Daily Current Affairs 7 March 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) GenomeIndia: Cataloguing the Genetic Variation in Indians project

• ‘GenomeIndia: Cataloguing the Genetic Variation in Indians’ project has been sanctioned by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) on January16, 2020 for 3 years to 20 institutions from varied disciplines across the country. The whole-genome sequencing under GenomeIndia has just started. 
• The proposed target of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is to do it for a total of 10,000 individuals representing the country’s diverse population in 3 years. The information generated from whole-genome sequencing can facilitate future human genetics research in the country with greater precision, and to design a genome-wide association array for the Indian population to develop precision healthcare and diagnostics for major diseases at affordable costs.
• The data security and sharing measures for this project will be governed by the rules and regulations formulated by the Government of India. The personal information of all individuals consenting to participate in the study is stripped off from any further records in this project. This process of de-identification ensures that the personal information of the participants is not compromised. Additionally, ethical measures are strictly adhered to to maintain data security and protection.

Source: PIB

2) Schemes for Welfare of Women

Several Schemes are being implemented by various Ministries of the Government of India through State Governments/UT Administrations which allocate and disburse funds for welfare and development of women in distress like aged single women, widows with no support as well as young women from a very poor background. The major schemes of Government of India are as under:-

• SwadharGreh Scheme: The Ministry of Women and Child Development implements the SwadharGreh Scheme which envisions a supportive institutional framework for women victims of difficult circumstances so that they could lead their life with dignity and conviction. 
• Home for Widows: A Home for Widows has been set up in Vrindavan, UP with a capacity of 1000 inmates to provide widows a safe and secure place of stay, health services, nutritious food, legal and counseling services.
• Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS):- The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) under which Pension Scheme for Widows as well as Pension Scheme for the Elderly below the poverty line is operated. 
• The Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme:- The Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme of Ministry of Women and Child Development aims to empower rural women through community participation and to create an environment in which they realize their full potential. 
• Prime Minister AwaasYojana (PMAY-G):- The Prime Minister AwaasYojana (PMAY-G) of Ministry of Rural Development and the Prime Minister AwaasYojana (PMAY-U) of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs aims at providing affordable housing to women beneficiaries also. 
• DeendayalAntyodayaYojana:- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is implementing the “DeendayalAntyodayaYojana - National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)”, to reduce poverty and vulnerability of urban poor, households by enabling them to access self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities. 

Source: PIB

3) Elephant deaths by train accidents showing a declining trend

• Due to concerted efforts taken by the Central and State Governments the elephant deaths by train accidents have been reducing in recent years. This was stated by Shri Babul Supriyo, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
• Several measures taken by Zonal Railways in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change have resulted in the saving of elephants. The preventive measures undertaken include the following:
• The imposition of permanent and temporary speed restrictions in identified elephant corridors.
• Provision of signage board to warn loco pilots about identified elephant corridors.
• Sensitization of train crew and Station Masters regularly.
• Need-based clearance of vegetation on the sides of track within railway land.
• Construction of underpasses and ramps for movement of elephants at identified locations.  Work is in progress at one more location in East Central Railway.
• Installation of the Honey Bee sound system to scare away the elephants from coming near the track.
• Provision of fencing at isolated locations both by Railway and Forest Department.
• Deputing Forest Department staff in Railway control offices to liaison with Railway and engagement of elephant trackers by Forest Department for timely action by alerting Station Masters and Loco Pilots.
• Frequent coordination meetings between the State Forest Department and Railway department.
• Earlier in an order dated 2.9.2014 in Writ Petition W.P. (C) No. 107 of 2013 Shakti Prasad Nayak Vs. Union of India &Ors. the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had issued the following directions:
• Necessary steps should be taken by the Railways all over the country to reduce the speed limit of running trains that are passing through dense forests. In case a speed limit is not followed/ appropriate action should be taken against the erring drivers and officials concerned.
• Railways to take steps to discontinue the movement of goods trains at night between Siliguri and Alipurduar.
• Divert fast-moving and night trains through Siliguri -Falakata route.
• As per the information received from the States, the number of elephants killed in a train accident has been showing a declining trend.
• The State-wise and year-wise details of elephant deaths due to train hits are as follows:

Source: PIB

4) NPR data useful for welfare schemes says Union Home Ministry

The Union Home Ministry has informed a parliamentary panel that it proposes to collect details on additional questions such as “date and place of birth of parents” in the National Population Register (NPR) to “facilitate back-end data processing and making the data items of date and place of birth complete for all households”.

