Abhimanu Weekly current affairs Series Week: IV, April 2018 Abhimanu s IAS Study Group Chandigarh
NATIONAL ECONOMIC AFFAIRS Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018 The Union Cabinet has approved the Finance Ministry s proposal of promulgating the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018 which will empower authorities to attach and confiscate properties and assets of economic offenders like loan defaulters who flee the country. A Fugitive Economic Offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. Important highlights: The ordinance seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders like diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution. The provisions of the ordinance will apply for economic offenders who refuse to return, persons against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for a scheduled offence as well as willful bank loan defaulters with outstanding of over Rs. 100 crore. It provides for confiscating assets even without a conviction and paying off lenders by selling off the fugitive's properties. Such economic offenders will be tried under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ordinance defines a fugitive economic offender as a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for committing offence like counterfeiting government stamps or currency, cheque dishonour for insufficiency of funds, money laundering, and transactions defrauding creditors. A fugitive economic offender is one who has left the country to avoid facing prosecution, or refuses to return to face prosecution. According to the ordinance, a director or deputy director (appointed under the PMLA, 2002) may file an application before a special court (designated under the 2002 Act) to declare a person as a fugitive economic offender. The application will contain the reasons to believe that an individual is a fugitive economic offender. Besides, the application will have information about his whereabouts, a list of properties believed to be proceeds of a crime for which confiscation is sought, a list of benami properties or foreign properties for which confiscation is sought, and a list of persons having an interest in these properties. Upon receiving the application, the special court will issue a notice to the individual, requiring him to appear at a specified place within six weeks. If the person appears at the specified place, the special court will terminate its proceedings under the provisions of the Bill. property belonging to the fugitive economic offender may provisionally be attached without the prior permission of the special court, provided that an application is filed before the court within 30 days. A scheduled offence refers to a list of economic offences contained in the Schedule to this Ordinance.
National Bamboo Mission The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Bamboo Mission (NBM) under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) during remaining period of Fourteenth Finance Commission (2018-19 & 2019-20). The Mission would ensure holistic development of the bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and establishing effective linkage of producers (farmers) with industry. The restructured NBM strives to - To increase the area under bamboo plantation in non forest Government and private lands to supplement farm income and contribute towards resilience to climate change. To improve post-harvest management through establishment of innovative primary processing units, treatment and seasoning plants, primary treatment and seasoning plants, preservation technologies and market infrastructure. To promote product development at micro, small and medium levels and feed bigger industry. To rejuvenate the under developed bamboo industry in India. To promote skill development, capacity building, awareness generation for development of bamboo sector. Analysis: Bamboo plantation will contribute to optimizing farm productivity and income thereby enhancing livelihood opportunities of small & marginal farmers including landless and women as well as provide quality material to industry. Thus, the Mission will not only serve as a potential instrument for enhancing income of farmers but also contributing towards climate resilience and environmental benefits. The Mission will also help in creating employment generation directly or indirectly in both skilled and unskilled segments. The scheme will benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnels engaged in bamboo sector including associated industries. Since it is proposed to bring about one lakh ha area under plantation, it is expected that about one lakh farmers would be directly benefitted in terms of plantation. The Mission will focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage, particularly in the North Eastern region and States including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Mission is expected to establish about 4000 treatment/ product development units and bring more than 100000 ha area under plantation. Atal New India Challenge The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under the NITI Aayog has launched the Atal New India Challenge. About the Atal New India Challenge: It shall be run in collaboration with various ministries- Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation. AIM will invite prospective innovators/msmes/start-ups to design market-ready products, using cutting edge technologies or prototypes across 17 identified focus areas such as Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Mobility, Predictive Maintenance of Rolling Stock, Waste Management etc. Applicants showing capability, intent and potential to productize technologies will be awarded grants up to Rs. One crore. This grant will be further supplemented by mentoring, handholding, incubating and other support as needed at various stages of commercialisation, while generating wider deployment for the product. About Atal innovation mission:
