National Current Affair – UPSC/KAS Exams – 18th March 2020

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: The government informed the Lok Sabha that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) may issue a show-cause notice on receiving a complaint from “any person” or law enforcement agencies to ascertain if Aadhaar was procured through fraudulent means.

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• In case the allegation is found to be correct after a due inquiry, the Aadhaar number is cancelled or suspended as the case may be in accordance with Regulations 27 and 28 of Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016.

UIDAI: ·  UIDAI is nodal statutory organization behind the Aadhaar, a 12 digit unique number. · It was granted statutory status by Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. · It comes under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) · Prior to its establishment as a statutory authority, UIDAI was functioning as an attached office of the then Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) · UIDAI was created with the objective to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as “Aadhaar”, to all residents of India that is ·  robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and ·  can be verified and authenticated in an easy, cost-effective way.

Source: Hindu

P-8I aircraft

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: The Navy will start receiving four more P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft from Boeing.

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• The P-8I is a long range maritime surveillance aircraft based on Boeing 737 commercial airliner and India was its first international customer.
• P-8I is intended to replace the ageing fleet of Tupolev Tu-142 aircraft that are in service with the Indian Navy.
• The P-8I aircraft was designed to protect the vast coastline and territorial waters of India. It can conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (AsuW), intelligence, maritime patrol, and surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
• The internal weapons bay of the aircraft can house Mark 54 torpedoes, depth charges and free-fall bombs. The under-wing hardpoints can be armed with air-to-surface missiles.

Source: PIB

SC, ST committees

Topic: Governance

In News: The State-level committees meant to monitor the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 of 25 States and Union Territories had not met even once in three years — 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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• The 1995 rules formed under the Act mandate the setting up of State and district-level vigilance and monitoring committees. The State-level committees, headed by the respective Chief Ministers, are supposed to meet twice a year, according to the rules.

· The provisions of SC/ST Act can be divided into three categories:- Provisions of criminal law: ·  Creation of new types of offences not in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or in the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 (PCRA). ·  Atrocities can be committed only by non-SCs and non-STs on members of the SC or ST communities. Crimes among SCs and STs or between STs and SCs do not come under the purview of this Act. ·  Defines various types of atrocities against SCs/STs and prescribes stringent punishments for the same. ·  Enhanced minimum punishment for public servants. ·  Punishment for neglect of duties by a public servant(Section 4) ·  Cancellation of arms licenses in the areas identified where an atrocity may take place or has taken place and grant arms licenses to SCs and STs ·  Denial of anticipatory bail (Section 18) provided in Section 438 of the CrPC ·  Denial of probation to convict (Section 19). 2.Provisions for relief and compensation for victims 3.Provisions that establish special authorities for the implementation and monitoring of the Act. · Creation of Special Courts and special public prosecutor · Mandatory, periodic monitoring system at District, State and National level · Identification of atrocity prone areas

Source: Hindu

Permanent Commission for Women in Indian Navy

Topic: Social Justice

In News: The Supreme Court upheld the right of serving Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers of the Navy to be granted Permanent Commission (PC) on a par with their male counterparts.

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• The judgment was based on a case filed by 17 women SSC officers who were denied PC and discharged despite completing 14 years of service as SSC officers.
• The verdict comes after the top court had opened the doors for similarly-placed women officers in the Army.
• SC has directed that SSC women officers found suitable for the grant of PC shall be entitled to all consequential benefits, including arrears of pay, promotions and retirement benefits as and when due.
• The grant of PCs will be subject to availability of vacancies in the stabilised cadre, suitability of the candidate and recommendation by the chief of Naval Staff.
• It rejected the submissions of the Centre stating that certain sea-sailing duties are ill-suited for women officers as there is no return to the base, unlike in the Army and the Air Force.
• The Court denied the discrimination on the grounds of physiology, motherhood and physical attributes of the women officers in the Indian Navy.
• Thus the judgement ensured the right to fair and equal treatment with constitutional entitlement to dignity at the workplace for women.

· A Permanent Commission means a career in the Armed forces till you retire, it means if you get selected through Permanent Commission entry then you have the option to serve your nationup to the age of retirement which is 60 years as of now. · Short Service Commission (SSC) means a career currently for 10 years and can be extended by four more years, or a total of 14 years

Source: Hindu

Nanocomposite Coatings

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: A group of scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D center of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has developed a process for size-selective deposition of nanocomposite coatings which can reduce the friction of these dynamic systems.

