PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 21-MARCH-2018
:
Topic: Indian culture will cover the
salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to
modern times.
National Cultural Audiovisual
Archives (NCAA)
Context: National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) project of the Ministry of Culture,
Government of India, implemented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
(IGNCA) has been certified as the world’s
first Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363:2012 standard, granted by
Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository Authorisation Body Ltd. (PTAB), United
Kingdom.
ISO 16363:
§ ISO 16363 for the Audit and Certification of Trustworthy
Digital Repositories grew out of the Trusted Digital Repositories and Audit
Checklist (TRAC) and is supported by ISO 16919 (Requirements for Bodies
providing Audit and Certification) and managed by the Primary Trustworthy
Digital Repository Authorisation Body (ISO-PTAB).
§ PTAB has been accredited by the National Accreditation
Board for Certification Bodies of India (NABCB) to conduct ISO 16363 audits
worldwide utilizing ISO standard 17021, as extended by ISO 16919.
About National Cultural
Audiovisual Archives (NCAA):
IGNCA is implementing the
National Cultural Audiovisual Archives project. The primary objective of the
NCAA is to identify and preserve the cultural heritage of India available in
audiovisual form through a process of digitization and making it accessible to
the people.
§ At present, NCAA has a total of twenty-one (21) Partnering
Institutions from across the country, covering 11 governmental and 10
non-governmental cultural organisations. The digitization and metadata
standards followed by the Project are in parity with international standards
within the overall framework of the OAIS model.
§ The digitization standards are in concordance with those
prescribed by the
International Association of Sound & Audiovisual Archives (IASA) and
the metadata schema is extended Dublin Core, followed by galleries, libraries,
archives and museums worldwide.
What’s important?
For Prelims and Mains: NCAA and
the need for digitization.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2:
Topic: Statutory, regulatory and
various quasi-judicial bodies.
India Infrastructure Finance
Company Limited (IIFCL)
Context: India Infrastructure
Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) has made contribution of Rs 10.00 Crore to the
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
The IIFCL contribution is being
utilized for promotion of sports in the disciplines Badminton, Archery and Para
Sports by way of support to sportspersons in these disciplines for their
customized training and other services and setting up of Academies/Support to
Academies in these disciplines.
About the India Infrastructure
Finance Company Limited (IIFCL):
IIFCL is a wholly-owned Government of India company set up
in 2006 to provide long-term financial assistance to viable infrastructure
projects through the Scheme for Financing Viable
Infrastructure Projects through a Special Purpose Vehicle called India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL),
broadly referred to as SIFTI.
§ Eligible
sectors: The
sectors eligible for financial assistance from IIFCL are as per the Harmonized
list of Infrastructure Sub-Sectors as approved by the Government and as amended
from time to time. These broadly include transportation, energy, water,
sanitation, communication, social and commercial infrastructure.
§ IIFCL has
been registered as a NBFC-ND-IFC with RBI since September 2013.
About the National Sports
Development Fund:
The National Sports Development
Fund (NSDF) was established in 1998, under
Charitable Endowments Act 1890, vide Government of India
Notification dated 12th November 1998.
Functions: The NSDF supports
sportspersons to excel in the field by providing opportunities to train under
coaches of international repute with technical, scientific and psychological
support and also in getting exposure to international competitions. Financial
assistance is also provided to specific projects for promotion of sports and
games sponsored by reputed Organizations/Institutes, provided the facilities so
created are made available to a sizeable population of the area/region.
The Council: The Fund is managed by a
Council constituted by the Central Government. Union Minister for Youth Affairs
and Sports is the Chairperson of the council. The Members of the Council
include senior officers in the Department of Sports/Sports Authority of India.
The representatives of the Apex industry organizations namely, FICCI, CII and
ASSOCHAM have been included in the Council as members. The representatives of
Sports Promotion Boards of reputed organizations are also members of the
Council. Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Youth
Affairs & Sports is the ex-officio Member Secretary of the Council.
What’s important?
For Prelims: NSDF and IIFCL.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Statutory, regulatory and
various quasi-judicial bodies.
Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Council (BIRAC)
Context: The Biotechnology
Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)
celebrated its 6th Foundation Day on 20th March, 2018.
Theme: ‘Sustaining Innovation –
A Market Driven Pathway’.
SoCH awards:
The event saw the announcement
of the preliminary winners of the SoCH (Solutions for Community Health) awards.
What is it?
§ This award is an innovation challenge award which was
launched on the MyGov portal in September 2017.
§ This challenge has two themes, platform technologies for
reducing disease burden (communicable and noncommunicable diseases) and
sanitation and waste recycling.
