Daily Prelims Notes 4 November 2020

November 4, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject : Polity

Context :Tele-Law has touched a new milestone on 30th October 2020 with 4 Lakh beneficiaries having received legal advice under this through CSCs (Common Service Centres).

Concept :

Tele-Law programme was launched by Department of Justice in 2017 to address cases at pre–litigation stage.
Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone /instant calling facilities available at the vast network of Common Service Centres at the Panchayat level are used to connect the indigent, down-trodden, vulnerable, unreached groups and communities with the Panel Lawyers for seeking timely and valuable legal advice.
The Tele-Law service is proactively outreached to groups and communities through a cadre of frontline volunteers provided by NALSA and CSC- e Gov.

2. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF J&K

Subject : Polity

Context : Parties are free to engage in political activity says L-G of Jammu & Kashmir.

Concept :

The rules have been notified under the Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.

According to Section 55 of the act “the Lieutenant Governor (LG) shall make rules on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the allocation of business to the Ministers; and for the more convenient transaction of business with the Ministers including the procedure to be adopted in case of a difference of opinion between the LG and the Council of Ministers or a Minister.

The rules provide details of work allocation, distribution of the business among the departments, their powers, executive powers of LG etc. in J&K.
As per the rules, there will be 39 departments in the J&K such as school education, agriculture, higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs and transport.
Police, Public order, All India Services and Anti-corruption will fall under the executive functions of the LG. This implies that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.
Proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect the peace and tranquility of the UT or the interest of any minority community, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes shall essentially be submitted to the LG through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders.
Any matter, which is likely to bring the government of the Union Territory into a controversy with the Centre or a State government, shall, as soon as possible, be brought to the notice of the LG and the Chief Minister through the Chief Secretary.
All important communications received from the Centre shall, as soon as possible, be submitted to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the Chief Minister and the LG for information.
In case of difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the decision of the LG shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers.

3. MALABAR EXERCISE 2020

Subject : Defence

Context : The first phase of the Malabar Naval exercise 2020 began off the Visakhapatnam coast.

Concept :

Trilateral naval exercise (United States, Japan and India as permanent partners). Now, it has began Quadilateral Exercise( with Australia )
It began as a bilateral naval exercise between India and the USA in 1992, later trilateral after inclusion of Japan in 2015.
India is prepared to expand the Malabar exercise to also include Australia.
Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
Objective- Helps in enhancing safety and security in the maritime domain.

Other Defence Exercises:

B/W India & Japan- JIMEX, SHINYUU Maitri, and Dharma Guardian.
India & US- Yudha Abhyas.
India & Australia- Pitch Black ( Multilateral aerial combat b/w air forces)
AUSINDEX is a bilateral naval exercise
AUSTRAHIND- Bilateral army exercise

4. URBAN MOBILITY INDIA (UMI) CONFERENCE

Subject : Economy

Context : The 13th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference is being organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 9th November 2020. The day-long Conference will be held on-line through Video Conference/Webinar.

Concept :

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India issued the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006 (NUTP).
As part of the NUTP enunciations, the Ministry has taken the initiative to organize an annual international Conference-cum-Exhibition on Urban Mobility India popularly known as UMI.
The primary objective of the conference is to disseminate information to the cities, whose officials attend the conference to help them keep up-to-date with latest and best urban transport practices globally.
The main theme of this year’s event is “Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility” with focus on innovative measures taken at national and international level to address the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic to provide accessible and convenient transport to the people.

5. FORTIFICATION OF RICE

Subject : Economy

Context : To initiate the process of taking the country towards nutritional security, Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) has been running a “Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on Fortification of Rice & its distribution through Public Distribution System”.

Concept :

The Pilot Scheme has been approved for a period of three years beginning 2019-2020 with a total budget outlay of Rs.174.6 Crore.
Fifteen State Governments have identified their respective districts (1 district per state) for implementing the Pilot Scheme.
Already 5 states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have started the distribution of fortified rice in their respective identified districts.
The FCI has been asked to come up with a comprehensive plan for procurement and distribution of fortified rice in all the Districts of the country under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) & Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme from 2021-2022.
Special focus would be placed on supplying fortified rice to the 112 specially identified Aspirational Districts of the country.

What is Rice Fortification?

Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.
Rice fortification is the practice of increasing the content of essential micronutrients in rice and to improve the nutritional quality of the rice.

Food fortification in India:

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has formulated a comprehensive regulation on fortification of foods namely ‘Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016’.
These regulations set the standards for food fortification and encourage the production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of fortified foods.

6. CHAR CHAPORIS

Subject : Culture

Context : A proposal for a museum reflecting this culture has triggered a controversy, especially because of the venue.

Concept :

Char-chaporis are shifting riverine islands of the Brahmaputra and are primarily inhabited by the Muslims of Bengali-origin (pejoratively referred to as ‘Miyas’).
A char is a floating island while chaporis are low-lying flood-prone riverbanks. “
They are used interchangeably or with a hyphen. They keep changing shapes — a char can become a chapori, or vice versa, depending on the push and pull of the Brahmaputra
The ‘Miya’ community comprises descendants of Muslim migrants from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to Assam. They came to be referred to as ‘Miyas’, often in a derogatory manner.

7. SPECIAL AND DIFFRENTIATED TREATMENT

Subject : Economy

Context : Negotiations on curbing “harmful” fisheries subsidies are picking up pace at the World Trade Organization with a revised text of the draft agreement now in circulation. But there is still no consensus on the special dispensation for developing countries being pushed for by India.

Concept :

More discussions on the special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing countries and LDCs are scheduled this week in addition to some bilateral meetings to help members narrow their gaps on the matter.

Special and differential treatment :

The WTO agreements contain special provisions which give developing countries special rights and allow other members to treat them more favourably. These are “special and differential treatment provisions” . It includes ,
Longer time periods for implementing agreements and commitments
Measures to increase trading opportunities for these countries
Provisions requiring all WTO members to safeguard the trade interests of developing countries
Support to help developing countries build the infrastructure to undertake WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standard
Provisions related to least-developed country (LDC) members.

Designation :

Currently, any WTO member can designate itself as a developing country and avail these benefits.
The US had submitted its suggestions to the WTO which states that self-declaration puts the WTO on a path to failed negotiations and it is also a path to institutional irrelevance.
In the Doha Declaration, ministers agreed that all special and differential treatment provisions should be reviewed, in order to strengthen them and make them more precise, effective and operational.

8. COVID-19 SHRI SHAKTI CHALLENGE

Subject : Social Issues

Context : Six women led startups have won COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge organized by MyGov in collaboration with UN Women.

Concept :

MyGov in collaboration with UN Women, launched the COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge in April 2020.
Its objective was to encourage and involve women led startups to come up with innovative solutions that can help in the fight against COVID19 or solve problems that impact a large number of women.
This challenge was hosted on the Innovate platform of MyGov that called for applications from women led startups as well as startups who have solutions that address issues faced by a larger number of women.

UN Women :

UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW).
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI).
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).