Digitisation of AYUSH                                                                                                  

Lok Sabha passes The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019       

Summer User Trials of Nag Missile successfully Conducted by Indian Army       

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 introduced in Lok Sabha          

Govt. opposes NEXT for MBBS student                                                                    

5.6 crore Indians lived outside their state of birth in 2011                                       

Digitisation of AYUSH

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential

Context :

• Ministry of AYUSH has conceptualized AYUSH GRID Project for digitising AYUSH healthcare delivery at all levels.

AYUSH GRID Project :

• The AYUSH Grid Project is the proposed IT backbone for the entire AYUSH sector covering the healthcare systems Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy.

• AYUSH Grid is envisaged as an omnibus digital eco- system that would lead to all round development of the AYUSH sector in fields of healthcare delivery at all levels, research, education, schemes and various health programs.

• The main components of AYUSH GRID Project are as under:

  • Health Services

  • Education

  • Research

  • Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes

  • Training

  • Citizen Centric Services

  • Drug Licencing Portal

  • Media Outreach

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

Lok Sabha passes The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• Loksabha passes the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment ) Bill 2019 .

The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment ) Bill 2019 :

• The Bill amends the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. 

• The Act provides for a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), State Human Rights Commissions (SHRC), as well as Human Rights Courts.

Silent Features :

• Composition of NHRC:

  • Under the Act, the chairperson of the NHRC is a person who has been a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

  • The Bill amends this to provide that a person who has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a Judge of the Supreme Court will be the chairperson of the NHRC.

• Inclusion of woman member:

  • The Act provides for two persons having knowledge of human rights to be appointed as members of the NHRC.

  • The Bill amends this to allow three members to be appointed, of which at least one will be a woman.

• Other members:

  • Under the Act, chairpersons of various commissions such as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and National Commission for Women are members of the NHRC.

  •  The Bill provides for including the chairpersons of the National Commission for Backward Classes, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as members of the NHRC.

• Chairperson of SHRC:

  • Under the Act, the chairperson of a SHRC is a person who has been a Chief Justice of a High Court. 

  • The Bill amends this to provide that a person who has been Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court will be chairperson of a SHRC. 

• Term of office:

  • The Act states that the chairperson and members of the NHRC and SHRC will hold office for five years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier. 

  • The Bill reduces the term of office to three years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier. 

  • Further, the Act allows for the reappointment of members of the NHRC and SHRCs for a period of five years.  The Bill removes the five-year limit for reappointment.  

• Powers of Secretary-General:

  • The Act provides for a Secretary-General of the NHRC and a Secretary of a SHRC, who exercise powers as may be delegated to them. 

  • The Bill amends this and allows the Secretary-General and Secretary to exercise all administrative and financial powers (except judicial functions), subject to the respective chairperson’s control.

• Union Territories:

  • The Bill provides that the central government may confer on a SHRC human rights functions being discharged by Union Territories.  Functions relating to human rights in the case of Delhi will be dealt with by the NHRC.

                                                                                                                            Source :- PIB

Summer User Trials of Nag Missile successfully Conducted by Indian Army

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Context :

• India has successfully carried out summer trials of NAG Missile.

NAG Missile :

• The Nag missile has been indigenously developed under the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), which also involved the development of four other missiles that are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi.

• Nag is a third-generation, fire-and-forget, anti-tank guided missile developed by India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to support both mechanised infantry and airborne forces of the Indian Army.

• It is an all weather conditions with day and night capabilities and with a minimum range of 500m and maximum range of 4 km.

• Nag can be launched from land and air-based platforms. The land version is currently available for integration on the Nag missile carrier (NAMICA)

• The helicopter-launched configuration, designated as helicopter-launched NAG (HELINA), can be fired from Dhruv advanced light helicopter(ALH) and HAL Rudra (ALH WSI) attack helicopter.

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 introduced in Lok Sabha

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE -Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation..

