Current Affairs Oct 21 - Oct 25 2016

1. Triple talaq a highly misused custom: NCW

Asking the government to scrap the triple talaq system to protect the rights of Muslim women, the National Commission of Women (NCW) has observed that the system was a “highly misused” custom.

• The commission also observed that this issue cannot be linked to the Uniform Civil Code.
• The commission has received several representations from Muslim women who said they felt “disempowered” because of the practice of triple talaq.

Source: TimesofIndia

What is triple talaq?

‘Triple Talaq’ is a procedure of divorce under the Sharia Law which is a body of the Islamic law. Under this, a husband can divorce his wife by pronouncing ‘Talaq’ thrice.

Why triple talaq should be abolished?

• According to a study, 92% of Muslim women in India want oral triple talaq to go. Because there are several instances where ‘triple talaq’ has enabled husbands to divorce their wives arbitrarily, devoid of any substantiation.
• Oral talaq or ‘triple talaq’ delivered through new media platforms like Skype, text messages, email and WhatsApp have become an increasing cause of worry for the community.
• The ‘triple talaq’ has been abolished in 21 countries including Pakistan, but is still prevalent in India.
• These practices are also against constitutional principles such as gender equality, secularism, international laws etc.
• The government also argues that when these practices are banned in Islamic theocratic countries, the practices could have absolutely no base in religion and are only prevalent to permit the dominance of men over women.

About NCW:

The National Commission for Women (NCW) is a statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women.

• It was established in January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution, as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act.
• The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide a voice for their issues and concerns.
• The commission regularly publishes a monthly newsletter, Rashtra Mahila in both Hindi and English.

2. Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik : Civil Aviation Ministry’s Regional Connectivity Scheme “UDAN” Launched.

UDAN is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market. It is a market-based mechanism in which airlines bid for seat subsidies. This first-of-its-kind scheme globally will create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns. 
Objective of the scheme was “Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik”

FEATURES -

• UDAN has a unique market-based model to develop regional connectivity. Interested airline and helicopter operators can start operations on hitherto un-connected routes by submitting proposals to the Implementing Agency. 
• The operators could seek a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) apart from getting various concessions. 
• All such route proposals would then be offered for competitive bidding through a reverse bidding mechanism and the route would be awarded to the participant quoting the lowest VGF per Seat.
•  The operator submitting the original proposal would have the Right of First Refusal on matching the lowest bid in case his original bid is within 10% of the lowest bid. 
• The successful bidder would then have exclusive rights to operate the route for a period of three years. Such support would be withdrawn after a three year period, as by that time, the route is expected to become self-sustainable. 

SEATS -

The selected airline operator would have to provide a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40 UDAN Seats ( subsidized rates )on the UDAN Flights for operations through fixed wing aircraft and a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 13 Seats on the Flights for operations through helicopters. FARE -

The fare for a one hour journey of appx. 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for a 30 minute journey on a helicopter would now be capped at Rs. 2,500, with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths / flight duration. 
FINANCE -

This would be achieved through (1) a financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators and (2) a Viability Gap Funding to the interested airlines to kick-off operations from such airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable. 

INS Viraat, the oldest war ship which was decommissioned, pulled out from Kochi by tugs to Mumbai on Sunday. 

A ceremonial send off was given to INS Viraat at Ernakulam Wharf,Kochi with Naval Band playing. 

The ageing 750 feet long giant as the name signifies served Indian Navy with distinction for almost three decades. 

The career played a major role in the Operation Jupiter in 1989 and Operation Vijay in the Kargil. The ship hold the Guinness Record for being the oldest serving ship.

3. ZED scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Zero Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

What is it all about?

The ZED Maturity Assessment Model has been conceived and structured to offer graded benchmark levels of an organisation’s performance through a set of standard enabler and outcome parameters focusing on quality and environmental performances. It aims to rate and handhold all MSMEs to deliver top-quality products using clean technology.

• The aim is to help MSMEs evolve and grow by providing them adequate training and funding to move up the value chain and produce quality products. The ZED model will sensitise MSMEs to emphasise delivery of high quality products with zero defects.
• There will be sector-specific assessment parameters for each industry such as food processing, textiles, leather, auto parts, etc.

4. Central assistance for 99 prioritized irrigation projects under AIBP

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  The government has released the first installment of Rs. 1500 crore to the states as central assistance for 99 prioritized irrigation projects under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Program (AIBP).
  • This amount has been released for 50 projects in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana.
  
  
  Background:
  Total funds required for completion of all the 99 identified projects have been estimated at Rs.77595 crore. These projects will cover all most all drought prone districts of 18 States of country and will also go a long way to contain the incident of suicide by farmers.
  
