SVAMITVA SCHEME
Context :
Recently, the Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Rajhas issued guidelines regarding the SVAMITVA scheme. The scheme was launched on the National Panchayati Raj Day (April 24).
Aim :
To provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, engaging the latest Drone Surveying technology, for demarcating the inhabitant land in rural areas. Under this, mapping of rural housing land can be done using the latest survey methods and drones.
About scheme :
- SVAMITVA scheme is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India.
- It is a scheme for mapping the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS).
- The mapping will be done across the country in a phase-wise manner over a period of four years – from 2020 to 2024.
Benefits:
- The scheme will help in streamlining planning and revenue collection in rural areas and ensuring clarity on property rights.
- The scheme will enable creation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), using the maps created under this programme.
- The Gram Panchayats are constitutionally mandated for preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) for economic development and social justice.
- The GPDP is based on a participatory process in convergence with schemes of all related Central Ministries/Line Departments related to 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme
Context :
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S.Jaganmohan Reddy launched the Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme on 287 April.
Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme :
- Under the scheme over Rs.4,000 crore of funds have been released along with Rs.1880 crore towards the pending amount left by the earlier government.
- Under this scheme, fee reimbursement will be credited directly to mothers’ accounts instead of college accounts in the coming academic year 2020-21.
- The state government will provide Fee reimbursement for ITI, B.Tech, B. Pharmacy, MBA, MCA, and B.Ed Courses.
- An amount of Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000 will be offered for the eligible candidates through the Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme.
- Orders have been issued to the colleges to reimburse the entire fee amount paid by all the parents during the year 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Largest hole in ozone layer is closed
Context :
Scientists from Copernicus European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reported that the largest hole in the Ozone layer spreading over 1 million square kilometers above the Arctic has closed due to unusual atmospheric conditions.
Ozone hole :
- The hole in Ozone was first identified by scientists in March 2020. The development of the hole was confirmed by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Services (CAMS) by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
- Such holes in the ozone layer are quite common above the Antarctic at the South Pole especially during July to September but the ozone layer hole above the Arctic at this time was unusual.
- The scientist stated that the closing of the hole has nothing to do too with the reduction in levels of pollution amid lockdown. But it is because of the polar vortex, high-altitude currents that are responsible for bringing cold air to polar regions.
Copernicus Climate Change Service :
C3S (Copernicus Climate Change Service) is the European Union’s climate monitoring service. C3S are vital to study and monitor climate change adaptation. It provides climate and climate change information and knowledge by means of accessible, timely, reliable, and user-oriented products.
Note: Copernicus is the EU’s Earth Observation Programme. It consists of a complex set of systems that collect data from multiple sources. The collected information will be processed and provides users with information through a set of services that address the atmosphere, climate change, land, marine, emergency management, and security.
Note: The ozone layer works as a protective shield as it prevents Sun’s ultraviolet rays from entering Earth. UV from the sun can cause skin cancer.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
Context :
World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a UN international day that is celebrated every 28 April.
The day aims to promote safe, healthy, and decent work. It has been observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2003.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work :
- The day is concerned about safe work and awareness of the dimensions and consequences of work-related accidents and diseases. It aims to place occupational safety and health (OSH) on the international and national agendas.
- It also aims to provide support to the national efforts for the improvement of national OSH systems and programmes which are in line with relevant international labour standards.
- National occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers, and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties.
History :
The first World Day for Safety and Health at Work was observed on 28 April 2003. The day was observed to advance the opportunities for people to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity.
International Labour Organization (ILO) :
ILO was formed in 1919. It became the United Nation’s first specialized agency in 1946. ILO has 187 member States. It aims to bring together governments, employers, and workers to set labour standards, devise programmes, and develop policies to promote decent work for all women and men. ILO promotes rights at work, enhances social protection, encourages decent employment opportunities, and strengthens dialogue on work-related issues.
PRACRITI
Context :
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi have developed a web-based dashboard PRACRITI for predicting the spread of Covid-19 in India.
Prediction of Covid-19 Cases
- The dashboard gives detailed State-wise and district-wise predictions of Covid-19 cases in India for a three-week period.
- The data is updated on a weekly basis to accommodate various effects due to administrative interventions, severity of viral strain, change of weather patterns.
- It also accounts for the effect of different lockdown scenarios such as the effect of locking down district boundaries, and implementing different levels of lockdown within a district.
- It also includes the effect of movement of population across district/state borders in the wake of Covid-19.
Provides R0 Value :
PRACRITI provides the R0 values of each district and State based on data available from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Reduction of R0 is key in controlling and mitigating Covid-19 in India.
Working :
Predictions are based on a recent mathematical model, namely, Adaptive, Interacting, Cluster-based, Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Removed (AICSEIR) model.
This is a modified form of the traditional SEIR model and it caters for the interactions that occur between sub-populations such as districts or states. The model divides population into following four classes:
- Susceptible refers to people who have not been exposed to the coronavirus.
- Exposed refers to those who have been exposed to the virus from an infected person.
- Infected refers to those who are actively infected with Covid-19.
- Removed refers to those who are no longer a carrier of the virus.
Benefits :
Such a platform will be highly useful for healthcare organisations as well as local and central authorities to efficiently plan for different future scenarios and resource allocation.
These predictions can help the districts and states having higher R0 to take rigorous measures to control the spread of Covid-19, while for those with low R0 they need to sustain measures and remain very vigilant.
Chakmas, Hajongs starving in Arunachal pradesh
Context :
The Rights and Risks Analysis Group has sought Indian Prime Minister’s intervention in ensuring food for the Chakma and Hajong communities in Arunachal Pradesh.
Highlights :
- Chakmas and Hajongs have allegedly not been included in the Covid-19 Economic Relief Package announced by the central government in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Under the Relief Package, as part of the PM Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana: Each person who is covered under the National Food Security Act gets an additional five kg wheat or rice for free, in addition to the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain already provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- One kg of pulse per household is also provided for free, according to regional preferences.
- Their ration cards were illegally and arbitrarily seized by the state government in October, 1991. As a result, they are forced to buy food items at normal or hiked prices while other vulnerable sections are paying ₹5 per kg as per the economic package.
- Since the members of the communities have become legal citizens of India, denial of food violates the Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Chakmas and Hajongs :
- These are ethnic people who lived in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, most of which are located in Bangladesh.
- Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists, while Hajongs are Hindus.
- They are found in northeast India, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
- They fled erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1964-65 and came to India and settled in Arunachal Pradesh. Reasons:
- Chakmas lost their land to the development of the Kaptai Dam on the Karnaphuli River, Bangladesh.
- Hajongs faced religious persecution as they were non-Muslims and did not speak Bengali.