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) was launched by the NITI Ayog as an innovation promotion platform involving academics, entrepreneurs, and researchers utilizing national and international experience to promote the culture of innovation, R and D in India particularly in technology oriented areas. The AIM along with Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) are Government of India s the leading ventures to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. The Atal Innovation Mission has two core functions: Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization, wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs. Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated To realize these two core objectives, AIM has different sub-components. Atal Incubation Centers, Atal Tinkering Laboratories, Atal Grand Challenge Awards and Scale up Support to Established Incubation Centers. Atal Incubation Centers are aimed at the creation and promotion of incubation centers across the country. AICs will promote startups in various sectors like manufacturing, transport, energy, health, education, agriculture, water, sanitation, etc., and would provide them with necessary infrastructural facilities and other value-added services. AIM gives a grant-in-aid of Rs 10 crore to each AIC for a maximum of five years to cover capital and operational expenditure cost. An incubation centre should be a legal entity to be registered in India as public, private or public-private partnership and must be in operation for a minimum of three years. The Scale-up Support to Established Incubation Centers aims to augment capacity of the established incubation centers in the country. NATIONAL POLITY Foreigners can now travel to Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur without a permit The Union Home Ministry has decided to relax the six-decade-old Protected Area Permit regime from Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur for five years with effect from April 1. Foreign tourists, except those from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, would now be allowed to visit some of the most pristine locations of the country which, so far, were out of bounds for them without a special permit. What is Protected area permit? Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, all areas falling between the Inner line and the International Border of some states have been declared as protected areas. The protected areas currently include whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim, besides parts of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Some parts of Sikkim fall under the protected area regime while others under the restricted area. As per the guidelines, a foreign national is not normally allowed to visit a protected or restricted area unless the government is satisfied that there are extra-ordinary reasons to justify his or her visit. Every foreigner, except a citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter and stay in a protected or restricted area, is required to obtain a special permit from a competent authority having the power to issue such permits to a foreigner, seeking it.
In cases, where the power to issue such permits has not been delegated to a subordinate authority by the Union government, the application for the special permit has to be referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs for prior approval, at least eight weeks before the date of the expected visit. With an aim to promote tourism, the government, time to time by notification, exempts some of such restricted or protected areas from the need of special permission for foreigners to visit them. Necessary powers have been delegated to various authorities to issue such special permits without the prior approval of the Union home ministry to facilitate foreign tourists subject to the certain exceptions. In cases of foreign diplomats, including the members of the UN and international organisations holding diplomatic or official passports, the special permits to visit such protected or restricted areas are issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. In cases of the citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin, no permit, however, can be issued without the prior approval of the Union home ministry. AFSPA lifted in Meghalaya The Centre has removed the AFSPA from Meghalaya, from April 1 onwards. Earlier, the Act was effective in the State in the 20 km area along its border with Assam. In Arunachal Pradesh, the AFSPA has been restricted to eight police stations, instead of 16 earlier. What does the AFSPA mean? The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was enacted in 1958 to bring under control what the government of India considered disturbed areas. The Act has often faced flak from human rights groups as it gave sweeping powers and immunity to the army in conflict-ridden areas. The government (either the state or centre) considers those areas to be disturbed by reason of differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities. Section (3) of the AFSPA Act empowers the governor of the state or Union territory to issue an official notification on The Gazette of India, following which the centre has the authority to send in armed forces for civilian aid. It is still unclear whether the governor has to prompt the centre to send in the army or whether the centre on its own sends in troops. Once declared disturbed, the region has to maintain status quo for a minimum of three months, according to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976. The state governments can suggest whether the Act is required to be enforced or not. But under Section (3) of the Act, their opinion can still be overruled by the governor or the centre. Is the Act uniform in nature? No. Originally, it came into being as an ordinance in 1958 and within months was repealed and passed as an Act. But, this was meant only for Assam and Manipur, where there was insurgency by Naga militants. But after the northeastern states were reorganized in 1971, the creation of new states (some of them union territories originally) like Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh paved the way for the AFSPA Act to be amended, so that it could be applied to each of them. They may contain different sections as applicable to the situation in each state. NCM to seek Constitutional status from govt The NCM has decided to approach the government for granting it Constitutional status to protect rights of minority communities more effectively. The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will be able to act against errant officials who do not attend hearings, follow its order or are found guilty of dereliction of duty, if granted such a status. Till now, only the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes have Constitutional status, giving them powers to act against officials.
