Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. - Benjamin Disraeli

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*Introduced by an interim order in November 2016

*Now it is optional for cinema halls to play the national anthem before every show.

*Charges of over-reach

*The panel will also suggest changes in the prevention of insults to National Honour Act, 1971, or in the orders relating to the anthem issued from time to time.

*There was no need for an Indian to “wear his patriotism on his sleeve”.

*“Moral policing”

*Signs of ‘disrespect’ vigilantism with people beaten up or harangued

for not standing up.

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*The majority of the 65,000 H-1B regular-cap

visas and 20,000 H-1B advanced-degree visas

made available each year are scooped up by

Indian nationals

*Protectionist rhetoric

*2017: Four bills were tabled in the U.S. Congress

mooting new proposals to clamp down on H-1B

visas.

*H-1B is designed to be a non-immigrant entry ticket into the U.S.

economy

*But over time it has metamorphosed into a virtual pathway to permanent

residency and citizenship, particularly in the case of Indian nationals.

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*“Speciality Occupation” workers fill a real void in the U.S. labour force.

*It is not only Indian tech firms whose employees get awarded H-1B visas, but it is

to a great extent a visa that Silicon Valley giants such as Microsoft, Intel,

Amazon, Facebook and Qualcomm rely on for their staffing needs.

*Thus, there is a self-limiting dimension to any reform that purports to slash H-1B

allocations, so that no President or lawmaker would want to be seen as causing

economic pain to the companies on whose coat-tails the U.S.’s reputation as a

global tech leader rides.

*What about Brain Drain and Brain Gain?

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*National Medical Commission Bill

*Aim: reforming Indian medical education and

practice, is in trouble.

*questions it seeks to address

*how can India produce enough competent

doctors to meet its evolving health-care

challenges?

*Second, how can it minimise opportunities for rent-seeking in medical

education and practice?

*MCI’s failures are well known

*Allegations of bribery and going soft on unethical doctors

*Ketan Desai

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*National Medical Commission

*NMC distributes powers among four autonomous boards — those for

1. Undergraduate education

2. Postgraduate education

3. Medical assessment and rating

4. Ethics and registration

*Also, unlike the MCI, the commission includes non-doctors like patient-

rights advocates and ethicists, in line with the medical regulators of the

U.K., Australia and Canada.

*These are all steps in the right direction.

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*Trips up is in how it chooses the members of the new regulator.

*Arvind Panagaria: electoral process through which MCI members were picked was fundamentally flawed, because conscientious doctors tended to avoid such elections.

*The NMC Bill’s solution to the pitfalls of the electoral process is for the central government to select most of the commission’s members.

*babudom

*More elected members in the commission, but with limited terms of office

*An independent body like the Union Public Service Commission

*a model is followed in the U.K.

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*The NMC Bill also misses an opportunity to plan for India’s rural health-

care needs in the coming decades.

*India has one doctor for 1,700 people, compared to the WHO norm of

1:1,000.

*Most of these doctors are in urban regions, while close to 70% of Indians live

in rural provinces

*International organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières and Red Cross

have endorsed training programmes for non-doctors to carry out critical

surgical procedures like caesarians and intestinal resections.

*Several sub-Saharan countries have successfully addressed this problem

by training non-doctors in basic medicine and even surgery.

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*Union Budget to be presented on February 1

*FM will make a significantly higher allocation for investment in infrastructure.

*Socio Economic and Caste Census: ‘landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour for a livelihood are key deprivations facing rural families’ which make them far more vulnerable toimpoverishment.

*SECC, mapped deprivation using seven indicators: 1. ‘Households with a kuchha house

2. Without an adult member in working age

3. Headed by a woman and without an adult male in working age

4. With a disabled member and without able-bodied adult

5. Of scheduled castes/scheduled tribes (SC/ST)

6. Without literate adults over 25 years

7. The landless engaged in manual labour

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*The more the number of parameters on which a household is deprived, the worse its extent of poverty. Nearly 30% have two deprivations, 13% have three. Only 0.01% suffer from all seven handicaps’.

*While 48.5% of all rural households suffer from at least one deprivation indicator, “landless households engaged in manual labour” are more vulnerable.

*250 million/850-900 million rural population

*The intersection of any of the six other handicaps with “landless labour” makes it more acute.

*The SECC also said that ‘59% of households with kuchha houses are landless labourers; similarly, 55% of those with no literate adult above 25 years and 54% each of SC/ST households and female-headed households without adult male members are also landless households. At the same time, 47% households without an adult member of working age are landless labourers as are 45% of those with disabled members and no able-bodied adult members’.

