State upgrades 64 primary health centres

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

 

Context:

★At least 64 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the Maharashtra State have been upgraded as Health and Wellness Centres (HCWs) under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), popularly known as Ayushman Bharat.

★State officials say these centres have undergone minor repairs, painting and branding as HCWs along with strengthening of laboratory services and information technology support.

 

Ayushman Bharat:

★Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018 launched the flagship scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana' (PMJAY), also known as Ayushman Bharat or the National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM).

★This is the world’s largest health scheme

★Ayushman Bharat, the government-sponsored health insurance scheme, will provide free coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year in any government or even empanelled private hospitals all over India.

★Launched with an aim to help the poor and the economically deprived, the scheme will be available for 10.74 crore beneficiary families and about 50 crore Indian citizens.

★This scheme will strengthen the healthcare services in India. Around 13000 hospitals in the country have been coordinated for the implementation of the scheme.

★The Ayushman Bharat programme will be funded with 60 percent contribution from the Centre and the remaining from the states.

★The scheme aims to target poor and vulnerable population of the country, based on the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database. There will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme.

★​The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy.

★ A defined transport allowance per hospitalisation will also be paid to the beneficiary.

★The scheme allows the beneficiary to take cashless benefits from any public or private empanelled hospitals across the country.

                                                                                                                Source:- The Hindu

ISRO’s First mission on 2019 to put military satellite Microsat - R in Space:

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Achievement of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology

 

Context:

★ISRO is all set to launch DRDO’s Microsat R and Kalamsat on board the PSLV-C44 on January 24 from its spaceport situated in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

★The 46th flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) will launch Microsat-R and Kalamsat

 

PSLV - C44:

★The PSLV-C44 is a four-stage launch vehicle which features alternating solid and liquid stages along with two strap-on configuration while it has been named PSLV-DL

★PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL and is a new variant of PSLV.

★The launch vehicle is the new version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle while it will be moved to a higher circular orbit for establishing an orbital platform and carry out experiments.

 

Microsat - R:

★Microsat-R is an small Indian earth observation satellite built for the Indian military Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

★The satellite has a launch mass of 740 kg.

★Earth Observing Satellite.

 

KalamSat:

★Kalamsat is a communication satellite with a life span of two months

★The nanosatellite is a 10cm cube weighing 1.2 kg

★The satellite cost was about Rs 12 lakh

★Kalamsat will be the first to use the rocket's fourth stage as an orbital platform. The fourth stage will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments

★It is named after former Indian president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and was built by an Indian high school student team, led by Rifath Sharook, an 18-year-old from the Tamil Nadu town of Pallapatti

★It is the world's lightest and first ever 3D-printed satellite

                                                                                                           Source:- The Hindu

 2 rhinos raised at Kaziranga find a new home at Manas

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

 

Context:

       A pair of hand-raised rhinos, a male and female, have been translocated from Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park in Assam.

 

Translocation of Rhino’s:

★The translocation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Forest department, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India

★The translocation of these two animals have raised rhino population to 38 in Manas National Park.

★The augmentation of Rhinos were part of the initiative “Bring Back Manas’, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Need of Translocation:

★The greater one-horned rhinoceros, also known as the Rhinoceros unicornis, constitutes one of the key species as well as a charismatic species of Manas National Park.

★Manas was once a home to a population of more than 180 rhinos but the entire population was wiped out during the ethnic unrest between 1988 and 2001.

★The entire rhino population of Manas was rendered locally extinct.

★Since the early part of 2000, there has been a restoration of peace in the area aided by the formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) for local governance. This has led to the restoration of conservation efforts at Manas.

★Under the rescue and rehabilitation programme initiated by the government of Assam in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Bodoland Territorial Council and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

 

Significance of Translocation:

★In Asia, opportunities for intense biological management for the rapid growth of rhino population are limited.

★However, the greater one-horned rhinoceros range has been expanded at minimum level in Nepal and India through the process of translocation.

★With successful conservation, the numbers and densities of greater one-horned rhinoceros have been increasing.

★The process of translocating the rhinos to Manas got back its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.

           

Indian Rhino Vision-2020: ★It is a joint programme for the long-term conservation of the greater one-horned rhino in Assam. ★It has been developed and implemented by the Forest Department, Government of Assam, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Rhino Foundation (IRF) ★The programme is supported by  a number of organizations including US Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and WADWT. ★The programme aims to increase the population of the greater one-horned rhino by 3000 in new/ potential areas, all throughout the state of Assam, by the year 2020. ★As part of IRV-2020 rhino population range expansion strategy, 18 rhinos were translocated from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park between the years 2008 and 2012. ★For a viable and stable population of greater one-horned rhino at Manas National Park, it is essential to maintain a minimum of 40 rhinos with a sex ratio of 3:1. ★The remaining rhinos required in different phases of the project will be brought from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park.

