16 JULY 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS
1. DRAFT DRONE RULES, 2021
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has released the updated – The Drone Rules, 2021 for public consultation. The Drone Rules, 2021 will replace the UAS Rules 2021 (released on 12 March 2021).
Key takeaways from the Draft Drone Rules, 2021 include:
- Approvals abolished: unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, etc.
- Number of forms reduced from 25 to 6.
- Fee reduced to nominal levels. No linkage with the size of the drone.
- Safety features like ‘No permission – no take-off’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. to be notified in future. A six-month lead time will be provided for compliance.
- Digital sky platform shall be developed as a business-friendly single-window online system.
- Interactive airspace map with green, yellow, and red zones will be displayed on the digital sky platform. Yellow zone reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
- No flight permission required upto 400 feet in green zones and upto 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.
- No pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drone and for R&D organisations.
- No restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India.
- Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
- Maximum penalty under Drone Rules, 2021 reduced to INR 1 lakh. This shall, however, not apply to penalties in respect of violation of other laws.
- Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
- Drone promotion council to be set up to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime.
Source : The Hindu
2. SECTION 66A OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has requested States and Union Territories (UTs)to direct all police stations under their jurisdiction not to register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
About:
- It has also asked the States and UTs to sensitize law enforcement agencies for the compliance of the order issued by the Supreme Court on 24.03.2015.
- The MHA has also requested that if any case has been booked in States and UTs under section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, such cases should be immediately withdrawn.
- The Supreme Court in its judgment on 24.03.2015 in the matter of Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India, had struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- This made Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 null and void with effect from the date of the order, therefore 24.03.2015 and hence no action could be taken under this section.
Source : The Hindu
3. KAMRAJ PLAN
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid homage to K. Kamaraj on his birth anniversary.
About:
- Kumaraswami Kamaraj (1903 – 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician.
- He served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963.
- He was the founder and the president of the Indian National Congress (Organisation), widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s.
- He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress for two terms i.e. four years between 1964–1967 and was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri to the position of Prime Minister of India after Nehru's death and Indira Gandhi after Shastri's death.
- As the president of the INC, he was instrumental in steering the party after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru.
- He was the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha during 1952–1954 and 1969–1975.
- He was awarded with Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.
Important Info :
Kamraj Plan
- In 1963 he suggested to Nehru that senior Congress leaders should leave ministerial posts to take up organisational work.
- This suggestion came to be known as the Kamaraj Plan, which was designed primarily to dispel from the minds of Congressmen the lure of power, creating in its place a dedicated attachment to the objectives and policies of the organisation.
Source : The Hindu
4. NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR DAIRY DEVELOPMENT (NPDD)
In order to further boost growth in livestock sector and thereby making animal husbandry more remunerative, Government has realigned the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD).
About:
- The realigned National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) will have two components.
- Component ‘A’ of NPDD will be implemented with emphasis on milk procurement, processing, marketing and quality of milk and milk products. The scheme is targeted towards installation of about 8900 bulk milk coolers, which is likely to cover about 26,700 villages.
- Component ‘B’ of NPDD will avail financial assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and will create or strengthen infrastructure in 4500 villages, 8.96 LLPD chilling and 7 LLPD processing capacity with incremental procurement of about 14.20 LLPD from 1.5 Lakh additional milk producers.
Source : PIB
5. SPECIAL LIVESTOCK SECTOR PACKAGE
Government approves implementation of a special livestock sector package consisting of several activities by revising and realigning various components of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying schemes for next 5 years starting from 2021-22.
About:
- This package envisages Central Government’s support amounting to Rs.9800 crore over duration of 5 years for leveraging total investment of Rs. 54,618 crore for 5 years.
As per this, all the schemes of the Department will be merged into three broad categories as
- Development Programmes which includes Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), National Livestock Mission (NLM) and Livestock Census and Integrated Sample Survey (LC & ISS) as sub-schemes,
- Disease Control programme renamed as Livestock Health and Disease Control (LH & DC) which includes the present Livestock Health and Disease Control (LH & DC) scheme and National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) and
- Infrastructure Development Fund wherein, the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF) and the Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) are merged and the present scheme for support to Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in Dairy activities is also included in this third category.
Source : PIB
6. SCHOOL INNOVATION AMBASSADOR TRAINING PROGRAM
Union Education Minister and Tribal Affairs Minister will jointly launch the ‘School Innovation Ambassador Training Program’ for 50,000 School Teachers on 16th July 2021.
About:
- The innovative and one of its kind training program for School Teachers , aims at training 50,000 school teachers on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, IPR, Design Thinking, Product development, Idea generation etc.
- The program has been designed by Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education and AICTE for School Teachers based on its “Innovation Ambassador Training Program for Higher Educational Institution’s faculty members”.
- The training will be delivered in online mode only.
Source : All India Radio
7. AI-POWERED GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT APPLICATION
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application in New Delhi on July 15, 2021, developed by Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur.
About:
- This is the first AI based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government.
- The AI tool developed as part of the initiative has capability to understand the content of the complaint based on the contents therein. As a result, it can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically.
- Based on the meaning of the complaint, it can categorise complaints of different categories.
Source : PIB
8. WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY
PM Modi addresses World Youth Skill Day Programme.
About:
- The United Nations, at its General Assembly in November 2014, declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day.
- The Day is an opportunity for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions to acknowledge the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment.
SDG 4
- Education and training are central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
- The vision of the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030 is fully captured by Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
Source : All India Radio
9. PRASHAD
PM Modi inaugurated various development projects in Varanasi which includesTourist Facilitation Centre under the Project “Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II” and operation of Cruise Boat from Assi Ghat to RajGhat under the Project “Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme”.
About:
- The ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) is a Central Sector Scheme fully financed by the Government of India launched by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014-15.
- Its objective is integrated development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destinations.
- The project “Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II” was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 44.69 crores in Feb. 2018.
Source : PIB
10. RUDRAKSH
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Cooperation and Convention Centre – Rudraksh in Varanasi, which has been constructed with Japanese assistance.
About:
- The objective of the project is to provide opportunities for social and cultural interactions between people at the international convention centre
- It is ideal for holding international conferences, exhibitions and music concerts and other events and the gallery is done up with murals depicting Varanasi's art, culture and music
- As many as 108 Rudraksha have been installed at this convention centre and its roof is shaped like a Shiva Linga.
Source : LiveMint