Current Affairs Dec 12 – GES Reporter

SAMARTHAN

Why in News?

Union Minister of Education addressed the 26th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes.
On the occasion, the Minister released Conference Souvenir titled SAMARTHAN.
Also released CBSE Manuals on Inclusive Education, Joyful Learning and Physical Education for classes XI and XII.

What is SAMARTHAN?

This is a compilation of the best teaching practices in the country.
The 26th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School Complexes organised by CBSE and hosted by the Bangalore Sahodaya Schools Complex Association is being attended virtually by more than 4000 participants from schools across India and overseas.

PIB

5th India – Myanmar bilateral meeting

Why in News?

The 5th India- Myanmar Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation between the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), India and the Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control, Myanmar was held.

India Highlights

Highlighted issues particularly the trafficking of Heroin and Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) in the country.
High prevalence of drug abuse in the North Eastern States abutting the Myanmar border is a major cause of concern for India.
Apart from porosity of the India-Myanmar border, drug trafficking through the maritime route in Bay of Bengal has emerged as a new challenge for both countries.

Myanmar Concerns

The growing threat of the production of yaba tablets (methamphetamine) which has caused a grave concern in the region.
Urged India to develop frequent information exchange on trafficking of drugs and precursor smuggling activities at every level.

Both Countries Agreed

On the exchange of intelligence information in a timely manner to conduct follow-up investigations in drug seizure cases, new psychotropic substances and their precursors.
To conduct Border Level Officers/Field Level Officers meetings on regular basis between frontline officers to strengthen the existing cooperation on drug law enforcement.
To exchange information on illegal entry and exit points of illicit drug trafficking on the Myanmar-India borders and information on technology being used to interdict drug trafficking.

PIB

Socio-Economic Profiling of PM SVANidhi

Why in News?

The Centre launched a programme for socio-economic profiling of the beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) and their families.

Benefits

Based on the socio-economic profiling of PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their families, various other central schemes will be extended to them according to their eligibility.
States and Union territories can also make use of the profiles to facilitate better access to their respective schemes.
Quality Council of India (QCI) has been appointed as the implementing partner for the programme.
Before the programme is rolled out in all 125 cities a test program will be conducted in six select cities of Gaya, Indore, Kakching, Nizamabad, Rajkot and Varanasi.

Why?

The launch has been in the context of the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister that PM SVANidhi scheme should not be seen merely from the perspective of extending loans to street vendors but should also be seen as an instrument for outreach to street vendors and their families for their holistic development and socio-economic upliftment.

About PM SVANidhi Scheme

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is implementing Prime Minister Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme since June 1, 2020, with an objective to provide affordable working capital loan up to ₹10,000 to Street Vendors for facilitating resumption of their livelihoods adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Bharathi Festival 2020

Why in News?

Prime Minister addressed International Bharathi Festival 2020 and paid tributes to the Bharathiyar on his Jayanti.
The festival is being organised by Vanavil Cultural Centre to celebrate the 138th birth anniversary of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi.

Bharathi Award

Shri Seeni Viswanathan

About Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi

He was a poet, writer, editor, journalist, social reformer, freedom fighter, humanist and much more.
Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s definition of progress had a central role for women.
One of the most important visions was that of independent and empowered women.
Mahakavi Bharathiyaar wrote that women should walk with their head held high, while looking people in the eye.

PIB

India, Uzbekistan Virtual Summit

Why in News?

India and Uzbekistan inked nine agreements for cooperation in several areas and agreed to step up efforts for an early conclusion of a bilateral investment treaty.
The agreements were signed at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

About Agreement

The agreements signed are aimed at expanding cooperation in a range of areas including new and renewable energy, digital technologies, cyber security, community development projects, and in sharing of information on movement of goods.

Both Countries

Strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Discussed the situation in Afghanistan and noted that establishment of peace and stability in that country is of great importance to the security and stability of the entire region.
India and Uzbekistan expressed their unanimity in their support for a united, sovereign and democratic Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The current level of bilateral trade does not reflect the true potential, the two leaders also instructed officials concerned to fast-track the conclusion of an ongoing joint feasibility study that will pave the way for commencement of negotiations on a preferential trade

INDIA TODAY

e-Courts Project

Why in News?

