RaIDer-X, a new explosive detection device, was unveiled at the National Workshop on Explosive Detection (NWED-2020) in Pune today. RaIDer-X has the capability to detect explosives from a stand-off distance.
The data library can be built in the system to expand its capability to detect a number of explosives in pure form as well as with the contaminants.
Bulk explosive in concealed condition can also be detected by the device.RaIDer-X has been co-developed by High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) Puneand Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Under the CSR initiatives of the Company, Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) contributed a sum of Rs 1 Crore towards National Sports Development Fund under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for the top athletes of our Country selected for Tokyo Olympics and beyond.
The cheque of Rs 1 Crore was handed over to Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Youth Affairs & Sports on 27.02.2020 by Ms Tripti Patra Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, SPMCIL and Shri S.K. Sinha, Director (HR), SPMCIL.
Shri Inder Dhamija, Joint Secretary (Sports) and Shri B.J. Gupta, General Manager (HR), SPMCIL were also present.
The Minister of State (IC) for Tourism & Culture, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel will launch the multilingual Incredible India website in New Delhi tomorrow. The launch event will witness participation by key stakeholders of tourism industry, foreign ambassadors, foreign correspondents, major associations among others .
Incredible India website, the flagship project launched by Ministry of Tourism, is a promotional website with an aim to project India as a ‘must-visit’ destination across the globe. Ministry of Tourism has revamped the multilingual Incredible India website design, with an aim to provide more information about India’s tourist destinations, attractions, experiences, and where out value lies. Ministry of Tourism’s Incredible India 2.0 website aims towards showcasing the varied tourism products of India at a global arena by providing visitors with relevant, personalized and contextual digital experience escalating tourism awareness, attraction and opportunities.
The website now comprises of a plethora of information around 165 destinations, 2700+ pages, 28 States + 9 UTs alongwith multiple attractions. The website which is currently hosted in English and Hindi is now being launched in Chinese, Arabic and Spanish with primary objective to effectively engage the visitors across web and social media platforms thereby providing an exciting experience to the travellers visiting the website from countries from where we witness major tourist footfall.
The website will be dynamic and constantly evolving with new design and theme, periodically. Going forward, the website will be available in other major international languages.
What is the Central Consumer Protection Authority? The authority is being constituted under Section 10(1) of The Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Aim: To protect the rights of the consumer by cracking down on unfair trade practices, and false and misleading advertisements that are detrimental to the interests of the public and consumers. It will be headquartered in the National Capital Region of Delhi but the central government may set up regional offices in other parts of the country.
Powers and Functions: Inquire or investigate into matters relating to violations of consumer rights or unfair trade practices suo motu, or on a complaint received, or on a direction from the central government.
Recall goods or withdrawal of services that are “dangerous, hazardous or unsafe. Pass an order for refund the prices of goods or services so recalled to purchasers of such goods or services; discontinuation of practices which are unfair and prejudicial to consumer’s interest”.
Impose a penalty up to Rs 10 lakh, with imprisonment up to two years, on the manufacturer or endorser of false and misleading advertisements. The penalty may go up to Rs 50 lakh, with imprisonment up to five years, for every subsequent offence committed by the same manufacturer or endorser.
Ban the endorser of a false or misleading advertisement from making endorsement of any products or services in the future, for a period that may extend to one year. The ban may extend up to three years in every subsequent violation of the Act.
File complaints of violation of consumer rights or unfair trade practices before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Composition: It will have a Chief Commissioner as head, and only two other commissioners as members — one of whom will deal with matters relating to goods while the other will look into cases relating to services. The CCPA will have an Investigation Wing that will be headed by a Director General.
District Collectors too, will have the power to investigate complaints of violations of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and false or misleading advertisements.
For manufacture, selling, storage, distribution, or import of adulterated products, the penalties are: If injury is not caused to a consumer, fine up to Rs 1 lakh with imprisonment up to six months.
If injury is caused, fine up to Rs 3 lakh with imprisonment up to one year. If grievous hurt is caused, fine up to Rs 5 lakh with imprisonment up to 7 years.