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• The scientists have found that nickel tungsten-based coatings with impregnation of particular sized Silicon Carbide (SiC) submicron particles using an economical and straightforward pulsed electroplating or electrodeposition process can provide an excellent combination of wear and corrosion resistance with the low friction coefficient and good oil retention capacity.
• The coatings developed by the ARCI group reduced friction more and could withstand corrosion due to salt spray better than many similar wear-resistant coatings available in the market.
• The coating could address the emerging need for coatings with low friction and wear. Nanocomposite coatings with hard particles inside a tough matrix result in the best combination of wear resistance and reduced friction.
• However, the size of reinforcement particles is a critical factor in deciding the friction characteristics. Too much variation in the size of reinforcement particles in composite coating results in premature failure of the coating due to stress concentration.
• Electrodeposition also called electroplating, involves the metal parts to be immersed in an electrolyte bath solution, in this case, typically prepared by dissolving crystals of Nickel (Ni) and Tungsten (W) salts in a mix of distilled water and other additives.
• A direct current (DC) was passed through the solution, and the resulting reaction left a deposit of Ni-W alloy on the piece being plated.
• During electrodeposition, a diffusion layer was formed at the cathode surface due to movement and deposition of metallic ions in solution.
• For size-selective electrodeposition, pulse current (PC) electrodeposition – intermittent application of current was used in place of conventional direct current (DC) deposition. Pulsed currents of certain amplitude and duration helped in depositing coatings of desired properties, which would not be possible with conventional DC plating.
• The recent finding by Engineered Coatings group at ARCI shows that, by careful selection of pulse parameters, reinforcing particles of a given size can be selectively and uniformly deposited in a metallic matrix.
• In this process, during electrodeposition, only particles having a size equal to or less than diffusion layer thickness can be incorporated into the nanocrystalline coating. The size of the diffusion layer thickness is controlled by changing the duration of the electric current pulse during pulsed electrodeposition.
• The process is suitable for many other composite coatings requiring reinforcement for various applications, including fuel cells, batteries, catalysis, and so on.

· Nanocomposite coatings are formed by mixing two or more dissimilar materials at nanoscale to improve the physical, chemical and physicochemical properties of the new materials. Need for Nanocomposite coatings: ·  Several aerospace, defence, automobile, space devices need to reduce friction, wear, and tear to enhance the life of components. · Lubricating these dynamic systems add to the cost, complexity, and weight of these systems. · The coating could help in reducing the friction of such devices.

Source: PIB

Anti-HIV Drugs for COVID-19

Topic: Health

In News: The Union Health Ministry has recommended the use of anti-HIV drug combinations Lopinavir and Ritonavir on a case-to-case basis depending upon the severity of the condition of a patient having coronavirus infection.

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• These medicines are recommended for high-risk groups patients aged above 60, suffering from diabetes mellitus, renal failure, chronic lung disease and are immuno-compromised.
• The ministry also recommended Lopinavir-Ritonavir for symptomatic patients having hypoxia, hypotension, new onset organ dysfunction (one or more), increase in creatinine by 50 per cent from baseline and any other organ dysfunction among others.
• These two drugs have various adverse reactions.
• There is no current evidence from randomised controlled trial to recommend any specific treatment for suspected or confirmed patients with COVID-19.

Source: PIB

Rehabilitation of Beggars

Topic: Social Justice

In News: The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is exploring the possibilities of a scheme for persons engaged in the act of begging which would cover identification, rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development with the support of State Governments/UTs/Local Urban Bodies and Voluntary Organizations, institutions etc.

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• National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC) is taking up skill development programmes for beggars.
• The main objective of the proposed Skill Development Training Programme is provision of vocational skills to members of beggars’ community to enable them to start income generating activities of their own or to get gainfully employed.
• The Corporation has so far conducted skill development training programme for 400 members of beggar’s community in Warehouse Packer, Hand-rolled Aggarbatti making, Hand Embroiderer and also sanctioned skill development training programme for 160 members of beggars’ community in Self-Employed Tailor, Coir Artisans and Asst. Carpenter job role.
• National Institute of Social Defence currently focuses on human resource development in the areas of drug abuse prevention, welfare of senior citizens, beggary prevention, transgender and other social defence issues.
• It is an Autonomous Body and is registered under Societies Act XXI of 1860 with the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT), Delhi.
• It is a central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Source: PIB

New Security Guidelines for ATM cards

Topic: Economy

In News: According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) January 15 notification, any existing credit or debit card that has not been used for international or online transaction will be mandatorily disabled for these purposes.

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• At the time of issue or re-issue, all cards shall be enabled for use only at contact based points of usage [ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) devices] within India. Issuers shall provide cardholders a facility for enabling card not present (domestic and international) transactions, card present (international) transactions and contactless transactions.
• Banks will provide round-the-clock services via mobile banking, internet banking, ATMs, call centres, etc, to their customers to alter these features on credit and debit cards.

Source: Hindu