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Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules (Prelims Prep. Prominence) 22nd December 2018

Centre State Relations NITI Aayog Development Index

Himachal, Kerala and T.N. top development index

Connect to the current context

Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu have been ranked

highest in terms of being on track to achieve the United Nations’

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), according to a first-of-its-kind

index released by NITI Aayog

Connect to the Index

The index comprises a composite score for each State and Union

Territory based on their aggregate performance across 13 of the 17

SDGs.

The score, ranging between 0 and 100, denotes the average performance

of the State/UT towards achieving the 13 SDGs and their respective

targets. The average Indian score was 57.

The SDG Index Score for Sustainable Development Goals 2030 ranges

between 42 and 69 for States and between 57 and 68 for UTs

Among the States, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are the front runners,

with an SDG India Index score of 69. Among the UTs, Chandigarh is

the front runner with a score of 68.

Tamil Nadu has a score 66, and is the top scorer on the goals to do with

eradicating poverty and also providing clean and affordable energy.

Connect to the Objective of the Index

The aim of the index is to instil competition among States to improve

their performance across social indices as the States’ progress will

determine India’s progress towards achieving the set goals by 2030

Using the index, States will be monitored on a real-time basis.

Connect to the top performing states

Kerala’s top rank is attributed to its superior performance in providing

good health, reducing hunger, achieving gender equality and providing

quality education

Himachal Pradesh ranks high on providing clean water and

sanitation, in reducing inequalities and preserving the mountain

ecosystem.

Among the UTs, Chandigarh takes the lead because of its exemplary

performance in providing clean water and sanitation to its people

Worst performing areas

Overall, the average score for the States was the worst when it came to

gender equality (36), in creating sustainable cities and communities (39),

in enabling industry, innovation, and infrastructure (44), and in

eradicating hunger (48).

© 2017 All Rights Reserved. Powered by Summit exclusively for The Hindu

Relevance in – Prelims and Mains Paper II (Government Policies,

Functions and responsibilities of Union and States)

National Home Ministry authorised 10 agencies for interception, monitoring

and decryption

Connect to the current context

Central government has authorised 10 agencies for “interception,

monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted,

received or stored in any computer.

What does the notification means

The notification means websites and web-based applications visited by a

“suspect” on a computer or a mobile handset could be intercepted by the

service providers at the request of the authorised agency after it has been

cleared by the Home Secretary.

The service provider will be liable to share the information under Section

69 (1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Government point of view

No new powers have been conferred on any of the agencies by the

notification, and it has been issued to notify the Internet service

providers, telecom service providers or intermediaries...to codify the

existing orders.

Not every mobile handset or computer would be intercepted and the

notification was repeated time to time, the rules of which were framed in

2009

Not anyone can intercept phones or computer instrument…only in cases

related to national security, public order, integrity of India.

Order likely to challenged to the Supreme Court

The December 20 order allowing 10 different Central agencies to snoop

on people is seen as a challenge to the nine-judge Constitution Bench

judgment of the Supreme Court, which directed the government to protect

informational privacy of every individual.

In its 2017 judgment, the court had asked the government always to

balance individual privacy and the legitimate concerns of the state

carefully and sensitively, even if national security was at stake.

The December 20 order allows Central agencies — from the Intelligence

Bureau to the Central Board of Direct Taxes to the Cabinet

Secretariat (RAW) to the Commissioner of Delhi Police — to

intercept, monitor and de-crypt “any information” generated, transmitted,

received or stored in “any computer resource”.

The government order is based on Section 69(1) of the Information

Technology Act, 2000, and Rule 4 of the Information Technology

(Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and

Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009.

Experts say the new order may be challenged in the court. The privacy

judgment has asked the government “to be sensitive to the needs of, and

the opportunities and dangers posed to, liberty in a digital world”.

Relevance in Paper II (Government policies and intervention) and Paper

III ( Cyber security)

State Specific Odisha’s KALIA to attack poverty

Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation

Connect to the context

The Odisha Cabinet approved the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood

and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme amounting to ₹10,000

crore to accelerate agricultural prosperity in the State and to reduce

poverty.

