Insights Daily Current Affairs, 21 December 2016
Paper 2 Topic: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
Meeting of Governing Body and General Body of Dr. Ambedkar Foundation held
The meeting of the Governing Body and General Body of the Dr. Ambedkar Foundation (DAF) was recently held under the Chairmanship of the Chairman DAF & Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot.
- A compendium on various activities organized by the Dr. Ambedkar Foundation during the Nationwide Celebration of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar was released during the meeting.
About the foundation:
Dr. Ambedkar foundation was set up on 24th March, 1992, as a registered body under the aegis of the Ministry of Welfare to promote Babasaheb’s ideals and also to administer some of the schemes which emanated from the Centenary Celebrations, such as the establishment of Dr. Ambedkar chairs in Universities and Dr. Ambedkar National Award for Social Understanding and up-liftment of Weaker Sections.
Apart from other aims and objects relating to research, development and educational programmes, it had to administer the following three special schemes which emanated from the Centenary Celebrations i.e. Scheme of Dr. Ambedkar National Award; Setting up of Dr. Ambedkar Chairs in Universities; Setting up of Dr. Ambedkar International Centre and Setting up of Dr. Ambedkar National Memorial.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2 Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
GARV-II App launched
The government has launched GARV- II app to track Rural Household Electrification. This is the next step in Government of India’s aim to provide access to electricity to all households in the country.
Key facts:
- Under this module, village-wise and habitation-wise base line data on household electrification for all States, as provided by them, has been incorporated.
- The data in respect of about 6 lakh villages, with more than 15 lakh habitations having 17 crore people, has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages, which is a remarkable progress over the previous GARV App.
- In the earlier version of the ‘GARV’ App, launched in October 2015 for the effective and efficient monitoring of village electrification programme, the data of only 18,452 un-electrified villages had been mapped and a 12-stage milestone-based monitoring mechanism was put in place.
- The status of village-wise works sanctioned under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and release of funds to the States for these projects has also been mapped in ‘GARV-II’ to monitor progress of works in each village. The progress is required to be updated by the implementing agencies of the States on day to day basis. All data would be made available in public domain to ensure transparency, enhance accountability of various stakeholders and facilitate view of near real time progress.
- This app is an important part of the ‘Digital India Initiative’ of Government of India and will contribute in further development of the villages. In order to bring more transparency, the Minister asked the Power Ministry officials to place more details regarding discoms, tenders and contracts in public domain.
- For places, where internet facilities are not available, information regarding rural electrification projects like contractor’s name, amount sanctioned by the Government, deadline of the project etc. will be put on boards on the working sites in villages. This will help people in better monitoring of Government’s work.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2 Topic: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Digital India Awards 2016 – Healthy Ministry wins gold in the Web Ratna Category
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has won gold in the Web Ratna category in the recently concluded Digital India awards, 2016, conferred by the Ministry of Electronics & IT to promote more innovative e-governance initiatives by the government entities.
Key facts:
- The website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conforms to the UUU trilogy. It is totally bilingual as per the directions of Parliamentary Committee of official languages and is accessible to all. Special features have also been incorporated in the website for visually challenged users.
- The website complies with the mandatory requirements of Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW).
- All relevant web policies have been implemented with due approvals. Content has been grouped systematically under drop down menus that result in easy navigation.
- The ministry has been awarded for comprehensive web presence in Web ratna awards in 2014 and appreciated by SUGAM Web e-Newsletter as usable, user-centric and universally accessible.
About awards:
Digital India awards, earlier known as the Web Ratna Awards, were instituted under the Ambit of National Portal of India. The award acknowledges exemplary initiatives of various government entities in the realm of e-governance.
Web Ratna award felicitates a Ministry or Department of the Government of India which has a comprehensive web presence and display the level of accountability in terms of quantity, quality, spectrum of coverage, and innovation ascertaining user satisfaction. Level of convenience provided to the citizen for availing the services, usability and accessibility are also assessed.
Sources: pib.
Paper 2 Topic: Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
Can courts make life terms more rigorous, asks SC
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the question whether courts are statutorily empowered to make life imprisonments tougher for the convicts by adding ‘rigorous’ (harsh) to life sentence as the law does not provide for this.
- The court would consider whether the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) or any other penal law empowered the courts to add the term ‘rigorous’.
Background:
The court has taken up the issue based on a submission which said neither the penal provision dealing with the offence of murder, nor the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provided that the term ‘rigorous’ can be added by courts while awarding life sentences.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 2 Topic: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
NCRPB tells States to submit action plan to curb pollution
With air quality deteriorating on a daily basis, the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has asked Delhi and adjoining States to submit action plans to control air pollution in the Capital. The Board will soon file an affidavit before the Delhi High Court regarding the matter.
Background:
Air pollution in Delhi is a matter of serious concern and Delhi, along with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab are acting in unison to mitigate the suffering of the people.
About NCR:
National Capital Region (NCR) is a unique example of inter-state regional planning and development, covering the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi, thirteen districts of State of Haryana, seven districts of State of Uttar Pradesh and two districts of State of Rajasthan, with the Nation Capital as its core.
The National Capital Region (NCR) in India was constituted under the NCRPB Act, 1985 with the key rationale to promote balanced and harmonized development of the Region, and to avoid any haphazard development.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 1 Topic: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Thiruvalluvar’s statue unveiled in Haridwar
Uttarakhand Chief minister Harish Rawat has unveiled the statue of renowned Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar on the premises of Mela Bhawan in Haridwar. The ceremony was attended by members of the Tamil Sangam, in addition to officials from the Uttarakhand administration.
Key facts:
- Thiruvalluvar is a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher whose contribution to Tamil literature is the Thirukkural, a work on ethics.
- Thiruvalluvar is thought to have lived sometime between the 4th century BC and the 1st century BC.
- The Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam period mentioned that Thiruvalluvar was the greatest Tamil scholar and Mamulanar also mentioned the Nanda Dynasty of northern which ruled until the 4th century BC.
Sources: the hindu.
Facts for Prelims
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights gets SKOCH Awards for POCSO e-Box:
- The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) of Ministry of Women and Child Development has been conferred the Skoch Silver and Skoch Order-of Merit award.
- The two awards were received by NCPCR for applying technology to develop an electronic drop box, POCSO e-Box for registering complaints on Child Sexual Abuse.
- The competition saw more than 3000 participants and NCPCR’s project, POCSO e-box was considered among the top 30 entries.
- POCSO e-box is a unique endeavour by NCPCR for receiving online complaint of Child Sexual Abuse directly from the victim. The system maintains confidentiality of the victim/ complainant.
- Through a well defined procedure complaints are directly followed up by a team which counsels the victim, providing further guidance for required legal action. Through a short animation film embedded in the e-box it assures the victim not to feel bad, helpless or confused as it’s not her fault. With the e-box, it is easy to register complaint through a step-by-step guided process.
Khanjar-IV:
- During the recently held bilateral talks, India and Kyrgyzstan have finalised plans for joint military exercises in the New Year.
- The annual joint military exercises named “Khanjar-IV” will be held in February-March. The “Khanjar-II” exercises were held in March 2015 in Kyrgyzstan and “Khanjar-III” in March-April 2016 in Gwalior.