As many as 2927 Court complexes across India have been connected so far by a high-speed Wide Area Network (WAN) under e-Courts Project.
It has led to completion of 97.86 % sites out of 2992 sites conceived to be connected with high speed WAN under the project.

e-Court Project

Under e-Courts Project, one of the largest digital networks of the world was conceived by Department of Justice along with the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India to connect the 2992 court complexes located all over India by a high-speed Wide Area Network (WAN) via different modes of connectivity such as Optical Fiber Cable (OFC), Radio Frequency (RF), Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) etc.
In May 2018 the mandate of providing Managed MPLS VPN services to all these sites was entrusted to the BSNL.
As part of National e-Governance Plan, e-Courts Project is an Integrated Mission Mode Project under implementation since 2007 for the ICT development of the Indian Judiciary based on the ‘National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in Indian Judiciary’.
The Government approved the computerization of 14,249 district & subordinate Courts under the e-Courts Phase I project (2007-2015).

Objective

The objective of the e-Courts project is to provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary by universal computerization of district and subordinate courts in the country by leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery.
Envisaging further ICT enhancement through universal computerization of all the courts, the Phase II of the project was approved by the Cabinet in July 2015 with a cost of Rs 1670 crore under which 16,845 courts have been computerized.

PIB

Hospital Management Information System

Why in News?

Indian Railways has launched Major IT initiative towards according priority for the well-being of its work force.
The new system will improve the quality of health services and aid in utilization of resources in a transparent manner.
Patients waiting time at the hospitals will be minimized and medical records will be available to the team of doctors at all the times.

About HMIS IN Railways:

The HMIS in Railways has been developed by Indian Railways in coordination with RailTel Corporation Limited.
The objective of the HMIS is to provide a single window of clearance of hospital administration activity such as clinical, diagnostics, pharmacy, examinations, industrial health etc.

The primary objectives of envisaged solution are:

Effectively manage all the health facilities & its resources
Monitor performance of hospitals across the administrative channel
Impart quality health care services to its beneficiaries
Improve the patient turn-around time
Generate and maintain EMR (electronic medical records) of all patients

Presently, 3 Modules of HMIS – Registration, OPD Doctor Desk & Pharmacy – are being taken up implemented.

PIB

Indigenous mRNA Vaccine

Why in News?

India’s first indigenous mRNA vaccine candidate has received approval from Indian Drug regulators to initiate Phase I/II human clinical trial.
The novel mRNA vaccine candidate, HGCO19 has been developed by Gennova, Pune and supported with seed grant under the Ind-CEPI mission of Department of Biotechnology.

About mRNA Vaccine

The mRNA vaccines do not use the conventional model to produce immune response.
Instead, mRNA vaccine carries the molecular instructions to make the protein in the body through a synthetic RNA of the virus.
The host body uses this to produce the viral protein that is recognized and thereby making the body mount an immune response against the disease.
They are scientifically the ideal choice to address a pandemic because of their rapid developmental timeline.
Considered safe as is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms.
They are expected to be highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translatable into the protein structure inside the cell cytoplasm.
Additionally, mRNA vaccines are fully synthetic and do not require a host for growth, e.g., eggs or bacteria.
Therefore, they can be quickly manufactured in an inexpensive manner under cGMP conditions to ensure their “availability” and “accessibility” for mass vaccination on a sustainable basis.

Collaboration

Gennova, in collaboration with HDT Biotech Corporation, Seattle, USA, has worked together to develop an mRNA vaccine candidate.
HGCO19 has already demonstrated safety, immunogenicity, neutralization antibody activity in animals.

About Vaccine

Gennova’s vaccine candidate uses the most prominent mutant of spike protein (D614G) and also uses the self-amplifying mRNA platform, which gives the advantage of a low dosing regimen compared with the non-replicating mRNA or traditional vaccines.
HGCO19 uses the adsorption chemistry so that the mRNA is attached on the surface of the nano-lipid carrier to enhance the release kinetics of the mRNA within the cells compared to the encapsulation chemistry.
HGCO19 is stable at 2-8°C for two months.

PIB

Ramanujan Prize

Why in News?

The Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians 2020 was awarded to Dr. Carolina Araujo, Mathematician from the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Her work area focuses on birational geometry, which aims to classify and describe the structure of algebraic varieties.
Araujo, who is Vice President of the Committee for Women in Mathematics at the International Mathematical Union, is the first non-Indian to receive this prize and will be a role model for all women.

