POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                                         

1. Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative                                                                              

2. Centres asked to link emission test data with VAHAN Database                       

3. Government launches ‘UMMID’ initiative                                                           

4. Healthy life a basic right, Prime Minister Modi tells UN meet                             

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                                  

1. Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA)                                                         

2. State action plans on climate change need upscaling and capacity enhancement                                                                                                      

3. Global Climate Strike movement                                                                       

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                                                                      

1. ISRO is developing a methane-powered rocket engine                                     

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative

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 Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announced the launch of Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative.

Mochi Swabhiman Initiative :

• Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative is a nationwide effort in which Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) will support the cobbler community who provide leather-based services, with CSR funds.

• This will ensure that they work in a dignified manner by bringing respect to their skills by giving them better working environment in the form of kiosks/umbrellas.

Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC)  :

• The Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to meet the demand for skilled workforce in the leather industry in India.

• LSSC was set up in 2012 as one of the key sector skill councils approved by National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC).

• It aims to facilitate a skilled ecosystem in the leather industry through capacity building for high productivity and compliance with global standards.

                                                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

Centres asked to link emission test data with VAHAN Database

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

Context :

• The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has asked all PUC Centres (Centres that issue Pollution Under Control Certificates/PUC Certificates to on-road vehicles) to link emission test data with the VAHAN Database.

VAHAN Database :

• VAHAN is a digital national vehicle registry portal.

• It collates all the information available with road transport authorities for easy access by both citizens and regulators.

• The portal allows access to all details about vehicles such as registration number, colour, chassis/engine number, body/fuel type, manufacturer and model and provides various online services to citizens.

• Driving Licence and related information are automated through another application called ‘Sarathi’.

• VAHAN offers the following services:

  • Vehicle registration (new/renewal/transfer, etc.)

  • Permit (issuance/renewal)

  • Taxes (calculation and payment)

  • Fitness (Fitness Certificate issuance and renewal)

  • Enforcement (issue of challan, settlement of penalty amount)

                                                                                                                                                                     Source :- PIB

Government launches ‘UMMID’ initiative

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

Context :

• The Union Health Minister inaugurated the UMMID and NIDAN Kendras

UMMID :

• UMMID stands for Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders.

• DBT has started the UMMID Initiative which is designed on the concept of ‘Prevention is better than Cure’.

• Taking into account the congenital and hereditary genetic diseases are becoming a significant health burden in India, and realizing the need for adequate and effective genetic testing and counselling services.

Aim :

• To establish NIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration) Kendras to provide counselling, prenatal testing and diagnosis, management, and multidisciplinary care in Government Hospitals wherein the influx of patients is more.

• To produce skilled clinicians in Human Genetics,

• To undertake screening of pregnant women and newborn babies for inherited genetic diseases in hospitals at aspirational districts.

• To create awareness about genetic disorders amongst clinicians and to establish molecular diagnostics in hospitals.

Need :

• In India’s urban areas, congenital malformations and genetic disorders are the third most common cause of mortality in newborns.

• With a very large population and high birth rate, and consanguineous marriage favored in many communities, prevalence of genetic disorders is high in India.

NIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration) Kendras :

• As a part of this initiative, in the first phase, five NIDAN Kendras have been established to provide comprehensive clinical care.

• Screening of 10,000 pregnant women and 5000 new born babies per year for inherited genetic diseases will be taken up at the following seven aspirational districts.

                                                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

Healthy life a basic right, Prime Minister Modi tells UN meet

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

Context :

• At the 74th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly,Indian Prime minister has addressed the Universal Health coverage meeting.

Key Takeaways :

• The Prime Minister has said that a healthy life is the basic right of every person.He also outlined the four main pillars of healthcare that India focuses on:

  • Preventive Healthcare:

    • Prime minister said that India has laid special emphasis on yoga, ayurveda and fitness which has helped in controlling lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure and depression.

    • India has also launched Fit India Movement recently.

