JUNE 07 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRES:

1.PUSH FOR CITIZENSHIP TO MINORITY MIGRANTS

Migrants belonging to six non-Muslim minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to India on long term visa (LTV) before 2014 are eligible to apply online for citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955 from any part of the country, Home Ministry said

About:

• The six communities are Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.
• Citizenship is a Home Ministry subject but it can delegate powers to States for specific objective.
• Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA)
• The official asserted that this particular awareness drive was not related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) that is intended to benefit undocumented (illegal migrants) from the six persecuted communities who entered India before December 31, 2014.
• The CAA is yet to come into force as the rules that govern the law have not been notified by the Ministry yet. 

Important Info :

Long term visa (LTV)

• For foreigners of non-Indian origin, a longer-term visa is classed as one that permits the holder to stay in India for longer than 180 days (six months) continuously.
• The main visas that provide this are the Employment, Entry and Student visas. 

Source : The Hindu

2.CHEMICAL WEAPONS USED IN SYRIA

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has told the United Nations Security Council that it investigated 77 allegations against Syria, and concluded in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used.

about:

• Syria was pressed to join the chemical weapons convention in 2013 by its close ally Russia after a deadly chemical weapons attack that the West blamed on Damascus.
• In 2014, President Bashar al-Assad’s government declared that the destruction of its chemical weapons was completed.
• But Syria’s initial declaration to the OPCW has remained in dispute.
• In April 2021, the OPCW suspended Syria’s rights until all outstanding issues are resolved. 

Important Info :

• Organisation For The Prohibition Of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• What is it? OPCW is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997.
• Mandate: It oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.

Established in:

Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands.

• Member states: 193 (All states party to the CWC are automatically members. 4 UN Member States are non-members: Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan. Of these Israel signed CWC but didn’t ratified it, rest 3 are non-signatories).
• Nobel Peace Prize: The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons with most recent being in Syria civil war".
• The OPCW–The Hague Award: It is an annual award founded by the OPCW as a result of their being presented with the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The Award honours individuals and institutions that have significantly contributed towards the goal of a world free of chemical weapons. 

Source : The Hindu

3.RULE 80-A OF THE CENTRAL CIVIL SERVICE (PENSION) RULES, 1972

The Union government has written to all Ministries relaxing the norms for disbursing pension to families of deceased employees considering their urgent need of funds for their livelihood during covid-19.

About:

• The authorities have been told to disburse the provisional family pension immediately after receiving the claim with a death certificate.
• Stating that the completion of the process for sanction of family pension and its disbursement through the bank could take some time, the department cited provisions under Rule 80-A of the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1972.
• This rule provided for payment of provisional family pension and also provisional death gratuity, without waiting for forwarding of the family pension case to Pay & Accounts Office (PAO). 

Source : The Hindu

4.GREEN RAILWAYS

Indian Railways (IR) is working in mission mode to become the “largest Green Railways” in the world and is moving towards becoming a “net zero carbon emitter” before 2030.

About:

• Railway Electrification which is environment friendly and reduces pollution, has increased nearly ten times since 2014. Railways has planned to electrify balance Broad Gauge (BG) routes by December, 2023 to achieve 100% electrification of BG routes.
• Green certification: 19 Railway Stations have also achieved Green Certification including 3 Platinum, 6 Gold and 6 Silver ratings. 27 Railway Buildings, Offices, Campuses and other establishments are also Green certified.
• Green certification mainly covers assessment of parameters having direct bearing on the environment, such as, energy conservation measures, use of renewable energy, Green House Gas emission reduction, water conservation, waste management, material conservation, recycling etc.

Source : Business Standard

5.NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AUTHORITY (NPPA)

COVID pandemic has resulted in recent volatility in Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) of Oxygen Concentrators. Margin at the level of distributor currently ranges up to 198%. Thus, the Government has decided to step-in to regulate the price of Oxygen Concentrators.

about:

• By invoking extraordinary powers under Para 19 of the DPCO, 2013, NPPA has capped the Trade Margin up to 70% on Price to Distributor (PTD) level on Oxygen Concentrators.
• Earlier, in February 2019 NPPA had successfully capped the Trade Margin on Anti-cancer Drugs.

NPPA

• Mandate: It is an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
• History: It was constituted by a Government of India Resolution in 1997.
• Parent Ministry: It is as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.
• DPCO: The NPPA regularly publishes lists of medicines and their maximum ceiling prices under the Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO).
• Headquarters: New Delhi. 