  
  About AIBP:
  Central Government launched the AIBP in the year 1996-97 to provide Central Assistance to major/medium irrigation projects in the country, with the objective to accelerate implementation of such projects which were beyond resource capability of the States or were in advanced stage of completion.
  • Priority was given to those projects which were started in Pre-Fifth and Fifth Plan period and also to those which were benefiting Tribal and Drought Prone Areas. From the year 1999-2000 onwards, Central Loan Assistance under AIBP was also extended to minor surface irrigation projects (SMI) of special category States.
  • Later, during 2015-16, PMKSY was conceived amalgamating ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC).
  • The scheme will be implemented by Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development.
  • The major objective of PMKSY is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water and enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop).
    
    

5. Western Zonal Council Meeting held in Mumbai

The 22nd meeting of the Western Zonal Council consisting of the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli was recently held at Mumbai under the chairmanship of Shri Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister.

Key facts:

• The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers and Ministers of these States and Administrators of Union Territories as well as senior officers of Central and State Governments.
• The Council reviewed issues which relate to coastal security, internal security, issuance of bio-metric identity cards to fishermen & issue of card readers, formulation of plans for countering terrorism, modernization of police force etc.
• Other important issues discussed were Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Urban) Mission, surplus lands of Central Government for ‘Housing for All: 2022’ and providing shelters to the urban homeless.
• Issues relating to checking pollution in Daman Ganga and Kolak river due to discharge of untreated effluents from Vapi industrial area were also deliberated in detail.

Background:

Five Zonal Councils (Northern, Western, Eastern, Central and Southern) were set up under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 to foster Inter-State co-operation and co-ordination among the States.

• The Zonal Councils are mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State transport etc.
• They are regional fora of cooperative endeavor for States linked with each other economically, politically and culturally.
• Being compact high level bodies, specially meant for looking after the interests of respective Zones, they are capable of focusing attention on specific issues taking into account regional factors, while keeping the national perspective in view.

6. India Signs Guarantee Agreement with the World Bank

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  A Guarantee Agreement for World Bank (IBRD) lending of US$ 650 million to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-III (EDFC-III) Project has been signed between the Government of India and the World Bank.
  
  
  About Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-III project:
  The objective of the EDFC-III Project is to augment rail transport capacity, improve service quality and enhance freight carriage throughput on the 401 km Ludhiana-Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
  • It also aims to develop institutional capacity of DFCCIL to build, maintain and operate the entire DFC network.
  • This project is in continuation of Phase-I and II of the EDFC Projects being implemented by the DFCCIL with the World Bank loan of US$ 975 million and US$ 1100 million respectively on the Dadri-Khurja-Kanpur and Kanpur-Mughal Sarai stretches of the Eastern Rail Corridor (Ludhiana-Delhi-Kolkata).
  
  
  Significance of this project:
  The project will directly benefit the power and heavy manufacturing industries of Northern and Eastern India, which rely on railway network for transportation of their material inputs and also for the distribution of bulk processed and semi-processed commodities and consumer goods. Railway passengers will also be benefitted through decongestion of the existing passenger lines.

7. Monitoring Committee to Oversee Outbreak of H5 Avian Influenza

Acting swiftly on the reports of mortality among the birds in National Zoological Park, Delhi NCR and other parts of the country due to H5 Avian Influenza Virus, the centre has constituted a monitoring committee for overseeing outbreak of H5 Avian Influenza in the country.

• The committee will oversee the daily incidences of H5 Avian Influenza in National Zoological Park and other Zoos of the country and submit a daily report to the Environment Minister.
• To control the disease actions including active surveillance and bio-security measures are being taken up.

Avian influenza or Bird flu:

Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is an infectious viral disease of birds with a tendency of causing large-scale outbreaks of serious disease. Although most influenza viruses do not infect humans, A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) have caused serious infections in people.

Bird flu symptoms:

• Fever, cough, sore throat, muscle, body aches, nausea can lead to severe breathing problems, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Treatment:

• Human infections with bird flu viruses usually can be treated with the same prescription drugs that are used to treat human seasonal flu viruses.

Risk factors involved:

According to WHO, a few A(H5N1) human cases have been linked to consumption of dishes made of raw, contaminated poultry blood. However, slaughter, handling carcasses of the infected poultry, and preparing poultry for daily consumption in households are likely to be risk factors.

8. ‘One India’ push for ease of business

The Centre is working with State governments to introduce a ‘One India’ concept, the most ambitious ‘ease of doing business’ initiative so far.

What is it all about?

The ‘one-form-one-portal’ model is aimed at attracting huge investments. Under this model, the processes will be simplified to an extent where investors will need to fill only a single e-form for investing and doing business anywhere in India.

• The proposed concept will make it easy for investors to even change plans midway and shift projects to different locations in India where it is easier to do business.

Why such a reform is necessary?

Currently, firms are mandated to complete multiple forms at the Central and State-levels, and it gets more complicated as each State has different requirements and regulations.

