CURRENT AFFAIRS 15 OCTOBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

15 OCTOBER 2019

BY SUMIT

1.Economics Nobel for Abhijit, two others(gs-3)

• Context: They were awarded “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, popularly called the Nobel Prize in Economics, to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.
• The laureates have, since the mid-1990s, sought to introduce a new approach to obtaining reliable answers about the most effective ways to combat global poverty. Rather than focussing on big-picture questions, they divided the issue into smaller, more manageable and measurable questions.
• They then showed that these smaller questions could be best answered through carefully designed experiments among the people who are most affected. This thought process has resulted in what are called randomised control trials, previously used in the pure sciences and in clinical drug trials, to be deployed in the social sciences..
• One of the major findings by Dr. Banerjee and Dr. Duflo was that, in developing countries, there is often a stark difference between the technology and practices used by companies within the same economy and sector. That is, in developing economies, some companies use the latest technology and practices, while others in the same country and sector use outdated production methods. This within-sector differences are less stark in developed economies, they found.
• Dr. Banerjee was born in 1961 in Mumbai, India. He completed his Ph.D in 1988 at Harvard University, having previously studied at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Presidency College, which was then affiliated with the University of Calcutta. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

BREAKING NEWS:
The 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/SuJfPoRe2N

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 14, 2019

2.National Investigation Agency (NIA)(gs-2,3)

• Context: If the media keeps quiet, terrorism will end: Doval
• National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said on Monday that the “approach of the judiciary to treat terror crimes on a par with ordinary crimes” was one of the major challenges. Quoting the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, on the need for a change in the media policy, he said: “If a terrorist takes action and the media is quiet about it, terrorism will end.” He was speaking at the inaugural session of the National Conference of Chiefs of Anti­Terror Squads/Special Task Forces, organised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to speak at the session, but opted out due to “unavoidable reasons”

National Investigation Agency

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a central agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008. Headquartered in New Delhi, the NIA has branches in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur and Jammu.
• NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised. The conviction rate of this anti-terrorism agency is currently 95 per cent as it has managed to convict 167 accused in the 185 cases registered by it since its inception.
• NIA headquarters in New Delhi
• The founding Director-General of NIA was Radha Vinod Raju, and he served till 31 January 2010. He was succeeded by Sharad Chandra Sinha till March 2013. In July 2013, Sharad Kumar was appointed as the Chief of National Investigation Agency. In 2017, Y. C. Modi was named as Chief of NIA in September

National Investigation Agency bill 2019(NIA):
Key features of the Bill:

• The Bill amends the NIA Act, 2008 and provides for a national-level agency to investigate and prosecute offences listed in a schedule (scheduled offences).  
• It allows for the creation of Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences which include offences under Acts such as the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. 
• As per the Bill, the NIA will now have the power to investigate the following offences, in addition: (i) human trafficking, (ii) offences related to counterfeit currency or bank notes, (iii) manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, (iv) cyber-terrorism, and (v) offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.       
• Jurisdiction: The officers of the NIA have the same powers as other police officers in relation to the investigation of such offences, across India. In addition, officers of the NIA will have the power to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India, subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries. 
• The central government may direct the NIA to investigate such cases, as if the offence has been committed in India.  The Special Court in New Delhi will have jurisdiction over these cases.
• The Bill states that the central government may designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences. The central government will need to consult the Chief Justice of the High Court under which the Sessions Court is functioning, before designating it as a Special Court.  When more than one Special Court has been designated for any area, the cases will be distributed among the courts by senior-most judge.
• The state governments may also designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences. 