About NCM: It is a forum for appeal, set up to safeguard the rights and interests of India s minority. It was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1992. The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Bill, 2004, proposed to establish a new Commission, with constitutional status. But due to debate over who is a minority, the Bill lapsed. Composition: The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and five Members to be nominated by the Central Government. All members shall be from amongst the minority communities. Functions: to evaluate the progress of the development of minorities under the Union and states; to monitor the working of safeguards provided in the Constitution and in union and state laws; to make recommendations for effective implementation of safeguards for the protection of minority to look into, and take up, specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights and safeguards of to get problems of discrimination against minorities studied, and recommend ways to remove them; to conduct studies, research, analysis on socioeconomic and educational development of minorities; to suggest appropriate measures in respect of any minority to be undertaken by central or state governments; to make periodic or special reports to the Centre on any matter concerning minorities; especially their difficulties; to take up any other matter which may be referred to it by the central government. Zonal Council The 23rd meeting of the Western Zonal Council was recently held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat and the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting. What are zonal councils? The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was first mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956. The zonal councils have been established by the state reorganization act 1956 to advise on matters of common interest to each of the five zones, into which the territory of India has been divided. Zonal Councils are not Constitutional bodies unlike Interstate Council, which is a statutory body established under article 263. However, since Zonal Councils have been established via the part III of the States Reorganization Act of 1956, they are statutory bodies. In India, at present, there are 6 Zonal Council. Originally five councils were created as per the States Reorganization Act 1956 as follows: Northern Zonal Council: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh Central Zonal Council: Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Eastern Zonal Council: Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal; Western Zonal Council: Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Southern Zonal Council: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Composition: Chairman The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils. Vice Chairman The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
Members- Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone. Advisers- One person nominated by the Planning Commission (which has been replaced by NITI Ayog now) for each of the Zonal Councils, Chief Secretaries and another officer/development Commissioner nominated by each of the States included in the Zone. Union Ministers are also invited to participate in the meetings of Zonal Councils depending upon necessity. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 Human Resource Development Ministry has launched Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0. About Unnat Bharat Abhiyan: Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, with the intention to enrich Rural India. The knowledge base and resources of the Premier Institutions of the country are to be leveraged to bring in transformational change in rural developmental process. It also aims to create a vibrant relationship between the society and the higher educational institutes, with the latter providing the knowledge and technology support to improve the livelihoods in rural areas and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private organisations in the society. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0, the institutions have been selected on a Challenge Mode and the scheme has been extended to 750 reputed Higher Educational Institutes (both public and private) of the country. Also, scope for providing Subject Expert Groups and Regional Coordinating Institutes to handhold and guide the participating institutions has been strengthened. IIT Delhi has been designated to function as the National Coordinating Institute for this programme and the Ministry intends to extend the coverage to all the reputed Higher Educational Institutes, in a phased manner. Each selected institute would adopt a cluster of villages / panchayats and gradually expand the outreach over a period of time. Institutes through their faculty and students, will carry out studies of living conditions in the adopted villages, assess the local problems and needs, workout the possibilities of leveraging the technological interventions and the need to improve the processes in implementation of various government schemes, prepare workable action plans for the selected villages. Such knowledge inputs would make their way into the development programmes in rural areas. The Institutes would be expected to closely coordinate with the district administration, elected public representatives of panchayat / villages and other stakeholders and will become very much a part of the process of development planning and implementation. In this process, faculty and students of such institutes would be re-oriented and connected to the rural realities so that their learning and research work also becomes more relevant to the society. Gobar Dhan scheme Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched the Gobar Dhan scheme for Nation. The government is also planning to create an online platform for trading cow dung and agricultural waste under the scheme. What is the GOBAR-Dhan Yojana? The scheme aims to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste. The scheme also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) comprises two main components for creating clean villages creating open defecation free (ODF) villages and managing solid and liquid waste in villages. With over 3.5 lakh villages, 374 districts and 16 States/UTsof the country being declared ODF, the stage is set for ODF-plus activities, including measures to enhance solid and liquid waste management.
