IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

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PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation)

News:

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, chaired his thirtieth interaction through PRAGATI – the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

Beyond News:

• This was the first PRAGATI meeting in the new term of the Union Government.
• The 29 PRAGATI meetings in the previous term, with cumulative review of 257 projects with a total investment of over 12 lakh crore rupees.
• 47 programmes/schemes were reviewed. Resolution of Public Grievances was also reviewed across 17 sectors (21 subjects).

More to know about PRAGATI:

Objective – initiating a culture of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation by – 
° Addressing common man’s grievances, and 
° Monitoring important programs of Union and State Governments.

• It is a multi-purpose and interactive ICT platform.
• It is a three-tier system (involving PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States)
• It is also an innovative project in e-governance and good governance.

Source: Press Information Bureau.

Dam Safety Bill

News

• The Lok Sabha passed the Dam Safety Bill, 2019.

Beyond News:

• The Bill seeks to provide for institutional mechanism for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of specified dams across the country.

Applicability of the Bill: The Bill applies to all specified dams in the country.  These are dams with: (i) height more than 15 metres, or (ii) height between 10 metres to 15 metres and subject to certain additional design and structural conditions.

• Obligations of dam owners: Owners of specified dams are required to provide a dam safety unit in each dam. This unit will inspect the dams: (i) before and after the monsoon session, and (ii) during and after every earthquake, flood, or any other calamity or sign of distress.  Dam owners will be required to prepare an emergency action plan, and carry out risk assessment studies for each dam at specified regular intervals.  Dam owners will also be required to prepare a comprehensive dam safety evaluation of each dam, at regular intervals, through a panel of experts.  The evaluation will be mandatory in certain cases such as major modification of the original structure, or an extreme hydrological or seismic event.
   
• Offences and penalties: The Bill provides for two types of offences.  These are: (i) obstructing a person in the discharge of his functions under the Bill, and (ii) refusing to comply with directions issued under the Bill.  Offenders will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine, or both.  If the offence leads to loss of lives, the term of imprisonment may be extended up to two years.  Offences will be cognizable only when the complaint is made by the government, or any authority constituted under the Bill.

Source: PRS India.

National Medical Commission Bill

News

• The Rajya Sabha cleared the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill with a crucial amendment brought in by the government to increase representation of States in the new body.

Beyond News

• The State Medical Council representation was being increased from five to nine members and State University representation from six to 10 members.

What will be special about new body?

• It will be constituted in nine months and in the next three years,
• It will set up the mechanism for conducting the common final year examination or the National Exit Test (NEXT) for all MBBS students.
• Based on the results, the students will get their degrees and license to practice (after an internship).
• Performance in the Theory paper will decide eligibility for admission to postgraduate courses.

Source:The Hindu

Global coalition to protect pollinators

News:

• Nigeria became the fourth African country to join the Global Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators.

Beyond News:

• The coalition now has 28 signatories including 17 European countries, five from Latin America and the Caribbean and four from Africa.
• While Morroco became a member of this group in May this year, Ethiopia was the first African nation to be part of this global coalition in 2017.  Burundi was the second African country to join this global group.

Significance:

• The annual market value of the five to eight per cent of production that is directly linked with pollination services is estimated at $235 billion-$577 billion worldwide.
• Globally nearly 90% of wild flowering plant species depend on animal pollination.
• More than 75% of leading global crop types benefit from animal pollination in production, yield and quality.
• Protecting pollinators will be important for addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) too.

The goals relevant to pollinators are SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 15 (life on land), SDG 3 (good health and well-being) through access to sufficient nutritious food (highly dependent on pollinators) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) too as 1.4 billion people work in agriculture.

Source: Down to earth

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019

News:

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, has been passed by the Rajya Sabha.

Beyond news:

The Bill has been passed with three Government amendments and will need to go back to Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill on the 23^rd of July 2019. 

Key highlights:

• The central government will develop a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour.
  [The central government may also make a scheme for providing interim relief to claimants seeking compensation under third party insurance]
• The Bill requires the central government to constitute a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India. 
• The Bill defines a good samaritan as a person who renders emergency medical or non-medical assistance to a victim at the scene of an accident.

Source: Press Information Bureau.

Bankruptcy Code amendments .

News

• The Lok Sabha passed amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, with Union Finance Minister stating that the intention of the bill was to help struggling business survive and grow stronger.

Beyond News

• Seven sections of the Code stands amended.

Procedure

1. Under the Code, a financial creditor may file an application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for initiating the insolvency resolution process.
2. The NCLT must find the existence of default within 14 days.
3. Thereafter, a Committee of Creditors (CoC), consisting of financial creditors, will be constituted for taking decisions regarding insolvency resolution.
4. The CoC may either decide to restructure the debtor’s debt by preparing a resolution plan or liquidate the debtor’s assets.
5. Once the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) begins, it has to be completed in 330 days, including litigation stages and judicial process.

Significance:

• The changes would bring in more clarity on various provisions, including time-bound disposal at the application stage of the resolution plan and treatment of financial creditors.
• The approved resolution plan would be binding on Central and state governments as well as various statutory authorities.

Source:The Hindu

Death for rape of minors

News

• The Lok Sabha unanimously passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children.

Aim: To make offences against children gender-neutral.

Beyond News

• Over 1,000 fast track courts will work for the speedy disposal of pending cases under POCSO
• 18 States have consented to set up fast track courts.

Steps to curb child pornography:

• Those who use a child for pornographic purposes should be punished with imprisonment up to five years and a fine,
• In the event of a second or subsequent conviction, the punishment would be up to seven years and a fine.

Committing penetrative sexual assaults on a child below 16 years of age :

• Would be punished with imprisonment up to 20 years, which might extend to life imprisonment as well as a fine.
• In case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the bill increases the minimum punishment from 10 years to 20 years, and the maximum punishment to death penalty.
• Six lakh sexual offenders have been registered under the National Database on Sexual Offenders.

Source:The Hindu

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Operation Muskaan

News

• A total of 3,470 children have been rescued from different parts of Telangana under Operation Muskaan Phase-V, which was conducted from July 1 to 30.

Beyond News

• Of them, 72% of the children were rescued from labour work, while the remaining were rescued from begging.
• The operation was conducted jointly by the police, the Telangana Women and Child Department, Labour Department and others.
• It is conducted twice a year, each lasting for one month in January and July.

Source: The Hindu

Growing human organs in animals for first time

News

• Scientists in Japan will begin trying to grow human organs in animals after receiving government permission for the first study of its kind in the country.

What is the technology all about?

• The cutting-edge but controversial research involves implanting modified animal embryos with human “induced pluripotent stem” (iPS) cells that can be coaxed into forming the building blocks of any part of the body.

Beyond News:

• Japan had previously required researchers to terminate animal embryos implanted with human cells after 14 days and prevented the embryos from being placed into animal wombs to develop.
• But in March those restrictions were dropped, allowing researchers to seek individual permits for research projects.

Significance:

• It is the first step in what researchers caution is a very long path towards a future where human organs for transplant could be grown inside animals.
• The research is the first of its kind to receive government approval after Japan changed its rules on implanting human cells into animals.
• The research involves generating animal embryos mice, rats or pigs that lack a particular organ such as a pancreas.
• The modified embryos are then implanted with human iPS cells that can grow into the missing pancreas.
• The embryos would be transplanted into wombs where they could theoretically be carried to term with a functioning human pancreas.

Source: The Hindu

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