National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 10th June 2019

Draft National Education Policy

Topic: Governance

In News: All Indian children could soon enter the formal education system at the age of three, with the draft National Education Policy projecting an expansion of the Right To Education Act to cover the three years of preschool before Class 1.

More on the Topic:

• The draft policy also wants early childhood education to be overseen and regulated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) as part of the school system, rather than the private pre-schools and anganwadis that currently cater to the 3-to-6 years age group.
• This could result in an upheaval in the anganwadi system which has been overseen by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) for more than four decades.
• An inter-ministerial task force will work out a roadmap for the transition by the end of 2019, says the draft policy.
• The HRD Ministry is in the early stages of assessing the implications of such a move.
• Additional costs will come in the form of teacher recruitment and training, infrastructure and learning materials, as well as nutritional aspects (including the proposal to provide breakfast to young children).

Present Scenario:

• The contribution of anganwadis to improving health and nutrition is commendable but their record in education is not so strong.
• Anganwadis are currently quite deficient in supplies and infrastructure for education; as a result, they tend to contain more children in the 2-4 year age range and fewer in the educationally critical 4-6 year age range; they also have few teachers trained in or specially dedicated to early childhood education.

New Changes Envisaged:

• The draft Policy suggests a new integrated curricular framework for 3 to 8-year olds with a flexible system based on play, activity and discovery, and beginning exposure to three languages from age 3 onwards.
• This framework would be implemented by training and strengthening anganwadi capabilities and linking them to a local primary school, co-locating anganwadis and pre-schools with primary schools, or building stand-alone pre-schools also linked to a local primary school.

Model Mains Question: Examine critically the recent changes in the draft National Education Policy projecting an expansion of the Right To Education Act to cover the three years of preschool before Class 1.

Source: The Hindu

All States can constitute Foreigners Tribunals

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The Ministry of Home Affairs has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not.

More on the Topic:

• The tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, unique to Assam, to determine if a person staying illegally is a “foreigner” or not.
• In other parts, once a ‘foreigner’ has been apprehended by the police for staying illegally, he or she is produced before the local court under the Passport Act, 1920, or the Foreigners Act, 1946, with the punishment ranging from imprisonment of three months to eight years.
• Once the accused have completed the sentence, the court orders their deportation, and they are moved to detention centres till the country of origin accepts them.
• The amended Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019 also empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals.
• The amended order also allows District Magistrates to refer individuals who haven’t filed claims against their exclusion from NRC to the Tribunals to decide if they are foreigners or not.
• Opportunity will also be given to those who haven’t filed claims by referring their cases to the Tribunals. Fresh summons will be issued to them to prove their citizenship.

What the Orders Says:

• The 1964 order on Constitution of Tribunals said: “The Central Government may by order, refer the question as to whether a person is not a foreigner within meaning of the Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946) to a Tribunal to be constituted for the purpose, for its opinion.”
• The amended order issued last week says – “for words Central Government may,’ the words ‘the Central Government or the State Government or the Union Territory administration or the District Collector or the District Magistrate may’ shall be substituted.”

Source: The Hindu

Sukhois

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Weeks after the Balakot air strikes, the government decided to fast-track arming over 40 Sukhoi fighter jets with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a closely guarded strategic project aimed at bolstering the combat capability of the Indian Air Force.

More on the topic:

• Once the weapon is integrated with the combat fleet, the IAF’s capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target in sea or land is expected to go up manifold. The missile, coupled with the superlative performance of the Sukhoi aircraft, will give the IAF a strategic reach and allow it to dominate the ocean and land battlefields.

About Sukhoi Air crafts:

• The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.
• Development of the variant started after India signed a deal with Russia in 2000 to manufacture 140 Su-30 fighter jets.
• The Su-30MKI is expected to form the backbone of the Indian Air Force’s fighter fleet to 2020 and beyond.
• The aircraft is tailor-made for Indian specifications and integrates Indian systems and avionics as well as French and Israeli sub-systems.

About Brahmos Missiles:

• The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
• It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0, which is being upgraded to Mach 5.0.

Source: The Hindu

Yarn out of discarded PET bottles.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Global sportswear giant Adidas aims at eliminating the use of virgin plastics in its products by 2024  with a little help from a Maharashtra-based firm — the only one of its kind in the country to produce yarn out of discarded PET bottles.

More on the Topic:

• The firm deploys an unique technology to break down used PET (short for Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles and convert them into polyester filament yarn.
• The firm, with a capacity to convert 30 tonnes of PET bottles into yarn a day, plans to scale up capacity to around 100 tonnes a day in the next two years to meet demand from the likes of Adidas — one of its first clients.
• This would mean Polygenta(Name of the company) would be converting around 8 to 10 million bottles a day in a couple of years from now.
• The yarn produced by Polygenta, currently sent to Adidas’ manufacturing centres to be converted into sportswear, may also be tapped to potentially upcycle clothes made from polyester yarn.
• The upcycling process consumes 86% less water and 75% less energy than conventional manufacturing, but costs approximately 10% more, Polygenta claims.
• “A key area where costs can be reduced is curbing the level of contamination in PET bottles. If PET bottles are disposed and collected properly, one can expect savings to the tune of Rs. 5 per kg.