                                                                                                              Source:- The Hindu

Now, an app to help the visually impaired

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

Context:

 The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, has developed an app to help the Visually Impaired recognise currency notes

 

Roshni App:

★The app can recognise both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands

★The claim is that Roshni is the first Android app to successfully recognise new INR currency notes.

★This App utilises an adaptable deep learning framework, which further uses the patterns and features embedded on the notes to differentiate and determine the currency denomination

★The app can only recognise one note at a time.

                                                                            Source:- The Hindu

Cabinet okays MoU between India, Kuwait

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

 

Context:

★Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing Memorandum of Understanding between India and Kuwait for cooperation on the Recruitment of Domestic Workers.

 

More about the news:

★The MOU provides a structured framework for cooperation on domestic workers related matters and provides strengthened safeguards for Indian domestic workers including female workers deployed in Kuwait.

★The MOU is initially valid for a period of five years and incorporates provision for automatic renewal.

★A Joint Committee will be set up to follow up the implementation of this MOU.

 

Impact:

★The MOU will promote bilateral cooperation in domestic workers related matters between the two countries.

★Around 3,00,000 Indian domestic workers deployed in Kuwait. This includes around 90,000 female domestic workers.

                                                                                                                   Source:- PIB

 

Cabinet decides to strengthen northeast autonomous councils

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

 

Context:

★The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to Article 280 and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to increase autonomy, financial resources and powers of the autonomous district councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.

★A Bill in this regard is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament, a Home Ministry official said.

 

More about the news:

★The amendment will ensure 30% reservation for women in village and municipal councils in Assam, Mizoram and Tripura

★The centre also decided that “the finance commission constituted by the Union government will be specifically mandated to recommend devolution of financial resources to the 10 autonomous district councils, as well as the village and municipal councils, in the sixth schedule areas."

★The most important part of these amendments is that these will significantly improve the financial resources and powers of the autonomous districts councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, fulfilling longstanding aspirations of the tribal population in these Northeastern states

★This will be a game changer, as it will substantially enhance the funds available to these local government institutions for undertaking development works in these tribal areas

★The proposed amendments provide for elected village municipal councils.

★The village councils will be empowered to prepare plans for economic development and social justice, including those related to agriculture, land improvement, implementation of land reforms, minor irrigation, water management, animal husbandry, rural electrification, small scale industries and social forestry

                                                                                                        Source:- The Hindu

 

 India up one place on global talent competitiveness ranking at 80th: Survey

GS PAPER - 03 GOVERNANCE - growth, development and employment.

 

Context:

At 80th rank, India moves up one position on the Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) 2019, according to a report released by INSEAD business school in partnership with Tata Communications and Adecco Group.

 

Global talent Competitive Index:

★The survey measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, ranking 125 countries and 114 cities across all groups of income and levels of development.

★Switzerland maintains its number 1 position, followed by Singapore and the United States.

★China is the best performer among BRICS countries, while India remains the laggard of this grouping.

★European countries continue to dominate the GTCI rankings, with 15 of them in the top 25.

★Latin America often leads in producing female graduates (Argentina ranks 5th on that variable).

★Efforts in education (compared to GDP per capita) are high in Africa.

★The talent gap between higher and lower-income countries has increased over the last five years.

★This year’s edition also revealed that the top ten countries have several key characteristics in common and share one major feature: they all have a well-developed educational system providing the social and collaboration skills needed for employability in today’s labour market.

 

India’s Stand:

★India performed better than its lower-income peers when it comes to growing talent (48th) and access to growth opportunities (41st).

★India’s biggest challenge is to improve its ability to attract (95)and retain talent (96).

★There is a need to address its poor level of Internal Openness (116th) -- in particular with respect to weak gender equality and low tolerance towards minorities and immigrants and its disappointing showing in lifestyle (112th) indicators

                                                                                               Source:- Economic Times

 

 How air pressure change in Arctic is causing fog in Delhi

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

 

Context:

★A new study of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, has found that abnormal air circulation patterns in two far-away regions — the Arctic and Eurasia — have links to fog over the Indo-Gangetic plains of north India.