What is the need for NPR when we have Aadhar?

• There was a need to update the NPR to “incorporate the changes due to birth, death, and migration”. Aadhaar is individual data, whereas NPR contains family-wise data. Various welfare schemes of the State and Central governments are generally family-based, for which NPR data may be used.

What is the National Population Register (NPR)?

• It is a Register of the usual residents of the country.
• It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
• Every usual resident of India must register in the NPR.
• Objectives: To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.

Who is a usual resident?

• A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

What is the controversy around it?

• It comes in the backdrop of the NRC excluding lakhs of people in Assam.
• It intends to collect a much larger amount of personal data on residents of India.
• There is yet no clarity on the mechanism for the protection of this vast amount of data.

Why does the government want so much data?

• Every country must have a comprehensive identity database of its residents with relevant demographic details. It will help the government formulate its policies better and also aid national security.
• It will ease the life of those residing in India by cutting red tape. Not only will it help target government beneficiaries in a better way, but also further cut down paperwork and red tape in a similar manner that Aadhaar has done.
• With NPR data, residents will not have to furnish various proofs of age, address and other details in official work.
• It would also eliminate duplication in voter lists, the government insists.

Source: The Hindu

5) Solar Charkha Mission

Based on the Expression of Interest (EOI), a total of 10 proposals have been approved under Mission Solar Charkha to date which is expected to benefit about 13784 artisans/workers.

About Solar Charkha Mission:

• Launched in 2018.
• It is a Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) initiative launched during June 2018.
• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) would implement the program.
• It seeks to generate employment in rural areas and contribute to the green economy.
• The mission will entail a subsidy of Rs 550 crore in the initial two years for 50 clusters and every cluster will employ 400 to 2000 artisans.
• The scheme also aims at linking five crore women across the country to the initiative.
• The mission is expected to create one lakh jobs during the first two years.

The objectives of the Scheme are as follows:

• To ensure inclusive growth by the generation of employment, especially for women and youth, and sustainable development through solar charkha clusters in rural areas.
• To boost the rural economy and help in arresting migration from rural to urban areas.
• To leverage low-cost, innovative technologies and processes for sustenance.

Significance of the mission:

• These solar charkhas are to be operated using solar power which is a renewable energy source. It will help in the development of the Green Economy as it is an environment-friendly program. It will also generate sustainable employment for the artisans.

Source: PIB

6) Fuel Cell Technology for Disaster Management

The International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad has developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC).

ARCI is an autonomous Research and Development (R&D) Centre of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

• PEMFC converts the chemical energy stored in hydrogen fuel directly and efficiently to electrical energy with water as the only byproduct without the need for grid power as required by conventional battery backup systems.
• Potential: To reduce energy use, pollutant emissions and dependence on fossil fuels and providing sustainable electricity.
• Advantage: Operational capability at low-temperatures with applications in decentralized power generation systems.

Key Points

• The ARCI has developed in-house PEMFC systems in the power range of 1 to 20 kiloWatt (kW) at its Centre for Fuel Cell Technology, Chennai.
• ARCI is planning to set up a PEMFC system at Tamil Nadu State Emergency Operation Centre (TN SEOC) as a disaster management measure.
• Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe.
• In general, Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with a 10 kW system along with fuel cell stack, air moving subsystems, power control devices, and control and monitoring system is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.
• EOCs have been set up in the states as per the National Disaster Management Guidelines.
• An EOC is a hub to coordinate various activities during emergencies. The basic functions of the EOC include the collection and dissemination of early warnings on the disaster, ensuring administrative and community preparedness and coordinating with all emergency support functions.
• Fuel cell systems in EOCs offer a potential benefit in terms of providing sustainable electricity.
• India is vulnerable to a large number of disasters.
• Disaster risks in India are further compounded by increasing vulnerabilities related to changing demographics and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanization, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation, climate change, geological hazards, epidemics, and pandemics.
• There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of Disaster Management, from response-centric (rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction) to laying greater emphasis on the other elements of disaster management cycle (prevention, mitigation, and preparedness) as a means to avert the impact of future emergencies.