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*Along with landless families, small and marginal farmers are getting

pauperised and more engaged in manual labour.

*The overall farm size, which has been dropping since the early 1970s, and down

from the 2.25 hectares (ha) average to a 1.25 ha average in 2010

*One reason for the much higher growth in the number of rural workers in

construction over the manufacturing or services sectors is that there are

fewer skill and educational requirements in construction.

*Construction employment grew at a remarkable rate from 1999-2000 onwards.

While it employed only 17 million in that year, the number jumped to 26

million by 2004-5. However, what happened after that was totally

unprecedented. It grew to 51 million by 2011-12, which is a doubling in seven

years or a tripling in 12 years from the turn of the millennium.

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*The vocational training schemes in the country are inadequate

and woefully behind the times with many addressing

yesterday’s needs.

*There are some good schemes like those offered by the Nettur

Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) in Bengaluru but they are

simply too few.

*Technical training is also constrained by a small educational

base — 70% of India’s workforce is without tertiary education —

and a crippling lack of well-qualified trainers.

*Does it then come as a surprise that India, despite its young workforce, has never been able to challenge China in manufacturing?

*This needs to be acknowledged upfront as a major national catastrophe and tackled as such.

*One outcome of such neglect is that there is a clamour for more reservations that is bringing India to its knees, often with devastating effects.

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*In 1707, English Lord Chief Justice John Holt

stated that a man having sexual relations

with another man’s wife amounted to “the

highest invasion of property.”

*SC too held that breaking a matrimonial

home is no less serious.

*SC refused to strike down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),

under which men can be prosecuted for adultery.

*Jan5, a 3-judge including CJI agreed to re-examine its validity.

*Section 198(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: Wife cannot

prosecute only the husband can.

*If the husband has an affair with an unmarried woman, divorcee or

widow, an offence of adultery is not made out against anybody.

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*Section 497 of the IPC punishes only the man for stealing another man’s

property, i.e. his wife.

*Religious stand: different punishments

*Law Commission that drafted the IPC, and under Thomas Babington

Macaulay, did not include adultery as a crime and preferred to have it

only as a civil wrong.

*The second Law Commission headed by John Romilly did not agree with

Macaulay but spared women from punishment for adultery due to their

deplorable condition.

*Much water has flowed under the bridge since 1860, when the IPC came

into force, with education, women empowerment and outlawing of

polygamy.

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*Today, adultery is no more a criminal offence in most Europeancountries. In the U.S., adultery is generally punished in some states only if committed habitually or with public notoriety. But in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan, adultery continues to be a capital offence.

*Law Commission: 42nd and 156th reports talks about punishment.

*With individual autonomy and choices being recognised as an integral part of the right to privacy, there is no justification in retaining a dated adultery law.

*Marriage being a civil contract, its breach either in adultery or divorce, including triple talaq, should have only civil consequences as no legitimate state interest is involved here which may justify the use of the criminal justice system.

*Merely making it gender neutral will not suffice.

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Two-tier shield for Aadhaar data: New UIDAI process from June 1

*In the wake of reports of an alleged breach of the Aadhaar database last week, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has rolled out a two-tier security process that will come into effect from June 1.

*Aimed at eliminating the need to share and store Aadhaar numbers, the UIDAI has introduced the concept of a virtual ID, which an Aadhaarholder can use in lieu of his/her Aadhaar number at the time of authentication, besides sharing of ‘limited KYC’ with certain agencies.

*A Virtual ID (VID) will be a temporary 16-digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number. There can only be one active and valid VID for an Aadhaar number at any given time and it will not be possible to derive the Aadhaar number from VID, the circular said.

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*.

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In FDI push, Centre allows 49% foreign ownership in AI

*The Centre on Wednesday eased several foreign direct investment

norms, including

*Allowing overseas airlines to own up to 49% of Air India

*Permitting 100% FDI in single brand retail under the automatic route.

*Permitting 100% construction development under the automatic route.

*The changes to the FDI norms would trigger significant interest in the

carrier from foreign airlines.

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PM sets targets for 115 backward districts

*At the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told

all Ministries to report on the initiatives taken up by them for 115

backward districts and also to come up with an action plan for these

districts.

*Last November, the NITI Aayog had appointed officials of the ranks of

Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary as prabhari or in-charge to

coordinate the efforts of the Centre and the States.

*The Prime Minister will also start his visits to these districts from April

14.

*Mr. Modi said that they should not be seen as just poor or backward but

as sites of potential transformation.

