Challenging Task of Human
Resource Ministry:
Ø The
Right to Education Act must be supported to achieve good outcomes
Ø significant
resources mobilised for school,
Ø vocational
and higher education
Ø to
realising the so-called demographic dividend available to India by 2020 that
is, a population with an average age of 29 compared with 37 and 38 for China
and the United States respectively
Ø For
young students to participate in the growth story, they need a reformed system.
Ø At
present, millions of gullible students are paying huge amounts to colleges with
weak academic credentials; the distance education system is in a mess, and
vocational education needs massive investments.
S Korea to be HQ of UN
Green Climate Fund
Ø A
new U.N. fund meant to manage billions of dollars to help developing nations
combat climate change will be based in South Korea.
“SHILPOTSAV-2012”
Ø at
Dilli Haat, is an annual event of the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment
Ø This
is the sixth year of Shilpotsav. The Shilpotsav was started during the year
2007-08 by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment by way of
collaborating with all the Apex Corporations and National Institutes under the
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, with an objective to provide a
platform to the beneficiaries assisted under the developmental schemes of
various Finance & Development Corporations and National Institutes to
showcase their art & craft
Ø The
event also provides opportunity for publicity of Ministry’s schemes with live
examples of success and triumph over the poverty and unemployment among the
target group with assistance from the Ministry’s schemes.
National Sports
Development Bill, 2011
Ø rejection
of the proposed National Sports Development Bill, 2011 by the cabinet
Ø It
is an irony that ever since India participated in the Olympics, it has won 20
medals in all (9 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze).
Ø China,
with whom we eagerly compare ourselves in every field, won 100 medals just in
the 2008 Summer Olympics. Sports Development Bill 2011:
Ø Seeing
the low level of sports regulation in India, the need and importance of the
National Sports development bill becomes manifold. Further the humongous blob
of corruption created by the 2010 Commonwealth games has made it compulsory to
regulate the sporting bodies in India by the government.
Ø includes
retirement age of 70 and a limited number of terms for officials heading them
Ø made
to constitute a National Sports Development Council which is to be headed by an
Eminent Athlete
Ø The
bill seeks to make the National Olympic Committee responsible for the conduct
of the National Games every 2 years. Further, NOC has been obligated to hold
fair and transparent election every 4 years.
Ø The
bill also deals with the issue of foreign nationals representing India at
national and international level. The bill states that only Indian passport
holders and NRI’s can represent India, thus it restricts PIOs and OCIs from
representing India.
Ø The
bill also tries to effectively control the cases of doping in sports.
Ø It
seeks establishment of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and National
Anti-Doping Laboratory.
Ø Senior
politicians and cabinet members who are involved in the administration of this
sport include Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, Arun Jaitley, Jyotiraditya Scindia,
Vilasrao Deshmukh and Farooq Abdullah (That’s why bill got rejected)
Odisha has become the
first state in the country to launch
National Rural Livelihoods Mission
Ø (NRLM)
in its bid to bring down rural poverty
by promoting diversified and gainful self-employment to the rural poor
Ø NRLM
will replace the Swarnajayanti Gram Swrojgar Yojana (SGSY) aimed at poverty reduction. The main weaknesses of the
SGSY were uneven spread in the formation
of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), high attrition rate in the SHGs, lack of adequate access to banking facilities,
Ø In
the first phase, NRLM has been launched in 38 backward poverty stricken blocks
of 10 districts where the World Bank-funded Targeted Rural Initiatives for
Poverty Termination and Infrastructure (TRIPTI) is being implemented. wastage
of funds can be stopped and maximum
dividend of the project is made available.
The China syndrome:
The
1979 coined term 'the China syndrome'
seems to be true with the Japanese experience at Fukushima and at the same time the disaster sent a clear
cut message to every nuclear-embedded nation to take adequate measure to
protect their nuclear installations from
the deadly repercussion of nuclear mishap. The term China syndrome refers to the loss of coolantaccident
and describes a nuclear reactor
operations accident characterized by the severe meltdown of the core
components of the reactor. This was the
third major disaster after one in the US (Three
Mile Island) and the second in the erstwhile Soviet Union (Chernobyl).
About Jaitapur
project:
Jaitapur
is a small port situated in Rajapur
Tehsil of Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra State, India. Jaitapur lies on the Arabian Sea coast. If commissioned,
the 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power
Station will be the largest in the world, overtaking the current largest 8,200 MW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear
Power Plant in Japan.
Why nuclear-energy is
important for India?
With
436 nuclear plants operating worldwide,
nuclear energy provides almost 14 per cent of global electricity, with France relying on it for 75 per cent of
its electricity needs.