Statistics – Plastic production:

• According to the United Nations, around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year roughly the weight of the entire human population. Of this, eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans; PET bottles are the main contributors to plastic waste globally and in India.

Source: The Hindu

Practical Road Map for Electric Vehicles

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers told that the government’s policy to switch to electric vehicles should be driven by practicality, rather than unrealistic expectations which may disrupt the automotive industry that is already reeling under stress.

More on the Topic:

• Another industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), came out in support of the auto sector, stating that there is a need for wider consultations with stakeholders before the target and the time line for electric vehicles are set.
• The reactions come amid reports that the government plans to ban sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) three-wheelers by 2023 as well as of less than 150 cc two-wheelers by 2025.

Challenges Faced by Automotive Industry:

• The challenges include leapfrogging to BS VI emission norms and complying with new safety norms “in the shortest time-frame ever attempted in the world.
• This is engaging the attention of the industry and is involving investments of the order of Rs. 70,000-80,000 crore.

Way Forward:

• Unrealistic expectations and policies would not only adversely affect the world no 1 two/three-wheeler industry, but may not help in making EVs acceptable to the customer and the market.
• The [government’s EV] ambition needs to be tempered with a practical approach and what is possible without needlessly disrupting the automotive industry.

National E-Mobility Programme in India:

• The National E-Mobility Programme is launched to provide an impetus to the entire e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc.
• This Programme will be implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) which will aggregate demand by procuring electric vehicles in bulk to get economies of scale.
• These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles.
• EESL had procured 10,000 e-vehicles last year(2018) and will issue a new tender very soon for 10,000 more e-vehicles to cater to the growing demand.
• With national w mobility programme India is expected to save over 5 crore litres of fuel every year leading to a reduction of over 6 lakh tonnes of annual CO2 emission.

Source: The Hindu

The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG)

Topic: Governance

In News: The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), India’s leading civil services training institution, has entered into an agreement with the Maldives Civil Services Commission for capacity building of 1,000 civil servants from the Maldives over the next five years.

More on the Topic:

• The agreement envisages that the NCGG will be the nodal institution for designing customised training modules and its implementation, taking into account the requirements of the Maldives Civil Services Commission.
• The subject matters of the training programme will include public administration, e-governance and service delivery, public policy and governance, information technology, best practices in fisheries in coastal areas, agro-based practices, self-help group initiatives, urban development and planning and ethics in administration.
• The Maldives will nominate suitable civil servants in the senior or executive or middle management levels as per the agreed timelines.

About The National Centre for Good Governance:

• The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) is an autonomous institute under the aegis of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India. Its head office is at New Delhi and registered office at Mussoorie.
• The NCGG has been set up to assist in bringing about governance reforms through studies, training, knowledge sharing and promotion of good ideas.
• It seeks to carry out policy relevant research and prepare case studies; curate training courses for civil servants from India and other developing countries; provide a platform for sharing of existing knowledge and pro-actively seek out and develop ideas for their implementation in the government, both at the States and the Central level.
• The National Centre for Good Governance traces its origin to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR).
• NIAR was set up in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA).

Source: The Hindu

Mula-Mutha River

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: The Union Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting, has said that about 70% of the first package of Mula-Mutha River Cleaning Project, namely Construction of Branch Sewers in Baner Area, has been completed.

More on the Topic:

• The Mula Mutha river at Pune is among the 35 polluted river stretches of the country, which have been classified as Priority 1 (the highest risk category) by Central Pollution Control Board.
• The major reasons for pollution of Mula Mutha are discharge of untreated domestic waste water into the river due to inadequate sewerage system (including pumping stations) and sewage treatment capacity in the town, as well as open defecation on the river banks.
• A loan agreement was signed between Government of India and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in January 2016, for cleaning of Mula-Mutha River under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP).
• As per the agreement, the Government of Japan committed to provide a soft loan of 19.064 billion Yen (about Rs. 1000 crore) to Government of India at an interest rate of 0.30% per annum.
• The project cost will be shared between Government of India and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the implementing agency for the project, in the ratio of 85:15 respectively.
• The project will have a significant, direct beneficial impact in terms of reduction of pollution load in the river and improvement of the quality of its water.
• Some of the collateral benefits of the project include use of tertiary treated effluent for irrigation and employment opportunities, particularly in the construction stage. The project will also improve the aesthetics and sanitation of Pune.
• Biogas (methane) from STPs will be used to generate electricity. To that extent, this will not only be a non-conventional energy source, but will also provide benefits in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (methane being a greenhouse gas).

Source: PIB