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Sharma flags ‘propaganda’ on TV

*The Centre’s Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar

Sharma, has requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to convene a

meeting with authorities of certain television news channels to ask them

to be careful against spreading “vicious propaganda” against Kashmiris

*A senior source said on Wednesday that at least four news channels

routinely aired stories exaggerating events in the Kashmir Valley,

defeating the dialogue and peace process initiated by the Centre.

*The J&K administration have on previous occasions expressed similar

concerns, and told the Centre that Delhi-based news television channels

were portraying the State in a negative light.

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Army killed 138 Pak. soldiers in 2017

*The Indian Army killed 138 Pakistan Army personnel in 2017 in tactical

operations and retaliatory cross-border firings along the Line of Control

(LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, government intelligence sources said on

Wednesday.

*The Indian side lost 28 soldiers during the period along the LoC, the

sources said.

*The Indian Army has been adopting a “tough” approach in dealing with

ceasefire violations and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir in the

past year.

*According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by

Pakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 last year.

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Maritime focus for India, ASEAN

*The ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit here on January 25 is likely to

focus on maritime security for the region, a senior ASEAN diplomat said

on Wednesday.

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*This meeting is important, and we hope that there will be serious

discussions on maritime security, including freedom of navigation, piracy,

keeping sea trading lanes clear.

*India attaches a lot of importance to maritime security and ASEAN

countries are preparing for an intense discussion on that,” Mr. Gongsakdi

said.

*Ms. Saran described the summit as “unprecedented” and a “landmark”,

and said that all the 10 heads of states of the ASEAN countries would be

hosted as guests of honour for the Republic Day parade.

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PM, economists take stock of economy

*In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, top

economists and experts in the country stressed the need for creating new

jobs, even as a NITI Aayog task force has found that the statistics on lack

of employment may be “overrated”.

*The data will be released “very soon”, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar

said.

*The meeting follows the Central Statistics Office’s forecast that GDP

growth in the current financial year will slow to a four-year low of 6.5%

*“Fiscal Council” that would be in charge of evaluating budget estimates

and fiscal targets, which would be answerable to Parliament and not just

the Finance Ministry.

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China to fund base in Afghanistan

*China will fund the construction of an Afghan counterterrorism base in

Badakhshan province to block cross-border infiltration of ethnic Uyghur

militants.

*Fergana News Agency (FNA) has quoted Gen. Dawlat Waziri of the Afghan

Defence Ministry as saying that China will provide financial support to

build the base, whose precise location inside Badakhshan, in northern

Afghanistan, is yet to the determined.

*Gen. Waziri said the Chinese side would cover all material and technical

expenses for this base — weaponry, uniforms for soldiers, military

equipment and everything else necessary for its functioning.

*Afghan analysts said the largest group of Uyghur militants already resides

in Badakhshan, from where they can rapidly shift to China.

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*.

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World Bank projects 7.3% growth in 2018

*India’s growth rate in 2018 is projected to hit 7.3% and 7.5% in the next two years, according to the World Bank, which said the country has “enormous growth potential” compared to other emerging economies with the implementation of comprehensive reforms.

*India is estimated to have grown at 6.7% in 2017 despite initial setbacks from demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to the 2018 Global Economics Prospect released by the World Bank here.

*He said in comparison with China, which is slowing, the World Bank is expecting India to gradually accelerate.

*India’s economy is likely to grow 7.3% in 2018 and then accelerate to 7.5% in the next two years, the bank said.

*India has a favourable demographic profile which is rarely seen in other economies, he said.

*To materialise its potential, India needed to take steps to boost investment prospects, Kose said.

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*.

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A.P. readies cosy nests for Olive Ridleys

*The Andhra Pradesh wildlife authorities have prepared the ground for a

safe nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles along the 970-km coastline

from Srikakulam district to Nellore district.

*Olive Ridley’s conservation status is ‘Vulnerable’, according to the

International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red data.

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1. The largest tribe group of India is

A. Bhils

B. Gonds

C. Santhals

D. Tharus

2. Identify the non Green House Gas

A. Methane

B. Nitrous oxide

C. Sulphur hexafluoride

D. Carbon monoxide

3. Ozone layer present in our atmosphere absorb

A. Cosmic rays

B. Infr-red rays

C. Ultraviolet rays

D. All rays

4. Identify: Modji visited this car of train at which place?

Pietermaritzburg railway station, South Africa

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1.Discuss some features of Fundamental Duties that are

enshrined in the Constitution of India. (250 words max)

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