Comprehensive News Analysis - 30 December 2016

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

Category: International Relations

Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Key Points:

• Russia President Vladimir Putin on 29th Dec, 2016 announced a nationwide ceasefire deal to come into effect across Syria from midnight.
• This deal that has been brokered by Russia and Turkey may represent a major breakthrough in nearly six years of war in Syria.
• It is important to note that although Turkey and Russia are on opposing sides in the conflict, they have been working intensively to find a ceasefire after the fall of Aleppo.

C. GS3 Related

1. Lanba to chair committee of Chiefs

Category: Security 

Topic: Defence, Developments    

Key Points:

• Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, is all set to assume chairmanship of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), on December 31.
• It is important to note that speculation had been rife that the government might create a permanent position of Chairman, COSC, which has been in the works for a while.
• This post would act as a single-point military adviser to the political class on procurement and strategic issues.
• At present, the Chairman’s post is held on rotation basis by the senior-most of the three service Chiefs.

2. Govt meets PMUY target of 1.5 crore LPG connection additions this financial year

Category: Indian Economy 

Topic: Government Policy, Government Schemes

Key Points:

• In a landmark development, the government on 29^th Dec, 2016 said that it has met the 1.5 crore target for LPG connections to be added in this financial year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and so has increased LPG coverage across the country to 70 per cent as of December 1.
• The government in a statement said that the target of 1.5 crore connections fixed for the current financial year for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has been achieved within a span of less than eight months and the scheme is being implemented now across 35 States/UTs.

D. GS4 Related

E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

1. Peace on track in Colombia

Category: International Relations

Topic: Developments

Key Points:

A brief note on the FARC

• The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is Colombia’s largest rebel group.
• This group is a guerrilla group which has been fighting a long running armed insurgency.
• This group was founded in 1964 as the armed wing of the Communist Party and follows a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
• While the FARC have some urban groups, they have always been an overwhelmingly rural guerrilla organisation.

Recent Developments

• In October this year, a referendum to ratify a painstakingly negotiated peace deal the Columbian Government had signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was narrowly defeated.
• Further, Colombia’s Congress has unanimously approved an amnesty law granting immunity to FARC fighters from prosecution for committing minor crimes.
• Those accused of major crimes will be tried by a special tribunal.
• If things go as per the government’s plan, the rebels should become civilians by May 2017, culminating in the end of a process that began with negotiations four years ago.

Business Line

Category: Indian Economy

Topic: Government Policy   

Key Points:

• In the context of the contraction expected in the wake of demonetization, job-creating growth is likely to be a priority of the
• The Government will be presenting the budget on February 1 this coming year, and this presents a unique opportunity for redefining our entire approach towards medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).
• It is important to note that a million people are getting added to the list of job-seekers every month.
• The Government or the public sector cannot be the source of employment for all these job aspirants.
• A solution to this demand can be the spawning of MSME units on a large scale, in mission mode, in 2017 and beyond.
• One fundamental aspect in our approach that needs to change has been our obsession with investments in plant and machinery for the definition of MSME units under the relevant Act of 2006.
• From an international perspective, two major countries/regions from the developed world follow the number of employees as the basis for the categorisation of firms as MSMEs.
• Almost the entire European Union and the Americas, including the US, base their categorisation of firms for this sector only on the basis of the number of people employed and their turnover.
• Germany, one of the few growth engines of the world today, is a shining example of the difference that such a great thrust for MSMEs can make.

Indian Express

1. Lethal neglect

Category: Internal Security 

Topic: Challenges to Internal Security

Key Points:

• The year 2016 has inflicted a grim toll on Indian soldiers and police personnel in Kashmir.   
• Almost half of the 87 fatalities, the worst since 2009, can be attributed to events like the Uri and Nagrota attacks, which involved flaws in basic training or poor perimeter security at bases. 
• In the wake of the Pathankot attack, the ministry of defence had tasked former army Vice-Chief Lieutenant-General Philip Campose with studying the problem.
• General Campose’s report recommended rectification of the training of base security teams, as well as acquisition of technologies like night-vision devices and movement sensors.
• These technologies were not purchased when the Uri attack took place; they were not available at Nagrota either.

PIB

1. Year End review: Department of Space

Category: Science and Technology  

Topic: Space

Key Points:

Note to students: This is a very important article and should be read in its entirety from the PIB website. Kindly refer to the URL above to read the complete article.

• PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E Mission: In this flight, the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV launched IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on January 20, 2016. 
• PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F Mission: In this flight, which was its 34th, PSLV launched IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on March 10, 2016. 
• PSLV-C33/IRNSS-1G Mission: In this flight, PSLV launched the seventh and the last satellite IRNSS-1G of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation on April 28, 2016.  With this, the space segment of the IRNSS was fully deployed. IRNSS signals are now available and trials with the receiver system are in progress. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated IRNSS to the nation as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian Constellation). This is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS provides two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) – provided to all users and Restricted Services (RS) – provided to authorised users only.
• Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD): India’s first winged body aerospace vehicle, RLV-TD i.e. Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), was successfully flight tested on May 23, 2016. 
• PSLV-C34/Cartosat-2 Series Mission: On June 22, 2016, PSLV-C34 successfully launched 20 satellites in a single mission. It included India’s CARTOSAT-2 series of satellite (weighing 727 kg) as primary payload and two academic institutes’ satellites, namely, SWAYAM and SATHYABAMASAT and 17 satellites (total weighing 555 kg) of foreign customers from Canada, Germany, Indonesia and USA as co-passengers.
• GSLV-F05/ INSAT-3DR Mission: On September 08, 2016, GSLV-F05, India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, equipped with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), successfully launched the country’s weather satellite INSAT-3DR. INSAT-3DR is a follow-on meteorological satellite to INSAT-3D. This launch is significant, considering that fact that this is the third consecutive success of the indigenous CUS, which signified the country’s successful assimilation of the complex cryogenic rocket propulsion.
• Successful Flight Testing of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine Technology Demonstrator: The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. The Scramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. 

