Daily Current Affairs 07 February 2024 – IAS Current Affairs
Current Affairs 07 February 2024 focuses on the Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)
Source: PIB
GS II: IIssues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
Overview
- About Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)
Why in the News?
Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22 revealed significant growth across various parameters in the manufacturing sector.
About Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)
- These studies include factories employing 10 or more workers with power and those employing 20 or more people without power.
- As such, they provide an important source of information about the economy’s registered organised manufacturing sector.
Importance of Year: Because both of these years — 2020-21 and 2021-22 — were distinguished by disruptions in economic activity as a result of the pandemic, these surveys, which provide specific data, aid in understanding how the industry fared during those years.
Findings
- At the aggregate level, gross value added grew by 8.8 per cent in 2020-21 (in current prices), after registering a fall the year before.
- Growth in value-added was driven by a sharper fall in input (at 4.07 per cent) than output (which fell by 1.9 per cent).
- In 2021-22, as the economy rebounded, value added grew by 26.6 per cent, with output growing at 35.4 per cent.
- In both these years, the registered organised manufacturing sector grew at a faster pace than the unorganised sector.
- The industries that drove growth during 2021-22 were the manufacture of basic metal, coke and refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, and chemicals — value added by these industries grew by 34.4 per cent.
- Profits, which were also depressed in 2019-20, bounced back during this period.
- The estimates of employment show that during the first year of the pandemic, total persons engaged fell marginally by 3.2 per cent — from 1.66 crore in 2019-20 to 1.6 crore in 2020-21.
- Employment picked up thereafter, with total persons engaged rising to 1.7 crore in 2021-22 — an increase of 7 per cent.
- The pace at which quality jobs are being generated across all sectors at the aggregate all-India level leaves much to be desired.
- Between 2017-18 and 2022-23, while the labour force participation rate (15 years and above) saw a steady increase, rising from 49.8 per cent to 57.9 per cent, a greater percentage of workers were self-employed, not engaged in regular salaried or casual wage employment, as per the periodic labour force surveys.
Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme
Source: PIB
GS II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme
Why in the News? Recently, the Karnataka government suspended five officers for dereliction of duty in the implementation of the Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme.
News in Brief
- The Karnataka government suspended five officers of the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) cadre in the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) recently for dereliction of duty in the implementation of the Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme.
- To enable all students with disabilities, to pursue further four years of secondary schooling after completing eight years of elementary schooling in an inclusive and enabling environment.
- An FIR has been registered against 56 officials of the DSEL and 22 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for criminal offences such as forging documents during the implementation of the scheme.
- Officials of the department committed large-scale irregularities while releasing the grant for the implementation from 2009-10 to 2011-12.
- In this regard, in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting was held.
- It was found that the authorities had released funds to non-existent NGOs.
- The PAC also recommended disciplinary action against the officials who recommended the release of funds to non-existent NGOs.
About Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme
- The Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) has been launched from the year 2009-10.
- This Scheme replaces the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) and assists with the inclusive education of disabled children in classes IX-XII.
- This scheme is now subsumed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) from 2013.
- The States/UTs are also in the process of subsuming under RMSA as RMSA subsumed Scheme.
Aim: To enable all students with disabilities, to pursue further four years of secondary schooling after completing eight years of elementary schooling in an inclusive and enabling environment.
Implementing Agency
- The School Education Department of the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations are the implementing agencies.
- They may involve NGOs having experience in the field of education of the disabled in the implementation of the scheme.
Components
- Student-oriented components:
- Such as medical and educational assessment, books and stationery, uniforms, transport allowance, reader allowance, stipend for girls, support services, assistive devices, boarding the lodging facility, therapeutic services, teaching-learning materials, etc.
- Other components:
- Include appointment of special education teachers, allowances for general teachers for teaching such children, teacher training, orientation of school administrators, the establishment of the resource room, providing barrier-free environment, etc.
Coverage
- The scheme covers all children studying at the secondary stage in Government, local bodies and Government-aided schools, with one or more disabilities as defined under the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) and the National Trust Act (1999).
- Setting up of Model inclusive schools in every State is envisaged under the scheme.
- Girls with disabilities receive special focus to help them gain access to secondary schools, as well as to information and guidance for developing their potential.
Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
Source: PIB GS II: Governance
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
Why in the News? The Lok Sabha passed The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
- Aimed at curbing leaks and malpractices and organising malpractices in recruitment examinations like UPSC, SSC, etc., and entrance tests such as NEET, JEE, and CUET.
News in Brief
- The matter is above politics and there is no difference of opinion among members of the House.
- The Bill is aimed at curbing corrupt practices by a few unscrupulous elements that play havoc with the future of our youth, destroying their careers and aspirations and occasionally resulting in fatal suicides
Various instances of Malpractice
- Earlier, initiating discussion in the house on the Bill, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology said, one after another we have witnessed incidents of malpractices, paper leak, impersonation etc from various parts of the country.
- In Rajasthan, there have been 12 incidents of malpractice since 2018.
- Sub-Inspector Recruitment scam surfaced in Jammu & Kashmir in March 2022 and SSC Combined Graduate Exam in 2017.
- in West Bengal, the Diploma in Elementary Education paper in November 2022 was leaked, and again in the same state in February 2023, an English paper leaked besides the School Service Commission, West Bengal also leaked.
- In December 2022 Teacher Recruitment Scam unravelled in Rajasthan while in February 2022 the Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers was also plagued by malpractices and the exam had to be re-conducted.
- In May 2022 Rajasthan Police Constable Recruitment Exam was hit by a scam.
About Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
- Prevention of Unfair Means Bill, 2024 will also cover entrance examinations held by the Union Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission, the Railways, banking recruitment examinations and all computer-based examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency.
Public Examinations
- Public examinations refer to examinations conducted by authorities specified under the Schedule to the Bill or notified by the central government.
- These include
- Union Public Service Commission,
- Staff Selection Commission
- Railway Recruitment Board
- National Testing Agency
- Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
- Departments of the central government and their attached offices for recruitment.
What are the unfair means specified in the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
- Unauthorised access or leakage of question paper or answer key
- Assisting a candidate during a public examination
- Tampering with computer networks or resources
- Tampering with documents for shortlisting or finalising of merit list or rank
- Conducting fake examinations, issuing fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat, for monetary gain
- Also prohibits
- Disclosing exam-related confidential information before the time
- Unauthorised people from entering exam centres to create disruptions
Punishment
- The above offences will be punishable with imprisonment between three and five years, and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh.
- Service providers
- A service provider is an organisation that provides computer resources or any other support to a public examination authority.
- An offence by a service provider will be punishable with a fine of up to one crore rupees.
- The proportionate cost of examination will also be recovered from such a service provider.
- Further, they will also be barred from conducting public examinations for four years.
- Officials
- Service providers were committed with the consent or connivance of any Director, senior management, or persons in charge of the service providers, such persons will be held personally liable.
- They will be punished with imprisonment between three years and 10 years, and a fine of one crore rupees.
- Organised crimes
- Definition: An unlawful act committed by a person or a group of persons to further a shared interest for wrongful gain about public examinations.
- Persons committing an organised crime will be punished with imprisonment between five years and 10 years, and a fine of at least one crore rupees.
- Suppose an institution is held guilty of committing an organised crime. In that case, its property will be attached and forfeited, and a proportionate cost of the examination will also be recovered from it.
Offence, Inquiry and Investigation
- All offences under the Bill will be cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.
- No action will count as an offence if it is proved that the accused had exercised due diligence.
- An officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police will investigate the offences under the Act.
- The central government may transfer the investigation to any central investigating agency.
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