Context :

• The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that amends the Right to Information Act, 2005 has been introduced in Lok Sabha.

What does the RTI Act do?

•  Under the RTI Act, 2005, Public Authorities are required to make disclosures on various aspects of their structure and functioning.

• This includes:

  • disclosure on their organisation, functions, and structure,

  • powers and duties of its officers and employees, and

  • financial information.

• The intent of such suo moto disclosures is that the public should need minimum recourse through the Act to obtain such information. The intent behind the enactment of the Act is to promote transparency and accountability in the working of Public Authorities. 

Who is included in the ambit of ‘Public Authorities’?

• ‘Public Authorities’ include bodies of self-government established under the Constitution, or under any law or government notification. 

• For instance, these include Ministries, public sector undertakings, and regulators. 

• It also includes any entities owned, controlled or substantially financed and non-government organizations substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the government.

How is the right to information enforced under the Act?

• The Act has established a three tier structure for enforcing the right to information guaranteed under the Act.

• Public Authorities designate some of their officers as Public Information Officers.

• The first request for information goes to Central/State Assistant Public Information Officer and Central/State Public Information Officer, designated by the Public Authorities. These Officers are required to provide information to an RTI applicant within 30 days of the request. 

• Appeals from their decisions go to an Appellate Authority.

• Appeals against the order of the Appellate Authority go to the State Information Commission or the Central Information Commission.

• These Information Commissions consists of a Chief Information Commissioner, and up to 10 Information Commissioners.

What does the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 propose?

• The Bill changes the terms and conditions of service of the CIC and Information Commissioners at the centre and in states.

• The Bill states that the central government will notify the term of office for the CIC and the ICs.

• The Bill states that the salaries, allowances, and other terms and conditions of service of the central and state CIC and ICs will be determined by the central government.

                                                                                                                              Source :- PIB

Govt. opposes NEXT for MBBS student

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the provision in the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill proposing a common final-year MBBS exam- National Exit Test (NEXT).

More in the news:

• According to the state government, such an exam could be held for those studying medicine abroad and coming to India for practice, not for MBBS students in India.

• The state government has also opined that provisions of the Bill are against the federal principles and undermine rights of States.

• The provision of exempting students of medical institutions of national importance from the purview of NEXT was undermining the excellence of Madras Medical College and Stanley Medical College in Chennai.

Background :

• Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 which proposes to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.

• If enacted, the current Medical Council of India would be replaced by a National Medical Commission.

• The bill proposes a common final year MBBS exam called National Exit Test (NEXT) to start medical practice.

  • It will also be used for entrance into postgraduate medical courses, and act as a screening test for foreign medical graduates.

• The Bill proposes to unify all entrance procedures for medical courses. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), common counselling and NEXT will be applicable to Institutes of National Importance (INIs) such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to ensure uniform standards.

• The bill also proposes to set up a Medical Advisory Council as a separate entity.

  • It will serve as the primary platform through which the states will put forward their views and concerns before the NMC.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

5.6 crore Indians lived outside their state of birth in 2011

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY - Populations and associated issues

Context :

• According to Census 2011 migration data, more than 5.6 crore Indians lived in states other than the ones they were born in.

Key Facts and Datas  :

• While UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP had the highest ‘out-migration’,

  • Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat saw the largest ‘in-migration’.

• Among larger states, Bihar had the lowest number of people migrating into the state with most of the one million plus migrants coming from Jharkhand and UP.

  • Migrants from Bihar moved more towards the eastern states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam.

• People born in UP constituted the largest share (45%) of Delhi’s migrant population followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• In most southern states, people from neighbouring states constituted the largest share of the migrant population. In Kerala, Bengalis (5%) were the only significant non-southern migrant population.

• Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had more in-migration than out-migration. While, UP, Bihar and Rajasthan had negative net migration i.e. more people left the state than coming in.

                                                                                                      Source :- The Times Of India

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