Overcrowded Jails in India:
Supreme Court said that Jails across the country are overcrowded by over 150 per cent. Court has held that prisoners, both undertrials and convicts, have certain fundamental rights and human rights, little or no attention is being paid in this regard by the States and some Union Territories. In spite of directions by the Court, the prison authorities have not been able to take any effective steps for reducing overcrowding in jails.
Defects in the working of prison authorities:
- SC ordered to draw a “viable” plan of action to de-congest jails. Instead, prison authorities have banked on ad hoc proposals like the construction of additional barracks or jails, and these proposals have no time limits for implementation.
- Court also found that the Ministry of Women and Child Development is yet to frame a Manual for Juveniles in Custody under the recently amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-says-jails-are-overcrowded-by-150-laments-plight-of-inmates/article9216119.ece
Ban on potent greenhouse gasses:
Environment Minister Anil Dave is at Kigali, Rwanda to amend the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 agreement whereby countries have agreed to limit the emission of gases that destroy the ozone layer. The latest amendment is to discuss the phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs, of which HFC-23 is one), only beginning to be used in India and still used in the developed countries and once a replacement for the ozone-destroying gases. Over the years, HFCs were found to be exacerbating global warming.
Environment Minister Anil Dave has said India will no longer permit the release of HFC-23, a family of potent greenhouse gases, released when local companies produce the refrigerant HCFC-22.
The Kigali talks will also discuss the years by which the developing and the developed countries will cap HFC emissions and switch to a new suite of gases that cause less global warming and become the mainstay of home and car air-conditioners and industrial cooling solutions.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/india-to-ban-release-of-potent-greenhouse-gas/article9216109.ece
Criticism for proposal to amend Citizenship Act:
The NDA government’s proposed amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955, which plans to provide citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, is facing stiff opposition from Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Bill creates an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and plans to reduce the requirement of 11 years of continuous stay to six years to obtain citizenship by naturalisation. Bill is being discussed in Lok Sabha. Parliamentarians raised objections that the government was amending the Act to appease the Hindu community as most of the people who would be benefited would be Hindus from neighbouring countries.
Govt. says that the Bill was being brought in to provide an enabling platform for immigrants desirous of Indian citizenship.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/voices-rise-against-proposal-to-amend-citizenship-act/article9217229.ece
(India – Russia) Agro irradiation Centres:
India and Russia in order to expand their cooperation in civil nuclear energy are collaborating to set up integrated irradiation centres in India to reduce agricultural losses. A bilateral agreement for cooperation in the development of a network of integrated infrastructure irradiation centres was signed between the Indian Agricultural Association, Hindustan Agro Co-Op Ltd (HACL) and United Innovation Corporation (UIC), a subsidiary of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia. The agreement is to be implemented through a Joint Venture and aims to set up 25 integrated irradiation centres.
Role of irradiation centres:
In irradiation, food products are subjected to a low dosage of radiation to treat them for germs and insects, increasing their longevity and shelf life.
Importance:
In India, according to estimates, post-harvest losses in food and food grains are around 40-50 per cent, primarily due to insect infestation, microbiological contamination, physiological changes due to sprouting and ripening, and poor shelf life. There are a few low level irradiation plants in the country, which are not adequate.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/news/india-russia-to-set-up-agro-irradiation-centres/article9216159.ece
India under reported TB:
According to revised estimates TB cases in India is 217 per 1,00,000 population in 2015 as against previously estimated 127 per 1,00,000.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/india-underreported-tb-for-15-years-who/article9216399.ece
Bug Bounty:
This is a program initiated by Facebook Inc. ,that rewards researchers for finding bugs, which make the social networking site and other group products including WhatsApp vulnerable to risks. Under Bugs Bounty Program, security researchers receive monetary reward for finding bugs that make Facebook or another member of the Facebook family of companies such as Instagram or Whatsapp vulnerable to risks and reporting them responsibly.
The top three countries based on the number of payouts: India, USA and Mexico. This reflects the technical competence in India. India is home to Facebook’s second largest user base with 155 million monthly active users and 77 million daily active users.
Source The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/indians-reap-facebook-bug-bounty/article9216106.ece