Source: PIB

7) Gender Parity Index: UNESCO

• Gender Parity Index in primary, secondary and tertiary education is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education to the number of male students at each level.
• In short, GPI at various levels reflects the equitable participation of girls in the School system.
• GPI is released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a part of its Global Education Monitoring Report.
• A GPI of 1 indicates parity between the sexes; a GPI that varies between 0 and 1 typically means a disparity in favor of males; whereas a GPI greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favor of females.
• India’s GPI for the year 2018-19 at different levels of School Education is as under:
• Primary Education: 1.03
• Upper Primary Education: 1.12
• Secondary Education: 1.04
• Higher Secondary Education: 1.04
• India’s GPI indicates that the number of girls is more than the number of boys at all levels of school Education.
• In 2018-19, the Ministry of Human Resource Development launched the ‘Samagra Shiksha’ scheme. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• It is an overarching program for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
• One of its objectives is to bridge social and gender gaps in school education.
• To provide quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBVs) have been sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) under SamagraShiksha.
• KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).
• Educationally Backward Blocks are drawn on the basis of twin criteria of Female Literacy Rate and Gender Gap in Literacy. However, some blocks have been identified only on the basis of the Female Literacy Rate also.

Source: PIB

8) Delimitation panel

• The Law Ministry issued an order to set up a Delimitation Commission for the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland.
• The Commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai and will have Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra as the ex­-officio member of the Commission. Election Commissioners of the concerned States and UTs will also be members.
• On February 28, President Ram Nath Kovind had canceled an earlier order of the Union government that had deferred the delimitation exercise in the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland.
• A significant improvement in the security situation, reduction in insurgency and improvement in the law and order situation in these States had made the delimitation exercise possible now, the order said.
• The exercise to readjust the division of each State and the UTs into territorial constituencies for the purpose of elections to the Lok Sabha and to the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of the 2001 Census figures was last completed on November 26, 2008.
• However, this exercise was postponed in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland on the apprehension of threat to peace and public order.
• The Delimitation Commission in India is a powerful body, whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court

Delimitation

• Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission. In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002. The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.

Source: The Hindu

9) ICONSAT 2020

The International Conference on NanoScience and NanoTechnology (ICONSAT) 2020 is being organized from 5th-7th March at Kolkata (West Bengal).

ICONSAT is the series of biennial international conferences held in India under the aegis of Nano Mission, Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Key Points

• The conference intends to bring out cutting-edge developments in the domain of physical, chemical, materials as well as biological sciences with the help of nanotechnology.
• The event emphasized on 5Ms – Mechanical, Material, Machines, Manufacturing and Manpower, and integration of these 5 Ms with nano-science and technology.
• It also aimed to integrate nanotechnology with sustainable development and new technology (machine learning, artificial intelligence and so on).
• It emphasized the need to create a network of experts in nano-science and to collaborate the knowledge across sectors like energy, agriculture, transport, health and so on.
• It also aims to provide a potential platform for young researchers and students from within the country and abroad to keep pace with the latest development in the emerging areas of Nano Science and Technology.

Nano Mission

• The Government of India launched the Nano Mission in 2007 as an "umbrella capacity-building program".
• It is being implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
• The objectives of the mission are:
• Basic research promotion
• Infrastructure development
• Nano applications and technology development
• Human Resource development
• International collaborations
• As a result of the efforts led by the Nano Mission, today, India is amongst the top five nations in the world in terms of scientific publications in nanoscience and technology (moving from 4th to the 3rd position).
• The Nano Mission has established national dialogues to promote R&D in the development of standards for nanotechnology and for laying down a National Regulatory Framework Road-Map for Nanotechnology (NRFR-Nanotech).

Source: PIB

10) Schemes/policies for minorities in various States

• Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme – Provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance.
• Naya Savera – Free Coaching and Allied Scheme – The Scheme aims to provide free coaching to students/candidates belonging to minority communities for qualifying in entrance examinations of technical/ professional courses and Competitive examinations.
• Padho Pardesh – Scheme of interest subsidy to students of minority communities on educational loans for overseas higher studies.
• Nai Udaan – Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC), etc.
• Nai Roshni – Leadership development of women belonging to minority communities.
• Seekho Aur Kamao – Skill development scheme for the youth of 14 – 35 years age group and aiming at improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts, etc.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) restructured in May 2018 earlier known as MsDP – Implemented for the benefit of the people from all sections of the society in identified Minority Concentration Areas for creation of assets in education, skill and health sectors.
• Jiyo Parsi – Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis in India.
• USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) launched in May 2015.
• Nai Manzil – A scheme for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts launched in  Aug. 2015.
• Hamari Dharohar- A scheme to preserve the rich heritage of minority communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture implemented since 2014-15.

Source: PIB