THE HINDU NEWSPAPER–DAILY Hindu Current Affairs

Analysis 08th-Jan, 2018

TOPICS COVERED

IT WILL BE ON THE RECORD, BUT NOT ON

PAPER {DIGITALIZATION} ...........................................1

MANKIDIA DENIED HABITAT IN SIMLIPAL

{ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE} ......................................2

ARIHANT: TOP GUN FOR SECOND-STRIKE

{DEFENCE} .................................................................3

SUSHMA SWARAJ URGES NRIS TO COME BACK

{INTERNATIONAL} .....................................................4

USING SHARE PREMIUM ACCOUNT TO SET OFF

LOSS {ECONOMY} ......................................................4

ARUN JAITLEY BATS FOR ELECTORAL BOND

SCHEME {ECONOMY} ................................................5

FOOD POISONING, A COMMON OUTBREAK IN

2017 {SOCIAL ISSUE} .................................................5

CONCERN OVER LACK OF TEACHERS

{EDUCATION} ............................................................6

📰 THE HINDU NEWSPAPER– DAILY Hindu

Current Affairs Analysis 08th-Jan, 2018

It will be on the record, but not on paper {Digitalization}

In news

The Centre is keen to bring its “go green initiative” to the hallowed portals of Parliament and State Assemblies and

move to the paperless functioning and digitised proceedings.

Agenda

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e-Sansad and e-Vidhan

• e-Sansad and e-Vidhan are mission mode projects of Government of India under Digital India, to make the functioning of Parliament and State Legislatures paperless.

• It is an ambitious project by the Centre, where it plans to digitise and make available all Parliament documents, including debates, speeches, committee reports and questions, on the internet.

• Some States have made good progress in the field of automation of their Legislatures, yet consumption of huge volume of papers is still going on in these States. In order to address this issue and economize the entire Legislative process, e-Vidhan is proposed to be implemented in all the States/ UTs with Legislatures.

• MoPA is the Nodal Ministry for implementation of both the projects

Significance

• According to the agenda prepared by MoPA for the Conference, these projects would make the functioning of Parliament and State Legislatures participative, responsive, transparent, productive and more accountable to the public and make the entire Legislative process more efficient. Further, this environment-friendly initiative is in line with the ‘Go Green’ initiative of the Government.

• Once available online, the database could turn out to be a valuable resource for researchers, historians, academicians and activists.

• It would primarily be helpful for legal professionals who, while preparing arguments, often had to refer to the intention of lawmakers.

• This initiative will also help bring India on a par with developed nations such as the US and the UK, which have advanced digital archives online

Chief Whips – lawmakers who enforce party discipline and ensure the party line is followed in Parliament and

Assemblies – from across the country will attend.

Mankidia denied habitat in Simlipal {Environment, Culture}

In news Mankidia, one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha, were denied habitat rights inside the

Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) under the historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of

Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Significance Mankidia, a marginalised group that critically depends on making rope with siali fibre that’s richly available in Similipal,

would now be deprived of the non-timber forest produce.

Basics Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

• 75 tribal groups have been categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s. PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands.

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them. Under the scheme, Conservation-cum-Development (CCD)/Annual Plans are to be prepared by each State/UT for their PVTGs based on their need assessment, which is then appraised and approved by the Project Appraisal Committee of the Ministry.

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• Activities for development of PVTGs are undertaken in Sectors of Education, Health, Livelihood and Skill Development, Agricultural Development, Housing & Habitat, Conservation of Culture etc.

The need for identification

• PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. Due to this factor, more developed and assertive tribal groups take a major chunk of the tribal development funds, because of which PVTGs need more funds directed for their development.

• In this context, in 1975, the Government of India initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called PVTGs and declared 52 such groups, while in 1993 an additional 23 groups were added to the category, making it a total of 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes, spread over 17 states and one Union Territory (UT), in the country (2011 census).

Similipal Tiger Reserve

• The Similipal Tiger Reserve is a compact block of elevated plateau located in central portion of the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha The stretch of forest including Similipal RF spread over an area of 2750 km2 was declared as ‘Tiger Reserve’ with effect from 04-12-1973 under ‘Project Tiger’ Scheme of Government of India.

• There are 3 inhabitated villages inside the Critical Tiger Habitat and 65 villages in the buffer area.

Arihant: top gun for second-strike {Defence}

INS Arihant, India’s only operational ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) asset, is its most dependable platform for a

second-strike, given the country “no first use” on nuclear weapons. The other options, land-based and air-launched, are

easier to detect.

Details

• The submarine is manned by a staff of 100 with extensive training from the School for Advanced Underwater Warfare in Visakhapatnam and further hands-on training on INS Chakra, a Nerpa-class nuclear ship.

• Arihant has been immobilised even as the second ballistic missile submarine, Arighat , was launched on November 19 for sea trials.

