POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. NCTE to Shut Down Bad Colleges                                                                             

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Stakeholders’ Consultations by Department of Commerce on RCEP                    

2. China Pakistan targeted on persecution of religious minorities at UNSC meet    

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. 7 new species of insects that can walk on water discovered                                  

2. Nigeria first to approve Bt cowpea, Ghana may follow                                            

3. Devise appropriate mechanism over industry expansion: NGT                              

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Russian spacecraft carrying humanoid robot fails to dock                                     

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

ANUBHAV awards

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Context :

• Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions has presented the fourth ANUBHAV awards,2019.

ANUBHAV Award :

• The Anubhav portal was created in 2015 by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

• The aim of this portal is to provide a platform for the retired Central Government employees to showcase commendable work done during the course of their service.

• This portal not only provides satisfaction to the retiring employees but also acts as a platform for seeking guidance and motivation for the existing employees.

• In 20016,Anubhav award scheme was introduced to incentivize and encourage more retiring employees to submit their write-ups.Since then, three annual awards ceremonies have been organized.

                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- PIB

NCTE to Shut Down Bad Colleges

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

Context :

• The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is conducting the first-ever performance appraisals of the 19,000 institutions under its regulation.

Background :

• The teacher education institutions potentially produce 19 lakh graduates per year.

• The 26 Cr. Students of India need only 90 lakh teachers overall, at the recommended teacher-student ratio of 1:27.

• If each teacher serves about 30 years, the annual turnover is only about three lakh.

• The NCTE is undergoing a re-evaluation of its mission and functioning in its silver jubilee year.

• Its original objectives were to craft the syllabus and curriculum of teacher training and regulate institutions under its jurisdiction.

Why Such a Move ?

• The procedure is aimed to weed out and shut down poor quality teacher education institutions, which have six times more capacity than needed.

• The B.Ed has become a degree for marriage and social status rather than for teaching.

• There are simply too many graduates seeking too few jobs.

• In addition, there are spurious, fly-by-night institutions and graduates who obtain B.Ed degrees without attending any class and with no intention of ever becoming a teachers.

• Even if we close down 10,000 institutions, we would still be oversubscribed by three times.

• This oversupply is the main reason for derogation of the teaching profession.

• Hence, they get away with paying ₹2,000-3,000 per month for a teacher who is supposed to be a leader, a motivator, a counsellor to a generation of children.

Target :

• The NCTE hopes to complete its performance appraisal process and weed out the worst institutions before the next academic year.

• The Council also plans to start aspirational new initiatives, including 700 model institutions (at least one per district), a new leadership training programme for principals and head teachers and an experimental international teaching qualification.

• This would cater to the international school market and also potentially prepare teachers who want to take their skills abroad.

                                                                                                                           Source :- The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Stakeholders’ Consultations by Department of Commerce on RCEP

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• In the last 6 years of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations, more than 100 stakeholders’ consultations have been held by the Department of Commerce and other lead Ministries and Departments of the Government of India.

• Consultations are held seeking industry inputs for formulating India’s interests, covering a wide spectrum of the economy including agriculture, chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, textiles, ferrous and nonferrous metals, automobiles and machinery.

RCEP :

• RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.

• RCEP aims to boost goods trade by eliminating most tariff and non-tariff barriers — a move that is expected to provide the region’s consumers greater choice of quality products at affordable rates. It also seeks to liberalise investment norms and do away with services trade restrictions.

                                                                                                                                                                      Source :- PIB

China Pakistan targeted on persecution of religious minorities at UNSC meet

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian diaspora.

Context :

• China and Pakistan were targeted at Arria-Formula Meeting of the United Nation Security Council for their persecution of religious minorities.

More in the news:

• Many members of religious groups in China — including ethnic Uighur, Kazakhs and other Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants and Falun Gong — face severe persecution and repression.

• In Pakistan, religious minorities like Christians, Hindu, Ahmadiyas and other ethinic groups continue to suffer from persecution, either at the hands of non-state actors or through discriminatory laws and practices.

Arria-Formula Meeting  :

• Arria-Formula Meeting on 'Advancing the Safety and Security of Persons Belonging to Religious Minorities in Armed Conflict' was organised by Poland.
   

  • It was organised to mark the first International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.

• The Arria Formula is an informal arrangement that allows the Security Council greater flexibility to be briefed about international peace and security issues. It has been used frequently and assumed growing importance since it was first implemented in March, 1992.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

7 new species of insects that can walk on water discovered

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India(ZSI) have discovered seven species of water treaders semi-aquatic insects that can walk or run on the surface of the water.

More in the news:

• The newly described species belong to the genus Mesovelia whose size ranges from 1.5 mm to 4.5 mm.

• The new discoveries are made from Andaman Islands, Meghalaya and Tamil Nadu.

• These bugs are ‘hemimetabolous’ insects without a larval stage (they go from egg to nymph to adult).

• They are found in freshwater bodies such as ponds, lakes, pools, streams, rocks with moss and sometimes on estuaries.

• They are equipped with hydrophobic setae (bristles) on their legs.

• The combination of hydrophobic setae and water surface tension prevents them from sinking.

• The insects are pale green with silver-white wings with black veins on the basal half which make them stand out over the green colour of aquatic weeds.

• These bugs serve as predators (feed on midges, water fleas) and scavengers (feed on dead and dying mosquitoes).

• They remove organic waste and also providing a natural sanitation service.

• The females of Mesovelia are larger than males and dig several holes on plants and insert eggs in plant tissues with a specially adapted long serrated ovipositor.

• There are 12 species of genus Mesovelia found in the country.

                                                                                                                                                           Source :- The Hindu

Nigeria first to approve Bt cowpea, Ghana may follow

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Nigeria has become the first country to approve open cultivation of genetically modified (GM) Bt cowpea.

More in the news:

• Bt Cowpea is pest- resistant and can help combat malnutrition rates, especially in children.

• However,activists claimed that the transgene Cry1Ab which is there in Bt cowpea can be toxic for human liver cells and can also alter the immune systems of lab animals.

                                                                                                                     Source :- Down To Earth

Devise appropriate mechanism over industry expansion: NGT

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The National Green Tribunal on Friday directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to devise an appropriate mechanism to ensure that industrial expansion can take place after due precautions in "critically polluted" and "severely polluted" areas.

Background :

• In December 2018, NGT had directed all the State pollution control boards and pollution control committees to finalise the time-bound action plans to bring all polluted industrial clusters within the safe parameters under the provisions of relevant Acts.

• The pollution control boards were also directed to recover compensation for damages from polluting industries and adopt precautionary measures.

• A review plea was moved by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) seeking clarifications to a previous order passed by the tribunal pertaining to air pollution resulting from industries.

• The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) made submissions related to the finalisation and implementation of the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI).

More in the news:

• The Bench reiterated that if any unit is compliant with the norms, such unit will not be affected.

• The Bench also clarified that in no case, compensation may have to be paid twice.

• The provisions of various environmental Acts are to be enforced not only against the industrial units but also against every polluting activity whether the same has already been set up or is yet to be set up.

• The Bench observed that pendency of such steps can’t be the justification for not enforcing the existing pollution norms.

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Russian spacecraft carrying humanoid robot fails to dock

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology

Context :

• A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a humanoid robot failed to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) .

More in the news:

• The FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) robot was on its way to the ISS on a planned two-week mission to support the crew and test its skills.

• The docking process failed due to issues related to the automatic docking system.

• The spacecraft is currently 96 metres away from the station and officials plan to attempt docking again.

• The ISS is a joint project of the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu    

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