★The study reported that widespread fog conditions over the Indo-Gangetic plains were connected to the abnormal movement of high pressure systems over the Arctic Circle and the Eurasian middle latitudes.

★The study period for the research was December and January months from 1979 to 2013.

 

Mechanism:

★When an environment with lower air pressure surrounds the Arctic region, the cold air stays locked-up within the Arctic Circle.

★The development of high air pressure over the Arctic Circle, combined with east-west movements of air circulation over Eurasia, can cause more cold air to advance towards the tropical latitudes and the Indo-Gangetic plains

★Sinking of cold air coming from the Arctic and Eurasian regions over the Indo-Gangetic plains allows development of high pressure and favours fog formation in the presence of moisture close to the surface.

☆Fog scenario in the Indo-Gangetic plains commonly occurs because of the development of a high pressure environment over the Himalayan valley.

                                                                                                                 Source:- Times Of India

 

 Sea Vigil

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

 

Context:

Ten years after “26/11”, the Indian Navy commenced the largest coastal defence exercise off the Indian coast on January 22 2019.

 

Exercise - SEA VIGIL:

 

                   

★Exercise SEA VIGIL, a first of its kind, is being undertaken along the entire 7516.6 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and is involving all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.     

★SEA VIGIL aims to comprehensively and holistically validate the efficacy of the measures taken since ’26/11′.

★Seaward monitoring during the exercise will entail patrolling off coast, in Offshore Development Areas and off our islands by the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, supported by the State Marine Police.

★The exercise aims to simultaneously activate the coastal security mechanism across all States and Union Territories.

★The exercise will cover a wide frontage covering for the first time the entire coast of India, including island territories. The exercise will also go deeper, being spread over seaward, coastal, and hinterland areas.

★Exercise SEA VIGIL will provide a realistic assessment of our strengths and weakness and this will certainly help further strengthening of maritime security and in turn national security.

★The exercise is a build up towards the major theatre level tri-service exercise TROPEX [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] which Indian Navy conducts every two years.

★SEA VIGIL and TROPEX together covered the entire spectrum of maritime security, including transition from peace to conflict.

                                                                                                                    Source:- PIB

 

National Girl Child Day

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

 

Context:

The Women & Child Development Ministry will celebrate National Girl Child Day (NGCD) on, 24th January, 2019.​The programme will also observe anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.

Theme:- Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow

 

Objective:

★To Generate awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and create a positive environment around valuing the girl child.

           

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP): ★BBBP Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% financial assistance for District level component and the fund are directly released to the DC/DM’s account for smooth operation of the Scheme. ★BBBP is a comprehensive programme to address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum. ★The Child Sex Ratio (CSR), defined as number of girls per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years. ★The specific objectives of the scheme include preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

                                                                                                                         Source:- PIB

 

Sedition and its discontents [ Editorial / Opinion]

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

 

Section 124 A :

★Section 124-A deals with the offence of sedition.

★The term sedition covers speech or writing, or any form of visible representation, which brings the government into hatred or contempt, or excites disaffection towards the government, or attempts to do so.

★ It is punishable with three years in prison or a life term.

★“Disaffection”, it says, includes disloyalty and feelings of enmity.

★However, it also says expressing disapproval of government measures or actions, with a view to getting them changed by lawful means, without promoting hatred or disaffection or contempt towards the government will not come under this section.

 

Origin:

★The concept of sedition was introduced in the penal code in 1870

★It was a colonial law directed against strong criticism of the British administration.

☆Its most famous victims included Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi called it “the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen”.

 

Constitutional validity:

★Two high courts had found it unconstitutional after Independence, as it violated the freedom of speech and expression.

★The Constitution was amended to include ‘public order’ as one of the ‘reasonable restrictions’ on which free speech could be abridged by law.

★Thereafter, the Supreme Court, in Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar (1962) upheld the validity of Section 124-A

 

Controversy Now:

★In recent times, the resort to this section is seen as disturbingly frequent. Activists, cartoonists and intellectuals have been arrested under this section, drawing criticism from liberals that it is being used to suppress dissent and silence critics.

★Authorities and the police who invoke this section defend the measure as a necessary step to prevent public disorder and anti-national activities.

★Jawaharlal Nehru University students and activists, Assamese scholar Hiren Gohain and Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhem are prominent among those booked in recent days. Wangkhem has also been detained under the National Security Act.

 

Criticism:

★Liberals and rights activists have been demanding the scrapping of Section 124A from the statute books, arguing that it has no place in a democracy and that it is being invoked even in cases where there is no incitement to violence or tendency to create public disorder.

