GOVERNING COUNCIL
The sixth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing.
About:
- It was attended by 26 Chief Ministers, 3 Lieutenant Governors and 2 Administrators, apart from Union Ministers, who are Ex-Officio Members, and Special Invitees.
- NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Members and CEO, Principal Secretary to the PM & other senior officers from PMO; Cabinet Secretary; and Chief Secretaries of States/ Union Territories also attended the meeting.
AYESHA AZIZ
Ayesha Aziz is emerging as a role model for Kashmir women.
About:
- Ayesha Aziz became the nation’s youngest pilot when she acquired her student flying licence at the age of 16. At 25 now, she flies GoAir planes.
- Aziz was given the First Ladies’ Award by the President of India in 2018.
CENTRE FOR DNA FINGERPRINTING AND DIAGNOSTICS (CDFD)
Vice President of India paid a visit to Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad. He also inaugurated a Paediatric Rare Genetic Disorders Laboratory.
About:
- The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) is an autonomous organization funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
- Established in 1990.
- Location: Hyderabad, Telangana
TWIN OTTER-300 AIRCRAFT
The Ahmedabad-Kevadia seaplane returned from the Maldives on February 16 after a two-week maintenance tour at its home country. This was the third major suspension since its launch on October 31, 2020.
Why does the aircraft fly to Maldives?
- A thorough maintenance check is part of the operation manual of the seaplane, which is a Twin Otter-300 aircraft. The plane will keep going back to the Maldives — its home country — every time it completes 124 flying hours.
- This is because the infrastructure to carry out the maintenance is not available in India.
- Moreover, the maintenance is not just about physical servicing but requires certification at various levels. The flight is registered in the Maldives and the aviation bodies there need to check the flight and certify that it is fit for flying. It is the property of that country.
GIG ECONOMY WORKERS
The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers were to be considered workers and not freelance contractors, thereby making them eligible for all employment related benefits such as minimum wage, annual leaves, and insurance.
About:
- With this ruling, Uber and other service providing platforms could also potentially face legal and regulatory challenges in India, as big tech companies from across the globe are under government scrutiny for the differential terms of service and engagement in geographies such as the EU and in locations such as India.
- The increased focus on big tech aside, the central government has already put in place some legal protection for gig economy workers.
- The budget for the 2021-22 has already mandated that the law on minimum wages would now apply to workers of all categories including those associated with platforms such as Uber.
- Such workers would now be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), which mandates employers depositing a certain amount of money with the state insurer, the rest of which is paid by the government.
- November last year, the central government had come out with specific norms for ride hailing apps such as Uber and Ola.
- Under the new rules, ride hailing apps could charge a maximum of 20 per cent commission per ride from driver partners, while also capping the total number of working hours per day at 12.
- The new regulations also provided for the maximum fare that these platforms could charge customers even during high demand peak hours, and that they would have to provide drivers with insurance.
- DEATH PENALTYOn February 18, the 12-year-old son of Shabnam, a death row convict from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to “forgive” his mother.
About:
- The same day, Shabman filed a second mercy petition with the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and the President of India, both of whom have earlier rejected her plea.
- If executed, Shabnam will be the first woman in independent India to be hanged for a crime.
Legal options still available with Shabnam
- These include the right to challenge the rejection of her mercy petition before the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court on various grounds and also the right to file a curative petition in the Supreme Court against the decision on the review petition.”
- The curative petition can challenge the Supreme Court decision of January 2020, which upheld her death sentence.
- Also, under the law, if multiple people have been sentenced to death in the same case, they have to be executed together. So, Shabnam and Saleem can be hanged only after both of them exhaust all their legal recourses.
- The same day, Shabman filed a second mercy petition with the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and the President of India, both of whom have earlier rejected her plea.
- SPUTNIK VDr Reddy’s Laboratories has approached India’s apex drug regulatory body for emergency approval of Sputnik V.
About:
- This is a vaccine that uses two different human common cold viruses (adenovirus) that have been modified so that the gene causing the cold infection is removed and instead replaced with a code to make SARS-CoV-2’s ‘spike protein’ (the spikes seen on the surface of the virus, which allows it to penetrate the cells and replicate).