In case of death, fine of Rs 10 lakh or more with a minimum imprisonment of 7 years, extendable to imprisonment for life.
Observations made by the Court: Those who are not participating in the strike have every right to attend their classes and no one should force them to participate in agitations that affect smooth conduct of classes.
Academic institutions are only meant for studies and they should not be venues for strikes and protests.
Nobody has the right to override a student’s right to study and action can be against those who indulge in strikes, rallies and gheraos that affect regular classes.
Campuses can have peaceful discussions and sharing of thoughts in a peaceful manner. Students and others who force students to take part in the strike can be dealt with the law as it was the infringement of the basic right of the student.
Background: The important verdict came in the wake of some private schools in Pathanamthitta moving the court with a plea to restrain student politics. Though the court had banned politics on the campus earlier also it was not implemented properly and students were suffering due to frequent disruptions of classes during strikes, they contended.
Measures: If such incidents take place in schools, the authorities concerned, including the district educational officer, can take action against erring students. They can even summon the police to restore the peace in the campus.
Similar measures should be taken on the college campuses as well. But, campuses can have peaceful discussions and sharing of thoughts on any issue. This, however, should not be done by causing inconvenience to students or lead to a strike.
Earlier judgments: The HC also cited the long list of court verdicts on the issue over the years. An earlier judgment had granted managements the authority to ban politics in their respective campuses.
Another court order also stated that students should not be forcefully made to boycott classes.
The court had also ruled earlier that police should give protection if the authorities ask for it. In the ‘Vijayakumar’ case, the court ruled that if criminal activities take place in college premises, police has the right to take action and enter campus without permission.
Criticisms: The HC verdict has evoked sharp reactions from many student outfits and political parties which they said would affect students’ rights and their plan to carry out peaceful protests.
The objective is to provide assistance through these aids and devices to the daily living and socio-economic development of the Divyangjan (physically challenged) and Senior Citizens.
About the ADIP Scheme- the Assistance to Disabled persons for purchasing/fitting of aids/appliances (ADIP) scheme:
Being implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. Objective: to assist the needy disabled persons in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances that can promote their physical, social and psychological rehabilitation, by reducing the effects of disabilities and enhance their economic potential.
Implementation: The scheme is implemented through implementing agencies such as NGOs, National Institutes under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and ALIMCO (a PSU that manufactures artificial limbs).
Eligibility: A person satisfying all the following conditions are eligible: Indian citizen of any age Has 40% disability or more (must have the requisite certificate) Monthly income, not more than Rs.20000.
In the case of dependents, income of parents/guardians should not exceed Rs.20000. Must not have received assistance during the last 3 years for the same purpose from any source. However, for children below 12years of age, this limit would be one year.
What is pigmentary disorders? Their effects? Physiological pigmentation is a critical defense mechanism by which skin is protected against harmful UV radiations. Inefficient pigmentation predisposes to skin cancers, which are one of the leading causes of cancer-associated deaths worldwide.
Further, pigmentary disorders (both hypo and hyper pigmentary) are considered a social stigma and therefore they impart long-term psychological trauma and tremendously hamper mental well-being of patients.
Significance of the grant? The current therapeutic strategies are not efficient in alleviating pigmentary disorders.
The research project to be taken up under the award would seek to identify novel targetable molecular players that critically regulate pigmentation process. Further, the researchers would try to repurpose commercially available drugs for treatment of pigmentary disorders.
In long run, this project is expected to have a two pronged benefits for society – protection from UV-induced skin cancers and potential treatment options for pigmentary disorders.
The first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987.
Theme: This year, the theme for National Science Day 2020 is “Women in Science”, which aims to appreciate the contribution of women in the field of science.
What is Raman Effect? A phenomenon in spectroscopy discovered by the eminent physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1928. Raman Effect is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam. Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.
Raman’s experiment: The violet light of the solar spectrum is isolated with a violet filter and passed through the liquid sample. Most of the light emerging from the liquid sample is the same color as the incident violet beam: the so-called Rayleigh scattered light (the scattering of light by particles in a medium, without change in wavelength. It accounts, for example, for the blue colour of the sky, since blue light is scattered slightly more efficiently than red).