• INS Arihant and other nuclear launch platforms — land-based missiles and designated aircraft — are operationally handled by the Strategic Forces Command, and report to the Nuclear Command Authority chaired by the Prime Minister.

• India has an ambitious plan to build a SSBN fleet, comprising five Arihant-class vessels.

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Sushma Swaraj urges NRIs to come back {International}

In news

• Speaking in Hindi at the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore, she said her Ministry prioritised the welfare of Indian citizens living abroad and urged them to return home to take advantage of the economic opportunities.

• “Today, 16 Indian cities are connected to Singapore, a trilateral highway project from India to Thailand is making progress, and we plan to extend this further to connect India with other ASEAN countries.

ASEAN- India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

• India and ASEAN are celebrating 25 years of strategic partnership. As part of the commemoration and in the run-up to the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on January 25, Government of India has decided to hold a ASEAN India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore on 6-7 January 2018 at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre.

• The theme of the PBD Convention is “Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic India-ASEAN Partnership”.

• The two-day event will feature discussions on a broad range of issues with outcomes that deepens diaspora’s relations with India and their role in promoting closer ties between India and ASEAN; events to engage the diaspora youth; business, finance, technology events; and, a gala dinner with cultural show.

India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway

• The India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway is a highway under construction under India's Look East policy that will connect Moreh, India with Mae Sot, Thailand via Myanmar.

• Imphal-Mandalay-Bangkok 1980 km route, consisting of Imphal-Mandalay 584 km and Mandalay-Bangkok 1397 km, is good condition highway except for the under upgrade 101 km part of 120 km long Kalewa-Yagyi stretch, revised expected completion date for which is 2019.

• The road is expected to boost trade and commerce in the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area, as well as with the rest of Southeast Asia. India has also proposed extending the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Using share premium account to set off loss {Economy}

In news Last week, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said its board had approved using the ₹7,650 crore in its share premium account

to write off accumulated losses worth ₹6,978.94 crore.

What is the share premium account?

The amount under share premium account represents the additional amount shareholders of a company pay on the face

value (original cost) of the shares. If a firm issues one lakh shares at a face value of ₹1 but the purchase price is ₹10 per

share, then its share premium account will have a balance of ₹9 lakh. Investors pay a premium to buy shares of the

company based on their estimation of its future prospects.

In the financial statement of a firm, where does share premium account fit in?

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The share premium account appears on the liability side of a firm’s balance sheet after share capital (funds raised by

issuing shares).

Another important head is reserves and surplus which includes a portion of the profits the company has accumulated

and retained overtime. A company’s share capital, share premium plus the reserves and surplus accounts form

shareholders equity.

Arun Jaitley bats for electoral bond scheme {Economy}

In news

Stressing that the electoral bond scheme is a “substantial improvement” in transparency over the present political

funding system, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the government is open to suggestions to further

cleanse the process.

Electoral bond scheme

An electoral bond is designed to be a bearer instrument like a Promissory Note — in effect, it will be similar to a bank

note that is payable to the bearer on demand and free of interest. It can be purchased by any citizen of India or a body

incorporated in India.

Highlights A donor can purchase electoral bonds from a specified bank only by a banking instrument. He would have to disclose in

his accounts the amount of political bonds that he has purchased.

The life of the bond would be only 15 days and it can be encashed only in a pre-declared account of a political party.

Every party in its returns will have to disclose the amount of donations it has received through electoral bonds to the

Election Commission.

Food poisoning, a common outbreak in 2017 {Social Issue}

In news Recent data put out by the Union Health Ministry’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) has indicated that

food poisoning is one of the commonest outbreaks reported in 2017. This is apart from acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD).

Stats According to the data, 312 of the 1,649 outbreaks reported till the third week of December 2017 were due to ADD and

242 were due to food poisoning.

Highlights

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• The IDSP has interpreted that the incidence of ADD and food poisoning is high in places where food is cooked in bulk, such as canteens, hostels and wedding venues. Food poisoning, also called food-borne illness, is caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms including bacteria, viruses and parasites or their toxins are the most common causes.

• Infectious organisms or their toxins could contaminate food at any point of processing or production. Contamination can also occur at home if food is incorrectly handled or cooked.

• While it is known that raw meat, poultry and eggs can also harbour diseases, in recent years most outbreaks of food-borne illnesses have been due to contaminated fresh fruits and vegetables

Concern over lack of teachers {Education}

In news

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has suggested that students pursuing Ph.D be

made to teach some courses at degree level with some financial support to mitigate the “crisis” of faculty shortage.

Autonomous bodies

The government had in its action taken report said universities were autonomous bodies created under a Central or

State Act and the onus for filling vacancies lay with them.

The committee, however, observed: “…the steps taken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, particularly in

respect of Central Universities, have hardly achieved any result as more than one-third faculty positions are still vacant.”

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