- The human adenoviruses then act as a vehicle to transport this code to the cells when a person is vaccinated, so that the body can develop an immune response in the form of antibodies to protect it in the event the real virus tries to infect.
- The vaccine, named after the first Soviet space satellite, was developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
FOOTWEAR SIZING SYSTEMBy next year, India could have its own ‘Footwear Sizing System’, which will hopefully remove some of the confusion involved in buying shoes of ‘EU’, ‘UK’ or ‘US’ sizes, especially online.
About:
- CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) will lead a pan India feet scanning survey, data from which will be used to define Indian footwear size standards – and which will be included by shoe manufacturers in their size charts.
- The project, which is scheduled to begin later this year and continue for 14 months, is supported by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Union Ministry of Commerce.
SAKA NANKANA SAHIBThe centenary of Sri Nankana Sahib massacre, which is popularly known as Saka Nankana Sahib, is being marked in an event there on February 21 this year.
About:
- Nankana Sahib, the birth place of first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev, was also the site of the first big agitation by the SGPC to take back control of gurdwaras from mahants backed by the British.
- The SGPC came to existence in November 1920, a month after Sikhs removed partial restrictions on Dalit rights inside Golden Temple in Amritsar.
- It started gurdwara reform movement which was aimed at taking possession of historical Sikh Gurdwaras, which had turned personal property of the priests, who were called mahants. These mahants were also accused of running practices from gurdwaras which were not approved in Sikhism.
‘POPULATION VERSUS PLANET’ CONFERENCEUnion Minister for Health and Family Welfare participated in WION and Zee Media’s ‘Population versus Planet’ Conference which is a part of its year-long campaign called 'Mission Sustainability: Population Vs Planet'.
Key highlights:
- World population has witnessed an increase from 1 billion in the year 1800 to 7.8 billion today.
- Even though India's population has increased from 36 crore in 1951 to 121.02 crore in 2011, the country has witnessed significant decline in both fertility and mortality;
- the crude birth rate which was recorded at 40.8 per 1000 in 1951 has declined to 20.0 in 2018;
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 6.0 in 1951 to 2.2 in 2015-16;
- death rate in India has declined from 7 in 2012 to 6.2 in 2018.
- the crude birth rate which was recorded at 40.8 per 1000 in 1951 has declined to 20.0 in 2018;
- Population projection for India and States 2011-2036, released in July 2020, indicates that the Total Fertility Rate is expected to decline from 2.37 during 2011-2015 to 1.73 during 2031-35.
- The youth population in the age group of 15-24 years is projected to decline from 233 million in 2011 to 227 million in 2036.
- However, the proportion of the working age population is expected to increase from 61% in 2011 to 65% in 2036. India is adding 12 million people to the working age population each year.
PERSEVERANCE ROVERThe shadow of NASA’s Perseverance rover was seen on the surface of Mars as it landed on the planet. With this, NASA is set to become the first space agency to fly a drone in the atmosphere of another planet.
About:
- Mission Name: Mars 2020
- Rover Name: Perseverance
- Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.
- Launch: July 30, 2020
- Landing: 18, 2021
- Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars
- This is a vaccine that uses two different human common cold viruses (adenovirus) that have been modified so that the gene causing the cold infection is removed and instead replaced with a code to make SARS-CoV-2’s ‘spike protein’ (the spikes seen on the surface of the virus, which allows it to penetrate the cells and replicate).
- ANASTASIAAfter 15 months, Anand Fernandes, a Mumbai sailor returned home. He was a crew member on the cargo ship Anastasia, which was stranded at a Chinese port due to the coronavirus pandemic.
About:
- Fernandes started his journey on Anastasia before the pandemic in November 2019 and the ship travelled to the U.S., Netherlands, South Africa, India, China, and Australia.
- However, the second trip to China resulted in the ship being stranded in Chinese waters as the pandemic scare prevented unloading of Australian coal. China also had new regulations on imports.
- After the successful negotiations with Chinese officials, the ship was then taken to Japan from where the crew flew to Dubai and then to the respective cities of residence.
- Fernandes started his journey on Anastasia before the pandemic in November 2019 and the ship travelled to the U.S., Netherlands, South Africa, India, China, and Australia.
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