3.FASTags(gs-2,3)

• Context: ‘FASTags will work as Aadhaar to track vehicles’
• Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday called FASTags — a device to make automatic payments at toll booths — the equivalent of Aadhaar for vehicles, which will allow the government to track their movement across the country. The government has already announced that FASTags will be mandatory for all vehicles on all National Highways from December 1. On Monday, speaking at the One Nation­One FASTag conference, the Minister appealed to all the States to adopt the technology so that the entire system could come under the National Electronic Toll Collection programme of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

FASTags:

• The tag is valid for five years and comes in seven different colours — violet, orange, yellow, green, pink, blue, black. Each colour is assigned to a particular category of vehicles.
• It was rolled out in April 2016,  and the Government made it mandatory from December 1, 2017 for all new cars and trucks to be fitted with a FASTag before they were sold.
• To encourage the use of FASTags, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) refunds 5% of the total monthly transactions.
• Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) (a company incorporated by National Highways Authority of India) and National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) are implementing this program.
• FASTag is presently operational at both, national and state highways.

Benefits

• Ease of payment – No need to carry cash for the toll transactions, saves time.
• Near non-stop movement of vehicles leading to lower fuel cost.
• Other benefits are:
• Environmental benefit  : reduced air pollution, reduced use of paper.                                          
• Social benefit : reduced toll payment hassles ,analytics for better highway management.
• Economic benefit : reduced effort in management at toll plaza, reduced effort in monitoring centrally.

4.BCCI(gs-2)

• Context: Sourav Ganguly all set to be elected BCCI president Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah will be the cricket governing body’s secretary

Basics About BCCI:

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as a society. It is a consortium of state cricket associations and the state associations select their representatives who in turn elect the BCCI officials. BCCI does not depend on the Government for its finances.

SC decisions:

• The Supreme Court has appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai as head of four-member Committee of Administrators to run Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
• Committee of Administrators’ first task will be to find out how much the BCCI has complied with the recommendations made by the 
• Declined Centre’s request to appoint Secretary of Sports Ministry as the member of the committee. It referred to its earlier judgement debarring Ministers and Government servants from holding office in BCCI.
• In its earlier order of January 2, 2017 the Supreme Court had removed Anurag Thakur as BCCI president, Ajay Shirke as BCCI secretary and disqualified all the board and its state association office bearers after they had failed to implement new norms set by the Justice Lodha Committee

5.Bandipur Tiger Reserve(gs-1,3)

Context:Tiger captured near Bandipur under watch at rescue centre..

Bandipur Tiger Reserve:

• This National Park was formed by including most of the forest areas of the then Venugopala Wildlife Park established under Govt. Notification dated 19th February 1941 and the area was enlarged in 1985 extending over an area of 874.20 Sq.Km and named as Bandipur National Park.
•  This reserve was brought under Project Tiger in 1973. Subsequently some adjacent reserve forest areas were added to the reserve and extending to 880.02 Sq. Km. The present area under the control of Bandipur Tiger Reserve is 912.04 Sq. Km. 
• An area of 39.80 Sq. Km of KFDC plantation area was handed over to this division during 2007-08. During 2010-11 the Nugu Wildlife Sanctuary was handed over to Wildlife Division, Mysore