§ The winners will now have 6 months and rupees 15 lakhs to
develop a minimal viable prototype and will then compete for the larger rupees
50 lakh award within their categories.
About BIRAC:
Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a
not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology
(DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology Government of India,
to empower the emerging biotech industry to undertake strategic research and
innovation.
BIRAC is a new industry
academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact
initiatives, be it providing access to risk capital through targeted funding,
technology transfer, IP management and handholding schemes that help bring
innovation excellence to Indian biotech firms and make them globally
competitive.
What’s important?
§ For Prelims: BIRAC and SoCH awards.
§ For Mains: Significance of Biotechnology.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Issues relating to
development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health,
Education, Human Resources.
60 Higher Educational
Institutions granted autonomy
Context: In a historic decision,
the University Grants Commission has granted autonomy to sixty Higher
Educational Institutions which have maintained high academic standards.
Criteria for granting autonomy
status:
Autonomy is granted to
institutes based on the parameters of excellence in academic performances,
capability of self-governance and enhancement in the quality of education, and
it can be seen as a great opportunity to meet the emerging and evolving needs,
in sync with the industry.
Implications:
§ These universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but
will have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centers, skill
development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs.
§ They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty,
enroll foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter
into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes.
§ The eight autonomous collages, granted autonomy, will be
free to set their own syllabus, hold examinations, carry out evaluation as well
as declare results. In this case, only the degree will be awarded by the
respective university.
Why higher educational
institutions need greater autonomy?
Higher education plays a
crucial role in the realisation of India’s potential for economic and
technological growth. Autonomy helps institutionalise quality and
accountability, thereby encouraging institutions to incorporate unique
pedagogical developments and practices into the curriculum.
Management education is meant
to be contemporary in nature and thus dynamic. Frequent changes are required in
pedagogy, curriculum and other aspects. An autonomous status expedites these
operations and thus enthuses constant fluidity in the pattern and curriculum,
apart from accelerating and improving evaluation.
Significance of autonomy:
While expanding new horizons
for higher education and strengthening the quality and relevance, autonomy can
be considered a possible solution to enhance the quality of education and
incorporate methods of skilling the students, thus contributing to creating a
knowledge-based economy and paving the way to gear up the young workforce for
Industry 4.0.
Way ahead:
It is essential that Indian
institutes are given the freedom to work with a greater agility in realising
the larger goals of the education space in the country. Government impetus for
autonomy can propel the global ranking of Indian institutions and push India
higher on the world charts for education. By bringing this into effect, there
are high chances of reducing the brain drain, turning it into a brain gain.
What’s important?
For Mains: Autonomy for higher
education institutions- need, challenges and significance.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: Issues related to direct and
indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System
objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and
food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Krishi Vigyan Kendras
Context: The ministries of
agriculture and skill development have signed a pact to conduct programmes for
training in farm and allied sectors at 690 Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the
country.
Need for skill upgradation:
About 40% of the country’s
workforce is linked to agricultural knowledge activities. The government aims
to double farmers’ income. However, without skill upgradation, this is not
possible. There are rapid technological strides in the agriculture sector; therefore,
upskilling is needed.
What is Krishi Vigyan Kendra?
Krsihi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) are
agricultural extension centres created by ICAR (Indian Council for Agricultural
Research) and its affiliated institutions at district level to provide various
types of farm support to the agricultural sector. The first KVK was established
during 1974 (Pondichery) and has grown as a largest network in the country.
Activities:
KVKs provide several farm
support activities like providing technology dissemination to farmers,
training, awareness etc. To achieve the set objectives KVKs undertake following
types of activities in the adopted villages: (1) Farm Advisory Service (2)
Training programme for different categories of people. (3) Training programme
for the extension functionaries. (4) Front Line Demonstration (Fill) (5) On
Farm Testing (OFT).
What’s important?
§ For Prelims: KVKs.
§ For Mains: Agricultural reforms.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Awareness in space.
Copernicus programme
Context: India has joined Europe’s
mega global arrangement of sharing data from Earth observation satellites,
called Copernicus.
The agreement:
§ Under this arrangement, the European Commission intends to
provide India with free, full and open access to the data from the Copernicus
Sentinel family of satellites using high bandwidth connections.
§ Reciprocally the DoS will provide the Copernicus programme
and its participating states with a free, full and open access to the data from
ISRO’s earth observation satellites, including historical data sets.
§ It is intended that ISRO’s satellite data would be made
available for distribution on the European ‘Copernicus hub’.