The GOBAR-DHAN scheme, with its focus on keeping villages clean, increasing the income of rural households, and generation of energy from cattle waste, is an important element of this ODF-plus strategy. The scheme envisages the implementation of 700 bio-gas units in different states of the country in 2018-19. The guidelines of GOBAR-DHAN scheme were also launched which details of the scheme, implementation arrangements, financing provisions and roles and responsibilities of the Centre, State governments, districts and other stakeholders involved in implementation of the scheme. The IEC strategy for GOBAR-DHAN and successful case studies were also presented and field visits to bio-gas plants were also conducted after the launch. The launch was attended by sarpanches from the project villages, implementing agencies, officers from 14 states and district officers. DoT releases draft National Telecom Policy The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) of the Ministry of Communication has released the first draft of the new National Telecom Policy, which has been named National Digital Communication Policy this time. Main highlights: Fibre First Initiative: Under this, Telecom Optic Fibre cables will be given the status of a public utility. The initiative will focus of building shared duct infrastructure, fiberisation of 60% tower base stations and leveraging broadcasting and power sector assets for the process. The initiative also plans to mandate telecom and cable installations in office and home space by amending the National Building Code of India. National Digital Grid: A national fibre authority will be formed for coordination between central, state and local authorities to remove barriers of approval and to create open access next-gen networks. Mobile Towers: If approved, changes can be expected in tower policy by way of exemptions and incentives for tower construction. This will include acceleration in Right of Way permissions for towers in government premises, and promotion of green energy for towers. International Connectivity: Access charges and regulatory hurdles will be reduced for international cable landing stations for overall reduction of international bandwidth cost. Convergence: According to the draft policy, Telegraph Act (and other relevant acts) will be amended to build convergence in IT, telecom and broadcasting sectors. This includes establishing a unified policy framework and spectrum management for broadband and broadcast, and renewed licensing and regulation. The government plans to make available more spectrum bands for 5G deployment. It plans further liberalisation of spectrum sharing, leasing and trading. The Centre had recently increased spectrum holding caps for telcos after consolidation in the sector. The draft policy also emphasises on optimal pricing of spectrum for affordability and increase of access to digital communication. The policy mentions simplification of the permission obtaining process. The government will conduct spectrum audits of commercial and government bodies to ensure efficient utilisation. The mid-band spectrum, particularly the 3 GHz to 24 GHz range is recognised as central to India s strategy for next-gen networks. Annual royalty charges for microwave links will be rationalised to allow backhaul connectivity.
INTETRNATIONAL AFFAIRS World Press Freedom Index 2018 World Press Freedom Index for the year 2018 has been released. This index is published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Main highlights: India stood at 136 in a pool of 180 countries, which was places lower than India s rank in 2016. In 2018 rankings, India stands at 138, one place above Pakistan. Norway tops the chart, while North Korea has the worst press freedom in the world. According to RSF, coverage of regions that the authorities regard as sensitive continues to be very difficult. It added that foreign reporters are barred from the region and the Internet is often disconnected there. RSF also counts the total number of journalists killed in the world where it is able to clearly establish that they were killed or imprisoned in connection with their journalistic work. In 2018, RSF counted 13 journalists killed across the world for their work, of this three were in India. As per the Index s definition, the quality of press freedom in India is bad. Of the 180 countries ranked, 9 per cent had press freedom that could be qualified as good, 17 per cent were fairly good, in 35 per cent of the countries the situation was problematic, for 27 per cent of the countries including India the press freedom situation is bad and in 12 per cent of the nations. 2018 Index reflects growing animosity towards journalists. About Index: The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country. It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country. Along with the Index, RSF calculates a global indicator and regional indicators that evaluate the overall performance of countries (in the world and in each region) as regards media freedom. It is an absolute measure that complements the Index s comparative rankings. The global indicator is the average of the regional indicators, each of which is obtained by averaging the scores of all the countries in the region, weighted according to their population as given by the World Bank. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) A four-day Asia Pacific Regional Workshop of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), jointly hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and UNCCD Secretariat, to build the capacity of the Asia-Pacific Region to monitor and report on land degradation, was recently held in New Delhi. About UNCCD: In 1977 the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) adopted a Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD). United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 supported a new, integrated approach to the problem, emphasizing action to promote sustainable development at the community level. The Rio Conference called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification, particularly in Africa. At UNCCD COP13 that took place in September 2017 in Ordos, China, the countries have agreed on a new global roadmap to address land degradation.
