Current Affairs 08 August 2022 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 08 August 2022 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

National Handloom Day and India’s handloom sector

Source : Indian Express
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What is discussed under National Handloom Day?

1. About the the Day
2. India’s handloom sector  

Why in News ?

Every year August 7 is observed as the National Handloom Day in India to highlight the contribution of the handloom industry in socio-economic development and create awareness about the sector.

Key Facts About the Day

• • The National Handloom Day is celebrated across the country under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles.
  • National Handloom Day is observed on August 7 to commemorate the launch of the Swadeshi Movement in 1905.
  • The day is marked to honour the handloom-weaving community of India and to highlight the contribution of the handloom sector to the socio-economic development of the country.
  • Celebrated to honour the handloom weaving community and to highlight the contribution of the community in various sectors of the country, including rural employment.
  • The day was given its designation in 2015 by the government of India.

Swadeshi Movement

• • Movement most prominent in West Bengal.
  • It emerged to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help and self-reliance.
  • The movement meant to boycott foreign goods and rely on Indian-made products, encouraged the indigenous industries, particularly the handloom weavers.
  • Mahatma Gandhi started the movement by using ‘khadi’ with the objective of promoting self-sustainability among the rural villages.
  • He used this hand-spun fabric as a tool of passive resistance against British rule. Every Indian was urged to spin their own yarn by using a simple ‘charkha’ and to proudly wear Khadi.

India’s handloom sector  

• • The Indian handloom sector exports its products to more than 20 countries across the globe, including the USA, the UK, Germany, France, and South Africa.
  • The sector directly addresses women’s empowerment with over 70% of its total weavers and allied workers being female.
  • It provides flexibility for innovation and meeting changes in fashion trends as per the fast-changing customer preferences.
  • Some of the famous handloom fabrics from India include Tamil Nadu’s famous Kanchipuram saris, Assam’s Muga (golden silk) mekhela sadors, the Paithani weaves of Maharashtra and the Benarasi brocades of Uttar Pradesh.

Various Schemes to support handloom

• • National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP)
    • NHDP has been formulated for its implementation during the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26.

      

    • The scheme will follow a need-based approach for integrated and holistic development of handlooms and welfare of handloom weavers.
    • Also emphasizes increasing and enhancing the employment opportunities for the handloom weavers
  • Weaver MUDRA Scheme : Under the Weavers’ Mudra Scheme, credit at concessional interest rate of 6% is provided to the handloom weavers.
  • Urban Haat
    • To provide adequate direct marketing facilities to the craft persons/weavers and eliminate middle agencies. 
    • 38 such Urban Haats have been sanctioned across the country so far.
  • Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme
    • Life, accidental and disability insurance coverage to handloom weavers/workers.
    • Worked as the components Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Bima Yojana(PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana(PMSBY) and Converged Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana(MGBBY).

Ration Mitra

GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What is discussed under Ration Mitra Portal?

1. About the Portal
2. National Food Security (NFS) Act

Why in News ?

The Centre has launched a common facility to register names in ration cards on a pilot basis for 11 States and Union Territories.

Key Facts

• • Ration Mitra’ Portal aims to enable these States to identify and verify the eligible beneficiaries for coverage under the National Food Security Act.
  • Named as Ration Mitr, this software developed by the National Informatics Centre can be used to enrol people of any State.
  • The portal is an enabler for States/UTs to complete their inclusion exercise under NFSA.
  • The NFSA provides food security coverage for 81.35 crore persons in the country.
  • The present NFSA coverage is about 79.74 crore.

National Food Security (NFS) Act

• • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
  • It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programs of the GoI.
  • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
  • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
  • The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
  • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
  • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
  • It coIt includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
  • These are called central issue prices (CIPs).

Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

Source : Indian Express
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What is discussed under Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019?

1. Why the Bill been withdrawn?
2. What are the concerns other than cited by JPC?

Why in News ?

The government withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 after intense scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Key Facts

• • The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, on December 11, 2019.
  • The Bill seeks to provide for protection of personal data of individuals, and establishes a Data Protection Authority for the same.
  • Centre in 2017 set up an expert committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna to formulate a regulatory framework for data protection.
  • Srikrishna committee submitted its report and a draft for the Data Protection Bill to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on July 27, 2018.

The committee was constituted by the government in the course of hearings before the Supreme Court in the right to privacy case Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India.

Why the Bill been withdrawn?