Connect to KALIA

KALIA is progressive, inclusive and will make a direct attack on poverty

by way of massive investment in the agriculture sector and making

benefits reach the most needy through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode

Interest

Under KALIA an amount of ₹10,180 crore will be spent over a period of

three years till 2020-211. Crop loans up to ₹50,000 will henceforth be

interest free, and the scheme will be reviewed in 2020-21 for further

modifications.

This new scheme will covers almost 92% of the cultivators in the State

and almost all landless agricultural labourers.

KALIA scheme covers the cultivators, loanee, as well as non-loanee

farmers, share croppers and landless agricultural labourers.

It also specifically takes care of vulnerable agricultural families identified

through gram panchayats and crop loans are made available at 0%

interest.

All the small and marginal farmers of the State (92% cultivators) will be

covered under the scheme.

An amount of ₹10,000 per family at the rate of ₹5,000 for Kharif and

Rabi shall be provided as financial assistance for taking up cultivation.

Under this initiative, 10 lakh landless households will be supported

As regards financial assistance to vulnerable agriculture households and

landless labourers, an annual financial assistance of ₹10,000 per

household will be provided to take care of their sustenance.

Further, life insurance cover of ₹2 lakh and additional personal accident

cover of ₹2 lakh will be provided to both cultivators and agricultural

labourers covering about 57 lakh households.

Relevance in – prelims and Mains Paper II and Paper III

Environment Conservation Rare albino orangutan released back into the wild

Connect to the Context

The world’s only known albino orangutan has been released back into

the jungle more than a year after she was found emaciated and bloody in

a remote corner of Borneo, Indonesian

Connect to Alba

Environmentalists rescued “Alba” from a cage where she was being kept

as a pet by villagers in Central Kalimantan in April last year.

The rescue is a rare spot of bright news for the critically endangered

species, which has seen its habitat shrink over the past few decades

largely due to the destruction of forests for logging, paper, palm oil and

mining.

The population of orangutans in Borneo has plummeted from about

2,88,500 in 1973 to about 1,00,000 today, according to the International

Union for Conservation of Nature.

Relevance in – Prelims ( facts)

Science and Technology

InSight Lander places first instrument on Mars

Connect to the context

NASA’s InSight lander has deployed a seismometer on the surface of

Mars, completing a major mission milestone that will allow scientists to

peer into the Martian interior by studying ground motion — also known

as marsquakes.

New images show the seismometer, with its copper-coloured covering

Connect to InSight — Studying the 'Inner Space' of Mars

InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations,

Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to give the Red

Planet its first thorough checkup since it formed 4.5 billion years ago.

It is the first outer space robotic explorer to study in-depth the "inner

space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.

Interior of Mars

Mars' Interior: Artist's rendition showing the inner structure of Mars. The

topmost layer is known as the crust, underneath it is the mantle, which

rests on a solid inner core.

Studying Mars' interior structure answers key questions about the early

formation of rocky planets in our inner solar system - Mercury, Venus,

Earth, and Mars - more than 4 billion years ago, as well as rocky

exoplanets. InSight also measures tectonic activity and meteorite impacts

on Mars

The lander uses cutting edge instruments, to delve deep beneath the

surface and seek the fingerprints of the processes that formed the

terrestrial planets. It does so by measuring the planet's "vital signs": its

"pulse" (seismology), "temperature" (heat flow), and "reflexes" (precision

tracking).

Relevance in – Prelims and Mains G.S Paper III ( Awareness in the field of

Space )

C.L’s Prelims Practise Question

Q.2 – Consider the following statements

1. Smart time is a plastic card with an embedded microchip

2. digital technology is primarily used with new physical communication

medium such as satellite and fibre optics transmission

3. A digital library is a collection of documents in an organized electronic form

available on the Internet only

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a. 3 only

b. 1 and 2

c. 2 and 3

d. 1, 2 and 3

( Start the brain storming, the solution will be published on tomorrow’s current

connect)

C.L’s Mains Practise Question

Q.2 – Bhutan is a very trusted ally of India. Discuss how India- Bhutan relations

is flourishing in recent times (10 marks, 150 words )

Solution of Q.1 ( pre practise )

When the annual Union budget is not passed by the Lok Sabha

a. The budget is modified and presented again

b. The budget is referred to the Rajya Sabha for Suggestions

c. The Union Finance Minister is asked to resign

d. The Prime minister submits the resignation of Council of Ministers

Ans - D