About Award

The prize awarded annually to a researcher from a developing country funded by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India in collaboration with ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics), and the International Mathematical Union was given for her outstanding work in algebraic geometry.
The Prize, given every year to young mathematicians less than 45 years of age who have conducted outstanding research in a developing country, has been instituted by DST in the memory of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a genius in pure mathematics who was essentially self-taught and made spectacular contributions to elliptic functions, continued fractions, infinite series, and analytical theory of numbers.

PIB

Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2020

Why in News?

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has circulated draft of Indian Ports Bill 2020 for public consultation which will repeal and replace the Indian Ports Act, 1908 (Act No. 15 of 1908).
The draft Indian Ports Bill, 2020, seeks to, inter alia, enable the structured growth and sustainable development of ports to attract investments in the port sector for optimum utilisation of the Indian coastline by effective administration and management of ports.

Key Points of Bill

It will provide measures to facilitate conservation of ports, taking into account the prevalent situation with respect to the high number of non-operational ports.
Ensure greater investment in the Indian maritime and ports sector through the creation of improved, comprehensive regulatory frameworks for the creation of new ports and management of existing ports.
Create an enabling environment for the growth and sustained development of the ports sector in India through constitution of Maritime Port Regulatory Authority and formulation of the National Port policy and National Port plan in consultation with Coastal State Governments, State Maritime Boards and other stakeholders.
To formulate specialised Adjudicatory Tribunals – Maritime Ports Tribunal and Maritime Ports Appellate Tribunal to curb any anti-competitive practices in the port sector and act as a speedy and affordable grievance redressal mechanism.
The up-to-date provisions of the proposed Bill would ensure safety, security, pollution control, performance standards and sustainability of Ports. The Bill ensures that all up-to-date conventions /protocols to which India is a party, are also suitably incorporated.
The Bill seeks to provide increased opportunities for public and private investments in the Indian maritime and ports sector by way of removing barriers to entry, simplifying processes and establishment of agencies and bodies to plan and enable growth of the ports sector.

THE HINDU

RBI issues Draft Circular on Declaration of Dividend by NBFCs

Why?

With a view to ensure financial discipline and transparency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed guidelines for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for declaring dividends.

Key Points

Only those NBFCs that meet the prescribed prudential requirements would be allowed to declare and distribute dividends.
The net non-performing asset (NPA) ratio of NBFCs should be less than 6 per cent in each of the last three years, including the accounting year for which it proposes to declare dividend.
On capital adequacy and leverage, the draft said deposit-taking NBFCs and systemically important non-deposit-taking NBFCs should have the capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of at least 15 for the past three years, including the accounting year for which it proposes to declare dividend.
Non-systemically important non-deposit-taking NBFCs should have a leverage ratio of less than seven for the last three years, including the accounting year for which it proposes to declare dividend.
Core investment company (CIC) should have adjusted networth (ANW) of at least 30 per cent of its aggregate risk-weighted assets on balance sheet and risk-adjusted value of off-balance sheet items for the past three years, including the accounting year for which it proposes to declare dividend.
The increasing significance of NBFCs in the financial system and their inter-linkages with different segments, the RBI had decided to formulate guidelines on dividend distribution by NBFCs.

TIMES NOW

Sustainable Mountain Development Summit

Why in News?

The ninth edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit commenced in virtual mode on the occasion of International Mountain Day, 11th December.

About Summit

Organised by Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI), the four-day-long summit seeks to deliberate on issues such as migration, water security, climate resilience and innovative solutions for the farm sector, and disaster risk reduction in the Indian Himalayas.

About International Mountain Day

The International Mountain Day is celebrated on December 11 every year.
The day aims to encourage sustainable development in mountains.
The day was announced by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003.
The increasing attention to the importance of mountains led the UN to declare to 2002 the UN International Year of Mountains.
The first international day was celebrated for the first time the following year, 2003.
The theme of International Mountain Day 2020 is Mountain Biodiversity. It aims to celebrate the rich biodiversity of the mountains and also address the threats they face.