Background:

The reform plan is among steps aimed at helping raise India’s global ranking on the World Bank Group’s ‘Doing Business’ index — from 130 in 2016 — to the top 50 among the 189 economies featured on the list.

Way ahead:

The centre has begun talks with the states, and will soon hold discussions with the private sector and users of government services in this regard. As an initial measure, a draft ‘Common Application Form’ is being circulated among states for their feedback.

9. Full convertibility on capital account unlikely for few years

The government has clarified that it is not looking at full capital account convertibility for the next few years.

Background:

Raghuram Rajan, the previous Reserve Bank of India governor, had said that the central bank was looking at bringing in capital account convertibility in a few years. However, the debate has acquired a new dimension with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently becoming more cautious about its benefits for developing economies.

What are capital controls?

Capital controls are used by the state to protect the economy from potential shocks caused by unpredictable capital flows.

What does capital account convertibility mean?

Essentially, it means freedom to convert local financial assets into foreign ones at market-determined exchange rates.

What can it do?

It can lead to free exchange of currency at lower rates. Also, it can result in unrestricted mobility of capital.

How does it benefit a nation?

It can trigger stepped up inflow of foreign investment. Transactions also can become much easier, and occur at a faster pace.

What are the negatives?

It could destabilise an economy especially if there is massive capital flows in and out of the country. Currency appreciation/depreciation could affect the balance of trade.

Where does India stand now?

India currently has full convertibility of the rupee in current accounts such as for exports and imports. However, India’s capital account convertibility is not full. There are ceilings on government and corporate debt, external commercial borrowings and equity.

10. Centre plans to link varsity autonomy to performance

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is considering linking the autonomy of higher education institutions to their performance as measured by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). Greater autonomy could imply a number of things, including the complete freedom to have their own syllabi and curricula.

The government is thinking of dividing universities into three categories — A, B and C — on the basis of their NIRF rankings.

1. The A category will comprise institutions with high NIRF rank and these will be highest on the autonomy scale
2. The B category will comprise middle-ranking institutions with part autonomy but also government regulation.
3. Category C will mean institutions with low ranking that will require greater regulation and hand-holding for improvement.

Background:

As per the 2016 rankings, IIT Madras topped among engineering colleges, followed by IITs at Mumbai, Kharagpur, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee. IIT Madras had a score of 89.41.

Among universities, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, topped, followed by the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, Hyderabad University and Tezpur University. Among management schools, IIM Bengaluru was ranked first with a score of 93.04, followed by the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Udaipur and Kozhikode.

The next round of NIRF rankings will be published on the first Monday of April 2017.

What is NIRF?

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has been approved by the MHRD and was launched in September, 2015. This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. The methodology draws from the overall recommendations and broad understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD, to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions.

• The parameters broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources”, “Research and Professional Practices”, “Graduation Outcomes”, “Outreach and Inclusivity” and “Perception”.
• NIRF has been given the responsibility of ranking institutions that have applied and submitted their data. The ranking of the Institutions will be done based on the parameters proposed by NIRF for different disciplines.

11. India falls short in female literacy

Data from new research on female literacy show that India’s school education system is under-performing in terms of quality when compared to its neighbours, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

• The research was carried out by New York-based International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity. The research studies changes in female literacy over a number of schooling years.

Highlights:

• The proportion of women who completed five years of primary schooling in India and were literate was 48%, much less than 92% in Nepal, 74% in Pakistan and 54% in Bangladesh.
• Female literacy rates went up by one to 15% after completing two years of schooling. Corresponding numbers for Pakistan and Nepal were 3 to 31% and 11 to 47% respectively. This implies that schooling is roughly twice as productive at generating literacy for women during the early grades in Pakistan when compared to India.
• India ranks low in global indices of female literacy as well. If countries are ranked by the earliest grade at which at least half of the women are literate — a proxy for quality of learning — India ranks 38th among the 51 developing countries for which comparable data is available. Indonesia, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania — all rank higher than India.

Background:

For this research, the authors devised a way to measure the quality of education around the world, with a specific focus on girls, using data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) — one of the most comparable data sources on living standards in the developing world.

12. NCB to seize 500 Bitcoins used in drug trafficking

After cracking down on drug trafficking being conducted through the ‘darknet’ recently, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is set to freeze about 500 Bitcoins in the accounts of traffickers, the first ever seizure of the virtual, unregulated currency in a criminal probe in the country.

• NCB has interdicted and begun investigation against three syndicates in the country till now and in one case detected in western India, it is moving to seize Bitcoins.

Background:

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is working on the legal aspects of the case to seize about 400-500 Bitcoins as part of its criminal investigation under the Narcotic Drugs and Physchotropic Substances Act (NDPS) besides a few other laws.

