Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 31st July 2021

By : Legislative assembly of Goa

About the Bill :

• Grants “Bhumiputra [son of the soil]” status to a person residing in Goa at least for 30 years
• Ownership right to the self-occupied dweller of a small housing unit to enable him to live with dignity and self-respect and exercise his right to life
• Constitution of the “Bhumiputra Adhikarini” – a committee comprising the Deputy Collector as its Chairperson and officials from Town and Country Planning Department, Forest department, Environment Department and Mamlatdar of respective Taluka as its members.
• Any person with suitable document can apply for the status in front of the committee
• No suit, prosecution or any other legal proceedings shall lie against the Government or any officer or employee of the Government or any person authorised by the Government or Bhumiputra Adhikarini or its members for anything which is done, or intended to be done, in a good faith under this Act

SOCIAL ISSUES

What is in news : The session of Lok Sabha discussed on revising creamy layer criterion for OBC

What is the creamy layer:

• Concept that sets a threshold within which OBC reservation benefits are applicable
• While there is a 27% quota for OBCs in government jobs and higher educational institutions, those falling within the “creamy layer” cannot get the benefits of this quota.
• Based on the recommendation of the Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission), the government on August 13, 1990 had notified 27% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in vacancies in civil posts and services that are to be filled on direct recruitment. After this was challenged, the Supreme Court on November 16, 1992 (Indira Sawhney case) upheld 27% reservation for OBCs, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer.

How is it determined :

• Expert committee headed by Justice (retired) R N Prasad was constituted for fixing the criteria for determining the creamy layer
• On September 8, 1993, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) listed out various categories of people of certain rank/status/income whose children cannot avail benefit of OBC reservation.
• For those not in government, the current threshold is an income of Rs 8 lakh per year. For children of government employees, the threshold is based on their parents’ rank and not income
• Children of a Colonel or higher-ranked officer in the Army, and children of officers of similar ranks in the Navy and Air Force, too, come under the creamy layer.

What is in news : The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme, namely Information-Monitoring, Evaluation and Social Audit (I-MESA)

DETAILS

• Under this scheme, Social Audits are to be conducted for all the schemes of the Department starting FY 2021-22.
• These social audits are done through Social Audit Units (SAU) of the States and National Institute for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

SOCIAL AUDIT :

What - Audit of a scheme jointly by the Government and the people, especially by those who are affected by the scheme or its beneficiaries.

Benefits

• Powerful tool to promote transparency, accountability and people’s participation in the schemes meant for them.
• Helps to narrow gaps between vision/goal and reality, between efficiency and effectiveness.

Status:

• Mahatma Gandhi National National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the first Act to mandate Social Audit by the Gram Sabha of all the projects taken up in the Gram Panchayat.
• Most States have set up an independent Social Audit Unit (SAU) and some have even begun to facilitate Social Audit in other programmes, including Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, National Social Assistance Programme, Midday Meal Scheme and Public Distribution System.

Challenges:

• The lack of adequate administrative and political will in institutionalising social audits
• Resistance and intimidation
• People’s participation has been minuscule due to the lack of education, awareness and capacity building among the common masses.
• There is an absence of an independent agency to investigate and act on social audit findings.

What is in news : Recently, the Prime Minister launched multiple initiatives in the education sector at a conference, to mark the completion of one year of reforms under the National Education Policy 2020 which aims at making India a global knowledge superpower.

DETAILS

Academic Bank of Credit:

• Envisaged as a digital bank that holds the credit earned by a student in any course.
• Major instrument for facilitating multidisciplinary and holistic education.
• Will provide multiple entry and exit options for students in Higher education.
• Make the youth future-oriented and open the way for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) -driven economy.

Engineering in Regional Languages:

• 14 engineering colleges in eight States are going to start engineering studies in five Indian languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bangla.
• Will instil confidence in the students from poor, rural and tribal backgrounds.

Vidya Pravesh & SAFAL: Vidya Pravesh, a three month play based school preparation module for Grade 1 students will be released along with SAFAL (Structured Assessment For Analyzing Learning Levels), a competency based assessment framework for Grades 3, 5 and 8 in CBSE schools.

National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR):

• Building up a new education ecosystem that will create a digital foundation leading to self-governance of all parties involved, particularly states and the Centre.
• It lets educationists do evaluation based on talents and abilities, helping students understand their area of specialties that can be utilised in their future profession.

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

What is in news : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Punjab and Rajasthan governments to submit quarterly compliance reports to Jal Shakti ministry about remedial action being taken to curb the inflow of effluent discharge into the Satluj and Beas.

Sources of Pollution :

• Buddha Nallah (Tributary) is a major source of pollution in the river Sutlej
• Untreated sewage waste from Ludhiana city sewage treatment plants is polluting Buddha Nallah
• Another seasonal rivulet, Chitti Bein and its sub-drain, Kala Sanghian drain, in the Jalandhar district are equally responsible for high pollution in the Sutlej river. The untreated discharge from Jalandhar’s leather goods industry is one of the major reasons behind Chitti Bein’s pollution.

Impact on Indira Gandhi Canal:

• The Indira Gandhi Canal is the longest canal in the country.
• It starts from Harike Barrage, a few kilometres below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab, flows through Ludhiana and terminates in the Thar Desert in northwest Rajasthan.
• The canal is a source of drinking and irrigation in the north and western Rajasthan.
• It provides water to 1.75 crore people living in 7,500 villages across eight districts in the state.

Sutlej River

• The ancient name of Sutlej River is Zaradros (Ancient Greek) Shutudri or Shatadru (Sanskrit).
• It is the longest of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) its name.
• Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj are main tributaries of Indus.
• It rises on the north slope of the Himalayas in Lake La’nga in southwestern Tibet.
• Flowing northwestward and then west-southwestward through Himalayan gorges, it enters and crosses Himachal Pradesh before beginning its flow through the Punjab plain near Nangal.
• Continuing southwestward in a broad channel, it receives the Beas River (and forms 65 miles (105 km) of the India-Pakistan border before entering Pakistan and flowing another 220 miles (350 km) to join the Chenab River west of Bahawalpur.
• Sutlej River meets the Beas River in Harike in the Ferozpur district before entering Pakistan.

What is in news : India participated in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM3) meeting, jointly organised by Iceland and Japan and virtually hosted by Japan, for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic

Details : India provided details about NISAR at the meet

NISAR

ARTIC COUNCIL

• Formed in 1996 under Ottawa declaration
• Intergovernmental forum which addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and people living in the Arctic region
• Mandate explicitly excludes military security
• As per the Ottawa declaration, the following 8 countries form the Arctic States:

1. Canada
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Iceland
5. Norway
6. Russia
7. Sweden
8. United States

SNIPPETS

• National award winning artisan weaver, B Krishnamoorthy, has created a repository with samples of all the designs, patterns and motifs traditional to Kanjeevaram silk sari weaving, preserving fine pieces for next generation.
• A study conducted by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) between 1998 and 2018 found that in 18 of 22 areas, the groundwater level dropped by more than 1 meter per year.
• World Day against Trafficking in Persons is being observed on 30th July, 2021.