National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 6th October 2018

National Nutrition Month

Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

IN NEWS: National Nutrition Month (Poshan Maah) witnesses overwhelming People’s participation.More than 23 lakh activities taken up and around 27 Crore people reached across the country during the National Nutrition Month under Poshan Abhiyan.

More on the topic:

• Under POSHAN Abhiyaan, September was celebrated as the Rashtriya Poshan Maah across the country to address the malnutrition challenges and sensitize our countrymen regarding the importance of holistic nutrition.
• Poshan Maah aimed at making people aware of the importance of nutrition & giving individual access to government services to support supplement nutrition for their children & pregnant women /lactating mothers.
• Ministry of Women & Child Development as the nodal agency, launched Rashtriya Poshan Maah or National Nutrition Month, across the length and breadth of the country on the 01st of Sep 2018.
• With wide range of activities focussing on antenatal care, anaemia, growth monitoring, girl’s education, diet, right age of marriage, hygiene and sanitation, eating healthy as themes were organised during the Poshan Maah.
• Entire range of themes were exhibited and showcased in form of food melas, rallies, school level campaigns, anaemia tests camps, recipe demonstration, radio & TV talk shows, seminars all across country.
• As per latest reports, 23 lakhs activities across the country were recorded on Jan Andolan Dashboard wherein approximately 27 crore people were reached through these activitiest in this nationwide exercise, out of which one third were men.
• Poshan Maah witnessed an unexpected reach and was a successful exercise in Convergence of efforts of various ministries at various levels-National, State and districts- to reach out to the grassroots beneficiaries.

National Nutrition Mission:

• POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of India, which ensures convergence with various programmes i.e., Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) of MWCD Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), National Health Mission (NHM), Swachh-Bharat Mission, Public Distribution System (PDS), Department Food & Public Distribution, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation.
• The NNM is a comprehensive approach towards raising nutrition level in the country on a war footing.
• It will comprise mapping of various Schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition, including a very robust convergence mechanism, ICT based Real Time Monitoring system, incentivizing States/UTs for meeting the targets, incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools, eliminating registers used by AWWs, introducing measurement of height of children at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Social Audits, setting-up Nutrition Resource Centres, involving masses through Jan Andolan for their participation on nutrition through various activities, among others.
• NNM targets to reduce stunting, under- nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce Stunting is atleast 2% p.a., Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).
• More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20 .

Source:PIB

Assam PSU to launch pilot project to use methanol for cooking.

Topic: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

IN NEWS: The Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) started a pilot project on the use of methanol as an alternative to cooking gas.the use of methanol or methyl alcohol as an alternative to liquified petroleum gas (LPG) will help reduce cost of cooking.

More on the Topic

• Methanol is a green and clean fuel that is safer as well as cheaper by 30 per cent compared with LPG
• countries like China, Iran and others have been using methanol to run buses and trains for a long time.
• 500 households inside the Assam Petro Complex will be the first pilot project, scaling it to 40,000 households in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Goa and Karnataka.
• The project is intended to help reducing import of crude and an effort to provide clean, import substitute, cost effective and pollution free cooking medium.
• The safe handling cannister based cooking stoves are from Swedish Technology and through a Technology transfer a large-scale cooking stove manufacturing plant will come up in India. This technology is very unique, it handles methanol extremely safely, does not need regulator or any piping system.

Significance of the Project:

• The cooking medium with methanol can directly substitute LPG, Kerosene, Wood, Charcoal and any other fuel for cooking. The gaseous form, Methanol – DME, can be blended in 20% ratio with LPG.
• 2 litres cannisters can last for full five hours on twin burners and 8 such Cannisters as rack can last for one month for a family of three. The cost of energy equivalent of one cylinder of LPG for Methanol is Rs. 650, compared to Rs. 850 per cylinder resulting in a minimum of 20% Savings.
• For instance, in Manipur the cost of transportation of LPG is Rs. 200, whereas same cost for Methanol will be Rs. 12. This provides for an excellent alternative as household fuel and commercial, institutional and fuel for restaurants.

Source:The Hindu

Purchasing Managers’ Index at 50.9

Topic: Indian economy

In news: The seasonally-adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index touched 50.9 in September, down from 51.5 recorded in August.

More on the topic:

• The country’s services sector expanded at a slower pace in September as higher fuel costs and stronger US dollar made imported goods expensive
• The service sector continued to expand during September, but at a marginal rate amid reports of underwhelming market demand.
• Price pressures intensified with higher fuel costs and a stronger US dollar raising the price of imported goods.
• Despite a slight pick-up in manufacturing output growth during the month, overall private sector activity rose at the weakest rate since May.
• IHS Markit complies the survey on a monthly basis. Broad sector data showed that underlying growth in activity and new work remained strongest in information and communication sector.
• In contrast, there were falls seen in the finance and insurance and business services categories.

 Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMI)

• Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMI) are economic indicators derived from monthly surveys of private sector companies. The data for the index are collected through a survey of 400 purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector on different fields, namely, production level, new orders from customers, speed of supplier deliveries, inventories, order backlogs and employment level.
• The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector.
• The PMI is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current business conditions to company decision makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
• For India, the PMI Data is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by Markit Economics.
• The variables used to construct India’s PMI for manufacturing sector are: Output, New Orders, Employment, Input Costs, Output Prices, Backlogs of Work, Export Orders, Quantity of Purchases, Suppliers‟ Delivery Times, Stocks of Purchases and Stocks of Finished Goods.

