National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 14th September 2019

Jan Soochna Portal-2019

Topic: Government Policies

In News: The first-ever public information portal was launched in Rajasthan, promising to provide information about government authorities and departments suo motu to the public in the true spirit of the Right to Information Act.

More on the Topic: 

• It initially gives information of about 13 government departments on a single platform.
• Information related to the availability of food grains & ration shops, implementation of schemes and their beneficiaries, land records and social security pensions, inter alia, will be available on a real-time basis on this platform.
• Information kiosks in village panchayats and self-service e-Mitra centres in the towns will be established to enable the people to access the information.
• The Department of Information Technology will serve as the nodal department for the development, operationalization, and maintenance of the JSP.
• The norms and standards are laid down through the digital dialogue by the advisory group. And, to ensure that the responsibilities are carried out smoothly, the advisory group will be the monitoring agency.
• Grievance redressal officers will be appointed so that citizens can keep a check upon the accountability aspect of the State government.
• The launch of this portal is in accordance with the true spirit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and ensures compliance with Section 4(2) of the RTI Act that mandates the public authorities to proactively disclose information in the public domain.

Source: The Hindu

District Mineral Foundation

Topic: Government Policies

In News: Amendments to District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trust Rules, 2015, by Chhattisgarh government has made it more inclusive, people-centric and will also empower people affected by mining in the state.

More on the Topic:

• The new rule mandates the inclusion of 10 Gram Sabha members directly from mining-affected areas in the DMF Governing Council (GC). In Scheduled Areas, at least 50 per cent of the Gram Sabha members must be from Scheduled Tribes (ST).
• It will also strengthen women’s voices in the GC by mandating that from each Gram Sabha, there will be one male and one female member in the GC.
• The amendments create a huge scope for mining districts in the state to improve the lives and livelihoods of those affected by mining.
• The DMF had been envisaged to build ‘social capital’, thus it must not be wasted on just building physical infrastructure, for which there are other funds.
• To ensure better public accountability, a two-step social audit process has been mandated. Provisions have also been introduced for five-year plan, which can be subjected to a third party review if the secretary of the mines department considers it to be necessary.
• The rules have also specified ‘sustainable livelihood’ as a high priority issue, including for forest rights holders. It also emphasises investments in sustainable agriculture and developing resources to facilitate market linkages.

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY):

• The programme is meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).

Objectives:

• To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government.
• To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts.
• To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

Source: The Hindu

Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Development Hub

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R&D) Hub as a new member. This was announced by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology in New Delhi.

More on the Topic:

• It was launched in May 2018 in the margins of the 71st session of the World Health Assembly, following a call from G20 Leaders in 2017.
• This expands the global partnership working to address challenges and improve coordination and collaboration in global AMR R&D to 16 countries, the European Commission, two philanthropic foundations and four international organisations (as observers).
• The Global AMR R&D Hub supports global priority setting and evidence-based decision-making for cross-sectoral collaboration and leveraging in AMR R&D.
• The operation of the Global AMR R&D Hub is supported through a Secretariat, established in Berlin and currently financed through grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).
• Joining Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Development Hub will provide India with the Opportunity to work with all partners to leverage their existing capabilities, resources and collectively focus on new R&D intervention to address drug resistant infections.

About Antimicrobial Resistance:

• AMR is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is afraid of a post-antibiotic world, where loads of bacteria are superbugs. Already, infections like tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and pneumonia are becoming harder to treat with typical antibiotics.

Model Mains Question: What is Antimicrobial Resistance. Elaborate on WHO guidelines on antimicrobial resistance.

Source: The Hindu

Maritime Communication Services

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Government of India has launched Maritime Communication Services.

More on the Topic:

• Maritime Connectivity will enable high-end support, access to Voice, Data and Video services while travelling on sailing vessels, cruise liners, ships in India, using satellite technology.
• Nelco is the first Indian company that will provide broadband services through global partnerships, infrastructure including transponder capacity on the satellite of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization).
• Maritime Communication Services will help to enhance the operational efficiency of Energy, Cargo and Cruise vessels and improve crew welfare as well as to enable customer services.
• Ministry of Communications has also notified the Flight and Maritime Connectivity (FMC) Rules, 2018 permitting Inflight and Maritime Telecom Connectivity (IFMC).
• It intends to open the airspace and territorial waters for telecommunication services for the general public.
• It also envisages the creation of satellite gateway within India for providing telecom services in aircraft and ships through Indian licensed service providers.
• Only the authorized IFMC service provider, can provide wireless voice or data or both types of services on ships within Indian territorial waters and on aircraft within or above India or Indian territorial waters.

Source: The Hindu

Exercise MAITREE

Topic: International Relations

In News: Indian Army and Royal Thailand Army (RTA) will conduct their joint Military Exercise MAITREE-2019 at Meghalaya.

More on the Topic:

• Exercise MAITREE is an annual training event that is conducted in India and Thailand alternatively, since 2006.
• In the backdrop of changing facets of global terrorism, this exercise is a significant exercise for both the nations as they face the security challenges from terrorism.
• The Royal Thailand Navy and the Indian Navy have been participating in Coordinated Patrols (CORPATs) in the Indian Ocean region since 2005.

Source: PIB

National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)

Topic: Internal Security

In News: Recently, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has proposed to link social media accounts to central databases.

More on the Topic:

• Linking social media accounts will help to track online terror-related information exchange through individual accounts, online Radicalisation across the country.
• It will utilise technologies like Big Data and analytics to study and analyse the huge amounts of data from various intelligence and enforcement agencies to help track suspected terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks.
• It will connect, in different phases, data providing organisations and users besides developing a legal structure through which information can be accessed by the law enforcement agencies.
• NATGRID is a post Mumbai 26/11 attack measure.
• The database would be accessible to authorised persons from 11 agencies on a case-to-case basis, and only for professional investigations into suspected cases of terrorism.

Concerns:

• According to few experts, digital databases such as NATGRID can be misused. Over the last two decades, the very digital tools that terrorists use have also become great weapons to fight the ideologies of violence.
• Intelligence agencies have also opposed amid fears that it would impinge on their territory and possibly result in leaks on the leads they were working on to other agencies.
• NATGRID is facing opposition on charges of possible violations of privacy and leakage of confidential personal information.

Source: The Hindu

Pangong Tso lake

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The Indian and Chinese armies clashed recently along the Pangong lake in Ladakh.

More on the Topic:

• It is a salt water lake.
• One-third of water body, its 45 km stretch, is in Indian control while the rest of the 90 km is under Chinese control.
• It is located in the Himalayas at the height of approximately 4,350 m, stretches out from India to China.

Source: The Hindu