PERIYAR IAS ACADEMY 30-JUNE-2018
Paper 1:
Topic:
population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues,
urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Ranking of Aspirational Districts
Context: The
NITI Aayog has launched the first
Delta ranking (incremental progress) for
the Aspirational Districts.
Delta ranking:
The
ranking is based on self-reported data of districts across five developmental
areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources,
Financial Inclusion and Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure. Districts
to provide real-time data points by filling up the Champions of Change
Dashboard.
Significance of delta ranking:
§ The
ranking is also a tool to identify sectors and indicator specific challenges so
that Team India, which is
driving this programme, can take immediate corrective measures.
§ This Delta
ranking takes a step further and looks into specific aspects of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and analyses how districts have performed in last two
months across important sectors.
§ This
grouping and positioning would aid the District Magistrates/Collectors to focus
more on these sectors and improve their ranking in future.
Performance of various districts:
§ Dahod
district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first.
§ West
Sikkim district in Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points.
§ Bijapur
district in Chhattisgarh is ranked 6th position.
About the scheme:
§ Launched
in January this year, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme
aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped
districts of the country.
§ The broad
contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes),
Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District
Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a Mass Movement or a Jan
Andolan.
§ With
States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each
district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure
progress, and rank districts.
Focus of the programme:
To enable
optimum utilization of their potential, this program focuses closely on
improving people’s ability to participate fully in the burgeoning economy.
Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial
Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure are this
programme’s core areas of focus.
Significance of the scheme:
If these
districts are transformed, there would be tremendous improvement in the
internal security environment of the country. If Prabhari officers can bring
convergence in the development efforts of different Ministries and state
Governments and the schemes specially launched by Home Ministry in these
districts, it would serve as a great opportunity to ensure rapid development in
the country.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: About the scheme for transformation of backward districts.
§ For Mains:
Development of backward districts- need, challenges and efforts.
Sources:
the hindu.
Paper 2:
Topic: Welfare
schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and
the performance of these schemes.
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)
Context: ‘IPledgefor9′ Achievers Awards were
given recently to the individuals and teams of doctors from the private sector
and States for their exemplary services, outstanding support of institutions
and commitment from support partners in achieving PMSMA’s objectives of safe
motherhood to every woman in the country.
‘IPledgeFor9’ Achievers Awards have
been devised to celebrate individual and team achievements and acknowledge
voluntary contributions for PMSMA in states and districts across India.
About PMSMA:
§ The
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan has been launched by the Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.
§ The program aims to provide assured, comprehensive and
quality antenatal care, free of cost, universally to all pregnant women on the
9th of every month.
§ PMSMA
guarantees a minimum package of antenatal care services to women in their
2nd/3rd trimesters of pregnancy at designated government health facilities.
§ The
programme follows a systematic approach for engagement with private sector
which includes motivating private practitioners to volunteer for the campaign;
developing strategies for generating awareness and appealing to the private
sector to participate in the Abhiyan at government health facilities.
§ Different
colour stickers will be Red Sticker for Serious patients, Blue Sticker for High
blood pressure and Yellow Sticker for Other diseases.
Background:
Data
indicates that Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India was very high in the
year 1990 with 556 women dying during child birth per hundred thousand live
births as compared to the global MMR of 385/lakh live births. As per RGI- SRS
(2011-13), MMR of India has now declined to 167/lakh live births against a
global MMR of 216/lakh live births (2015). India has registered an overall
decline in MMR of 70% between 1990 and 2015 in comparison to a global decline
of 44%.
Way ahead:
While
India has made considerable progress in the reduction of maternal and infant
mortality, every year approximately 44000 women still die due to
pregnancy-related causes and approximately 6.6 lakh infants die within the
first 28 days of life. Many of these deaths are preventable and many lives can
be saved if quality care is provided to pregnant women during their antenatal
period and high risk factors such as severe anemia, pregnancy-induced
hypertension etc are detected on time and managed well.
Facts for Prelims:
SDG 3.1 By
2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000
live births.
What’s important?
§ For Prelims:
‘IPledgefor9′ Achievers Awards, PMSMA- key features.
§ For Mains:
Efforts by government to achieve SDG 3 target.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential.
ReUnite
What is it? It
is a mobile application launched by Indian Railways which helps to track and
trace missing and abandoned children in India. The application has been
developed by Bachpan Bachao Andolan & Capgemini.
Key features of this app:
§ The app is
multiuser where parents and citizens can upload pictures of children, and
provide detailed description like name, birth mark, address, report to the police
station, search and identify missing kids.
