National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 5th December 2018

India’s Bhutan hydel project ready

Topic: International Relations

IN NEWS: India’s750-megawatt Mangdechhu hydropower project at Bhutan, is ready to commission.

More on the Topic:

• The Mangdechhu project was bagged by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) and it will be implemented on a bilateral basis.
• Commissioning of the project will mark a highpoint in bilateral ties in the coming months.

About Mangdechhu hydroelectric project:

• The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is a 720MW run-of-river power plant being built on the Mangdechhu River in central Bhutan. Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project Authority (MHPA), which is constituted by the Indian Government and the Royal Government of Bhutan, is developing the project.
• Mangdechhu is one of the ten hydroelectric projects planned under the Royal Government of Bhutan’s initiative to generate 10,000MW hydropower by 2020 with support from the Government of India. An agreement was signed between the two governments for the execution of Mangdechhu HEPP in April 2010.

Source:The Hindu

Accounting methods of climate fund questioned

Topic: Environment and Ecology

IN NEWS: The Finance Ministry has issued a ‘discussion paper’ that has criticised the accounting methods used by developed countries to report how much money they have given, so far, to developing countries to address climate change.

More on the Topic:

• Accounting procedures, regarding the flow of climate finance, is one of the most controversial issues being debated at Katowice, Poland where countries have gathered to agree upon a ‘Rule Book’ to implement the Paris Agreement of 2015, that commits countries to ensure the earth doesn’t warm 2C beyond pre-industrial levels.
• In 2019, developed countries are expected to make available $100 billion annually to developing countries, according to a 2010 agreement in Cancun.
• In 2016, developed countries published a road map to $100 billion, which claimed that public climate finance levels had reached $41 billion per year in 2013-14. In 2015, India had disputed this figure arguing it was only $ 2.2 billion.
• Looking in to the 2017 figures, only around 12% of total pledges to climate funds have actually materialised into disbursements,” the Ministry paper notes.
• The growth in the reported climate specific finance actually slowed down from 24% between 2014 and 2015 to 14% between 2015 and 2016, the paper notes, quoting a report by the finance committee of the UN that manages climate-affairs.

Paris Climate Deal:

• The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, starting in the year 2020.
• The agreement’s language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.
• As of November 2018, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 184 have become party to it.
• The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.
• Contributions each individual country should make to achieve the worldwide goal are determined by all countries individually and are called nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Source:The Hindu

Devise norms for payment apps

Topic: Indian Economy

In news:  The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) come up with regulations to oversee collection, usage and sharing of data by payment service providers, even as the government is expediting discussions on the draft Personal Data Protection Bill.

More on the Topic:

• This follows concerns raised by the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) over collection and storage of “sensitive personal data” by payment service providers via applications such as Google Tez, WhatsApp and Paytm.
• During a review meeting on digital payments in October, the NCSC pointed out that there was no agreement between the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the banks and the applications that provided payment services. Additionally, there is no liability of NPCI and the payment service providers.
• There is no provision to protect the interest of the consumer against the pilferage, leakage and sharing of data, which is of sensitive nature.

Way Forward:

• The NCSC recommended that there was a need to scrutinise all aspects of a relation legal, technical and financial, between all the stakeholders in the payments ecosystem.
• Payments service providers must comply with legal framework as well as regulations prescribed by the regulator.
• The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) supports NCSC’s recommendation and has suggested that RBI should lay down regulations, that would bind the collection, usage and sharing of data, by participants in the payments arena.

Previous Developments:

• In April, this year, the RBI directed all payments service providers to ensure that the data relating to payment systems operated by them were stored only in India. This came into effect in October 2018.
• In July this year, a panel headed by Justice N. Srikrishna submitted the draft personal data protection bill 2018.
• The draft bill proposed that critical personal data of Indian citizens be processed in a data centre located within the country.
• Additionally, it also recommended penalties on the data processor for any violation of the data protection law, besides talking about “explicit consent” and individual rights such as right to be forgotten, right of correction, updation, and data portability.

Source: The Hindu

Giant tortoise may offer clues to a long life

Topic: Science and Technology

In news: According to a study published, Galapagos giant tortoises possess genetic variants linked to DNA repair, immune response and cancer suppression — providing clues into their longevity.

More on the Topic:

• A team of international researchers sequenced the genomes of two such tortoises. They detected “lineage-specific variants affecting DNA repair genes, inflammatory mediators and genes related to cancer development.
• Uncovering the secrets of Lonesome George’s longevity will help with efforts to restore giant tortoise populations.
• Giant tortoises, which can live for over 100 years in captivity, arrived in the volcanic Galapagos region three to four million years ago. It is believed that ocean currents dispersed them around the islands, creating 15 different species — three of which are extinct.

Source:The Hindu

Disabilities Act: States going slow on roll-out, says study

Topic: Polity and Governance

In news: A study conducted by the Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) on the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, across 24 States, has revealed that more than half have not notified the State rules, despite a significant lapse of time.

More on the Topic:

• The study, conducted in collaboration with the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NCRPD), said the Act, passed in December 2016, should have been notified by all States within six months.
• The study, which concentrated on the States’ administrative machinery with respect to the Act, found that 2% of the States had not constituted the funds for implementation of the RPWD Act. Among the five States to have constituted the funds, Tamil Nadu has allocated ₹10 crore while Himachal Pradesh has allocated ₹5 crore.
• Only Tamil Nadu has taken some action with regard to providing an increased quantum of assistance for people with disabilities in social security schemes.
• Out of the 24 States and Union Territories that responded to the study, Madhya Pradesh was ranked the highest, followed by Odisha, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands along with Jammu and Kashmir ranked the lowest. The national capital was ranked number 12.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016

Salient features of the Bill

• Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.
• The types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21. It includes Speech and Language Disability, Specific Learning Disability, Acid Attack Victims, Dwarfism, muscular dystrophy. It also included three blood disorders: Thalassemia, Hemophilia and Sickle Cell disease have been added for the first time.
• It seeks reservation in vacancies in government establishments has been increased from 3% to 4% for certain persons or class of persons with benchmark disability.
• In addition benefits such as reservation in higher education, government jobs, reservation in allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes etc. have been provided for disabilities.
• The bill claimed that every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education. The government will fund educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions to provide inclusive education to the children with reasonable accommodation to disables.
• Special Courts will be designated in each district to handle cases concerning violation of rights of PwDs.
• The Bill provides for penalties for offences(imprisonment of 6 months to 2 years along with fine of 10000 to 5 lakh) committed against persons with disabilities and also violation of the provisions of the new law.
• The bill provides power to government to notify additional disabilities, a clear recognition of the need to factor in conditions that may arise as a result of an ageing population, an inevitable part of the demographic transition.

Source:The Hindu

Floating solar plant

Topic: Indian Economy

In news:A 50MW floating solar plant will be set up in the country’s largest reservoir Rihand dam in Sonbhadra district in UP.

More on the Topic:

• Floating solar plants are considered an alternate option to tackle land availability issues. The concept involves setting up solar panels on floats placed on dams, lakes and similar water bodies.
• Floating solar makes intuitive sense in geographies with high land costs and poor availability. Floating solar is a definite reprieve for states that are a significant market for more renewable energy but with little land to spare, as is the case with Uttar Pradesh.
• The global floating solar market is driven by Asian countries, with China and Japan being home to bulk of the existing operational capacity of 259 MW.
• The largest floating solar plant to date is a 2MW one in Vishakhapatnam. Another is a 500-kWh plant built by the Kerala State Electricity Board at the Banasura Sagar Dam.

Source: The Hindu