The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast swathes of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and to reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations. A future that avoids, minimizes, and reverses desertification/land degradation and mitigates the effects of drought in affected areas at all levels to achieve a land degradation-neutral world consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development The Convention s 196 parties work together to improve the living conditions for people in drylands, to maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought. The UNCCD is particularly committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating desertification and land degradation. The UNCCD secretariat facilitates cooperation between developed and developing countries, particularly around knowledge and technology transfer for sustainable land management. As the dynamics of land, climate and biodiversity are intimately connected, the UNCCD collaborates closely with the other two Rio Conventions; the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to meet these complex challenges with an integrated approach and the best possible use of natural resources. World Health Organisation (WHO) on Pollution According to data released by WHO based on pollution level in 2016, Delhi and Varanasi are among the 14 Indian cities that figured in a list of 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5. Important highlights: Nine out of 10 people in the world breathe air containing high levels of pollutants. Other Indian cities that registered very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur followed by Ali Subah Al-Salem in Kuwait and a few cities in China and Mongolia. Southeast Asia Region should aggressively address the double burden of household and ambient (outdoor) air pollution which comprises India, accounts for 34 pc or 2.4 million of the seven million premature deaths caused by household and ambient air pollution together globally every year. Of the 3.8 million deaths caused by household air pollution globally, the region accounts for 1.5 million or 40% deaths, and of the 4.2 million global deaths due to ambient air pollution, 1.3 million or 30% are reported from the region. The PM2.5 includes pollutants like sulfate, nitrate and black carbon, which pose the greatest risk to human health. WHO s global urban air pollution database measured the levels of fine particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) from more than 4,300 cities in 108 countries, according to which ambient air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period. WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air that penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system, causing diseases including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections, including pneumonia. More than 90% of air pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (including India), mainly in Asia and Africa, followed by low- and middle-income countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region, Europe and the Americas. Around 3 billion people more than 40% of the world s population still do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in their homes, the main source of household air pollution.
WHO recognises air pollution is a critical risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), causing an estimated 24% of all adult deaths from heart disease, 25% from stroke, 43% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 29% from lung cancer. Analysis: India targets to reach 80 million households by 2020. All countries in the region are making efforts to expand availability of clean fuels and technologies, however, over 60% population do not have clean fuel. The combined effects of household air pollution and ambient air pollution become increasingly hard to address if not tackled early. Air pollution needs to be brought under control with urgent and effective action. Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of deaths globally and in the region, and air pollution contributes significantly to NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and lung cancer. Cleaning up the air we breathe will help prevent NCDs, particularly among women and vulnerable groups such as children, those already ill and the elderly. Major sources of air pollution from particulate matter include inefficient use of energy by households, industry, agriculture and transport sectors, and coal-fired power plants. In some regions, sand and desert dust, waste burning and deforestation are additional sources of air pollution. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Adilabad Dokra and Warangal Durries get GI tag Two craft forms that are unique to Telangana were recently granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the GI registry in Chennai. About Adilabad Dokra The uniqueness of this art form is that no two sculptures are the same, as they are not made out of a predesigned cast. The craftsmen of this art form belong to the Woj community, commonly referred to as Wojaris or Ohjas in the rural areas of Telangana. There are roughly 100 odd families in Adilabad district who are involved in the art form. They use brass as their main material and an ancient casting technique called cire perdue. As part of this technique, the craftsmen use clay and design a model of the sculpture that they want to create. They wrap the clay with wax threads before baking the mould, so that the wax melts away and the molten metal is poured into the mould. The common items made by the craftsmen include small idols and statues of tribal deities, jewellery, bells, small-scale animal sculptures and others. About Warangal durries In this style of durries, weavers create beautiful patterns and dye them using vegetable colours, which are washed in flowing water after the printing process. Warangal district became a renowned hub for weaving these rugs due to the availability of cotton, which is grown by farmers in the area. About Geographical indicators: GI(Geographical Indications) are signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that place of origin. Agricultural products typically have qualities that derive from their place of production and are influenced by specific local factors, such as climate and soil. They may also highlight specific qualities of a product, which