Importance of mountains

About 15 per cent of the world’s population live on mountains. Half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are on mountains.
They are the source of freshwater for everyday life to half of the human population. Their conservation is a key factor for sustainable development and is part of Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

TOI

RTGS to be available 24×7

Why in News?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the money transfer facility, Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), will be available round the clock on all days of the year from December 14, 2020.
With this, India will become one of the few countries in the world to operate its RTGS system round the clock throughout the year.
Currently, the transfer facility is available between 7 AM and 6 PM on all working days except for the second and fourth Saturday of the month and on Sundays.

About RTGS & NEFT

RTGS facilitates inter-bank transfer of funds from the account of the remitter in one bank to the account of the beneficiary maintained with any other bank branch.
The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is Rs 2 lakh with no upper or maximum ceiling.
RTGS and NEFT are two systems for interbank transfer facilities supervised by the RBI.
The move comes within a year of operationalising National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) 24×7 by the apex bank.
NEFT is an electronic fund transfer system in which the transactions received up to a particular time are processed in batches.
Contrary to this, in RTGS, the transactions are processed continuously on a transaction by transaction basis throughout the RTGS business hours.
RTGS uses ISO 20022 format which is the best-in-class messaging standard for financial transactions. The feature of positive confirmation for credit to beneficiary accounts is also available in RTGS.

Business Today

WHO’s 2019 Global Health Estimates

Why in News?

The WHO’s 2019 Global Health Estimates, released recently, said non-communicable diseases now make up 7 of the world’s top 10 causes of death, an increase from 4 of the 10 leading causes in 2000. The new data cover the period from 2000 to 2019.

What are the Estimates?

Heart disease, which has remained the leading cause of death at the global level for the last 20 years, is now killing more people than ever before.
Diabetes and dementia are also among the world’s top 10 causes of death.
Heart disease now represents 16 per cent of total deaths from all causes and the number of deaths from heart disease increased by more than two million since 2000 to nearly 9 million in 2019.
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are now among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, ranking 3rd in both the Americas and Europe in 2019. Women are disproportionally affected: globally, 65 per cent of deaths from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are women.
Deaths from diabetes increased by 70 per cent globally between 2000 and 2019, with an 80 per cent rise in deaths among males. In the Eastern Mediterranean, deaths from diabetes have more than doubled and represent the greatest percentage increase of all WHO regions.
While more non-communicable diseases are now causing deaths worldwide, there has been a global decline in deaths from communicable diseases, which however still remain a major challenge in low- and middle-income countries.
In 2019, pneumonia and other lower respiratory infections were the deadliest group of communicable diseases and together ranked as the fourth leading cause of death.
HIV/AIDS dropped from the 8th leading cause of death in 2000 to the 19th in 2019.
Tuberculosis is also no longer in the global top 10, falling from 7th place in 2000 to 13th in 2019, with a 30% reduction in global deaths. Yet, it remains among the top 10 causes of deaths in the African and South-East Asian regions, where it is the 8th and 5th leading cause respectively.
6 of the top 10 causes of death in low-income countries are still communicable diseases, including malaria (6th), tuberculosis (8th) and HIV/AIDS (9th).
In 2019, people were living more than 6 years longer than in 2000, with a global average of more than 73 years in 2019 compared to nearly 67 in 2000. But on average, only 5 of those additional years were lived in good health.
Heart disease, diabetes, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were collectively responsible for nearly 100 million additional healthy life-years lost in 2019 compared to 2000.
Injuries are another major cause of disability and death, with the African region recording a significant rise in road traffic injuries since 2000.

UN Population Award for 2020

Why in News?

HelpAge India has been presented the UN Population Award for 2020 (institutional category), as per the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund).

Establishment

Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981, the United Nations Population Award recognises contributions in the fields of population and reproductive health.

Committee for selection

The Committee for the United Nations Population Award, which made the selections, is chaired by Ion Jinga, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations, and is composed of representatives of nine other UN Member States.

India’s Scenario

For the first time in the history of the UN Population Award, the honour is being conferred on an Indian institution.
The last time the Award came to an Indian was 28 years ago, back in 1992, when it was awarded to Mr. J.R.D. Tata as an individual laureate.

About HelpAge India

HelpAge India, which has been working for ‘the cause and care of disadvantaged older persons to improve their quality of life’ for over four decades, is the first Indian institution to receive this award.

Asia-Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX)

Why in News?

