PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 29-JANUARY-2018
Paper
1:
Topic:
Role of women and women’s organization.
Stree
Swabhiman Initiative
Context: Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology has announced an initiative by common
services centres (CSCs) on women’s health and hygiene. The initiative is named
‘Stree Swabhiman’.
About
Stree Swabhiman:
‘Stree
Swabhiman’ aims to create a sustainable model for providing adolescent
girls and women an access to affordable sanitary products by leveraging CSCs.
Under
the ‘Stree Swabhiman’ project, sanitary napkin micro manufacturing units are
being set up at CSCs across India, particularly those operated by women
entrepreneurs. The initiative is driven by awareness and personalised outreach
by women entrepreneurs who produce and market sanitary napkins themselves.
About
CSCs:
Common
Services Centers (CSCs) are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India
programme. They are the access points for delivery of various electronic
services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and
financially inclusive society.
CSCs
enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:
§ Digital
infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen.
§ Governance
and services on demand.
§ Digital
empowerment of citizens.
Sources:
pib.
Paper
2:
Topic:
Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
Nodal
agency to fight malnutrition
Context: Aiming
to eradicate malnutrition among children, Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia has
introduced Child Nutrition and Development Nodal Agency Bill, 2017 in the
Parliament. The bill proposes setting up a nodal agency for child nutrition and
development.
Need
for a nodal agency:
Despite
thousands of crores of rupees being spent and a number of government schemes
working for child development, the status of health and nutrition of children
in the country remains abysmal. All nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive
schemes work in silos. As a result, they are not able to achieve the intended
outcome. Therefore, the establishment of a nodal agency that would facilitate
coordination of all ministries and departments and execute the schemes in a
convergent manner is urgently required.
What
it does?
The
body would facilitate and supervise multi-sectoral programme in high, medium-
and low-burdened districts with malnourished children. It would coordinate and
administer policy implementation among various ministries responsible for
implementing programmes aimed at eradicating malnutrition. At the end of each
financial year, the agency will submit a report of its activities to the Central
government.
Way
ahead:
The
need of the hour is to involve all field functionaries in a productive manner.
Consistent monitoring and evaluation of the schemes using technological
interventions and real-time data is also important. There is also a need to
provide leverage budgets from related departments to develop an integrated plan
with cross-sectoral collaboration to achieve nutrition-related targets.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services
relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Pulse
polio programme
Context: Concerned
over any entry of polio virus from other countries, the government has launched
Pulse Polio programme for 2018.
In
order to mitigate the risk of poliovirus importation, the immunity against
polio infection is maintained through National and Sub-National Polio rounds
along with sustained high quality polio surveillance. For additional
protection, the government has also introduced the injectable Inactivated Polio
Vaccine (IPV) into its routine immunization program.
Background:
In
India the last polio case was recorded on 13 January 2011. India maintains a
sensitive surveillance system for polio. All cases of paralysis with sudden
onset in children up to 15 years (which is called Acute Flaccid Paralysis or
AFP) are picked up by the polio surveillance network. Each of these cases is
followed up and their stool samples tested for poliovirus in World Health
Organization (WHO) accredited laboratories. In addition, sewage samples are
collected from over 30 sites spread across the country for poliovirus detection
at regular intervals.
About
IPV:
IPV
is produced from wild-type poliovirus strains of each serotype that have been
inactivated (killed) with formalin. As an injectable vaccine, it can be
administered alone or in combination with other vaccines. IPV is an
evidence-based intervention that not only ensures continued protection of
children against all types of polio viruses, but also helps save vaccine — a
move bound to positively impact global vaccine supply in the coming years. IPV
provides serum immunity to all three types of poliovirus, resulting in
protection against paralytic poliomyelitis.
India
became the first country globally to introduce fractional doses of IPV in
childhood immunisation programme in eight states and Union
territories in early 2016.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests.
