back to Indian universities which will convert brain drain to brain gain.

The objectives of RISE by 2022 are:

• Qualitatively upgrade the research and academic infrastructure in India to global best standards by 2022.
• Make India into an education hub by making available high quality research infrastructure in Indian higher educational institutions.
• To allow access of HEFA funding to institutions like Central Universities, AIIMS, IISERs and newly created Institutes of National Importance, without creating any additional burden to the students.
• To bring greater accountability and speed in execution of infrastructure projects and avoid all cost/time over-runs, moving from the block-grant mode to project-mode for all infrastructure projects.
• To cater to the requirements of the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, and medical institutions like AIIMSs in a faster time frame.

Please Note:

cVIGIL: To report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls. By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint.

Behdienkhlam:

• 4-day Meghalaya Annual Cultural Festival of the Jaintia tribe, held every year at the small peripheral town of Jowai, Meghalaya.
• Celebrated in the month of July for good health, property and bumper harvest
• The non-Christian ‘Pnar’ people who believe either in the traditional faith of ‘Niamtre’ or Hinduism observe this festival.

Creation of National Health Stack:

• Envisages a centralized health record for all citizens of the country in order to streamline the health information and facilitate effective management of the same.
• The proposed NHS is an approach to address the challenge and seeks to employ latest technology including Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence, a state of the art Policy Mark-up Language and create a unified health identity of citizens – as they navigate across services across levels of care, i.e. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary and also across Public and Private.
• The innovativeness of the proposed National Health Stack design lies in its ability to leverage a shared public good – a strong digital spine built with a deep understanding of the incentive structures of the system.
• Once implemented, the National Health Stack will significantly bring down the costs of health protection, converge disparate systems to ensure a cashless and seamlessly integrated experience for the poorest beneficiaries, and promote wellness across the population.

Ayushman Bharat Yojana: To develop a wellness focused strategy, ensuring cost effective healthcare for all. The program leverages a two-pronged approach:

• On the supply side, substantial investments will be made to build 1.5 lakh health and wellness centers offering preventive and primary care; and
• On the demand side, the Pradhan Mantri-Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission (PM-RSSM) will create a national insurance cover of up to 5 lakhs per year per family for over 10 crores households, towards secondary and tertiary care.

Launch of Web GIS application called ‘Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS): Reporting, monitoring and taking suitable action on unauthorised coal mining activities – location of sites for unauthorised mining can be detected

Launch of mobile app called ‘Khan Prahari’: Tool for reporting any activity taking place related to illegal coal mining like rat hole mining, pilferage etc. One can upload geo-tagged photographs of the incident along with textual information directly to the system. Hence, both satellite data and human information will be used to capture information on the unauthorised mining activities.

Successful flight testing of Crew Escape System – Technology Demonstrator: ISRO carried out a major technology demonstration today, the first in a series of tests to qualify a Crew Escape System, which is a critical technology relevant for human spaceflight. The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort. The first test (Pad Abort Test) demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad.

Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR): Being held at Ulaan Baatar (capital and largest city of Mongolia)

• India advocated for greater investment in disaster resilience, mainstreaming disaster resilience in infrastructure development, and improving Early Warning Systems, particularly for recurrent hazards such as heat waves.
• Emphasized that without mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in development it will be nearly impossible to achieve the loss reduction targets –in mortality, number of affected people, economic losses and infrastructure losses — enshrined in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. In this regard, work on resilient infrastructure is very strategic and can spawn positive changes more widely.

Personality in News:

Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

• An Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet
• Founded the right wing nationalist political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1951.
• Strongly opposed to Article 370
• Founder of Bhartiya Janta Party