are due to human factors that can be found in the place of origin of the products, such as specific manufacturing skills and traditions. A geographical indication points to a specific place or region of production that determines the characteristic qualities of the product that originates therein. It is important that the product derives its qualities and reputation from that place. Place of origin may be a village or town, a region or a country. It is an exclusive right given to a particular community hence the benefits of its registration are shared by the all members of the community. Keeping in view the large diversity of traditional products spread all over the country, the registration under GI will be very important in future growth of the tribes / communities / skilled artisans associated in developing such products. Tejas Successfully Test Fires Derby Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range Missile Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft successfully demonstrated an Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile firing capability by releasing Derby Air-to-Air BVR missile in RADAR guided mode. The missile launch was performed in Lock ON after Launch mode for a BVR target in the look down mode and the target was destroyed. The objective of the test was to assess the Derby integration with aircraft systems on-board Tejas including the aircraft avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and Missile Weapon Delivery System and to verify its performance. The test was conducted on a Manoeuvrable Aerial Target at the Interim Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. The sensors at ITR also tracked the target and missile. About Tejas: It was in 1984 that the government of India first moved decisively to kick-start the process to build an indigenous aircraft. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) was set up by the government to develop the programme. In 1986, Rs 575 crores were allocated by the then government towards funding the programme. On January 4th, 2001, the light combat aircraft made its first flight, a milestone in the Indian aviation industry. Then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee named the aircraft Tejas which means radiance in Sanskrit. The induction of Tejas comes at an important time when the IAF has wanted to desperately replace it with the ageing fleet of MiG-21, responsible for so many crashes. The aircraft is equipped to handle air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, bombs and rockets. The aircraft s structure is composed of 42% carbon fibre composites, 43% aluminium alloy and the remainder titanium alloy. The aircraft is being developed in single-seat fighter and twin-seat trainer variants for the IAF and the Navy. Earlier this year, the aircraft participated in its first foreign show at the Bahrain International Air Show 2016 where aircraft enthusiasts compared it to Pakistan s JF-17 Thunder, that was produced with the help of China. It is considered to be the lightest multi-role supersonic aircraft of its class. The aircraft can travel at a maximum speed of 2,205 km/hr for FOC version and 2,000 km/hr for IOC version. First mock exercise on forest fire by NDMA National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has conducted a first-of-its-kind State-level mock exercise on forest fire in State of Uttarakhand. This exercise was aimed at assessing the efficacy of integrating the preparedness and response mechanisms of the forest department.
The exercise tells that how to stop the fire and to rescue the affected people, animals by using various techniques and equipment. During the fire in the forest, information was received from the practice about what to do and what should not be done between the locals. About NDMA: On 23 December 2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act, which envisaged the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers, to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India. Functions and Responsibilities Lay down policies on disaster management Approve the National Plan Approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan Lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the Purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects Coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plans for disaster management Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with threatening disaster situations or disasters as it may consider necessary Lay down broad policies and guidelines for the functioning of the National Institute of Disaster Management. QUICK FACTS World Book Day is observed on: 23 April World Malaria Day is observed on : 25 April In World Press Freedom Index, Rank of India is : 138 India-China Informal Summit was held in: Wuhan National Panchayati Raj Day is observed on : 24 April 23rd meeting of Western Zonal Council was held at : Gandhinagar Book : My Journey from Marxism-Leninism to Nehruvian Socialism is written by : C H Hanumantha Rao