Source : The Hindu

6.ANEROOD JUGNAUTH

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of Sir Anerood Jugnauth.

About:

• Anerood Jugnauth (1930 – 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius.
• He was honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards for his continued support for India's causes and concerns and for strengthening India's relationship with Mauritius.
• Padma Vibhushan from India (2020). 

Important Info :

Mauritius

• Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar.
• It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon.
• The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), are part of the Mascarene Islands.

The capital is Port Louis

• It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the religion with the most adherents.
• Mauritius is the only African country to be in the "very high" category on the Human Development Index.
• On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly debated and adopted a resolution that affirmed that the Chagos archipelago “forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius.”
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has stated that Britain is legally obliged to hand back the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia, to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible.”

Source : Indian Express

7.NORMS FOR EMPLOYING RETIRED OFFICIALS DEFINED

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has laid down a defined procedure to be followed by government organisations for getting vigilance clearance before employing a ‘retired’ official on a contractual or consultancy basis.

Procedure

• Before offering employment to retired All India Services and Group A officers of the Central government or their equivalent in other organisations owned or controlled by the Centre, vigilance clearance from the employer organisation, from which the officer has retired, should be obtained.
• In case a retired officer served in more than one organisation, clearance has to be obtained from all of them where the person was posted in the 10 years prior to retirement.
• Simultaneously, a communication seeking clearance should also be sent to the CVC.
• If no reply is received from the erstwhile employer (s) within 21 days of sending the communication by speed post, vigilance clearance should be deemed to have been given.
• Later, if the employee is found involved in any vigilance-related matter or not cleared from the vigilance point of view, the erstwhile employer organisation would be responsible for all consequential actions. 

Source : The Hindu

8.MARKET BASED ECONOMIC DESPATCH (MBED)

Ministry of Power has circulated discussion Paper on Market Based Economic Despatch (MBED) on 1st June 2021 to all concerned stakeholders for obtaining their inputs and comments.

Power despatch meaning

• Since electricity cannot be stored in power lines, the entity operating the power grid must continuously adjust the output of its power plants to meet electricity demand. This process is called the "dispatch" of power plants.

Background

• The existing electricity scheduling and despatch mechanisms in the country are siloed and the day-ahead procedures result in sub-optimal utilization of the country’s generating resources.
• It has been observed that the states very often end up committing and utilizing costlier generation plants, while cheaper generation plants are not fully scheduled / utilized across the country. 

MBED

• MBED will ensure that the cheapest generating resources across the country are despatched to meet the overall system demand.
• This will be a win-win for both the distribution companies and the generators and ultimately result in an estimated annual savings in excess of INR 12,000 crores for the electricity consumers. MBED shall also facilitate larger integration of variable renewable energy
• Implementing Market Based Economic Despatch (MBED) will ensure a “One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency, One Price” framework.

Important Info :

Timeline

• It has been suggested to implement MBED in phases.
• The Ministry of Power intends to implement Phase 1 of MBED from 1 April 2022.
• The first phase of MBED would involve only the thermal fleet of central generating stations to test the efficacy of the mechanism and allow for necessary infrastructure and systems to be built out and tested before scale-up.

Source : PIB

9.NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENCE MUSEUMS (NCSM)

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is collaborating with the Science Museum Group, London for an international travelling exhibition ‘Hunt for the Vaccine’. The exhibition will tell the story of the global effort to find new ways to develop vaccines and look at vaccinations more broadly with a historical and contemporary view.

About:

• National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is a premiere institution in the field of science communication.
• It is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.
• It is Headquartered in Kolkata.
• It was established in 1978.
• It is primarily engaged in popularizing Science and Technology through a network of science centres and Mobile Science Exhibitions (MSE) units that visit rural schools.
• Presently NCSM administers and manages 25 science museums/centres spread across the country and is the “world’s largest network of science centres and museums that functions under a single administrative umbrella” with an annual reach to about 15 million people.

Source : PIB

10.NATIONAL HELPLINE NUMBERS

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued advisory to all private General Entertainment (non-news) television channels to promote awareness of the national helpline numbers at periodical intervals, especially during prime time.

List of helpline numbers:

• 1075: National Helpline No. of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• 1098: Child Helpline No. of Ministry of Women and Child Development
• 14567: Senior Citizens Helpline of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (NCT Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand)
• 08046110007: Helpline No. of NIMHANS for psychological support
• 14443: AYUSH Covid-19 Counselling Helpline
• 9013151515: MyGovWhatsApp Helpdesk 

Source : PIB