IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
(Topic: Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.)
Purpose of this Act:
Act amended through the: Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 which, inter alia, has increased the paid maternity leave to women employees from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
The Ministry of Labour & Employment is working on an incentive scheme wherein 7 weeks’ wages would be reimbursed to employers who employ women workers with wage ceiling upto Rs. 15000/- and provide the maternity benefit of 26 weeks paid leave, subject to certain conditions.
It is estimated that approximately an amount of Rs. 400 crores would be the financial implication for Government of India, Ministry of Labour & Employment for implementing the proposed incentive scheme.
Major Impact: The proposed Scheme, if approved and implemented, shall ensure the women in this country an equal access to employment and other approved benefits along with adequate safety and secure environment. Also, the women shall continue to bear the major share of household work as well as child care. The work places will be more and more responsive to the family needs of the working women.
(Topic: Governance, Organisations; Federalism; Government policies and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
Purpose: To ensure sustainable development of the Indian Himalayan region
The Council has been constituted to review and implement identified action points based on the Reports of five Working Groups, which were established along thematic areas to prepare a roadmap for action. Recognizing the uniqueness of the Himalayas and the challenges for sustainable development, Five Working Groups were constituted by NITI Aayog in 2017. These Working Groups were tasked with preparing a roadmap for action across five thematic areas namely,
Nodal agency for the Sustainable development in the Himalayan Region: The Himalayan States Regional Council will be the which consists of the twelve States namely Jammu &Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, two districts of Assam namely Dima Hasao and KarbiAnglong and Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal.
Action points include: river basin development and regional cooperation, spring mapping and revival across Himalayas in phased manner for water security; develop, implement and monitor tourism sector standards as well as bring policy coherence, strengthen skill & entrepreneurship with focus on identified priority sectors, among other action points.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation + Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources)
Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions.
The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.
LEAP will fulfill the critical need to combine academic and administrative leadership which will make higher education institutions perform their roles of developing better students who will be future torch bearers.
Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM. For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase, which are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum.
Must solve:
Agreements Signed with India
India and Morocco sign Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters: The Agreement will strengthen bilateral cooperation with Morocco and enhance effectiveness and provide a broad legal framework for prevention, investigation and prosecution of crimes; as well as in tracing, restraint and confiscation of funds meant to finance terrorist acts.
Morocco & India agree to assist in Legal & Commercial Matters: The agreement will enhance co-operation in the service of summons, judicial documents, letters of request and the execution of judgments decrees and arbitral awards.
Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sign $105 Million Loan to Support Hydropower Transmission in Himachal Pradesh:
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.
Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sign $300 Million Loan to support India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) in India: The Project will enhance availability of long-term finance for PPP projects, improve operational capacity of IIFCL, and expand the portfolio of infrastructure financing instruments available to IIFCL. The Project supports the renewed effort of the Government of India in accelerating infrastructure growth through increased Private Sector investment. The Project is relevant and responsive to the constraints to bank based infrastructure financing, fiscal space creation, and repercussions on GDP growth.
Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (Adb) Sign $ 169 Million Loan to Provide Water and Sanitation Services in Tamil Nadu: The State has faced recurring droughts and erratic monsoons in the recent past resulting in severe water scarcity and urban flooding. With ADB’s support the State will be able to address these complex urban challenges through innovative and climate-resilient investment and deeper institutional support.
Though Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized of India’s large States, urban service levels remain low, with less than half of households served by piped water, only 42% of households are covered by a sewerage network, with 43% of sewage disposed directly into waterways untreated.
Prelims oriented News:
World Toilet Day: 19th November
Rural Jharkhand: Declared ODF
Severe Cyclonic storm which created havoc over Southwest Bay of Bengal: ‘GAJA’
Bhoomi Rashi Portal: The portal allows for totally digital and paper-less processing of land acquisition cases, and has resulted in transparent, quick, corruption-free and error-free handling of land acquisition cases. It has also made the possible real-time tracking of activities and generation of reports relating to land acquisition.
SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region): ‘SAGAR’ is in consonance with India’s ‘Act East’ policy and the nation’s diplomatic, economic and military outreach in the region.
Samudra Shakti: Between Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise; The aim of the exercise is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices.
Two important projects under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism inaugurated: Development of North East Circuits:
7th RCEP Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting in Singapore
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a mega regional free trade agreement being negotiated amongst 16 countries, comprising 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) plus six ASEAN FTA partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
Both in STRACAP and SPS negotiations, India managed to obtain balanced outcomes in the application of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism. India showed flexibility on the principle of ‘consensus’ in the Institutional Provisions Chapter which helped in its successful conclusion during the meeting.
Global Digital Content Market (GDCM) 2018
India has been chosen as a host nation for the conference by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) due to the strong creative industry in the country in films, music and media.
Focus for this year’s conference: Asia Pacific region
Aim of GDCM 2018: To give industry stakeholders a platform to come together and discuss new avenues in the films, music, gaming and creative industry along with points of challenge that is presented due to the changing creative landscape because of the disruption brought about by digital technologies.
Successful launch of GSLV MK III-D2 carrying GSAT-29 satellite
India’s GSAT-29 communication satellite was successfully launched by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII-D2)
GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Two massive boosters with solid propellant constitute the first stage, the core with liquid propellant form the second stage and the cryogenic engine completes the final stage.
GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies. Its Ku-band and Ka-band payloads are configured to cater to the communication requirements of users including those from remote areas especially from Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions of India.
RERA is bringing positive transformative changes in the industry
Must Read: Link
Chhath Pooja
An ancient Hindu Vedic festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, more specifically, the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh as well as the Madhesh region of Nepal.
Quotes
Hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind
On Biotechnology, S&T
Life sciences today offer a frontier that is still largely unexplored. It is worth noting that while textbooks of the foundations of physics change little from year to year, textbooks of biology and medicine are a work in progress even at fundamental levels. The sciences of genetics, of evolution and of human development have yielded enormous knowledge in recent years, but we are only at the beginnings of a new age of exploration.
Today, through science and technology, humans wield unimaginable power over the future of our planet. We therefore have a responsibility like never before. And scientists, particularly bio-scientists, are our soldiers and generals in the battle to safeguard our planet, our species and our future. To my mind, there are four frontlines in this battle.
Vice President of India, Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu
On Multilateralism
At International Conference ‘Asian Patent Attorneys Association’
“Knowledge is a treasure that cannot be stolen, neither can it be confiscated by the State, nor can it be divided among siblings. It is not burdensome to carry. It increases when we share it with others sharing. Knowledge is a treasure that is better than other riches.”