§ Amazon
Rekognition, web facial recognition service, is being used to identify missing
kids. The app is available for both Android and iOS.
What is Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA)?
§ It is
India’s largest movement for the protection of children and works along with
law enforcement agencies and policymakers. It was founded by Nobel Laureate
Kailash Satyarthi.
§ BBA has
played a very important role in formulation of several laws for protection of
child’s rights. It began from the Nithari case in 2006 which finally culminated
with the Supreme Court passing the landmark judgement in 2013 ordering that FIR
has to be lodged in all cases of missing children.
What’s important?
For
Prelims: BBA and its significance, ReUnite.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure,
mandate.
UN migration agency
Context: António
Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino of Portugal was recently elected by the
member States of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to serve as
the agency’s Director General.
About IOM:
§ IOM is the
leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration with over
10,000 staff serving in over 400 offices across more than 150 countries.
§ It was
initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European
Migration (ICEM) to help resettle people displaced by World War II.
§ It
provides services and advice to Governments and migrants, such as humanitarian
assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced
people.
§ The agency
works with its partners in the international community to help ensure orderly
and humane migration management and to promote international cooperation and
understanding on migration issues.
What’s important?
For
Prelims and Mains: IOM- key facts.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure,
mandate.
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW)
Context: OPCW
has granted itself new powers to assign blame for attacks, despite protests by
Russia. Until now, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) could only say whether chemical weapons were used – but not who had used
them.
Significance of the move:
This is an
important step forward for arms control. It strengthens the unravelling
consensus against the use of chemical weapons. It marks a victory for the
rules-based international order, which itself is under increasing strain given
the rise of populists and nationalism in many countries.
About OPCW:
§ The
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body
of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in 1997.
§ The
organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize “for its extensive efforts
to eliminate chemical weapons”.
The
Convention contains four key provisions:
§ Destroying
all existing chemical weapons under international verification by the OPCW.
§ Monitoring
chemical industry to prevent new weapons from re-emerging.
§ Providing
assistance and protection to States Parties against chemical threats.
§ Fostering
international cooperation to strengthen implementation of the Convention and
promote the peaceful use of chemistry.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: OPCW.
§ For Mains:
Chemical weapons- threats, concerns and international efforts to regulate them.
Sources:
the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: Indian
Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,
development and employment.
Treasury Bill
Context: After
reviewing the cash position of the Central Government, the Government of India,
in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to notify the
amounts for the issuance of Treasury Bills for the Quarter ending September
2018.
What you need to know about Treasury bills?
§ T-bills
are short term securities issued on behalf of the government by the RBI and are
used in managing short term liquidity needs of the government.
§ 91-day
T-bills are auctioned every week on Wednesday and 182-day and 364-day T-bills
are auctioned every alternate week on Wednesdays.
§ Treasury
bills are issued at a discount and are redeemed at par.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of
technology and developing new technology.
Statistics Day
Context: On
the eve of 12th Statistics Day (June 29th), a
commemorative coin of Rs 125 and circulation coin of Rs 5 denomination have
been released. The day marks 125th Birth Anniversary of Professor P. C.
Mahalanobis.
National Statistics Day:
§ In
recognition of the notable contributions made by Late Professor Prasanta
Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics, statistical system and
economic planning, Government of India in 2007, has designated 29thJune as the
“Statistics Day” in the category of Special Days to be celebrated every year at
the National level.
§ The objective of celebration of
this Day is to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in
socio-economic planning and policy formulation, to acknowledge the contribution
of Prof. Mahalanobis, and to pay homage to him.
§ Theme this year: ‘‘Quality
Assurance in Official Statistics’.
Facts for Prelims:
§ The Indian
Statistical Institute (ISI) at Kolkata, set up by Prof. Mahalanobis in 1931,
and was declared an autonomous “Institute of National Importance” through an
act of Parliament in 1959.
§ ISI
celebrates 29th June as the “Worker Day”.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: Statistics day, ISI.
§ For Mains:
Important contributions of PC Mahalanobis.
Sources:
the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
‘Mission Shaurya’:
Context: Prime
Minister Narendra Modi recently met a group of ten tribal students from
Maharashtra who were a part of a team of the ‘Mission Shaurya’ initiative of
the Adivasi Vikas Vibhag of the Maharashtra State Government.
What is it?
§ Under
Mission Shaurya expedition,10 tribal students from “ashram shalas” (residential
schools) in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra conquered Everest.
§ It was a
joint initiative of the state Tribal department and Chandrapur Collectorate to
scale Everest.
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