PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 10-FEBRUARY-2018
Paper
1:
Topic:
Role of women and women’s organization.
Swadhar
Greh Scheme
Context: Recently
released government data shows that there are 559 Swadhar Greh presently
functional in the country with 17231 beneficiaries.
About
Swadhar Greh Scheme:
The
Swadhar scheme was launched by the Union Ministry of Women and Child
Development in 2002 for rehabilitation of women in difficult circumstances. The
scheme provides shelter, food, clothing and care to the marginalized
women/girls who are in need.
§ The
beneficiaries include widows deserted by their families and relatives, women
prisoners released from jail and without family support, women survivors of
natural disasters, women victims of terrorist/extremist violence etc.
§ The
implementing agencies are mainly NGOs. An Evaluation Study conducted through
Centre for Market Research and Social Development to assess the performance of
the scheme observed that the scheme is successful for which it was
formulated/implemented.
Way
ahead:
Women
and girls represent half of the world’s population — but inspite of the
progress that has been made in bettering their lives, the road ahead remains
long. As the famous saying goes, “Women’s rights are human rights.” Women are
equal members of society and have a right to live free from violence and
discrimination, to be educated, own property, vote and fully participate in
economic activities. When women have full access to their rights, all of
society prospers. Experts claim that female empowerment and gender equality are
two of the most effective ways for the global community to achieve every one of
the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Role of women and women’s organization.
National
Women Entrepreneurship Council
Context: The
Ministry of Women and Child Development is considering to establish National
Women Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC). NWEC will promote entrepreneurship as it
would be the umbrella organization for socio-economic gender parity, financial
inclusion and economic empowerment of women in India.
Background:
According
to Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, India scored an overall 41.7
points, ranking 49 among 54 economies globally with comparatively low in Women
Business Ownership percentages.
Need
for economic empowerment of women:
Economically
empowered women are major catalysts for development. There is greater
recognition of the positive relationship between increased economic activity by
women and improved social outcomes. Women often tend to reinvest their income
in their children’s education, health and nutrition. This has a positive impact
on the potential for economic growth.
Challenges:
India
presents lower opportunities for women to assume leadership roles,
participation in the workforce or engagement in entrepreneurial activities.
Lack of education, technological know-how and cultural bias coupled with
stringent business and government regulations are some key impediments that
happen to undermine women’s ability to rise to positions of leadership and take
advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities in India.
Way
ahead:
Women
entrepreneurs have been carving out a niche for them across the globe,
including India especially in niche and unconventional businesses. However,
there is significant potential to harness the untapped potential of women’s
entrepreneurship in India.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Role of women and women’s organization.
SHe-box
Context: So
far, 107 complaints have been received through portal ‘SHe-box’. The government
has all concerned authorities to take appropriate actions.
About
SHe-box:
What
is it? It is an online complaint management system for registering
complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace. It was launched by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development. The complaint management system has
been developed to ensure the effective implementation of Sexual Harassment of
Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act),
2013.
Once
a complaint is submitted to the portal, it will be directly sent to the
Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the concerned
Ministry/Department/PSU/Autonomous Body etc. having jurisdiction to inquire
into the complaint. Through this portal, WCD as well as complainant can monitor
the progress of inquiry conducted by the ICC.
Significance
of the portal:
This
portal is an initiative to provide a platform to women working or visiting any
office of Central Government (Central Ministries, Departments, Public Sector
Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and Institutions etc.) to file complaints
related to sexual harassment at workplace under the SH Act. Those who had
already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint
Committee (ICC) constituted under the SH Act are also eligible to file their
complaint through this portal. It is also an effort to provide speedier remedy
to women facing sexual harassment at workplace as envisaged under the SH Act.
Sources:
pib.
Paper
2:
Topic:
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services
relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
“Healthy
States, Progressive India” Report
Context: NITI
Aayog has released a comprehensive Health Index report titled, “Healthy States,
Progressive India”.
