PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 15-NOVEMBER-2017
Topic: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms,
Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Hunar Haat
Context:
The fourth Hunar Haat
exhibition was recently organised by the Ministry of Minority Affairs at India
International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Hunar Haats:
What are they?
Hunar Haats are organised by
Ministry of Minority Affairs under USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills &
Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) scheme. The USTTAD
scheme aims at preserving & promoting the rich heritage of the traditional
arts & crafts of the Minority communities. This is one of the
flagship programmes of the Ministry.
Significance of Hunar Haats:
§ Hunar Haats have become a
successful mission to provide employment and income generation opportunities with
platforms for marketing the products of master artisans, craftsmen and culinary
experts belonging to the minority communities.
§ It envisages at boosting
the skill of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already engaged in the
traditional ancestral work
Sources: pib.
GS Paper 2:
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by
the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws,
institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these
vulnerable sections.
Accessible India Campaign
Context:
On the occasion of Children’s
Day, the winners of ‘Drawing and Painting Competition on Accessible India
Campaign’ were awarded at a felicitation event organised by Department of
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under M/o Social Justice
and Empowerment.
About Accessible India
Campaign:
What is it?
Accessible India Campaign (AIC)
is the nationwide flagship campaign of the Department of Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment.
Aim:
The aim of the Campaign
is to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all
over the country. The campaign has the vision to build an inclusive society
in which equal opportunities are provided for the growth and development of
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) so that they can lead productive, safe and dignified
lives.
Implementation:
For creating universal
accessibility for Persons with Disabilities, the campaign has been divided into
three verticals: Built Environment; Transport and Information &
Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem.
The Built Environment
Accessibility component of Accessible India Campaign entails following targets:
(i) Completing accessibility
audit of at least 25-50 most important government buildings in 50 cities and
making them fully accessible by the end of this year;
(ii) Making 50% of all the
government buildings of NCT and all the State capitals fully accessible by
December 2018;
(iii) Completing accessibility
audit of 50% of government buildings and making them fullyaccessible in 10 most
important cities/towns of States not covered in targets (i) and (ii) by
December 2019.
Facts for Prelims:
Accessible India Campaign is in
line with the Article 9 of UNCRPD(UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities) to which India is a signatory since 2007. The scheme also comes
under Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 provides for equal Opportunities and
protection of rights and non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with
Disabilities.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in
various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Bill banning superstitious
practices tabled
The much-delayed and hotly
debated Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil
Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017, popularly known as the
‘Anti-Superstition Bill’, was recently tabled in the Legislative
Assembly. The Bill, if cleared by the State legislature, is expected to put an
end to various inhuman practices.
The bill bans the following:
§ Performing any inhumane act,
evil practices and black magic in search of treasure, bounty.
§ Tantric acts including physical
and sexual assault.
§ Parading anyone naked.
§ Ostracising anyone in the name
of ritual and encouraging inhumane acts.
§ Creating impression of
‘possession’ and exorcism.
§ Assaulting people under the
garb of exorcism.
§ Spreading misinformation and
creating panic in the garb of ghosts, black magic.
§ Making claims of healing power.
§ Propagating practices that
involve self-mutilation.
§ Coercing people to perform
fire-walking.
What is not banned?
§ The form of the worship such as
Pradakshina, Yatra, Parikrama performed at religious places.
§ Harikata, Keerthana,
Pravachana, Bhajana, teaching of ancient and traditional learning and arts,
practice, propagation and circulation.
§ Miracles of the deceased saints
propagation, publicity and circulation of the same and the propagation,
publicity and distribution of literature about miracles of the religious
preachers which do not cause physical injury.
§ Performance of prayers, upasana
and religious rituals at home, temple, darghas, gurdwara, pagoda, church, and
other religious places which do not cause physical injury.
§ All religious celebrations,
festivals, prayers, procession and other act relating other rituals.
§ Piercing of ears and nose of
children in accordance with rituals and performance of religious ritual such as
Kesh Lochan by the Jains.
§ Advice in regard to vaastu
shasthra, and advice by jyothishya and other astrologers.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and
global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
interests.
International Solar Alliance
Context: A Curtain Raiser Event
for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)
was recently held at Bonn, Germany.
About the International Solar
Alliance (ISA):
What is it?
The ISA is a treaty-based
alliance of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Nations situated fully or
partially between the Tropics, and aims at accelerating development and
deployment of solar energy globally.
When it was launched?
The ISA was jointly launched on
30 November 2015 by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, and
then-President of France, H.E. François Hollande, on the side lines of the
UNFCCC Conference of Parties 21 (CoP21) at Paris, France.
Significance of ISA:
§ More than 120 countries are
geographically located in the tropics, between the Tropic of Cancer and the
Tropic of Capricorn, either fully or partially. These places get ample sunlight
throughout the year, making solar energy an easily available resources.
§ These countries also happen to
be ones where maximum growth in energy demand is expected in the coming years,
considering that these are areas where current production is woefully short of
requirement.
§ The ISA is an effort to ensure
that as these countries rapidly ramp up their electricity production, they
should predominantly use solar energy and avoid fossil fuels.
Way ahead:
ISA will become a treaty-based
international intergovernmental organisation on 6 December 2017. 44 countries
have already signed the ISA treaty, and many more are set to join.
Source: pib.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global
groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
South Asia Economic Summit
Context:
Xth South Asia Economic Summit
(SAES) has begun at Kathmandu. More than 200 participants including ministers,
members of parliaments, ambassadors, government officials, eminent experts and
thinkers attending the summit.
The theme of the summit is “Deepening Economic
Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia”.
About SAES:
What is it?
