GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
Topic: Welfare
President of India Presents 2017 Vayoshreshtha Samman
Key points:
Context:
- The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Vayoshreshtha Samman – a scheme of National Awards for senior citizens today in New Delhi.
Key points:
- Speaking on the occasion, the President said that there is a healthy tradition of respecting and taking care of elders in our country.
- He added according to the last census, the population of senior citizens in our country was approximately 10.5 crore, which was about 8.5% of our total population.
- The average life expectancy has increased in recent decades due to improvement in health services and other reasons.
- It is estimated that by the year 2050, the number of senior citizens will be approximately 19% of our total population.
- The President said that he was happy to note that the Government of India has taken several steps for the welfare of elderly persons.
- These include the National Programme for Healthcare of the Elderly wherein specialised services will be provided for their treatment.
- Under the National Health Insurance Scheme implemented with the help of State Governments, additional health insurance is being provided.
- In his address, Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot said that the National Award ‘Vayoshreshtha Samman’ will help to motivate younger generations to understand the contribution of the elderly persons in building of the society and the nation.
- He called upon people to give due respect and regard to elderly persons in their families as it is the Indian tradition.
- He opined that the old Indian tradition of Joint Family should continue for the betterment of our society.
- Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as the nodal ministry for the cause of senior citizens, has been celebrating the International day of Older Persons since 2005 by conferring Vayoshreshtha Sammans to eminent senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of elderly persons, especially indigent senior citizens.
- In 2013, the Vayoshreshtha Sammans have been upgraded as a “National Award”.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
Topic: Infrastructure
India Post Payments Bank will help in financial inclusion
Context:
- Minister for Communications Shri Manoj Sinha said that Government is working on setting up 650 India Post Payments Bank and gearing up fast to provide its financial services through all of 1.55 lakh post offices to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of financial inclusion.
- Speaking here on the occasion of World Post Day, he said that Indian Postal Department is undergoing major transformationwith changing times, be it the inter-operability of ATMs, core banking or providing of Passport Seva and Aadhar enrolment.
Key points:
- Shri Sinha launched International Tracked Packet service designed specially to meet the cross border requirements of e-Commerce sector in Asia-Pacific Region.
- He said, at the beginning, the service will be available to 12 countries and gradually the whole world will be covered.
- This new service has many special features like affordable price, track & trace, volume discounts, pick up facility, compensation for loss or damage and, therefore, high value for money.
- He said, with the launch of this service, Department of Posts is set to start a new chapter of close collaboration between the post office and the business in India that want to reach to their customers abroad.
- The Minister also launched e-IPO (Indian Postal Order) in the denominations of Rs. 10/-, Rs. 20/-, Rs. 50/- &Rs. 100/-, as a pilot project in Bihar, Delhi and Karnataka and said that in the next two months, the service will cover the entire country.
- e-IPO will be used for all purposes like fee payment for RTI/ educational institutions/ Court/ online registration for Cable Operators
- Customer can purchase e-IPO online from one’s home or workplace, as per one’s convenience.
- This launch is a part of Digital India Initiative as the payment will be made through Debit Card/ Credit Card / Net Banking.
- India Post celebrates the National Postal Week every October from 9thto 15th October, starting with World Post Day which is celebrated each year on 9th October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Berne.
- The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.
- Moving a step ahead, Department of Posts celebrates National Postal Week undertaking programme/ activities aimed at generating a broader awareness of its role and activities among the public and media on a national scale.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
Topic: Bilateral Relations
Annual Dilli Seminar – ‘India and South East Asia Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages’
Key points
- Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala is all set to conduct the fourth edition of the prestigious annual Dilliseminar on 12th and 13th of October 2017.
- The theme for this year’s seminar is ‘India and Southeast Asia – Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages’.
- INA conducts the annual Dilliseminar on elements and issues of maritime history and heritage of the nation to help the young officers and cadets keep an eye on future developments in the maritime domain with a strong foundation of the
- This year’s theme is aimed to explore and elucidate the impact of historic maritime trade that existed between India and Southeast Asian countries on their society, religion, spirituality, art, architecture, language, literature, administration and other areas of civilization.