What
you need to know about the report?
The
report has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the
World Bank, and in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
(MoHFW).
The
report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year
incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance
with respect to each other. It is the first attempt to establish an annual
systematic tool to measure and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of
the nation’s performance in Health.
Background:
States
and UTs have been ranked in three categories namely, Larger States, Smaller States,
and Union Territories (UTs), to ensure comparison among similar entities. The
Health Index is a weighted composite Index, which for the larger States, is
based on indicators in three domains: (a) Health Outcomes (70%); (b) Governance
and Information (12%); and (c) Key Inputs and Processes (18%), with each domain
assigned a weight based on its importance.
Health
Index has been developed as a tool to leverage co-operative and competitive
federalism to accelerate the pace of achieving health outcomes. It would also
serve as an instrument for “nudging” States & Union Territories (UTs) and
the Central Ministries to a much greater focus on output and outcome based
measurement of annual performance than is currently the practice. With the
annual publication of the Index and its availability on public domain on a
dynamic basis, it is expected to keep every stakeholder alert to the
achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal number 3.
Performance
of states:
§ Among
the Larger States, Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu ranked on top in terms of
overall performance, while Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh
are the top three ranking States in terms of annual incremental performance.
§ Among
Smaller States, Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur on overall
performance, while Manipur followed by Goa were the top ranked States in terms
of annual incremental performance.
Comment:
The
Health Index report notes that while States and UTs that start at lower levels
of development are generally at an advantage in notching up incremental
progress over States with high Health Index scores, it is a challenge for
States with high Index scores to even maintain their performance levels.
Way
ahead:
The
incremental measurement reveals that about one-third of the States have
registered a decline in their performance in 2016 as compared to 2015,
stressing the need to pursue domain-specific, targeted interventions. Common
challenges for most States and UTs include the need to focus on addressing
vacancies in key staff, establishment of functional district Cardiac Care Units
(CCUs), quality accreditation of public health facilities and
institutionalization of Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS).
Additionally, almost all Larger States need to focus on improving the Sex Ratio
at Birth (SRB).
Sources:
pib.
Paper
3:
Topic:
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact
assessment.
ASH
TRACK Mobile App
Context: The
government has launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile
application named ASH TRACK. These platforms will enable better management of
the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly
ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road
contractors, cement plants etc.
About
the App:
The
ASH TRACK App would be managing 200 million tonnes of fly ash by tracking coal
based power plants situated within 100 km and 300 km from given location and
availability of fly ash, along with prospective users within the same radius.
The App gives plant-wise, utility-wise and State-wise ash utilization status in
the country.
The
thermal plants would regularly update fly ash generation, utilization and stock
on the web portal and the app. This would allow effective monitoring and
reviewing for increasing ash utilization. This would also help in protecting
environment in terms of reduction in fugitive emissions, saving of precious top
soil and conservation of land for sustainable development.
Way
ahead:
Fly
ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in
the coal based thermal power plants, is a proven resource material for many
applications of construction industries and currently is being utilized in
manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road
embankment construction and low lying area development, etc.
At
present, 63% of the fly ash is being utilised and target is for 100%
utilisation of the fly ash. There is need for education and awareness
generation. Road contractors and construction engineers need to know the
benefits of using fly ash in construction. Measures need to be taken to reduce
the cost of construction of roads using fly ash by way of tax structure,
subsidies and transportation services. Besides, there is a need to prevent the
ash from coming to the power plant by washing the coal at its place of origin.
The government should also come out with a policy to encourage fly ash use in
cement plant.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Disaster and disaster management.
Integrated
Automatic Aviation Meteorological Systems (IAAMS)
Context: ‘Integrated
Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS)’ was recently inaugurated at
INS Garuda. INS Garuda is the fourth air station to have been installed with
this integrated system.