2. 5 crore LPG connections issued to BPL households under PM Ujjwala Yojana

Category: Polity and Governance  

Topic: Government Policy

Key Points:

• Target of 1.5 crore connections fixed for the current financial year for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has been achieved within a span of less than 8 months and the scheme is being implemented now across 35 States/UTs.
• The vision of Prime Minister Modi to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households in the country has been taken forward through implementation of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). 
• An adult woman member of BPL family identified through Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data is given a deposit free LPG connection with financial assistance  of  1600/- per connection by Government of India.  The announcement of releasing 5 crore LPG connections to BPL families over a period of three years was made with allocation of Rs 8000 crore in the Union Budget on 29.2.2016.

3. ‘SwachhSwasthSarvatra’- Joint Initiative of HealthMinistry and Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation launched

Category: Polity and Governance 

Topic: Government Policy, Government Initiatives  

Key Points:

SwachhSwasthSarvatra is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to achieve better health outcomes through improved sanitation and increased awareness and healthy lifestyles.

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the Prime Minister has successfully amplified the need for clean India and today this is the most popular programme that resonates with citizens across India.

Advancing from Swachh Bharat to Swastha Bharat is a natural step. Open Defecation Free (ODF) should not be limited to creation of infrastructure alone but it should also bring the positive change in the habits and mindset of people.

“SwachhSwasthaSarvatra” is a much needed programme to achieve open defecation-free India by 2019.

The three key components of SwachhSwasthSarvatra are:

• Community Health Centres (CHCs) in ODF blocks supported to achieve Kayakalp certification
• Gram Panchayat of Kayakalp Primary Health Centres (PHCs) prioritized to become  ODF
• Training in WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ) of CHC/PHC nominees

4. Year End Review :Ministry of Women & Child Development

Category: Polity and Governance 

Topic: Government Policy, Government Initiatives 

Key Points:

• The Ministry of Women & Child Development has launched the Scheme for setting up ‘One Stop Centres’ to facilitate access to an integrated range of services including medical, legal, and psychological support to women affected by violence to be funded throughNirbhaya
• The WCD Ministry has been working along with the Ministry of Home Affairsto  improve overall police responsiveness to gender sensitive  cases and to bring visibility to more women and strengthen gender  sensitivity in police force.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development had taken up the issue of installation of physical panic button on mobile phones as one of the initiatives since June 2014.  Based on extensive stakeholder consultations initiated by WCD Ministry, the ‘Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules 2016’ have been notified by the Department of Telecommunications.
• Under these rules, all new feature phones will have the facility of panic button configured to the numeric key 5 or 9 and all smart phones will have the  panic button configured to three times short pressing of the On-off button from the new year onwards.  Further, all new mobile phones will be required to have the facility of identifying the location through satellite based GPS
• In view of the increasing number of crimes committed against women on account of information shared on the matrimonial websites, it was decided in consultation with Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and service providers to look into the issue and to put in place a regulatory framework in order to check this misuse.
• A schematic proposal to enable theuniversalization of a Helpline specifically for women with a common number across the country has been approved. This Helpline will be linked with One Stop Centres being established by the Ministry of Women & Child Development. The Department of Telecommunication, Government of India, has allocated short code 181 to all States/UTs which is already being used by some States/UTs such as Delhi, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh as Women Helpline. So far, Women Helplines have been operational in 18 States/UTs.
• The draft National Policy for Women, 2016, has been released by the Minister, WCD and is under finalization.
• Draft National Policy for Women 2016 prescribes the operational strategies for implementation of the policy. These include, framing of Action Plans at the national, State and local level; strengthening gender institutional architecture, enacting new legislations and reviewing/ harmonizing legislations, engaging with stakeholders for advocacy and awareness generation, strengthening institutionalization of gender budgeting  and creating an effective gender based data base. The policy looks into the entire life-cycle continuum of women’s issues and encompasses a wide spectrum ranging from discrimination against women to the expectations of new emerging inspirational woman. 
• The Ministry of Women & Child Development launched Mahila e-Haat a unique direct online digital marketing platform for women entrepreneurs/SHGs/NGOs in March 2016. It also aims at financial inclusion and economic empowerment of women. Mahila e-Haat facilitates direct contact between the vendor and buyer. The unique features of Mahila E-haat not available on other e-commerce portals are (a) Sharing of contact details of vendors b) E-learning services (c) Pitara (Hamari Baat) conversations (d) Services.

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:

• Draft National Policy for Women 2016
• Mahila e-Haat
• ‘SwachhSwasthSarvatra’

G. BILLS/ACTS/SCHEMES/ORGS IN NEWS

The Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 

H. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂

Question 1: Consider the following statements,

Question 2: Consider the following statements,

Question 3: Consider the following statements,

Question 4: Consider the following statements,

Question 5: Consider the following statements,

I. Archives:

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