IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Saudi Arabia rules women can join armed forces

News

• Saudi Arabia announced it will allow women in the ultra-conservative kingdom to serve in the armed forces as it embarks on a broad programme of economic and social reforms.

Women to serve in the armed forces

• The move is the latest in a series of measures aimed at increasing the rights of women in the kingdom, even as rights groups accuse Riyadh of cracking down on women activists.
• Last year, Saudi Arabia authorised women to join its security forces.
• Saudi Arabia  has approved a handful of reforms aimed at widening women’s rights, including allowing them to drive and to travel abroad without consent from a male “guardian”.
• Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, is pushing to improve its image and attract tourists as part of a plan to diversify its economy away from oil.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

J&K administration releases four politicians from detention

News

• The Jammu and Kashmir administration released four political leaders who were detained since August 5.

Security reasons

• The four leaders were among 3,000 persons who were detained or arrested citing security reasons in run up to August 5 when Home Minister Amit Shah moved two Bills in Rajya Sabha to revoke the special status of J&K under Article 370 and to downgrade and bifurcate the State into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
• A senior official said the four were detained under section 107 of CrPC and signed a bond “not to commit a breach of peace” before they were released.
• Around 3,000 persons were detained in J&K since August 5 but many were released subsequently.
• Officials say that currently around 800 persons are either in detention or under arrest, which includes 250 in jails outside the State.
• The detainees include three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

GEMINI system to aid fishermen

News

• To avoid communication blackouts that led to 20 fishermen going missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Okchi in 2017, a slew of government departments, research agencies and private companies have developed GEMINI, a portable receiver linked to ISRO-satellites, that is “fail-proof” and warn fishermen of danger.

GEMINI

• The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Hyderabad institute collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last three to four days.
• GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India and is an India-made global positioning system and relies on the positioning system by ISRO’s GSAT satellites.
• When GEMINI is connected to an app, it also lets fishermen know the probability of fish-catch in the surrounding seas.
• Mobile phone frequencies cannot be accessed 10-12 km beyond the coast and with GEMINI this range can increase to 300 nautical miles, according to a press release.
• The device only allows one-way communication it can’t be used by fishermen to make calls, for instance. At ₹9,000 a device, it’s also relatively expensive for the average fisherman, say officials, but attempts are on to subsidise it by as much as 90%.
• The device could be more easily accessible to India’s 900,000 fishermen if the chips powering mobile phones were able to receive signals from the GAGAN system.

Mekedatu project: Tamil Nadu opposes Karnataka’s fresh plea seeking approval

News

• Reiterating its opposition to Karnataka’s proposal for a Balancing Reservoir-cum-Drinking Water Project at Mekedatu across the Cauvery, Tamil Nadu  urged the Centre not to entertain the proposal and to reject it.

Reservoir-cum-Drinking Water Project

• Karnataka has submitted a Detailed Project Report seeking grant of Terms of Reference to conduct EIA/EMP Report for Mekedatu Project.
• Tamil Nadu has filed a Miscellaneous Application before the Supreme Court against the proposal of Karnataka for constructing a reservoir and also a contempt petition against all concerned and the matters are pending in the Supreme Court.
• The Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydro-electric Projects in the meeting held this year had deferred Karnataka’s proposal. But, it applied afresh and hence Tamil Nadu reiterated its opposition.

Health Ministry launches WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy

News

• The Union Health Ministry has launched the ‘World Health Organisation (WHO) India Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2019–2023: A Time of Transition’, with the collaboration providing a strategic roadmap for the WHO to work with the Indian government towards achieving its health sector goals; improving the health of its population; and bringing in transformative changes in the health sector.
• The implementation of CCS will build on the remarkable successes in public health that India has demonstrated to the world.

 ‘Acceleration in decline of Maternal Mortality Ratio’

News

• There has been acceleration in decline of Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) and the Infant Mortality Rate since the launch of the National Health Mission (NHM)/National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the Health Ministry has told the Union Cabinet.

Biggest success

• The Cabinet has been apprised of the Progress under NHM and Decisions of the Empowered Programme Committee and Mission Steering Group of the NHM where India was the biggest success story amongst malaria endemic countries in the world, in bringing down the malaria cases and deaths which have declined by 49.09% and 50.52% compared to 2017.
• Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) had been significantly strengthened and intensified.
• Due to the intensified efforts, there is 16% jump in identification of new cases in one year. Universal drug sensitive cases also increased by 54%. Newer drug regimen of Bedaquiline and Delaminide and nutrition support to all TB patients for the duration of the treatment has been rolled throughout the country.
• It also listed out improvements in Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination, Rotavirus vaccine (RVV) and Pneumococcal Conjugated Vaccine (PCV) drive, which has seen improved coverage.
• Home Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) programme was introduced under POSHAN Abhiyaan. National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme was approved for prevention, management and treatment of Hepatitis to A, B, C and E and rollout was initiated.
• This would benefit an estimated 5 crore patients of Hepatitis.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

India’s data localisation plans hang in the balance

News

• India’s data localisation planshang in the balance as it will join the other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries in discussing the e-commerce chapter of the RCEP agreement.

Data localisation

• The RCEP meeting will take place in Bangkok. If India agrees to the provisions of Chapter 10 on e-commerce, as specified by most of the other countries, it will mean it won’t be allowed to impose data localisation rules on companies looking to do business in India.
• This would go against the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) norms on localisation of payments data that it had ordered in April 2018.
• Further, the suggested phrasing by the 14-member group (the RCEP comprises 16 countries including China) on cross-border electronic transfers is that “a Party shall not prevent cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, where such activity is for the conduct of the business of covered person.”
• The RBI had said that “all system providers shall ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India”.
• This data is to include the full end-to-end transaction details, information collected, carried, or processed as part of the message or payment instruction. If India agrees to the wording as it is, then these rules by the RBI will also have to be reviewed, as would any future plans the government has to implement data localisation in any form.
• Indian negotiators are trying to dilute the provisions in the Chapter, by including a provision to make the RCEP clauses subject to domestic laws.

Govt to form empowered group to privatise 150 trains, 50 rly stations

News

• The government is in the process of forming a task force to draw a blueprint for handing over operations of 150 trains and 50 railway stations to private operators in a “time-bound manner”.

Task force

• The Tejas Express on Lucknow-Delhi route, is the railways’ first experience of running a train by non-railway operator, its own subsidiary, IRCTC.
• IRCTC has a slew of benefits worked out for its passengers — combination meals, free insurance of up to ₹25 lakh and compensation in case of delays.

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