AAI,
Lao PDR sign civil aviation cooperation agreement
Celebrating
25 years of the India-ASEAN relationship, the Airports Authority of India (AAI)
has signed a historic agreement with Lao Air Traffic Management, Department of
Civil Aviation, Lao PDR, for providing SkyRev360, a comprehensive e-data
gathering, invoicing and collection system.
About
SkyRev360:
What
is it? SkyRev360 is a fully automated and comprehensive data
gathering, invoicing and collection service which eliminates inaccuracies,
errors and delays for better revenue management. SkyRev360 has been developed
in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) under
the Government of India’s Make in India initiative.
What
it does? SkyRev360 automates data
processing, helping ANSPs overcome strenuous manual processes which are prone
to mistakes. A collaboration between two experts of the aviation industry: IATA
and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The solution gathers 100% of your
flight data and produces comprehensive billing data. Therefore, with SkyRev360,
ANSPs’ financial operations become both more accurate and efficient in one stroke.
Features:
§ Data
gathering and processing module: SkyRev360 can ensure the essential data for
your invoices is always the latest and most complete.
§ Invoicing
module: The system maintains all account attributes and allows for an extensive
view of associated data, including aircraft specifications, flight movements,
billing ledger records, etc.
§ Collection:
All collections are managed with the IATA Enhancement & Financing Services
(E&F) process, which offers efficiencies and automation to ANSPs and airlines
by settling through IATA Settlement Systems.
§ Airline
queries: The IATA team handles all queries and disputes related to billing and
collection from your air operators.
§ Dashboard
and reports: Incident reports, airspace usage, traffic volumes, economic values
and more are always at your fingertips.
Sources:
the hindu.
Paper
3:
Topic:
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources,
growth, development and employment.
Prompt
Corrective Action (PCA)
Context: The
Finance Ministry is planning to initiate a performance review of heads of
public sector banks that are under the RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) as
part of the reform process.
Background:
So
far, the Reserve Bank has put 12 public sector banks under watch in view of
poor performance on parameters such as high levels of non-performing assets
(NPAs), low capital level and low return on assets. These parameters indicate
the financial health of banks and a need to initiate remedial measures to put them
on the right course.
What
is PCA?
PCA
norms allow the regulator to place certain restrictions such as halting branch
expansion and stopping dividend payment. It can even cap a bank’s lending limit
to one entity or sector. Other corrective action that can be imposed on banks
include special audit, restructuring operations and activation of recovery
plan. Banks’ promoters can be asked to bring in new management, too. The RBI
can also supersede the bank’s board, under PCA.
When
is PCA invoked?
The
PCA is invoked when certain risk thresholds are breached. There are three risk
thresholds which are based on certain levels of asset quality, profitability,
capital and the like. The third such threshold, which is maximum tolerance
limit, sets net NPA at over 12% and negative return on assets for four
consecutive years.
What
are the types of sanctions?
There
are two type of restrictions, mandatory and discretionary. Restrictions on
dividend, branch expansion, directors compensation, are mandatory while
discretionary restrictions could include curbs on lending and deposit. In the
cases of two banks where PCA was invoked after the revised guidelines were
issued — IDBI Bank and UCO Bank — only mandatory restrictions were imposed.
Both the banks breached risk threshold 2.
What
will a bank do if PCA is triggered?
Banks
are not allowed to re new or access costly deposits or take steps to increase
their fee-based income. Banks will also have to launch a special drive to
reduce the stock of NPAs and contain generation of fresh NPAs. They will also
not be allowed to enter into new lines of business. RBI will also impose
restrictions on the bank on borrowings from interbank market.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Awareness in the fields of IT, Space.
NASA
Fund Researches the Potential of Blockchain Technology in Space
NASA
recently awarded a grant of $330,000 USD to the University of Akron to research
the potential of blockchain technology to improve space communications. NASA
wants ways to reduce the time it takes for their exploration vehicles to
receive signals and react to potential threats in space. Also, a decentralized
blockchain would ensure there is no degradation or loss of the critical data
collected by vehicles in space.