About
IAAMS:
IAAMS
is an ambitious project of the Indian Navy to modernise the Meteorological
infrastructure of the nine Naval Air Stations. The IAAMS project at INS Garuda
will give a major fillip to aviation safety through automation of weather
monitoring process.
§ Equipped
with the state of the art Meteorological Sensors viz., Radar Vertical Wind
Profiler, Transmissometer, Ceilometer and Automatic Weather Observation System,
IAAMS undertakes automatic and continuous recording of relevant weather
parameters that are vital for accurate weather forecasting.
§ It
has a special alarm feature that alerts the duty staff about any abnormal
change of weather parameters that may affect safe flying operations. The system
can also provide automatic dissemination of routine weather reports of the air
station as per World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards to other Air
Stations and to ATC tower without human intervention.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
IPR.
Global
IP Index
Context: The
US Chamber of Commerce’s intellectual property rights advocacy arm, Global
Innovation Policy Centre, has released Intellectual Property Index. The index
ranks economies based on 40 unique indicators that benchmark activity critical
to innovation development surrounding patent, trademark, copyright, and trade
secrets protection.
§ The
US tops the list with 37.98 points, followed by United Kingdom (37.97) and
Sweden (37.03).
New
Delhi, however, gives no formal recognition to such rankings and has in the
past even dismissed criticism heaped on its IPR regime by the US government as
part of its annual US 301 report.
Performance
of India:
§ India
has improved its performance both in relative and absolute terms. The index
showed that India ranked 44th of 50 economies — a jump from 43rd of 45
economies one year ago — improving its performance both in relative and
absolute terms.
§ For
the first time, India has broken free of the bottom 10% of economies measured,
and its score represents the largest percentage improvement of any country
measured. This is further evidence of a country on the move.
§ India
improved its score as it passed guidelines to strengthen the patentability
environment for technological innovations, improved the protection of
well-known marks, and initiated IP awareness and coordination programs, thereby
implementing some tenets of the 2016 National IPR Policy.
Way
ahead:
In
what is otherwise a very challenging environment for IP rights holders, India
has demonstrated a long-standing and clear commitment to increasing awareness
of the importance of IP rights and respect for creators and innovators.
However, India has a long way to go. Among key areas of weaknesses are limited
framework for protection of life sciences IP; patentability requirements
outside international standards; lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings;
previously used compulsory licensing for commercial and nonemergency
situations; limited participation in international IP treaties and no
participation in international PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) tracks.
Additional, meaningful reforms are still needed to incentivize domestic
innovation, attract foreign investors, and improve access to innovation.
Sources:
the hindu.
Facts
for Prelims:
“Swachh
Bharat Sanitation Park” inaugurated in Delhi:
The
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in collaboration with the
Environmental Sanitation Institute and Tata Trusts, has developed a Sanitation
Park in New Delhi.
The
park an objective to create awareness on various safe technological options.
The Park demonstrates various options pertaining to toilet technologies and
solid and liquid waste management technologies, with a brief description of
these technologies. The Park also displays information regarding various
interventions undertaken under the Swachh Bharat Mission, capturing the success
stories and impact created under the Mission across the country.
21st Indian
Birding Fair:
The
21st Indian Birding Fair is happening at the Man Sagar Lake, Rajasthan. This
year, this fair is dedicated to the White Naped Tit bird, which is quite rare
in Jaipur and are at the verge of extinction.
About
White Naped Tit bird: White-Naped is a robust, strongly patterned, mainly
black-and-white coloured bird with yellow in the flanks and sides of the
breast. The bird is found in Udaipur and in some regions of Kutch as well. It
is considered vulnerable to extinction because of the scarcity of suitable
habitats.
Janadriyah
festival:
Context:
Saudi is celebrating the annual Janadriyah festival. India is this year’s guest
of honor.
About
Janadriyah festival: Janadriyah is the annual national heritage and culture
festival named after the village on the northern outskirts of Riyadh. The
festival encourages Saudis to celebrate their heritage and to bolster cultural
exchange.
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