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a $9-billion initiative, Asia-Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) that will offer support to its developing member economies to procure and deliver Covid-19 vaccines.
ADB is also making available a $500-million vaccine import facility to support the efforts of the developing members to secure safe and effective vaccines, as well as the goods that support distribution and inoculation.

What it Provides?

APVAX provides a comprehensive framework and resource envelope for supporting Asia’s vaccine programmes.
Under this, the Rapid Response Component will provide timely support for critical vaccine diagnostics, procurement of vaccines and transporting vaccines from the place of purchase to ADB’s developing members.
The Project Investment Component will support investments in systems for successful distribution, delivery and administration of vaccines along with associated investments in building capacity, community outreach and surveillance.
This may include such areas as cold-chain storage and transportation, vehicles, distribution infrastructure, processing facilities, and other physical investments.
The component may also be used to develop or expand vaccine manufacturing capacity in developing members.
The ADB’s financing for vaccines will be provided in close coordination with other development partners including the World Bank Group, World Health Organization (WHO), Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), GAVI, and bilateral and multilateral partners.
For a vaccine to be eligible for financing, it must meet one of three criteria
- - It must be procured via COVAX,
  - Prequalified by WHO, or
  - Authorised by a stringent regulatory authority.

TOI

Space Tourism

Why in News?

Virgin Galactic will launch a test flight of SpaceShipTwo, its reusable winged spacecraft which will take off from New Mexico’s Spaceport America for the first time and is expected to reach an altitude of 80 km.
It will mark the first crewed flight of the rocket-powered spacecraft that eventually aims to carry tourists to space, which the company claims will start in 2021.

What is space tourism?

Space tourism is a segment of space travel that seeks to give lay people the opportunity to go to space for recreational, leisure or business purposes.
The idea is to make space more accessible to those individuals who are not astronauts and want to go to space for non-scientific purposes.
As of now, companies including Virgin Atlantic, SpaceX, XCOR Aerospace, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Armadillo Aerospace are working on providing space tourism services to people.

Reasons why Farmers justified their Protest

One, “it is an undisputed fact that there was no consultation undertaken by the central government at the time of promulgating the ordinances, and subsequently while pushing the bills through the Parliament”.
Two, notwithstanding the several pro-corporate and perceived anti-farmer provisions in the farm laws, the Union government has by-passed the federal structure by legislating on subjects that exclusively fall within the domain of the state government under the state list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Three, the global experience across agricultural markets demonstrates that corporatisation of agriculture without a concomitant security net in the form of an assured payment guarantee to the farmers results in the exploitation of farmers at the hands of big business.
Four, the primary cause for concern is the systematic dismantling of the APMC mandis, which have stood the test of time and have provided farmers the remuneration to keep themselves afloat. “The farm laws open the field to an alternate set of markets/private yards, where the buyer will have no statutory obligation to pay the minimum support price (MSP). Since the said markets/private yards will not be charged any market fee/levy; the agricultural sector will see the gradual shifting of trade from the APMC mandis to these private yards.
Five, the market fee collected by the APMC mandis is used for the development of rural infrastructure, link roads and storage facilities. The shifting of trade to avoid payment of any levy/market fee by private players and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will eventually witness the redundancy of the APMC mandis, leaving the farmers at the mercy of the corporate sharks.
Six, the new farm laws expressly exclude the jurisdiction of the civil court, leaving the farmers remediless and with no independent medium of dispute redressal mechanism.

Plasmodium ovale

Why in News?

A not very common type of malaria, Plasmodium ovale, has been identified in a jawan in Kerala.
The soldier is believed to have contracted it during his posting in Sudan, from where he returned nearly a year ago, and where Plasmodium ovale is endemic.

Types of malaria

Malaria is caused by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito, if the mosquito itself is infected with a malarial parasite.
There are five kinds of malarial parasites — Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax (the commonest ones), Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium knowlesi.
Therefore, to say that someone has contracted the Plasmodium ovale type of malaria means that the person has been infected by that particular parasite.

Plasmodium ovale

P ovale rarely causes severe illness.
Symptoms include fever for 48 hours, headache and nausea, and the treatment modality is the same as it is for a person infected with P vivax. P ovale is no more dangerous than getting a viral infection.
It is termed ovale as about 20% of the parasitised cells are oval in shape.
P ovale malaria is endemic to tropical Western Africa.