PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 8-NOVEMBER-2017
Paper 1:
Topic: Indian culture will cover the
salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to
modern times.
Kambala
The Supreme Court has refused
to pass an interim stay on the Ordinance allowing kambala, the traditional
buffalo slush track race. However, the apex court has agreed to examine the
Constitutional validity of the Ordinance.
Background:
The People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-governmental organisation, had challenged
the Ordinance.
About Kambala:
What is it?
Kambla in its traditional form
is non-competitive with buffalo pairs made to race one after another in paddy
fields, which is considered a thanksgiving to the Gods for protecting the
animals from diseases.
Why it has become
controversial?
Over the years, it has however
become an organised sport with animal rights activists claiming that the
buffaloes run in the race due to fear of being beaten, which the organizers
dismiss, saying no violence is involved and that several modifications had been
made to ensure that it is an animal friendly event.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Role of women and women’s
organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental
issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
SHe-Box Online Complaint
Management System
To ensure the effective
implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act), 2013, the government has launched
a comprehensive SHe-Box.
About SHe- Box:
What is it?
It is an online complaint
Management System for women working in both public and private organizations to
lodge complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.
How it operates?
Once a complaint is submitted
to the portal, it will be directly sent to the ICC/LCC of the concerned
employer. Through this portal, the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare as well
as complainant can monitor the progress of inquiry conducted by the ICC/LCC.
Key features:
§ The new SHe-Box portal offers
the facility of making online complaints of sexual harassment at workplace to
all women employees in the country including government and private employees.
§ Those who have already filed a
written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) or
Local Complaint Committee (LCC) constituted under the SH Act are also eligible
to file their complaint through this portal.
§ SHe-Box will also provide a
platform to various empanelled institutes/organisations to share their capacity
building activities with the Ministry which in turn will be able to monitor the
activities of these institutes/organizations so empanelled from across the
country.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2:
Topic: Statutory, regulatory and
various quasi-judicial bodies.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board
of India (IBBI)
Context:
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board
of India (IBBI) has amended its Corporate Insolvency
Resolution Process Regulations to ensure that as part of due diligence, prior
to approval of a Resolution Plan, the antecedents, credit worthiness and
credibility of a Resolution Applicant, including promoters, are taken into
account by the Committee of Creditors.
This move is aimed at ensuring
that the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process results in a credible and
viable Resolution Plan.
About IBBI:
What is it?
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board
of India was set up on 1st October 2016 under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code, 2016 (Code). It is a unique regulator: regulates a profession as well as
transactions.
Functions:
§ It has regulatory oversight
over the Insolvency Professionals, Insolvency Professional Agencies and
Information Utilities.
§ It writes and enforces rules
for transactions, namely, corporate insolvency resolution, corporate
liquidation, individual insolvency resolution and individual bankruptcy under
the Code.
§ It is a key pillar of the
ecosystem responsible for implementation of the Code that consolidates and
amends the laws relating to reorganization and insolvency resolution of
corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals.
§ This is done in a time bound
manner for maximization of the value of assets of such persons, to promote
entrepreneurship, availability of credit and balance the interests of all the
stakeholders.
Organizational structure of
IBBI:
The IBBI has a ten-member board
including a Chairman. Following is the structure of the IBBI:
§ One Chairperson.
§ Three members from Central
Government officers not below the rank of Joint Secretary or equivalent.
§ One nominated member from the
RBI.
§ Five members nominated by the
Central Government; of these, three shall be whole-time members.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and
accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and
potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
Controversial Rajasthan bill
sent to Assembly select committee
Facing flak from various
quarters, the Rajasthan government has referred a controversial bill that seeks
to protect public servants and judges from prosecution without its prior sanction
to a select committee of the Assembly.
§ The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan
Amendment) Bill was recently tabled in the Assembly to replace an ordinance
promulgated on September 7.
Highlights of the Bill:
§ The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan
Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, seeks to protect serving and former judges,
magistrates and public servants in the State from being investigated for
on-duty action, without government sanction.
§ It also bars the media from
reporting on such accusations till the sanction to proceed with the probe is
given by the government.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and
accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and
potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App
The government has launched ‘Grahak
Sadak Koyla Vitaran App’ benefitting customers of Coal India Limited
(CIL) lifting coal through road mode.
About the App:
What is it?