Background:
A
major hurdle of space exploration today is the distance between the machines in
space and their Earth-based controllers. The distance creates a time lag
between machine and operator. Semi-autonomous machines eliminate some of the
barriers created by this time lag, by allowing the machines to make some
decisions for themselves.
What
is Blockchain?
Blockchain
is the digital and decentralized ledger that records transactions without the
need for a financial intermediary, which in most cases is a bank. A blockchain
is an anonymous online ledger that uses data structure to simplify the way we
transact. Blockchain allows users to manipulate the ledger in a secure way
without the help of a third party.
How
it works?
Blockchain
enables two entities that do not know each other to agree that something is
true without the need of a third party. As opposed to writing entries into a
single sheet of paper, a blockchain is a distributed database that takes a
number of inputs and places them into a block. Each block is then ‘chained’ to
the next block using a cryptographic signature. This allows blockchains to be used
as a ledger which is accessible by anyone with permission to do so. If
everyone in the process is pre-selected, the ledger is termed ‘permissioned’.
If the process is open to the whole world, the ledger is called unpermissioned.
Benefits
of blockchain technology:
A
blockchain is anonymous, protecting the identities of the users. This makes
blockchain a more secure way to carry out transactions. The algorithm used in
blockchain reduces the dependence on people to verify the transactions.
Sources:
NASA.
Topic:
Awareness in the fields of IT, Space.
Imager
for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) science satellite
Context: A
long lost NASA satellite has been found alive. NASA has confirmed it stumbled
across radio transmissions from Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global
Exploration (IMAGE) science satellite, which lost contact with mission control
over 12 years ago.
Background:
On
march 25, 2000, NASA launched the IMAGE satellite atop a Delta II rocket. The
unmanned orbiter kept an eye on the Earth’s magnetosphere and how it reacts to
the solar winds. Then on December 18, 2005, radio contact was lost for unknown
reason. After weeks of attempts by NASA to regain contact, the probe was
written off for good.
About
Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) mission:
IMAGE
was the first satellite mission dedicated to imaging the Earth’s magnetosphere,
the region of space controlled by the Earth’s magnetic field and containing
extremely tenuous plasmas of both solar and terrestrial origin. Invisible to
standard astronomical observing techniques, these populations of ions and
electrons have traditionally been studied by means of localized measurements
with charged particle detectors, magnetometers, and electric field instruments.
Instead of such in situ measurements, IMAGE employed a variety of imaging
techniques to “see the invisible” and to produce the first comprehensive global
images of the plasma populations in the inner magnetosphere. With these images,
space scientists were able to observe, in a way never before possible, the
large-scale dynamics of the magnetosphere and the interactions among its
constituent plasma populations.
IMAGE
used neutral atom, ultraviolet, and radio imaging techniques to:
§ Identify
the dominant mechanisms for injecting plasma into the magnetosphere on substorm
and magnetic storm time scales.
§ Determine
the directly driven response of the magnetosphere to solar wind changes.
§ Discover
how and where magnetospheric plasmas are energized, transported, and
subsequently lost during substorms and magnetic storms.
Sources:
et.
Facts
for Prelims:
“Beating
the Retreat” Ceremony:
Context:
Beating the Retreat ceremony will be held on 29th January.
What
is it? The Beating Retreat ceremony officially denotes the end of Republic Day
festivities. It is conducted on the evening of 29 January, the third day after
the Republic Day. It is performed by the bands of the three wings of the
military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Colours and
Standards are cased and flags lowered. The ceremony creates nostalgia for the
times gone by.
‘Beating
the Retreat’ has emerged as an event of national pride when the Colours and
Standards are paraded. The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when
Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of
display by the massed bands. ‘Beating Retreat’ marks a centuries old military
tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew
from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the
Retreat.
Red
handfish:
Context:
Researchers have found a new population of red handfish in the waters off
Tasmania. The red handfish is believed to be the world’s rarest fish species.
Until now, only 20 to 40 individuals of red handfish have been identified in
the whole world. The new find expands the number of unique fish that has born
with finger-like fins.
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