Started in 2008, South Asia
Economic Summit is like Davos- World Economic Forum event in South Asia. It is
a regional platform for discussing and analyzing economic and development
issues and challenges faced by South Asian countries and advancing the cause of
regional integration and cooperation.
What it does?
It brings together stakeholders
from the government, private sector, research, academics and civil society to
generate innovative and actionable ideas for consideration by the region’s
policymakers and SAARC.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Asia Pacific Computer Emergency
Response Team (Apcert)
Context:
The Indian Computer Emergency
Response Team (CERT-In) under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology organizing the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response
Team (APCERT) Conference from November 12-15, 2017 in New Delhi. This is the 15th
Conference of APCERT and first ever conference in India and South Asia and will
be attended by 21 economies.
§ This conference would cover
contemporary topics around strategies of CERTs, Technology and Instruments for
building trust in digitally evolving economies and best practices for handling
cyber security in mobile and social media.
The conference theme is “Building Trust in the
Digital Economy”.
About APCERT:
What is it?
APCERT (Asia
Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team) is a coalition of CSIRTs (Computer
Security Incident Response Teams), from 13 economies across the Asia Pacific
region. APCERT organizes an annual meeting called APSIRC conference, and the
first conference was held in March 2002, Tokyo, Japan.
Membership: Any CSIRT from Asia
Pacific Region, who is interested to furthering the objectives of APCERT, will
be allowed to join as APCERT members after meeting all member accreditation
requirements.
APCERT membership model has 2
levels:
Full members: Full Members are CSIRTs/CERTs
in the Asia Pacific region, who have the right to vote on APCERT issues, as
well as to stand for election to the APCERT Steering Committee. All Founding
Members are Full Members.
General Members: Any CSIRTs/CERTs in the Asia
Pacific region with an interest in incident response and IT security, can join
APCERT as a General Member. General Members are not eligible to vote nor to
stand for election to the APCERT Steering Committee. An applicant is required
to join APCERT as a General Member first. After applicants obtain a General
Member status, they can later apply to upgrade their membership to a Full
Member status. General Membership is a pre-requisite to become a Full Member.
Facts for Prelims:
About CERT-In:
What is it?
CERT-In (the Indian Computer
Emergency Response Team) is a government-mandated information technology (IT)
security organization. CERT-In was created by the Indian Department of
Information Technology in 2004 and operates under the auspices of that department.
It’s purpose:
The purpose of CERT-In is to
respond to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities and promote
effective IT security practices throughout the country. According to the
provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, CERT-In is
responsible for overseeing administration of the Act.
Sources: pib.
Paper 3:
Topic: Infrastructure: Energy,
Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
National Power Portal(NPP)
Context: National Power Portal(NPP)-
a Centralized Platform for Collation and Dissemination of Indian Power Sector
Information, has been launched by the government.
About NPP:
What is it? NPP is a centralised
system for Indian Power Sector which facilitates online data capture/ input
(daily, monthly, annually) from generation, transmission and distribution
utilities in the country and disseminate Power Sector Information (operational,
capacity, demand, supply, consumption etc.) through various analysed reports,
graphs, statistics for generation, transmission and distribution at all India,
region, state level for central, state and private sector.
Key facts:
§ The NPP Dashboard has been
designed and developed to disseminate analyzed information about the sector
through GIS enabled navigation and visualization chart windows on capacity,
generation, transmission, distribution at national, state, DISCOM, town, feeder
level and scheme based funding to states.
§ The system also facilitates
various types of statutory reports required to be published regularly.
§ The Dashboard would also act as
the single point interface for all Power Sector Apps launched previously by the
Ministry, like TARANG, UJALA, VIDYUT PRAVAH, GARV, URJA, MERIT.
§ NPP is integrated with
associated systems of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Power Finance
Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and other major
utilities and would serve as single authentic source of power sector
information to apex bodies, utilities for the purpose of analysis, planning,
monitoring as well as for public users.
§ The Nodal Agency for
implementation of NPP and its operational control is CEA. The systemhas been
conceptualized, designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Sources: pib.
Topic: IPR.
Rasogolla hits sweet spot, gets
GI tag
The Geographical Indication
(GI) Registry and Intellectual Property India has presented the Geographical
Indication Tag status to Banglar Rasogolla of West Bengal and Mamallapuram
stone sculptures of Tamil Nadu.
The sculptures from
Mamallapuram were known to be carved in stone with characteristics of
intricate designing chiselled finely, keeping with the spirit of the
surrounding Pallava art and architecture. The description includes cave
architecture, rock architecture, structural temples, open sculptures, relief
sculptures and painting/portrait sculptures.
Rasgolla: According to one of the
documents submitted by West Bengal citing historical evidence, Rasogollas
invented in the Nadia district of West Bengal are 60 years old (lower end time
frame). Haradhan, a confectioner of village Phulia is named as the inventor.
West Bengal has given half-a-dozen historical evidences to back its claim.
About GI tag:
What is it?
A GI is primarily an
agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial
goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
Significance of a GI tag:
Typically, such a name conveys
an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable
to the place of its origin.
Security:
Once the GI protection is
granted, no other producer can misuse the name to market similar products. It
also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that product.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Security challenges and their management in border areas;
linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
Sagar Kavach
What is it? It is a joint security
exercise organized jointly by the governments of Odisha and neighbouring West
Bengal.
Aim: It aims to further
tighten the existing coastal security mechanism along the 630 km long
coastline.
What it does? “Sagar Kavach security
exercise is a realistic drill to check the efficacy of the security parameters
and preparedness of various security forces like the Indian Navy, Marine police
force, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Forest Department, Fisheries and district
administration.
Sources: ET.
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