Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Context : Out of the total 790, only 252 Members of Parliament (MPs) have adopted gram panchayats under phase-4 of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY). Since the launch of the scheme, only 1,753 gram panchayats have been selected across four phases, way below the expected figure.
About Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana :
Launched in 2014, it is a village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024.
The Project was launched on the occasion of birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan.
Implementation :
- The scheme will be implemented through a village development plan that would be prepared for every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty.
- The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical financing gaps.
- The planning process in each village will be a participatory exercise coordinated by the District Collector. The MP will play an active facilitating role in this exercise.
- Adoption and adaptation of technology and introduction of innovations are critical to this programme. This will include use of space application and remote sensing for planning, mobile based technology for monitoring, agriculture technology for increasing productivity etc.
- At the state level there will be an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary consisting of the relevant Departments and including experts, as required with at least two Civil Society representatives.
- The district Collector will be the nodal officer for implementing the SAGY. He will conduct a monthly review meeting with representatives of the participating Line Departments. The Members of Parliament concerned will chair the review meetings.
- SAGY gives focus to community participation. Social mobilization of village community can trigger a chain of other development activities in the village.
Sources: The Hindu.
Guru Gobind Singh
Context : The birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh was celebrated on January 2nd this year.
About Guru Gobind Singh :
- He was the 10th Sikh guru.
- He was born at Patna, Bihar, India, on December 22, 1666. His birthday sometimes falls either in December or January or even both months in the Gregorian calendar. The annual celebration of the Guru’s birthday is based on the Nanakshahi calendar.
- He became the Sikh guru at the age of nine, following the demise of father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru.
- He is known for his significant contributions to the Sikh religion, including the introduction of the turban to cover hair.
- He also founded the principles of Khalsa or the Five ‘K’s.
- He is also responsible to establish the highest order in the Sikh community.
- Followers of the Sikh faith religiously follow the morals and codes of discipline set up by Guru Gobind Singh.
- He fought against the Mughals later in battle of Muktsar in 1705.
- He was assassinated in 1708.
- He named Guru Granth Sahib, the religious text of the Khalsas and the Sikhs, as the next Guru of the two communities.
Sources: the Hindu.
Invasive alien plants in Nilgiri Biosphere Region
In News :
- Invasive alien species are plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health
- The spread of invasive plants, especially Senna Spectabilis, is posing a major threat to the Nilgiri forest region, owing to its quick growth and coppicing character
- The thick foliage arrests the growth of other indigenous species of trees and grass, and causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores, during summer.
- Moreover, wildlife would not feed on the leaves of the tree as it was not palatable for them
- The plant started to invade in adjacent tiger reserves, including Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu
2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife : WHO
Context : The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated the year 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and midwife”, in honour of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.
- The declaration of “Year of the Nurse and midwife” will help to strengthen nursing and midwifery for Universal Health Coverage.
- Strengthening nursing will help to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the (SDG) 3 – ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages, SDG 5-promoting gender equity and SDG 8- contributing to economic development.
- Nurses and midwives constitute more than 50% of the health workforce in many countries.
- The declaration will also help to endorse “The NursingNow!” a three-year campaign (2018-2020) to improve health globally by raising the status of nursing.
- Moreover, WHO is also leading the development of the first-ever State of the World’s Nursing report which will be launched in 2020
About Florence Nightingale :
- Florence Nightingale was a British nurse, statistician, and social reformer who is also considered as a foundational philosopher of modern nursing.
- She was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. The year 2020 marks a bicentenary year of her birth.
- During the Crimean War, she and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, greatly reducing the death count. Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform.
- She was known for her night rounds to aid the wounded, establishing her image as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’
MANI App by RBI
Context : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a mobile app- Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI) to help visually-impaired people to identify the denomination of currency notes.
- There were reports of problems faced by visually-challenged people in identifying new currency notes launched after demonetisation (2016).
- The application can scan the currency notes using the camera of the mobile phone. However, the app does not authenticate a note as either genuine or counterfeit.
- It also gives audio output in Hindi and English.
- The application will work on Android and iOS operating systems. It will work in offline mode once installed.
India to host 36th International Geological Congress in March
Context : India will host the 36th International Geological Congress, aimed at the development of Earth Sciences, in the National Capital Region (NCR) from March.
In news :
- Described as the “Olympics of Geosciences,” the event will witness debates and discussions on a wide range of issues affecting the world, such as sustainable development, climate change, water and mineral resources.
- India is the only Asian country to host the Congress twice. The 22nd session of IGC was held in New Delhi in 1964.
- The event will offer a host of opportunities to the mining & mineral, and the allied industries of the country, apart from the scientists, researchers and academia.
- The theme of the science programme at the 36th IGC is ‘Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Future.’
- 70 exciting field trips covering the geological superlatives of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in store for the delegates.
- The first session of IGC took place in France in 1878. Since its inception, 35 Congresses have been hosted by 24 countries throughout the world,