Daily Current Affairs 14 January 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1)  National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)

• Of the 926 deaths inside sewers in the country, from 1993 till December 31, 2019, families of 172 victims were yet to receive compensation, with Gujarat has the highest number of cases where the amount was not paid or the payment was unconfirmed (48), while Maharashtra was yet to pay or confirm payment of compensation in any of its 32 cases, according to data from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK).
• According to the NCSK, a total of 53,598 people, of which 29,923 were in Uttar Pradesh alone, had been identified as engaged in manual scavenging after surveys in 2013 and 2018. Onetime cash assistance had been disbursed in 35,397 cases, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for 19,385 such people. 
• Capital subsidy and skill development training had been provided to 1,007 and 7,383 of the identified manual scavengers, respectively, the data showed.
• During a meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, which is meant to review the implementation of the law, on January 8, States that were found lagging behind in the rehabilitation of manual scavengers were asked to comply soon
• Tamil Nadu, which had the highest number of such deaths, had paid compensation in all but seven of the 234 cases. Gujarat was yet to pay or confirm payment in 48 of the 162 sewer deaths recorded in the State, and in 31 of those cases, the legal heir could not be traced, the data showed.
•  District Vigilance Committees had been constituted in 21 States/ Union Territories, State Monitoring Committees in 26, and State Commissions for Safai Karamcharis in eight. 

2) Central Accident Database Management System

• The government launched a central accident database management system that will help in analyzing causes of road crashes and in devising safety interventions to reduce such accidents in the country
• The IT tool, known as the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD), has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology­Madras (IIT­M) and will be implemented by the National Informatics Centre. The project costs ₹258 crore and is being supported by the World Bank.
• The system will be first piloted in the six states with the highest fatalities from road crashes Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. 
• The IRAD will be improved based on the learnings from the trial, following which it will be rolled out across the country
• Around 30,000 tablets would be distributed to police personnel across the country to record data on accidents.

3) Island Development Agency

The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, chaired the sixth meeting of the Island Development Agency (IDA). 

About IDA

• The Island Development Agency reviewed the progress made towards the program “Holistic development of islands”. For the first time in the country, under the guidance of IDA, an initiative of sustainable development in the identified Islands within scientifically-assessed carrying capacity has been taken-up. Development Plans with a focus on the creation of jobs for the islanders through tourism promotion as well as the export of seafood and coconut-based products made in the Islands have been prepared and are being implemented in four islands of Andaman & Nicobar and five islands of Lakshadweep. In the second phase, suitable sites in 12 more islands of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and 5 islands in Lakshadweep have been covered.
• Model tourism projects both Land-based and Water Villas were planned and bids have been invited for private sector participation. As a unique initiative, to spur investment, it was decided to obtain clearances for the implementation of the planned projects up-front. All necessary clearances would be in place before bids finalization. Environment and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances have already been obtained for four exemplary tourism projects of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• For strengthening infrastructure support, projects for improving air, sea and digital connectivity are also being implemented. Port Blair and another 7 islands in Andaman & Nicobar would get digitally connected through submarine optical fiber cable by June 2020. Better communication services would facilitate setting up of Information Technology based and other Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the islands with incentives through Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Industrial Development Scheme (LANIDS), 2018 notified on 1st January 2019. The proposed airports in Great Nicobar Island of Andaman & Nicobar and Minicoy Island of Lakshadweep would catalyze the development process in the region.

4) Indian Navy to Get Upgraded Fuel HFHSD – IN 512

• Leveraging technology and improved refining techniques available with the country’s petroleum industry, the Indian Navy in collaboration with M/s IOCL carried out an extensive and thorough study and a comparative evaluation of existing international regulations (ISO, MARPOL, NATO, etc). As an outcome, a revised technical specification was arrived at consisting of 22 test parameters including critical parameters cetane number, flash point, sulfur content, sediment content, oxidation stability and Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP). The new specification will not only ensure a better quality fuel but also result in a reduced carbon footprint.
• IOCL, post-up-gradation of the refinery units, initiated a limited supply of the product to Indian Navy platforms following which rigorous machinery performance checks and acceptance trials were carried out. Distinct improvements in fuel quality were observed. Given the positive results, the new fuel was therefore decided for pan Navy implementation. On 13 January 2020, the launch of the new fuel (High Flash High-Speed Diesel) HFHSD – IN 512, with revised technical specifications was undertaken.
• With this, the country will be able to ensure interoperability amongst foreign navies during fleet exercises and provide fuel of quality better than that mandated to all foreign navies under bilateral/ multi-national logistics support pacts including LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement).

5) Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

• The Social Justice Ministry notified the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
• The Bill was passed by Parliament in November 2019.
• This will benefit a large number of transgender persons, mitigate the stigma, discrimination, and abuse against this marginalized section and bring them into the mainstream of society. This will lead to inclusiveness and will make the transgender persons productive members of society.
• According to the new definition, a transgender person is somebody “whose gender does not match the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-men or trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons having socio-cultural identities such as kinnar, hijras, aravani, and jogta”.

Features of Act

• The Act aims to stop discrimination against a transgender person in various sectors such as education, employment, and healthcare. It also directs the central and state governments to provide welfare schemes for them.
• It states that a person will be recognized as transgender on the basis of a certificate of identity issued through the district screening committee. This certificate will be a proof of identity as transgender and confer rights under this Bill.
• Going by the Act, a person would have the right to choose to be identified as a man, woman or transgender, irrespective of sex reassignment surgery and hormonal therapy.
• It also requires transgender persons to go through a district magistrate and “district screening committee” to get certified as a trans person.
• The committee would comprise a medical officer, a psychologist or psychiatrist, a district welfare officer, a government official, and a transgender person.

