PUERTO RICO (CURRENT AFFAIRS 16 NOV 2020 )

 PUERTO RICO

For the third time in ten years, the United States territory of Puerto Rico has voted in favour of statehood, and thus be treated at par with the current 50 states of the country.

About:

• Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
  
  
• Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since 1917, and can move freely between the island and the mainland.
  
  
• As it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the U.S. Congress, which governs the unincorporated territory with jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950.
  
  

Geography:

• It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida.
  
  
• Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory with its own constitution.
  
  
• The mountainous archipelago Tristan da Cunha is home to tens of millions of seabirds and several unique land birds.
  
  
• The island group is also home to the World Heritage Site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands, which is one of the most important seabird islands in the world 

DRAFT RULES UNDER THE CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY 2020

Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified the draft rules under the Code on Social Security, 2020.

About:

• The draft rules also provide for Aadhaar based registration including self-registration by unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers on the portal of the Central Government.
  
  
• The rules further provide for Aadhaar based registration of Building and Other Construction Workers on the specified portal of the Central Government and the State Government or the State Welfare Board.
  
  
• Provision has also been made in the rules regarding gratuity to an employee who is on fixed term employment.
  
  
• The rules also provide for single electronic registration of an establishment including cancellation of the registration in case of closure of business activities.
  
  
• Provision has also been made regarding manner and conditions for exiting of an establishment from EPFO and ESIC coverage.
  
  
• The procedure for self-assessment and payment of Cess in respect of building and other construction workers has been elaborated in the rules.
  
  
• The rate of Interest for delayed payment of such cess has been reduced from 2 per cent every month or part of a month to 1 per cent

LEONID METEOR SHOWER

The Leonid meteor showers are currently making their yearly appearance, and will reach their peak in India on November 17 and 18. In 2020, these showers are active from November 6th to November 30th.

About:

• The Leonids emerge from the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which requires 33 years to revolve once around the Sun.
  
  
• These meteors are bright and among the fastest moving– travelling at speeds of 71 km per second. During this year’s showers, peaks of around 10 to 15 meteors are expected to be seen every hour.
  
  
• The Leonid showers include fireballs– bright and large meteors than can last longer than average meteors, and “earthgazers”– meteors which appear close to the horizon with colourful and long tails.
  
  
• Meteor showers are named after the constellation they appear to be coming from. The Leonids originate from the constellation Leo the Lion– the groups of stars which form a lion’s mane.
  

MONETARY SUPPORT TO PRIVATE SPORTS ACADEMIES

In a first-ever move, the Sports Ministry has introduced a incentivisation structure to extend monetary support to 500 private academies, through the Khelo India Scheme over the next four years starting FY 2020-21.

About:

• In this model, private academies shall be graded into different categories based on achievement of players trained by the academy, level of coaches available at the academy, quality of Field of Play and allied infrastructure, availability of sports science facilities and staff.
  
  
• The 14 priority disciplines identified for excellence in 2028 Olympics will be eligible for receiving support in the first phase.
  
  
• Under the scheme, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and National Sports Federation (NSFs) will be working together. SAI will also hold discussions with NSFs and implement categorisation and gradation of the academies.
  
  
• The number of academies to be funded and the quantum of funding under each discipline will be determined by an objective evaluation of the need for investment and each NSF’s capabilities.

EMERGENCY RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (ERS) FOR POWER LINES

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), constituent laboratory Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) based in Chennai, has developed an indigenous technology, Emergency Retrieval System (ERS), for quick retrieval of power transmission in the event of failure of transmission line towers.

About:

• At present, the ERS systems are imported and the cost is relatively high. This technological development will enable the manufacturing in India for the first time, which will be an import substitute and will cost about 40% of imported systems.
  
  
• ERS is a lightweight modular system that is used as temporary support structure to restore power immediately after the collapse of transmission line towers during natural calamities such as cyclone/earthquake, or manmade disruptions.
  
  
• Made of structurally highly stable box sections, ERS is lightweight, modular and reusable.
  
  
• ERS can be assembled quickly at the disaster site for restoration of power in 2-3 days, whereas the permanent restoration may take several weeks.
  
  
• This development is very significant as failure of transmission lines severely impact lives of common people and causes huge monetary loss to the power companies.

YASHVARDHAN KUMAR SINHA

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). Before the appointment, he has been serving as an Information Commissioner (IC) in the Central Information Commission since January 1, 2019.

Central Information Commission:

• The RTI Act 2005 provides for the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions in each state.
  
  
• The CIC has been constituted in 2005 under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
  
  
• The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities.
  
  

Information Commissioners:

• The Central Information Commission shall consist of:
  • the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC)
    
    
  • such numbers of Central Information Commissioners (ICs), not exceeding ten, as may be deemed necessary
    
    
  
  
  
• Eligibility:
  • The members shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.
    
    
  • The CIC or IC shall not be an MP or MLA or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.
    
    
  
  
  
• Oath: The Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner shall before he enters upon his office make and subscribe before the President or some other person appointed by him in that behalf.
  
  
• Appointment: The members of the commission are appointed by a committee consisting of the PM (as Chair), Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister appointed by the PM.
  
  
• Resignation: The CIC or an IC may, at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign from his office.
  
  
• Removal:
• The CIC or an IC may be removed from office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, reports that he/she should be removed on the grounds mentioned.
  
  
• The President may also remove them from office if such a person is adjudged insolvent, convicted for certain offences etc.
  

JOLLY GRANT AIRPORT

Environmental activists and local residents in Uttarakhand are opposing the cutting of trees for a project to expand Dehradun’s Jolly Grant airport.

About:

• Dehradun Airport, also known as Jolly Grant Airport, is located 25 km south-east of Dehradun.
  
  
• Commercial operations began on 30 March 2008 after a runway extension to accommodate larger aircraft.
  
  
• It is also known as the Air Gateway of Garhwal and plays an important role in the tourism of Uttarakhand.

BIRSA MUNDA

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Bhagwan Birsa Munda on his Jayanti.

About:

• Birsa Munda (1875 – 1900) was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe.
  
  
• He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj.
  
  
• The revolt mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Tamar, Sarwada and Bandgaon.
  
  
• His slogan threatening the British Raj—Abua raj seter jana, maharani raj tundu jana ("Let the kingdom of the queen be ended and our kingdom be established")—is remembered even today.
  
  
• His portrait hangs in the Indian Parliament Museum; he is the only tribal leader to have been so honoured.