- The papers presented in the seminar would deliberate and analyse the impact of the historical maritime connections on the present, to extrapolate the future.
- The Dilliseries of seminar has always been an intellectually stimulating experience for all participants especially the young cadets and the 2017 edition promises to be equally informative, especially considering the growing significance of Southeast Asian countries in the present socio-economic, geographical and political situation.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
Topic: Disaster Management
Union Home Minister to inaugurate First BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise tomorrow
Key points
- The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the four-day First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) here tomorrow.
- At the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 7, 2017, it was decided that India would organize the first annual Disaster Management Exercise for the region.
- The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response.
- It will help create synergy and synchronize efforts to institutionalize regional cooperation among the member countries.
- The exercise will help strengthen the effective utilization of the Search & Rescue Teams for Disaster Relief & Emergency Response, including Emergency Rapid Assessment Teams and Management of mass casualties especially in situations involving breakdown of infrastructure and communication.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
Topic: Infrastructure
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan addressed Global INDIA ENERGY FORUM – CERAWeeK
Context
- The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, addressed the India Energy Forum by CERA WeeK in New Delhi.
Key points
- India will remain one of the fastest growing energy markets in the World in the coming two decades.
- Both on account of increasing access and better life styles, there will be growth in per capita energy consumption.
- India will be an influential buyer in the global energy market.
- Given India’s dependence on imports (80% oil and 50% gas) – India has to constantly track the global trends and learn from experts.
- The minister said, important aspect is the understanding of geo-politics – particularly what is happening in Syria and ISIS, what is happening in Kurdistan referendum, Saudi block’s sanction situation against Qatar, political situation in Venezuela.
- All these are situations that would have impact on oil prices and hence on our consumers, on our fiscal deficit and on our economy.
- The world is at the cross-roads of a major transition. This is with respect to the move towards Electric Vehicle (EV).
- There is a sense of credence about this – the only debate is probably the timing, and how things would shape up, both in terms of renewable technologies such as solar and also in terms of enabling storage.
- The minister further said the Indian Govt has taken several policy measures to completely overhaul the licensing regime in upstream segment with our HELP policy.
- Govt has also come out with NDR to make sure all the interested investors get full access to available geological information to take informed investment decisions.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
Topic: Welfare
First ever Conference of Partner NGOs of WCD Ministry held in New Delhi today
Context
- The first ever conference of Partner NGOs of WCD Ministry was held in New Delhi today.
- The conference aimed at sensitizing them about the various schemes of WCD Ministry and to give them an opportunity to share their experiences and insights.
- NGOs play a very vital role since a large numbers of schemes, programmes and policies of the government, which are being implemented at the ground level with the help of NGOs.
Key points
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development has taken up several new initiatives like One Stop Centres, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Women Helpline, National Policy for Women, Bill against Trafficking, National Alliance against Child Abuse amongst many such others, the Minister explained.
- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has shown a tremendous success since 104 out of 161 BBBP districts have shown an increasing trend in Sex Ratio at Birth.
- The Minister also assured that an online facility will soon be created for the NGOs in the field of women and children to enable them to lodge their complaints or highlight their issues.
- NGOs have been playing an important role in rehabilitation of trafficked women.
The conference was based on the following broad themes:
- Violence Against Women:Prevention and Facilitating Access to Justice
- National Policy for Women:Policy Interventions for Gender Parity
- Trafficking of Women and Children:Role of State Institutions
- Cyber Crime and Children: Prevention and Harm Reduction
- Implementation of JJ Act:Structural Challenges and Mainstreaming of Children
The expected outcome of the Conference is
- to ascertain the existing problems and drawbacks in the present set up of delivery system at the grassroots level;
- to develop ways for constructive policy formulation and programme implementation by assessing the lessons discussed during the conference;
- to increase engagement of these organizations for advocacy on women empowerment and child safety and security.
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