Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 12th Feb 2022

NEWS

Only one-fourth of the required number of Disha meetings have taken place, Union Rural Development Minister informed Lok Sabha

DETAILS

WHAT IS DISHA - District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee

WHAT IS ITS SIGNIFICANCE - Responsible for monitoring the implementation of 43 government schemes and programmes including NREGS and PMGSY

WHO HEADS IT - MP elected from the district

OTHER INFO

• Formed to fulfill the objective of ensuring a better coordination among all the elected representatives in Parliament, State Legislatures and Local Governments for efficient and time-bound development of districts in our country.
• Monitor the implementation of the programmes and promote synergy and convergence for greater impact.
• For years, District Vigilance and Monitoring Committees had the oversight mandate of a handful of schemes run by the rural development ministry but in 2016, they were superseded by DISHA which was charged with monitoring 41 central schemes, ranging from infrastructure and power, education and food security to rural development.
• This committee will have coordination and Monitoring powers. Its role is to facilitate the timely execution of approved projects. It will have powers in seeking effective follow up of issues raised during the deliberation.

NEWS

Australia’s koalas have now been officially classified as ‘endangered’ after widespread bushfires, drought and land clearing destroyed much of their eucalyptus-rich habitat.

DETAILS

KOALA IN AUSTRALIA

• According to fossil records, Koala species have inhabited parts of Australia for at least 25 million years, a WWF report states.
• At present only one species remains — the Phascolarctos cinereus.
•  Found in the wild in the southeast and eastern sides of Australia — in coastal Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

DIET - Due to the low nutritional value of these leaves, koalas tend to sleep for extended periods, often up to 18 hours a day, to conserve energy.

PRESENT POPULATION -

Number of Koalas in NSW declined by between 33 per cent and 61 per cent since 2001

In Queensland the Koala population decreased by at least half during the same period

REASONS FOR LOSS OF POPULATION

• Classified as “vulnerable” only in 2012
• Habitat loss - Agriculture and the construction of urban settlements
• During the catastrophic 2019 bushfires in Australia, now known as the ‘Black Summer’, an estimated 60,000 koalas were impacted, with vast swathes of their habitat being blackened and rendered unliveable. More than 12 million acres of land were destroyed across New South Wales alone
• Spread of chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease known to cause blindness and cysts in the koalas reproductive tract.

WHAT CHANGES WILL IT MAKE

• The Endangered status of the koala means they and their forest homes should be provided with greater protection under Australia’s national environmental law.
• Not only will this protect the iconic animal, but many other species living alongside them

NEWS

To mark Deendayal Upadhyay’s death anniversary, the National Monuments Authority will organised an international webinar on preserving monuments and heritage recently. The event saw participation by 20 countries including was held in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA

• Born in Nagla Chandrabhaan village near Mathura, UP, on 25 September, 1916.
• Introduced to RSS and became a full timer in the late 1930s.
• Was a prolific writer and a successful editor
• Wrote a number of books including Samrat Chandragupta and Jagatguru Shankaracharya, and an analysis of the Five Year plans in India.
• Was deputed to work in the Jana Sangh by Shri Golwalkar when the party was founded in 1951 by Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee. From then till 1967 he remained the Jana Sangh All India General Secretary.
• It was during this time that he propounded the political philosophy of Integral Humanism
• Died on February 11, 1968

IDEALS

• Concept of Integral Humanism he propounded envisages remedies for the post-globalisation maladies of the world.
• Cnceived a classless, casteless and conflict-free social order.
• Stressed on the ancient Indian wisdom of oneness of the human kind.
• For him, the brotherhood of a shared, common heritage was central to political activism
• Emphasised on coexistence and harmony with nature.
• Conceptualized an alternative approach which was free from the dialectics of competition and envy, a third way from the inertia of Capitalism and Communism.
• Advocate of less government and more governance.
• Believed in self-sustaining autonomous units, more power to states and decentralized and competitive federalism, solidly cemented on the cultural mosaic of our tradition, heritage and experience of the past.
• Architect of the first coalition phase in Indian politics.

NEWS

4th Quad Foreign Ministers Meet was recently held in Melbourne

DETAILS

WHAT IS QUAD - Quadrilateral security dialogue

COUNTRIES -  Japan, India, United States and Australia

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GROUPING:

• Opportunity for like-minded countries to share notes and collaborate on projects of mutual interest.
• Members share a vision of an open and free Indo-Pacific.
• Each is involved in development and economic projects as well as in promoting maritime domain awareness and maritime security.

WHAT HAPPEN AT THE MEET

• Called for a free and open Indo-pacific and urged member nations to work towards ensuring a rule-based international order.
• Called upon the member nations to work towards rule-based international order which is free from coercion and respects “territorial integrity and sovereignty, rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas and peaceful resolution.”
• Increase cooperating on sharing intelligence on threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

NEWS

US Congress passes Bill to end forced arbitration in sexual assault, harassment cases

DETAILS

WHAT IS FORCED ARBITRATION?

“Any agreement to arbitrate a dispute that had not yet arisen at the time of the making of the agreement”

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL

• Often employee contracts contain arbitration provisions that limit what they are allowed to say in public about workplace disputes such as those pertaining to sexual harassment or racial discrimination.
• It allows companies to settle disputes through an arbitrator – an independent body, usually comprising lawyers or retired judges – behind closed doors, instead of allowing its employees to pursue legal action publicly.
• Nulls both predispute arbitration agreement and predispute joint-action waiver (which may or may not be part of the arbitration agreement).
• It is based on recent #MeToo case.