★It is argued that the provision is “overbroad”, i.e., it defines the offence in wide terms threatening the liberty of citizens.

★The Law Commission released a consultation paper in the year 2018 calling for a reconsideration of the section.

★It has pointed out that Britain abolished it more than a decade ago and raised the question whether a provision introduced by the British to put down the freedom struggle should continue to be law in India.

                                                                                                                     Source:- The Hindu

 

The gap within: on inter-State disparities [ Editorial /Opinion ]

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

 

Context:

★India, as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, may well be catching up with the richer economies in terms of absolute size.

★The economic convergence within the country remains a distant dream as poorer States continue to lag behind the richer ones in economic growth.

★A report from the rating agency Crisil found that the inter-State disparities have widened in recent years even as the larger economy grows in size and influence on the global stage.

 

Highlights Of the Report:

★Many low-income States have experienced isolated years of strong economic growth above the national average.

★Experts point out that richer states like Gujarat, for instance, have been able to achieve sustained economic growth and increase their gap over other States.

★Between fiscal years 2013 and 2018, there has been a significant divergence rather than convergence in the economic fortunes of the poorer and richer States, though there was some convergence between 2008 and 2013.

★Greater government spending boosted GDP growth in the top-performing States, particularly in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh whose growth is coupled with high fiscal deficit in 2018.

★But many other big-spending States, however, have not managed to achieve growth above the national average.

 

Reason -  Divergence in economic fortune of States:

★The size of public spending is not the reason behind divergence between richer States and poorer ones, but the quality of public spending is what makes the difference.

★Strength of State-level institutions, as gauged by their ability to uphold the rule of law and create a free, competitive marketplace for businesses to thrive is the crucial determinant of the long-run growth prospects of States.

                                                                                                         Source:- The Hindu

A reckless experiment : on gene edited babies [ Editorial / Opinion]

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

 

Context:

★The recent saga of the Chinese scientist who created the world’s first gene-edited babies in November 2018 has forced researchers everywhere to take a hard look at the ethics of gene-editing.

★As a matter of fact, Chinese authorities have since condemned the researcher, He Jiankui, with a government report saying he violated both ethics and laws.

★Experts comment that although Mr. He’s actions drew international outrage, they weren’t revolutionary in technological terms.

★Editing DNA to correct disease mutations has been possible for a while now, which means others can also do what Mr. He did.

 

Gene Editing - Promises:

★The promises of such gene-editing are boundless.

★Over a dozen clinical trials are currently on to treat diseases like HIV, multiple myeloma and other forms of cancer, using the Crispr-Cas9 editing system.

★But none of them involve editing the so-called human germ-line.

★Instead, they have restricted themselves to fixing genetic flaws in sick adults.

 

Chinese scientist - violated the ethical consensus:

★Mr. He deactivated a gene in two human embryos, which means that the changes he made could be inherited by the next generation

★In doing so, he violated the widely held ethical consensus that it is too early for germline editing, for we simply don’t know enough yet about the risks of such fiddling.

 

Concerns:

★One pitfall of embryo gene-editing is that it is not as precise as we need it to be today.

★Studies have shown that the technology can result in unintended mutations, which in turn can cause cancers.

★ In which some cells inherit the target mutation, while others don’t.

★However, the error-rates of Crispr are falling with each passing year. But the scientists aren’t in the clear yet.

★Even when gene-editing becomes fool-proof, the decision to edit embryos will still be a weighty one.

★This is because, today, scientists are far from understanding how exactly individual genes influence phenotypes, or the visible traits of people.

★Every gene likely influences multiple traits, depending on the environment it interacts with.

★This makes it hard to predict the ultimate outcome of an embryo-editing exercise without decades of follow-up.

★This uncertainty became evident in Mr. He’s experiment, in which he sought to immunise a pair of twins from HIV by tinkering with a gene called CCR5.

★The problem is that while protecting against HIV, a deactivated CCR5 gene can also make people more susceptible to West-Nile Fever.

★Every gene influences such trade-offs, which scientists barely understand today.

★This is why several scientific societies have advised abundant caution while fiddling with the human germline.

★In a 2017 report, the U.S.’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said such an intervention would be defensible only in very rare situations, where no alternative exists.

 

Remarks:

★The He Jiankui incident shows it is time to translate these advisories into regulations. Unless this happens, the Crispr revolution could well go awry.

                                                                                          Source:- The Hindu

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