Significance of the Index:

• The PMI is very closely watched, as it shows the investor sentiment in an economy’s manufacturing sector. In terms of composition, we can say the PMI is a sentiment tracking index.
• An index value above 50 percent indicates a positive development in the industrial sector, whereas a value below 50 percent indicates a negative situation.
• Thus, a PMI of more than 50 represents expansion of the manufacturing sector when compared to the previous month. A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction, and a reading at 50 indicates no change.

PMI and IIP

• The popular index that measures growth in the industrial sector as far as India is concerned is the CSO prepared Index of Industrial Production.
• IIP shows the change in production volume in major industrial subsectors like manufacturing, mining and electricity.
• Similarly, the IIP also gives use based (capital goods, consumer goods etc) trends in industrial production.
• It covers broader industrial sector compared to PMI. But compared volume based production indicator like the IIP, the PMI senses dynamic trends because of the variable it uses for the construction of the index.

Source:The Hindu

India, Russia sign S-400 missile deal

Topic: International relations/Science and Technology

In news: India and Russia concluded the contract for five S-400 ‘Triumf’ missile systems, one of the biggest defence deals in recent times, after the annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More on the Topic:

• On October 2016 during the BRICS Summit, India and Russia signed an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA) for the supply of five S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
• Deliveries of S-400 will begin in 24 months, at the end of 2020.India would pay about 15% in advance, likely through the rupee-rouble mechanism both countries use for trade in their own currencies.
• The U.S. has warned the deal would invoke sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) law, which penalises defence purchases from Russia, Iran and North Korea, as soon as the first payment is made, unless President Donald Trump grants a “waiver.”

More on S-400 weapon System:

• The S-400 Triumf is an anti-aircraft weapon system developed in the 1990s by Russia’s Almaz Central Design Bureau.
• It has been in service with the Russian Armed Forces since 2007. The S-400 uses four missiles to fill its performance envelope: the very-long-range 40N6 (400 km), the long-range 48N6 (250 km), the medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km) and the short-range 9M96E (40 km).
• The S-400 was described by The Economist in 2017 as “one of the best air-defence systems currently made”.

Source:The Hindu

Tripartite meet on Gorkhaland

Topic: Indian Polity and Governance

In news: The Centre has agreed for a tripartite meeting to discuss various political issues concerning the Gurkhas, including the demand for a separate State of Gorkhaland.

What is the Issue:

• Gorkhaland consists of Nepali-speaking people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and other hilly districts of West-Bengal. The people belonging to these areas have ethical, cultural and language differences with the Bengali community of West-Bengal.
• The demand of Darjeeling as a separate administrative region dates back to 1907. But, the term “Gorkhaland” was coined recently, in the 1980s, by Subhash Ghising, the founder of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF).
• The Gorkhaland Movement is a movement mainly focused in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal, which demands the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
• The area covers Duars and Terai region of West Bengal. And is famous for its tea and beauty, which are the main sources of its income.

Why is there a demand for separate statehood for Gorkhaland

• The main reason for the separate Gorkhaland movement is due to the differences in ethnicity, culture and language.
• The people of Nepali-Indian Gorkha ethnic origin on the Northern part of West Bengal demands a state on basis of their cultural identity, which is very different from Bengali culture.
• In addition to an identity crisis, there is also an issue of poverty, under-development and politicisation of the issue.

Way Forward:

• The demands for separate statehood in India have been there even before India’s Independence.
• Even after the state re-organization of 1956, there were demands from various corners of the country for the creation of a separate state.
• Linguistic, cultural, ethnic and economic distinctions can be traced as the core reasons behind these demands.
• The solution lies in pleasing the population rather than the parties.
• Gorkhaland can become an epitome of decentralisation or a failed divided state. The choice is in the hands of people protesting.

Source: The Hindu

Crewed SpaceX mission soon

Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology

In news: NASA has announced the first crewed flight by a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to take place in June 2019.

More on Mission:

• It will be the first manned U.S. launch to the orbiting research laboratory since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011, forcing U.S. astronauts to hitch costly rides aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
• A flight on Boeing spacecraft is set to follow in August 2019. Both missions are considered tests: the two astronauts transported in each flight will spend two weeks aboard the orbiting ISS before returning to the earth. Later missions could last about six months.

International Space Station:

• The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, the last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and the station is expected to operate until 2028.
• The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
• The ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles.
• The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.
• The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.
• The ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA.The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.
• The station is divided into two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), which is shared by many nations.

Source:Pib

Manipuri activists wins international award

Topic: Awards and Honours

In news: Binalakshmi Nepram, a rights activist from Manipur  has won Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) ) Anna Politkovskaya Award. The prestigious  award being conferred to female human rights workers.

More on the Topic:

• This prestigious award is being offered to recognize female bravery across the world and this certainly is a matter of pride not only for the people of North-east but of the entire nation.
• The organization that provides this award, RAW in WAR, is a UK-based charity that has come forward to support women human rights defenders and war victims.
• Binalakshmi was the founder of the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network in which she extended a hand of help to more than 20,000 women who have a history of dealing with decades of armed conflicts and ethnic violence.