PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 26-JANUARY-2018
Paper 2:
Topic: Indian Constitution-
historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant
provisions and basic structure.
Republic Day 2018
India is celebrating its 69th Republic Day this year.
Republic day in India is celebrated every year on 26th of January to honour the
Constitution of India as it came into force on the same day in the year 1950.
In a first, the Republic Day
celebrations will have 10 chief guests. The heads the ASEAN leaders from
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar,
Cambodia, Laos and Brunei – will be hosted in this year’s celebrations. The
significance of the ASEAN leaders attending the event is that ASEAN completes
50 years of formation and that India completes 25 years of its partnership with
the grouping.
Why January 26th?
The Constitution came into
effect on January 26, 1950, a date specially chosen to coincide with the
anniversary of ‘Purna Swaraj Diwas’. January 26, 1930 was marked as
‘Purna Swaraj Diwas’, or the day the nation would attain complete freedom from
its colonisers by the Congress.
The members of the drafting
committee felt that the birth of the constitution should be observed on a day
that held some significance in their fight for independence. When India was
ultimately granted freedom by the British in 1947, but on August 15 and not
January 26, the date was instead assigned to celebrating India’s Republic Day.
This was the day the Indian
Independence Act was consequently repealed and India was established as a
democratic republic, no longer a dominion of the British Crown.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Appointment to various
Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various
Constitutional Bodies.
National Voters Day
Context: The Election Commission
of India celebrated the 8th National Voters Day on January 25th.
Theme: This year’s celebrations
revolved around the theme ‘Accessible Elections’, which expressed ECI’s pursuit
of working towards making the electoral process more inclusive and friendly for
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
VoICE India: on the occasion, the
President also inaugurated the first edition of VoICE India – a biannual
magazine which brings forth best practices, innovations and knowledge derived
from practical experience and success stories of the election machinery that
exists in every corner of India.
National Voters’ Day:
National Voters’ Day or
Rashtriya Matdata Diwas is celebrated on January 25 every year with an aim to
encourage youngsters, who have reached the age of 18, to participate in the
electoral process. The National Voters’ Day is celebrated at all polling
stations across the country to mark the importance of voting.
The Election Commission of
India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering
election processes in the country and administers elections to the Lok Sabha,
Rajya Sabha, state legislatures and the offices of the President and Vice
President in India. It was on January 25, 1950 that the Election Commission of
India was established.
Sources: pib.
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.
Shram Awards
Context: The Government has
announced the Prime Minister’s Shram Awards for the year 2016 to be awarded to
50 workers employed in the Departmental Undertakings & Public Sector
Undertakings of the Central and State Governments and Private Sector Units
employing 500 or more workers.
The awards are given in
recognition of their distinguished performances, innovative abilities,
outstanding contribution in the field of productivity and exhibition of
exceptional courage and presence of mind.
About Shram Awards:
The Prime Minister’s Shram
Awards were instituted in 1985 by the Government of India. This national award
is conferred on workers for outstanding contributions that improve
productivity, innovation, and indigenization, resulting in saving foreign
exchange. The award is also given for long-term exceptional dedicated work.
The objective of the Prime
Ministers Shram Awards is to recognize the outstanding contributions made by
workmen as defined in the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 in organizations both in
public and private sector and who have distinguished record of performance,
devotion to duty of a high order, specific contribution in the field of
productivity and proven innovative abilities among others.
There are four types of awards:
§ Shram Ratna: Rs. Two lakhs and
recognition of their contribution to their field (a Sanad).
§ Shram Bhushan: RS. 100000 and a
Sanad.
§ Shram Vir / Shram Veerangana:
RS. 60000 and a Sanad.
§ Shram Devi / Shram Shree: RS.
40000 and a Sanad.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and
global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
interests.
Delhi Declaration
Context: Delhi declaration was
adopted at the recently concluded ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. ASEAN-India
Commemorative Summit was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment
of sectoral dialogue between two sides.
Highlights of the Delhi
declaration:
The Declaration supports a
common approach to counter terrorism and sought a “comprehensive approach to
combat terrorism through close cooperation by disrupting and countering
terrorists, terrorist groups and networks, including by countering cross border
movement of terrorists and foreign terrorist fighters and misuse of Internet
including social media by terror entities.”
The declaration urges countries
to strengthen cooperation and collaboration in combating other transnational
crimes, including people smuggling, trafficking in persons, illicit drug
trafficking, cybercrime, and piracy and armed robbery against ships.
The Delhi Declaration also
reaffirmed “the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability,
maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight in the
region, and other lawful uses of the seas and unimpeded lawful maritime
commerce and to promote peaceful resolutions of disputes, in accordance with
UNCLO”.
Background:
The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand,
with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding
Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. At present there are 10 members namely, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Viet Nam.
The motto of ASEAN is “One
Vision, One Identity, One Community”.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: infrastructure.
Zojila tunnel
Context: An MoU has been signed
between National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL)
under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and M/S IL&FS
Transportation Networks Ltd for construction of the Zojila Tunnel in Jammu
& Kashmir.