While criminal probe agencies have seized a variety of assets like cash and immovable assets in their respective investigations all these years, Bitcoins have never been frozen as part of the tainted assets seizure. Bitcoin is equivalent to about Rs. 1 crore in the Indian currency.

What is bitcoin?

It is an attempt, using blockchain technology, to create a set of shares in a trading entity that had an initial set value and fixed number (much like the face value and number of shares offered in an initial public offering), in the hope that these shares would become the medium of exchange through which people trade goods and services.

Since the number of shares is fixed, demand for them goes up over a period of time as more and more people use the shares to settle their transactions; so, the bet is that each bitcoin’s value goes up stratospherically since there will never ever be any more bitcoins issued.

13. India has won the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup by defeating Iran.

 It was India’s third consecutive Kabaddi World Cup in the Standard Style version of Kabaddi. Earlier India had won in 2004 and 2007.

14. ‘Mobile Air Dispensary’ for remote areas of the North-East

Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh has proposed “Mobile Air Dispensary” service for remote and far-flung areas of Northeast.

Key facts:

• The initiative involves a mobile dispensary in a Helicopter with a doctor, necessary equipment and medicines that can fly to remote and far-flung on regular basis and also, as and when required.
• The idea takes its inspiration from “Royal Flying Service of Australia”, popularly known as “Flying Doctors”, which is meant to provide aid and primary health care service in rural and remote areas.

Significance of this project:

This initiative is helpful particularly in areas from where patients find it difficult to reach a dispensary. With this, a doctor with dispensary can reach them.

15. ISRO starts landing tests for Chandrayaan-2 mission

The Indian Space Research Organsiation has started a series of ground and aerial tests linked to the critical Moon landing of Chandrayaan-2 in Karnataka.

Key facts:

• The tests are being conducted at ISRO’s science city located in Karnataka.
• ISRO Satellite Centre or ISAC, the lead centre for the second Moon mission, has artificially created close to ten craters to simulate the lunar terrain and test the Lander’s sensors.
• A small ISRO aircraft has been carrying equipment with sensors over these craters to plan the tasks ahead.
• In the coming months, ISAC would conduct many tests: on avionics and electronics; testing the Lander’s legs, followed by a combined full test.

About Chandrayaan-2:

Chandrayaan-2 is tentatively set for late 2017 or early 2018 and includes soft-landing on Moon and moving a rover on its surface.

• It is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission. It consists of an orbiter, lander and rover configuration.
• The Orbiter spacecraft when launched from Sriharikota will travel to the Moon and release the Lander, which will in turn deploy a tiny Rover to roam the lunar surface — all three sending data and pictures to Earth.
• It is planned to be launched as a composite stack into the earth parking orbit (EPO) of 170 X 18,500 km by GSLV-Mk II.

16. Urja Ganga

PM Modi recently launched Urja Ganga, the highly ambitious gas pipeline project in Varanasi.

Key facts:

• The gas pipeline project aims to provide piped cooking gas to residents of Varanasi within two years and, in another year after that, cater to millions of people in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
• From Varanasi’s perspective, an 800-km long MDPI pipeline will be laid and 50,000 households and 20,000 vehicles will get PNG and CNG gas respectively. The government estimates that around 5 lakh gas cylinders will be sent at rural areas annually.
• According to GAIL, with the Urja Ganga project, 20 lakh households will get PNG connections. The project is said to be a major step towards collective growth and development of the Eastern region of India.
• GAIL has built a network of trunk pipelines covering the length of around 11,000 km. With Urja Ganga project, this number will further increase by 2540 km. Work on the 2540-km long Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas pipeline project will begin and will be completed between 2018 and 2020.
• The total cost of project is 12,940 crores of which the union government has sanctioned a grant of Rs 5,176 crores.

17. Era of e-postal ballots dawns, courtesy EC’s new initiative

The government has amended rule 23 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 enabling service voters, including armed forces personnel, to cast their vote in elections through e-postal ballot.

• Through this move, the government has accepted a long-pending demand which will save valuable time.

How it will work?

Under the new rules, service voters, including personnel from armed forces, can now download the blank post ballot sent to them electronically, mark their preference and post the filled-up ballot back to their respective returning officers.

On a pilot basis, e-postal ballot system has been introduced for service voters consisting of armed police forces of the central government, other forces subject to the provisions of the Army Act, armed forces of a state serving outside that state, and those employed under the government of India in a post outside India.

Implications of this move:

• This would cut short the delay experienced in the present system of two-way transmission of ballot paper by the postal services.
• The armed forces personnel serving in remote and border areas would be greatly benefited since the present system of two-way transmission of ballot paper by the postal services has not been able to meet the expectations of the service voters.

Background:

The government had approached the Election Commission to help mitigate the difficulties faced by service voters while exercising their franchise. The issue had also come up before the Supreme Court where it was pleaded that an effective mechanism be created for armed forces personnel and their families to exercise their right to vote easily and effectively.