Negative points

• The Act is silent on granting reservations to transgender persons.
• It has prescribed punishments for organized begging. However, the
• The act doesn’t provide anything to better to condition in those areas, it doesn’t provide for reservation.
• It also does not mention any punishments for rape or sexual assault of transgender persons as according to Sections 375 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code, rape is only when a man forcefully enters a woman.

6) Moghalmari, a Buddhist monastic site 

• A study of inscriptions on clay tablets recovered from recent excavations at Moghalmari, a Buddhist monastic site of the early medieval period in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, has confirmed the presence of two monasteries Mugalayikaviharika and Yajñapindikamahavihara
• Details of the study of these inscriptions were published earlier this month in PratnaSamiskha, a leading peer­reviewed journal from Bengal on Indian Archaeology.
• The monasteries at Moghalmari date from 6th  century CE and were functional till the 12th century CE.
• During one of the later seasons of excavations by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal, six tiny fragments of inscribed seals were found. Each of them contained a set of letters accompanied by the deer­dharmachakra symbols. We had to arrange them through different permutations to read and make sense of names inscribed on these tablets
• The inscriptions are in Sanskrit and the script is a transitional phase between later north Indian Brahmi and early Siddhamatrika.
• The first name Yajñapindikamahavihara, implying etymologically ‘a place of sacrificial offering’ is of special significance. The second name on the seals, Mugalayikaviharika, bears a phonetic resemblance to the modern name of the site, Moghalmari
• Archaeologists and historians point out that famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (more widely identified as Huen Tsang), who visited India in the 7th century CE, referred to the existence of ‘ten monasteries’ within the limits of Tamralipta (modern-day Tamluk in adjoining Purba Medinipur district). However, he did not refer to any specific name or location. 
• With the discovery of the site and the deciphering of the inscriptions, at least two of these monasteries are now identified. He added that it was known from Buddhist texts that Buddhist monasteries have a definite hierarchy Mahavihara, Vihara and Viharika which is reflected in the inscriptions found.
• The study provides the only contextual epigraphical proof for the existence of a viharika (Mugalayikaviharika in this case) as early as the 6th century in this part of the subcontinent
• The study of the inscribed seals suggests that the monastery was called Mugalayikaviharika. Its continuation in the modern name of the area “still remains a riddle which needs more careful inspection and study,” he said. “Apparently, the name Mugalayika suggests a fair connection to the modern place­name Moghalmari,”
• Where the name Moghalmari is said to trace its name to a medieval battle between the Mughals and Pathans, sometime in the 16th or early 17th century. “It is difficult to ascertain if the name written on the seals indeed represents an early toponym of the modern village of Moghalmari.

7) Kolkata port renamed

• Centre has renamed the Kolkata Port Trust after Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
• In the early 16th century, the Portuguese first used the present location of the port to anchor their ships, since they found the upper reaches of the Hooghly river, beyond Kolkata, unsafe for navigation.
• After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, this port was used to ship lakhs of Indians as ‘indentured laborers’ to far-flung territories throughout the Empire.
• The Kolkata port is the only riverine port in the country, situated 203 km from the sea. The river Hooghly, on which it is located, has many sharp bends and is considered a difficult navigational channel.
• The Farakka Barrage, built-in 1975, reduced some of the port’s woes as Ganga waters were diverted into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system.

8) The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Rules

• SC backs order to demolish 59 villas on Kerala island for violating CRZ norms.
• The villas are constructed in the Vembanad backwaters a Ramsar site. The wetland is of international importance and protected by the Ramsar Convention.

About CRZ

• In India, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Rules govern human and industrial activity close to the coastline, in order to protect the fragile ecosystems near the sea. They restrict certain kinds of activities like large constructions, setting up new industries, storage or disposal of hazardous material, mining, reclamation and bunding within a certain distance from the coastline.
• In all Rules, the regulation zone has been defined as the area up to 500 m from the high-tide line.

Background

• After the passing of the Environment Protection Act in 1986, CRZ Rules were first framed in 1991. After these were found to be restrictive, the Centre notified new Rules in 2011, which also included exemptions for the construction of the Navi Mumbai airport and for projects of the Department of Atomic Energy.
• In 2018, fresh Rules were issued, which aimed to remove certain restrictions on building, streamlined the clearance process, and aimed to encourage tourism in coastal areas.

Restriction

• The restrictions depend on criteria such as the population of the area, the ecological sensitivity, the distance from the shore, and whether the area had been designated as a natural park or wildlife zone.
• The latest Rules have a no-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in the mainland.
• For the so-called CRZ-III (Rural) areas, two separate categories have been stipulated.
• In the densely populated rural areas (CRZ-IIIA) with a population density of 2,161 per sq km as per the 2011 Census, the no-development zone is 50 m from the high-tide level, as against the 200 m stipulated earlier.
• CRZ-IIIB category (rural areas with population density below 2,161 per sq km) areas continue to have a no-development zone extending up to 200 m from the high-tide line.

While the CRZ Rules are made by the Union environment ministry, implementation is to be ensured by state governments through their Coastal Zone Management Authorities.