The app is for the benefit of
customers lifting coal through road mode. It is a step towards transparency in
the system of loading programme and despatch.
Significance of the app:
It helps achieve transparency
in despatch operations, as a tool to monitor, whether the despatches are made
on the fair principle of ‘First in First Out’ and keeps track of all the
activities from issuance of Sale Order to physical delivery of coal by road.
Benefits:
The main benefits of the App
for the customers, against the Sale Orders issued, include easy accessibility
of the information at the click of the button, apart from transparency in the
system of loading programme and despatch. The app also helps in logistics
planning for lifting of coal in tune with the loading programmes. It further
helps in improved planning of procurement, production and stock management by
the customers.
Key features of the app:
§ It provides date-wise,
truck-wise quantity of coal delivered against the Sale Orders and information
related to Scheme-wise, Colliery-wise, Grade-wise, customer-wise details of
Sale Orders issued during a period.
§ In terms of loading it provides
allotment verses lifting status in details from different sources truck by
truck and summary of the despatch.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora,
their structure, mandate.
Odisha Higher Education
Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) Project
A Financing Agreement for IBRD
loan of US$ 119 million (equivalent) for the “Odisha Higher Education Programme
for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project” was recently signed between India
and the World Bank.
About OHEPEE project:
The Objective of the project is to improve the quality
of ‘students’ equitable access to selected institutions and enhance governance
of the higher education system in Odisha.
Project Component: Result Areas are (I)
Improved quality of and students’ equitable access to selected institutions of
higher education: Institutional Development Plan (IDP) Grants (performance
–based Financing (II) Enhanced governance of the higher education system:
(i)Improvement of governance in colleges (ii)Improvement of financial and
procurement management and accounting in all government and government-aided
colleges.
About IBRD:
What is it?
The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution
that offers loans to middle-income developing countries. The IBRD is the first
of five member institutions that compose the World Bank Group. It was
established in 1944 with the mission of financing the reconstruction of
European nations devastated by World War II.
What it does?
The IBRD provides
commercial-grade or concessional financing to sovereign states to fund projects
that seek to improve transportation and infrastructure, education, domestic
policy, environmental consciousness, energy investments, healthcare, access to
food and potable water, and access to improved sanitation.
Sources: pib.
Paper 3:
Topic: indigenization of technology
and developing new technology.
‘NIRBHAY’ Sub-Sonic Cruise
Missile
The successful test flight of
‘NIRBHAY’ missile was recently conducted by the DRDO. It was successfully test
fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha.
About NIRBHAY missile:
What is it? It is India’s first
indigenously designed and developed Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile which
can be deployed from multiple platforms.
Key features:
§ Nirbhay is an all-weather
low-cost long-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy. The missile
has a range of more than 1000 km.
§ The missile has the capability
to loiter and cruise at 0.7 Mach, at altitudes as low as 100 m.
§ Its relatively slow flight
speed allows it to navigate its way precisely to the target.
§ The Nirbhay cruise missile is
an Indian version of the American Tomahawk.
§ The missile is capable of being
launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air.
Sources: pib.
Facts for Prelims:
§ New ant species discovered in
the Western Ghats:
Researchers have discovered a
new species of ant in the Western Ghats, recognised as one of the world’s
‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity.
Key facts:
1.
The new species is named Tyrannomyrmex alii (or T. alii). The ant is named after
eminent myrmecologist Musthak Ali, who is regarded as the country’s ‘ant man’.
2.
The new species was found in the Periyar Tiger Reserve. It belongs
to Tyrannomyrmex, a rare tropical genus of ants.
3.
Tyrannomyrmex is a rare myrmicine (subfamily of ants) ant genus
that is distributed in the Indomalayan bio-region that extends from southern
India and Sri Lanka to southeast Asia.
4.
alli is the fourth species of the rare genus and the second one
from India.
§ Musa paramjitiana:
What is it?
It is a species of wild banana
discovered recently in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Key facts:
§ The plant grows to a height of
nine metres and bears an edible, sweet-and-sour tasting fruit that is
boat-shaped and has numerous bulb-shaped seeds.
§ Its conservation status has
been declared as ‘Critically Endangered’ as it has so
far been spotted in only two locations on the islands, each with 6 to 18 plants
in a clump.
§ The fruits and seeds have
ethno-medicinal importance. Pseudo-stem and leaves of these species are also
used during religious and cultural ceremonies.
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