However, Raman, along with K S Krishnan was able to show that some of the scattered light was a different color, which they could isolate by using a green filter placed between the observer and the sample.
About 1000 springs initiative: It is an online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas with the hydrological and chemical properties of the springs mentioned.
Aim: To improve access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities living in difficult and inaccessible part of rural areas in the country. It is an integrated solution around natural springs.
Key features: It includes the provision of infrastructure for piped water supply for drinking; provision of water for irrigation; community-led total sanitation initiatives; and provision for water for backyard nutrition gardens, generating sustainable livelihood opportunities for the tribal people.
Implementation: Under this initiative, more than 70 young tribal youths from the rural belt of three districts of Odisha namely, Kalahandi, Khandamal and Gajapati have been trained as barefoot hydro geologists by combining traditional and scientific knowledge for identification and mapping of springs, and undertaking rejuvenation and protection measures in their habitations.
What are Springs? Springs are natural sources of groundwater discharge and have been used extensively in the mountainous regions across the world.
Potential: In the central and eastern Indian belt with more than 75% tribal population, it remains largely unrecognized and under-utilized.
Significance of this initiative: The initiative will help in harnessing the potential of perennial springs’ water to address the natural scarcity of water in tribal areas.
The projects are spread across almost 17 States, leveraging an investment worth 406 Crore rupees.
These projects envisage the creation of direct and indirect employment for approximately fifteen thousand persons along with employment opportunities in rural areas to be the focus area.
About PMKSY: It is a comprehensive package aiming to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It is an umbrella scheme with its period coterminous with the cycle of 14th finance commission. It has various schemes within its gamut.
Under PMKSY the following schemes are to be implemented: Mega Food Parks Integrated Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure Creation/Expansion of Food Processing/Preservation Capacities Infrastructure for Agro Processing Clusters Scheme for Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages Food Safety & Quality Assurance Infrastructure Human Resources and Institutions
Significance: The implementation of PMKSY will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It will provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country. It will help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of farmers’ income.
It will create huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas. It will also help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the processed foods.
What are FPOs? It is a Producer Organisation (PO) where the members are farmers. Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is providing support for the promotion of FPOs.
FPOs help in the collectivization of such small, marginal and landless farmers in order to give them the collective strength to deal with such issues.
Members of the FPO will manage their activities together in the organization to get better access to technology, input, finance and market for faster enhancement of their income.
Support by the Government: The government has launched a new dedicated Central Sector Scheme titled “Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)” with a clear strategy and committed resources to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs.
Need for and significance of FPOs: Nearly 86% of farmers are small and marginal with average land holdings in the country being less than 1.1 hectares. These small, marginal and landless farmers face tremendous challenges during agriculture production phase such as for access to technology, quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides including requisite finances.
They also face tremendous challenges in marketing their produce due to lack of economic strength.
FPOs help in the collectivization of such small, marginal and landless farmers in order to give them the collective strength to deal with such issues.
What are the essential features of a PO? It is formed by a group of producers for either farm or non-farm activities. It is a registered body and a legal entity. Producers are shareholders in the organization.
It deals with business activities related to the primary produce/product. It works for the benefit of the member producers. A part of the profit is shared amongst the producers. Rest of the surplus is added to its owned funds for business expansion.
Context: Astronomers have observed a small object orbiting Earth, which they have dubbed a 2020 CD3, “mini-moon” or the planet’s “second moon”.
Key features: It is actually an asteroid, about the size of a car; its diameter is about 1.9-3.5 m. It is called a Temporarily Captured Object (TCO).
And unlike our permanent Moon, the mini-moon is temporary; it will eventually break free of Earth’s orbit and go off on its own way.
It is a non-oxygen breathing animal discovered recently.
It is a fewer-than-10-celled microscopic parasite that lives in salmon muscle. It relies on anaerobic respiration (through which cells extract energy without using oxygen).
It does not have a mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria is the “powerhouse” of the cell, which captures oxygen to make energy.