§ This comprises land, ocean and atmospheric series of
ISRO’s civilian satellites (Oceansat-2, Megha-Tropiques, Scatsat-1, SARAL,
INSAT-3D, INSAT-3DR) with the exception of commercial high-resolution
satellites data.
About Copernicus programme:
Copernicus is the most
ambitious Earth observation programme to date. It will provide accurate, timely
and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment,
understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security.
§ Copernicus
is the new name for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
programme, previously known as GMES.
§ This
initiative is headed by the European Commission (EC) in partnership with the
European Space Agency (ESA).
§ ESA coordinates the delivery of data from upwards of 30
satellites. The EC, acting on behalf of the European Union, is responsible for
the overall initiative, setting requirements and managing the services.
§ Services
provided by Copernicus: land management, the marine environment, atmosphere,
emergency response, security and climate change.
§ Sentinel: ESA is developing a new
family of satellites, called Sentinels, specifically for the operational needs
of the Copernicus programme. The Sentinels will provide a unique set of
observations, starting with the all-weather, day and night radar images.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Security challenges and their
management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
Armed Forces (Special Powers)
Act (AFSPA), 1958
Context: The government has
informed the Lok Sabha that it was considering a proposal to make the AFSPA Act
more “operationally effective and humane.” The AFSPA is in force in several northeastern
States.
The decision came after the
Home Ministry decided to reduce the number of Central Armed Police Force
personnel deployed in the northeastern States.
What is AFSPA?
AFSPA, enacted in 1958, gives
powers to the army and state and central police forces to shoot to kill, search
houses and destroy any property that is “likely” to be used by insurgents in
areas declared as “disturbed” by the home ministry.
The Act provides army personnel
with safeguards against malicious, vindictive and frivolous prosecution.
Security forces can “arrest without warrant” a person, who has committed or
even “about to commit a cognizable offence” even on “reasonable suspicion”.
What are ‘disturbed’ areas?
The state or central government
considers those areas as ‘disturbed’ “by reason of differences or disputes
between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or
castes or communities.
How is a region declared
‘disturbed’?
Section (3) of the Afspa
empowers the governor of the state or Union territory to issue an official
notification in The Gazette of India, following which the Centre has the
authority to send in armed forces for civilian aid. Once declared ‘disturbed’,
the region has to maintain status quo for a minimum of three months, according
to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976.”
What is state government’s role?
The state governments can
suggest whether the act is required to be enforced or not. But under Section
(3) of the act, their opinion can be overruled by the governor or the Centre.
What are the arguments for
Afspa?
The army is opposed to the
withdrawal of Afspa. Many argue that removal of the act will lead to
demoralising the armed forces and see militants motivating locals to file
lawsuits against the army.
What do detractors say?
Critics say the undemocratic
act has failed to contain terrorism and restore normalcy in disturbed areas, as
the number of armed groups has gone up after the act was established. Many even
hold it responsible for the spiralling violence in areas it is in force.
The justice Jeevan Reddy
Committee was set up in 2005 to review Afspa and make recommendations. It
recommended that Afspa should be repealed and the Unlawful Activities
Protection Act strengthened to fight militancy. However, no steps were taken to
repeal or reform the act.
Sources: the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
106th Indian Science Congress to be held in Bhopal:
Context: 106th edition of the
Indian Science Congress will be held next year in Januaryin Bhopal.
The theme: “Future India:
Science & Technology”.
Plastic Park to be set up in Deoghar District, Jharkhand:
Context: Government of India
has approved the setting up of a Plastic Park in Deoghar District, Jharkhand.
About the project: The project
would be set up at a cost of Rs. 120 crores in an area of 150 acres and a range
of polymer products including woven sacks, moulded furniture, water tanks,
bottles, pipes mosquito nets, etc would be manufactured. It has great potential
for attracting investment for setting up an ecosystem for plastic industry and
generate employment opportunities for the local populace. The project is likely
to provide direct employment generation to about 6000 people and indirect
employment to over 30000 people.
Gulf Shield 1:
Context: Royal Saudi Navy is
holding exercises “Gulf Shield 1” in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Oman Sea.
§ The drill, which is considered the largest military drill
in the region in terms of diversity of expertise and quality of weapons, aims
at raising the military readiness of the participating countries, modernizing
the joint mechanisms and enhancing coordination and cooperation.
§ “Gulf Shield 1” is part of a series of exercises the fleet
has carried out in the area aiming to raise combat readiness, gain the
necessary skills, and improve ability to perform the essential leadership
services.
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