Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 20th April 2022

NEWS

The Forest department has told its divisional officers not to burn the carcass of wild animals, except tigers, in forest areas, but leave them in the open as food for scavenger birds and animals

DETAILS

BENEFITS OF THE DECISION

• Providing food to different species of animals and birds. Rich source of calcium for hyenas and porcupines
• Natural decomposition of carcasses also helps build soil fertility and helps the green cover. Recent studies have shown that the carcass of an elephant can increase the nitrogen in soil by 1.5 feet from ground and support bacteria and fungus growth for 40 months

WHO ARE SCAVENGERS

• Also known as decomposers
• Feed on the dead bodies
• Dependent on decaying smelly matter
• Examples - vultures, crows, hyenas, etc
• Common myth that these scavengers are only carnivorous. They are even herbivores
• Coprovores: Animals which consume feces, such as dung
• Detritivores: Animals that collect small particles of a dead animal or a plant

NEWS

Pustaka Goodu and Uttejana initiatives of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat have been selected for the national-level Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar 2022

DETAILS

PUSTAKA GOODU

• Book nest opened in public places
• Launched in May 2021
• They remain open round the clock
• Books are kept in the open without any locking system and people can read them free at any time of the day
• Have general and academic books, novels, magazines and the like
• Panchayat has now opened 250 nests across the district in rural areas including in public offices, parks and bus stations/stops
• AIM - to create a platform for rural people to use their leisure time reading books instead of spending it on mobile phones

UTTEJANA PROJECT

• Launched in June 2021
• Offer free bridge courses through the virtual mode for Class X and second year pre-university students accommodated in government hostels in rural areas across the district
• About 1,500 students from economically weaker sections of society are now getting benefited from this
• Teachers from reputed private education institutes in the district teach commerce and science subjects to the students
• Aims to motivate rural students in their studies
• If one college taught Mathematics, another college teaches only Physics and more colleges teach only Chemistry and the like

OTHERS

In addition, the panchayat has created over 260 nutrition (vegetable) gardens in government schools over the years. Of these, 68 gardens were created in the past one year. The vegetables grown are used in the mid-day meal scheme.

WHO ELSE FROM KARNATAKA HAS WON AWARDS

• Halebeedu in Hunsur taluk of the Mysuru district, Goravanhalli in Maddur taluk of the Mandya district, and Hunsur taluk panchayat have been selected for this award
• Annur gram panchayat in Mandya district has been selected for the Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar
• According to the authorities, these gram panchayats are selected for their achievements in developmental goals like water conservation, cleanliness and e-governance among others
• Goravanahalli gram panchayat was selected for the award for its achievements mainly in waste management through women self-help groups

AWARDS FOR GRAM PANCHAYATS

• Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (DDUPSP) is given to best performing Panchayats (District, Intermediate and Gram Panchayat) across the States/UTs in recognition of the good work that is done by PRIs at each level for improving delivery of services and public goods
• Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP) is given to Gram Panchayats/Village Councils for their outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development by involving Gram Sabhas
• Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award(GPDPA) is given to Gram Panchayat/ Village Council which has developed its GPDP according to the State/UT specific guidelines prepared in line with the model guidelines issued by MoPR
• Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (CFGPA) is given to best performing Gram Panchayat/Village Council for adopting child-friendly practices

NEWS

President of India has given his assent to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill thus making it an act

THE ACT

• Replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920
• Empowers the police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes

OTHER PROVISONS

• Allow the police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples, including retina and iris scans
• Resistance to or refusal to allow the taking of measurements under this Act shall be deemed to be an offence under section 186 of the Indian Penal Code
• Seek to apply these provisions to persons held under any preventive detention law
• Authorises for taking measurements of convicts and "other persons" for identification and investigation in criminal matters
• Doesn't define the "other persons" implying its ambit beyond convicts, arrested persons, or detainees
• Police personnel up to the rank of Head Constable have been authorised to record the measurements
• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will be the repository of physical and biological samples, signature and handwriting data that can be preserved for at least 75 years. NCRB has also been empowered to share the records with any other law enforcement agency

SIGNIFICANCE

• Makes provisions for the use of modern techniques to capture and record appropriate body measurements
• Expand the ‘‘ambit of persons’’ whose measurements can be taken as this will help the investigating agencies to gather sufficient legally admissible evidence and establish the crime of the accused person
• Provides legal sanction for taking appropriate body measurements of persons who are required to give such measurements and will make the investigation of crime more efficient and expeditious and will also help in increasing the conviction rate

ISSUES

• Article 20(3) of the Constitution, declares that no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. Some argue that taking biological samples and allaying them could lead to Narco-analysis and brain mapping of the accused or the arrested
• Apply these provisions to persons held under any preventive detention law, which is a violation of Article 21

KNOW THIS

Bill & the Presidential Assent

Indian President has three approaches to the bill forwarded to him by the central or state legislature, He can

• Either give assent
• Withhold his assent or
• Return the bill for reconsideration generally (depends on the type of bill)

HE

• May either give or withhold assent to a Money Bill. Under the Constitution of India, a Money Bill cannot be returned to the House by the President for reconsideration
• Cannot return or withhold Constitutional Amendment Bill

NEWS

President of India has given his assent to Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2022 thus making it an act

DETAILS

• Seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 passed by Parliament which was amended in 2011 by Delhi Legislative Assembly to trifurcate the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi 
• The new act seeks to unify the three corporations
• Provides following powers of the Delhi government
  • Total number of seats of councillors and number of seats reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes,
  • Division of the area of corporations into zones and wards,
  • Delimitation of wards,
  • matters such as salary and allowances, and leave of absence of the Commissioner,
  • Sanctioning of consolidation of loans by a corporation, and
  • Sanctioning suits for compensation against the Commissioner for loss or waste or misapplication of Municipal Fund or property. 
• Mandates that the Commissioner will exercise his powers regarding building regulations under the general superintendence and directions of Delhi government.
• Empowers the central government to decide these matters
• Omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies
• Central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill. 
• Obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on anytime-anywhere basis for better, accountable, and transparent administration.  

NEWS

The ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), insurance scheme for Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19’ has been extended for a further period of 180 days

DETAILS

• Launched in 2020
• Accident insurance scheme
• There’s no age limit
• Individual enrolment is not required

Covers

• Loss of life due to COVID19
• Accidental death on account of COVID-19 related duties
• Public healthcare providers including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and who may be at risk of being impacted by this
• Private hospital staff and retired /volunteer /local urban bodies/ contracted /daily wage/ad-hoc/outsourced staff requisitioned by States/ Central hospitals/ autonomous hospitals of Central/ States/UTs, AIIMS and INIs/ hospital of Central Ministries can also be drafted for COVID 19 related responsibilities.

• Lieutenant General Manoj Pande will be replacing General Manoj Mukund Naravane as the 29th chief of the Indian Army
• Rajasthan has become the first State in the country to get the L-root server. The new server has been installed at the Bhamashah State Data Centre in association with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  It will enable the State government to provide its flagship digital services and enforce e-governance with seamless internet connectivity.