About the Zojila pass tunnel:
What is it? It is a 14.2-km
long tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir to provide all-weather connectivity
between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh, which remains cut-off from the rest of India
during winters due to heavy snowfall. “Zojila tunnel will be the longest
bi-directional tunnel in Asia.
Implementation: The project
will be implemented by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRT&H)
through the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation
Limited (NHIDCL).
Benefits of the tunnel: The
project would enhance the safety of travellers crossing Zojila Pass and reduce
the travel time from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes. This pass is most strategic for
the entire Kargil sector which has seen intrusion and war in the past. It will
further increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the
project activities.
Facts for Prelims: Zojila pass is situated
at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which
remains closed during winters (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and
avalanches cutting off Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Awareness in space.
Global-Scale Observations of
the Limb and Disk (GOLD)
Context: NASA’s Global-Scale
Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) instrument was recently launched atop
an Ariane 5 rocket.
About Global-Scale Observations
of the Limb and Disk (GOLD):
What is it? GOLD is essentially
an imaging spectrograph. Spectrographs are scientific instruments that have
been designed to break light down into its constituent wavelengths and to
measure their intensity. By examining the data from such an instrument,
scientists can determine a wide variety of characteristics, including a
target’s composition and temperature. GOLD will be tasked with collecting far
ultraviolet light data on Earth’s atmosphere.
Mission: To shed light on how
the uppermost layers of Earth’s atmosphere can be affected by powerful space
and Earth-based weather events.
Focus: GOLD will focus its
attention on a relatively poorly-understood region of the upper atmosphere,
where the charged particles of the ionosphere mingle with the diffuse neutral
gasses that make up the thermosphere.
Background:
Earth’s atmosphere is a
complex, multi-layered protective shell that envelopes our planet, and
safeguards its inhabitants from dangerous space weather emanating largely from
our Sun. This tenuous region of the atmosphere has been known to undergo swift
and significant changes in less than an hour. These fluctuations can be driven
by the constant interactions between the ionosphere and thermosphere, in
conjunction with weather emanating from both Earth and space.
The complexity of these
interactions makes it very difficult to predict when an atmospheric change in
the ionosphere and thermosphere will occur, and this can be a serious problem
for satellite communications. Disturbances in the ionosphere can interfere
with, or even block signals being sent between Earth-based systems and orbital
probes, potentially affecting cell-phone communications, and other vital
services such as GPS, which is needed to safely navigate airplanes and ships.
Sources: et.
Topic: cybersecurity.
Global Centre for Cybersecurity
Context: In a bid to safeguard the
world from hackers and growing data breaches — especially from nation-states —
the World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced a new Global Centre for
Cybersecurity.
About the Global Centre for
Cybersecurity:
The Global Centre for
Cybersecurity will help build a safe and secure global cyberspace. The centre
will be based in Geneva, Switzerland, and will function as an autonomous
organization under the auspices of the World Economic Forum.
§ The aim of the centre is to
establish the first global platform for governments, businesses, experts and
law enforcement agencies to collaborate on cybersecurity challenges.
§ The centre will draw on the
Forum’s government and industry support to work towards a more secure
cyberspace through its established multistakeholder approach.
The centre will focus on the
following aims:
§ Consolidating existing
cybersecurity initiatives of the World Economic Forum.
§ Establishing an independent
library of cyber best practices.
§ Helping partners to enhance
knowledge on cybersecurity.
§ Working towards an appropriate
and agile regulatory framework on cybersecurity.
§ Serving as a laboratory and
early-warning think tank for future cybersecurity scenarios.
Way ahead:
As a truly borderless problem,
cyber-attacks are surpassing the capacities and institutions that are currently
dealing with this threat in an isolated manner. Only through collaboration,
information exchange and common standards can the global community successfully
counter organized digital crime.
Sources: the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
Padma awards:
This year the President of
India has approved conferment of 85 Padma Awards including two duo cases. The
list comprises 3 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 73 Padma Shri Awards.
About Padma Awards:
Padma Awards – one of the
highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories,
namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. They were instituted in
the year 1954. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of
activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering,
trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service,
etc.
Categories:
§ Padma Vibhushan is awarded for
exceptional and distinguished service;( it is a second degree honour).
§ Padma Bhushan is awarded for
distinguished service of high order. (it is a third degree honour).
§ Padma Shri is awarded for
distinguished service in any field. (it is a fourth degree honour).
The awards are announced on the
occasion of Republic Day every year. The award is normally not conferred
posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider
giving an award posthumously if the demise of the person proposed to be
honoured has been recent, say within a period of one year preceding the
Republic Day on which it is proposed to announce the award.
First India-designed vaccine
passes WHO test:
For the first time, the
Rotavac, a vaccine conceived and developed from scratch in India, has been
“pre-qualified” by the World Health Organisation. To be “pre-qualified” means
that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and
South America.
The Rotavac vaccine is
developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited. It has been included
in India’s national immunisation programme. The Rotavac vaccine protects
against childhood diarrhoea caused by the rotavirus.
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