Description of the Tiger Conservation Unit/Landscape

• The Bandipur, Nagarahole, Wayanad, Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam Tiger Landscape is spread across the states of Karnataka (Bandipur-Nagarahole), Tamil Nadu (Mudumalai-Sathyamangalam) and Kerala (Wayanad). Is a fine example of managing inter-state Tiger Reserves for the long term Conservation of Tiger Source Population. During 2010-11, Camera trap exercise along the Segur plateau-Moyar Gorge-Sathyamangalam region of Tamil Nadu gave evidence of resident Tiger population as well as the possible movement of individuals between this region and the BRT Tiger Reserve and onward to M.M. Hills & Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuaries. 
• This landscape showed an overall increase in the Tiger occupancy in 2010 as compared to 2006 All India Tiger Estimation Exercise. The Tiger population on the Karnataka side (Nagarahole, Bandipur, BRT Tiger Reserves, M.M. Hills & Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining forest) was estimated at 231 Tigers (214-249) covering an area of 4,460 Sq. Km. Since, this Tiger population is contiguous with Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala, and move across the state boundaries, this Tiger number is not unique to Karnataka, but are indicative for the state. 
• The Bandipur Tiger Reserve along with Nagarahole, Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam & Wayanad Landscape is the source population in the Western Ghats landscape complex with an estimated Tiger population of about 382 (354-411), constitutes the single largest Wild population of Tigers in the world (Jhala et al, 2011). Currently, with the occupancy of Tigers over an area of 21,435 km2, comprising 21% of the total forested area of the Western Ghats this landscape complex holds 1/8th of world’s Tiger population (1/4th of India’s Tiger population) i.e. around 534 Tigers (500-568), an increase of 29.6% over the 2006 estimates of 412 Tigers (India: Tiger Estimate 2010, Ministry of Environment and Forests).
• The Bandipur Tiger Reserve forms a very important component of 5520.00 Sq. Km. landscape, the first Biosphere Reserve in the country i.e. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (Notified on 01-09-1986 vide order No. J.22010/6/86.CSC, Government of India under the Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme of the IUCN). 
•  This Landscape of Bandipur, Nagarahole, Mudumalai & Wayanad complex is home to single largest Asian Elephant population in the world (Varma et al. 2005) and is part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve (MER) notified vide notification No. FEE 231 FWL 2000, Dated 25-11-2002.  The Reserve is endowed with rich floral and faunal diversity and is recognized as one of the Mega Biodiversity Areas in the country. The Tiger and the Elephants are the flagship and umbrella species for the conservation of all the Biota that this ecosystem represents.  The viable population of these two species is indicative of a healthy Ecosystem.
• Biogeographically, Bandipur Tiger Reserve lies in one of the richest biodiversity areas of our country representing “5 B Western Ghats Mountains Biogeography Zone” (Rodgers & Panwar, 1988), surrounded by Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the South, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in the South West & on the North West Side the Kabini Reservoir separates the Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. The Northern side of the Tiger Reserve is surrounded by human dominated landscape with villages and agricultural lands.

6.National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey of India (2015-­19)(gs-2)

• Context:‘Cataract major cause of blindness above 50’ Financial constraints are one of the barriers to accessing treatment, says survey
• Cataract is the principal cause of blindness for people above 50 years in India, according to the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey of India (2015­ 19), adding that barriers to accessing treatment include the following — no one to accompany [the patient], seasonal preferences, and financial constraints.
•  Among men, the most important barriers are financial constraints (31%) and local reasons (21.5%). Among women, local reasons (23.1%) and financial constraints (21.2%) were the most important barriers. Cataract is the cause for 66.2% cases of blindness, 80.7% cases of severe visual impairment, and 70.2% cases of moderate visual impairment in the age group. Also, blindness is more pronounced among illiterate (3.23%) than literates (0.43%) and more prevalent in the rural population (2.14%) than urban (1.80%).

The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey :

• The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey was released by the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare. The survey was conducted by the AIIMS, Delhi and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The report was released in October 10, 2019. The survey was conducted between 2015 and 2019. India is the first country to launch National Program for Control of Blindness in 1976. The aim of the program is currently to reduce the blindness prevalence to 0.3% by 2020

Key findings of the report

•  Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in people above 50 years. OF these around 93% of blindness cases and 96.2% of visual impairment cases are avoidable The prevalence of blindness in India is 1.99%. Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh has the highest population suffering from blindness. Around 3.67% of the district are blind and 21.82% suffer visual impairment. Blindness is more pronounced among illiterates as compared to literates. Around 3.23% illiterates are blind and 0.43% literates are blind Also, blindness is more prevalent in rural population (2.14%) as compared to urban (1.8%) 

Causes of blindness according to the report

•  The causes included Aphakia – Absence of lens in the eye Untreated non-infectious corneal opacity-scarring of cornea Cataract related surgical complication was the second highest cause for blindness. The outcomes of cataract surgery are not good everywhere. Around 40% of cataract were done in government facilities. Rest of the surgeries took place in private and non – profit facilities. Of these, only 57.8% saw good visual outcome. Cost was the biggest barrier in accessing cataract surgeries. Around 22.1% of blindness was caused because of cost as a barrier. Around 22.1% of blindness were caused due to lack of awareness