    • The Clean India Campaign has contributed towards saving millions of lives.

    • Under immunization,India has not only introduced new vaccines but has also improved access to vaccination in far flung areas.

  • Affordable Healthcare:

    • For this the government has rolled out the world’s largest health insurance scheme named Ayushman Bharat.

    • Under this scheme,500 million poor people have been given the facility of free treatment worth up to Rs.5 lakh every year.In 2018, 4.5 million people availed of this facility.

    • India has opened more than 5000 special pharmacies where more than 800 varieties of vital medicines are available at affordable prices.

    • The cost of stents for heart patients has been slashed by 80% and the cost of knee implants has been cut down by 50 – 70%.

    • India has also helped in providing access to affordable healthcare by way of telemedicine to several other countries, especially African countries.

  • Supply Side Intervention:

    • India’s focus has been on establishment of modern institutions for quality medical education.

    • Government has has also increased the seats in medical colleges for improvement in health resources.

  • Mission Mode Intervention:

    • In order to improve the health of women and children, a National Nutrition Campaign and other new programmes have been launched in mission mode.

    • Also,India has commitment to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global goal of 2030.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA)

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Disaster and disaster management.

Context :

• The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) is organizing one day National workshop on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA).

Background :

• NIDM recently undertook the study for developing a scientific tool on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP).

• The focus of this workshop is to disseminate the outcome documents of the study to all the relevant stakeholders so that the same may be utilized by them as a reference document while preparing the memorandum for submission to the MHA in post disaster phase.

Post Disaster Needs Assessment(PDNA) :

• Post-Disaster Needs Assessment(PDNA) is a government-led exercise to assess the full extent of a disaster’s impact.

• The tool was developed by the UN Development Group, the World Bank and the European Union as one of the key commitments of their 2008 agreement to develop and use common assessment and recovery planning approaches in post-crisis settings.

• The assessments are carried out in the aftermath of earthquakes, cyclones, floods and droughts.

• The assessment will define the needs for recovery and to serve as a basis for designing a recovery strategy and guide donors’ funding.

  • A PDNA looks ahead to restoring damaged infrastructure, houses, livelihoods, services, governance and social systems, and includes an emphasis on reducing future disaster risks and building resilience.

• The assessment takes place with the support from the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank and other national and international actors.     

                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB

State action plans on climate change need upscaling and capacity enhancement

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

Context :

• Scientific evidence and documentation of communities’ lived experiences reveal that climate-induced impacts in the form of extreme weather events are increasing.

Concern :

• German Watch, a German think-tank, ranks India  second globally for the number of fatalities occurred and fourth for revenue loss ($13,789.86 million) at purchasing power parity, as a result of extreme weather events in 2017.

• Moreover, poor and vulnerable communities are disproportionately affected owing to livelihood-related greater dependence on natural resources.

State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) :

• In the Indian context, State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) serve as the primary policy document at the sub-national level to address vulnerabilities and increase resilience.

  • To implement the plans and targets laid out under SAPCCs, several pilots and demonstration projects are conducted, with funds from designated agencies and by the national government under the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change.

Gaps and loopholes in SAPCC implementation :

• In most states SAPCCs have functioned as a stand-alone document with limited recognition of the activities of other line departments, which if integrated, can bring forth collective climate action.

  • The scope of SAPCCs is largely restricted to state jurisdiction, without a clear vision at further de-centralised governance systems.

  • Districts and cities are still largely neglected areas for climate action in the SAPCCs.

• Pilots and demonstration projects, in general, have emerged as a useful tool, but nevertheless suffer from lack of in-built design of upscaling.

• With such limitations, SAPCCs have not been able to achieve the original intent of providing a directional shift in the business-as-usual development pathways.

Recommendations for climate actions :

• Develop upscaling/ replication strategies for successful pilots in the planning stage:

  • In absence of such strategies, pilots would remain expensive investments of human and financial resources which could rather have been deployed more effectively in supporting approaches that have already been mainstreamed.