• • Significant number of amendments, recommendations, and corrections suggested by the JPC.
    • This includes 542-page report has 93 recommendations, and 81 amendments and members have suggested 97 corrections and improvements to the Bill.

      

    • JCP’s recommended changes on issues such as regulation of social media companies and on using only trusted hardware in smartphones, etc.
  • The key recommendation is to widen the ambit of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
  • It should cover all data instead of just personal data.
  • Besides the government’s concerns from the tech industry, specifically from Indian start-ups, regarding the stipulations on data localization in the Bill.
  • The delays in the Bill had been criticised by several stakeholders pointing out that it was a matter of grave concern that India did not have a basic framework to protect people’s privacy.

What are the concerns other than cited by JPC?

Definition of personal data

• • Any characteristic trait, attribute or any other feature information” that can be used to identify a person.
  • Sub-category of Sensitive Personal Data consists of details on a person’s finance, health, sexual orientation and practices, caste, political and religious beliefs, and biometric and genetic data.
    • Sensitive Personal Data can be transferred abroad for processing, a copy of it must be kept in India.
  • Critical Personal Data Category which was “personal data as may be notified by the Central government” in the future.
    • Critical Personal Data can be stored and processed only in India.

Infrastructure needed to comply with the localization

• • Start-ups depend on international companies for services such as customer management, analytics, and marketing, which will require them to send data on their customer abroad.
  • Data localization requirements  reduce their choices of such services but also burden them with the compliance process.

Way Forward

• • The government may also consider allowing cross-border data flows only to trusted geographies.
  • use classification for awarding damages to people whose personal data may have been compromised by an entity.

HIM- DRONE-A-THON

Source : PIB
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What is discussed under HIM- DRONE-A-THON ?

1. About the Order
2. How it helps

Why in News ?

The Indian Army in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India has launched the Him Drone-a-thon programme on 08 August 22.

Key Facts

• • This initiative in line with Atmanirbharta in defence manufacturing is aimed to catalyse and provide focused opportunities to the Indian drone ecosystem to develop path-breaking drone capabilities for meeting requirements of frontline troops.
  • The Indian Army’s support to the indigenous drone ecosystem is based on the principle that good available indigenously is better than the best available globally.
  • However, gradual enhancement in technology demanded by defence forces is likely to incentivise manufacture of better and more capable drone products.
  • The ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme is pan India sustained connect between all stake holders including industry, academia, software developers and drone product manufacturers.
  • It will be conducted in stages with quantifiable parameters like altitude, weight, range, endurance etc being progressively enhanced based on demonstrated capabilities.
  • Broad activities planned include interactions & ideation between users, development agencies, academia etc, seeking of industry responses, visits by development agencies to operational locations to understand the ground perspective & requirements, handholding of development agencies for internal development & on-ground trials and actual conduct & evaluation of drone products.

Lumpy Skin Disease

Source : Indian Express
GS II : Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What is discussed under Lumpy Skin Disease ?

1. About the Disease

Why in News ?

3,000 cattle have died in Rajasthan and Gujarat due to a viral infection called the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that has spread across the states.

Key Facts

• • The LSD epidemic started in Dwarka and Jamnagar districts.
  • Procurement of cow milk has not been affected due to the LSD epidemic as the impact in terms of percentage or numbers of cattle affected is not big and timely measures have helped stem the epidemic.
  • Preventive measures such as isolation and treatment of affected animals, vaccination, vector control on the premises and awareness were being taken.
  • The disease has been endemic in most African countries, and since 2012 it has spread rapidly through the Middle East, Southeast Europe and West and Central Asia and not the first time LSD has been detected in India.
  • The disease is not zoonotic, meaning it does not spread from animals to humans, and humans cannot get infected with it.

Lumpy Skin Disease

• • LSD is caused by infection of cattle or water buffalo with the poxvirus Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV).
  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The mortality rate is less than 10%.
  • Lumpy skin disease was first seen as an epidemic in Zambia in 1929. Initially, it was thought to be the result of either poisoning or hypersensitivity to insect bites.
  • LSD infects cattle and water buffalo mainly through vectors such as blood-feeding insects.
  • Infected animals immediately start losing weight and may have fever and lesions in the mouth, along with a reduced milk yield.
    Other symptoms include excessive nasal and salivary secretion.
  • Prevention and Treatment
    • Vaccination against these diseases is covered under the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme of India.
    • The only treatment available is supportive care of cattle.