Japan
currently meets 30 per cent of its energy requirements from nuclear plants
and this is expected to increase to at
least 40 per cent by 2017.
In
the US, currently 104 operating nuclear plants produce around 20 per cent of
the total US energy profile
China
currently has the most ambitious nuclear programme, with 13 nuclear power
reactors in operation, 27 others under construction, an additional 50 reactors in the planning stage,
and more than 140 others at the proposal level
India
is in a seismic zone and as the power
plants have to be sited near the coast because of huge quantities of water
needed for cooling.
The
practice of storing spent fuel rods at or near the reactor buildings adds to
risks, and safer and more secure storage sites must be found for this material. The storage of spent fuel
in unsecured sites results in a serious
security risk, as terrorists can target these facilities.
There
is no scientific, technical and economic justification for the project which is
going to adversely affect the livelihood of thousands of people, and cause
unimaginable damage to biodiversity and environment in the area.
Aftermath
of Fukushima, Germany has decided to shut down all its nuclear reactors by 2022. Germany has 17
nuclear reactors, eight of which are
currently off the electricity grid. To make up for the loss of nuclear
energy, the German government will begin
to switch to renewable energy and increase investments in energy research.
Further, While Thailand has halted the project
for five nuclear plants; Malaysia has decided to review its earlier plan
to build its first nuclear station in
2021. The Swiss government has decided to
phase out nuclear power by 2034, which would require the closure of its
five nuclear reactors that currently
provide 40 per cent of the country's power. Spain and Portugal, however, have called for the
gradual phase-out of nuclear energy.
All
reactors built in India will have to meet safety standards certified by the regulatory authority,
including on imported equipment and
technologies. The outfall of the Jaitapur project was not directly
opening out into the sea, but an
undersea tunnel would run 1.5 to 2.5 km under the coastline with a diffuser to distribute
water. Therefore, the ecology is not
going to be affected. Further, Jaitapur was in seismic zone III, while
the Fukushima facility was in seismic
zone IV. Moreover, the proposed nuclear power project in Jaitapur is about 72 feet above the sea
level. In case of a tsunami striking the
Maharashtra coast, the waves will not reach to the level where the project has been planned.
Removal of a Judge:
A
member of the higher judiciary, which means the Judges and Chief Justices of
the Supreme Court of India and the state High Courts, can be removed from
service only through the process of impeachment under Article 124 (4) of the
Constitution on grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. In India, there
is no other process by which a Judge can be removed from office before his term
comes to an end.
As
many as 75 members of the Rajya Sabha, from BJP, Left Front, Samajwadi Party,
JD(U), BJD, Shiv Sena, AGP and AIADMK, notwithstanding their political
differences, submitted a joint notice of motion for the removal of Dinakaran.
Justice Dinakaran is charged with possessing wealth disproportionate to his
known sources of income, The notice also charges him with “misuse of official
position to unlawfully secure property and to facilitate other illegal acts for
personal gain”. The Rajya Sabha Secretariat confirmed the receipt of the notice
under Article 217 read with 124 (4) of the Constitution.
In
India, there is no other process by which a Judge can be removed from office
before his term comes to an end. However, the process is very cumbersome. As
per the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968, a complaint against a Judge has to be made
through a resolution either by 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 Rajya Sabha
members.
Rangnath Commission: 10
per cent Muslim quota:
Government-appointed
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities commission under
the Rangnath Mishra has recommended 10
per cent reservation for Muslims and 5 per
cent for other minorities in government jobs and favoured Scheduled Caste status for Dalits in all religions.
To
delink SC status from religion and
abrogation of the 1950 Scheduled Caste Order,
which “still excludes Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis from the SC net. The order originally restricted the SC
status to Hindus only but it was later
opened to Buddhists and Sikhs.
National Innovation
Council:
The
National Innovation Council was set up by the Prime Minister of India to lay a
roadmap for transforming the country into an innovation nation, with a focus on
inclusive growth in keeping with the Government’s commitment of turning the
next decade into a ‘Decade of Innovation’. The National Innovation Council is
focused on encouraging and facilitating the creation of an Indian Model of
Innovation by looking at five key parameters: Platform, Inclusion, Eco-system,
Drivers and Discourse. The core idea is to innovate to produce affordable and
qualitative solutions that address the needs of people at the Bottom of the
Pyramid, eliminate disparity and focus on an inclusive growth model.
National
Innovation Council`s initiatives are also aimed at fostering an innovation
ecosystem across domains and sectors to strengthen entrepreneurship and growth,
to facilitate the birth of new ideas and enhance collaboration.
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