• Mainstream Adaptation in Line Departments:

  • Currently, SAPCCs are being revised in view of the national and global climate targets.

  • This provides a unique opportunity for coherent and integrated climate actions by mainstreaming adaptation in the activities of the line departments such as agriculture, water, environment, forests and rural development.

  • A critical aspect in the mainstreaming is the allocation of finances from the development budget aimed at climate-proofing development programmes.

• Increase focus on institutional and human capacities:

  • As the final point, strengthening of human and institutional capacities would be the critical driver for upscaling, replication and mainstreaming of climate actions.

  • To this end, the role of state-run institutions and civil society organisations is crucial. Without strong structures and institutions of building human and institutional capacities, the challenges of alleviating the vulnerabilities of local communities would remain a distant unachievable goal.

  • Our experience shows that states such as Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, which have stronger institutional structures have been able to deliver their SAPCCs and NAFCC projects more effectively.

• Localisation of State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC):

  • As a first point of convergence for state and national programmes, the district level provides a unique entry point for strengthening decentralised climate governance.

  • Once the current process of revising the SAPCCs is accomplished, renewed effort must be made to downscale the SAPCC to the district level.

Conclusion :

• Studies confirm that climate-induced impacts are already manifesting and are expected to increase in the near future.

  • Such impacts would translate into increased stress of resources and livelihoods, loss of human life and capital, increased risk of poverty entrapment and migration.

• Such a scenario calls for urgent, integrated and effective climate actions where SAPCCS are a potentially impactful entry point.

• Against this backdrop, demonstrations and pilots by themselves, though useful, are not enough.

• To tackle the severity of the challenge of climate impacts, revision of SAPCCs must be accompanied with a long-term strategy for up-scaled and effective climate actions grounded in strengthened human and financial capacities as well as innovations in governance structures and institutions.

                                                                                                               Source :- Down To Earth

Global Climate Strike movement

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

Context :

• Students in more than 2,000 cities across the world are holding demonstrations under the #FridaysforFuture movement also called Global Climate Strike movement.

Global Climate Strike movement :

• The #FridaysforFuture movement also known as the ‘Youth Strike for Climate Movement’ was started in August 2018.

• The aim of the Global Climate Strike is to call on millions of people across the world to disrupt business as usual by taking part in protests emphasising the danger of Climate Change.

• The movement was started by Swedish student ‘Greta Thunberg’ to protest outside Swedish parliament for more action against climate change.

• She had called for a strike every Friday until the Swedish parliament revised its policies towards climate change.

• Gradually, students and adults from across the world started mobilising and demonstrating in front of parliaments and local city halls in their respective countries.

• Thousands of events have been planned from September 20th to 27th, 2019.

                                                                                                                                         Source :- Indian Express

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISRO is developing a methane-powered rocket engine

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

Context :

• ISRO, is developing methane-powered rocket engines.

Methane :

• Methane, which can be synthesised with water and carbon dioxide in space, is often described as the space fuel of the future.

Methane Powered Rocket Engine :

• The space agency is developing two ‘LOx methane’ engines (liquid oxygen oxidiser and methane fuel) engines.

• ISRO currently prefers to use a fuel called Unsymmetrical Di-Methyl Hydrazine, along with Nitrogen tetroxide for oxidiser, in its liquid fuel engines, which are used in the lower stages of its rockets, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

  • This fuel, like all hydrazine-based fuels, is said to be highly toxic and cancer-causing.

  • Globally, governments are keen on banning hydrazine.

Advantage :

• Apart from being non-toxic, it has a higher specific impulse (which means one kg of the gas can lift one kg of mass for a longer time).

• It is easy to store and does not leave a residue upon burning.

• It is less bulky and can be synthesised up in space.

Disadvantage :

• Methane-fired engines need an igniter to start the fire whereas Hydrazine fuels are hypergolic, which means they start burning on their own upon coming in contact with oxygen.

                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

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