NEO IAS Daily Newsletter
TPS 19 Daily Current Affairs
31st December, 2018 | Prelims Countdown: 151 Days
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Polity and Governance Freedom of Literature Bill New naming_ A & N Islands Science and Technology Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum building technology Braille calendar Economy Fiscal Consolidation Current Affair Capsules Chitwan National park Map Aided Programme For any furthequeries, kindly contact us Giza, Egypt on: 9446331522, 9188152205 Previous Year Questions Revision Series (Pqrs)- Note: We attempt to cover new issues (2015) every day and drop the issues which are already covered. Therefore aspirants are advised to regularly follow NEO POLITY AND GOVERNANCE IAS daily current affairs material and video for a guaranteed success in FREEDOM OF LITERATURE BILL Prelims 2019. NEO IAS daily current Why in news? affairs stands out from other daily current affairs by its exclusive UPSC Member of Parliament Dr Shashi Tharoor introduced a private bill titled prelims focus on aspects that lie in and "Freedom of Literature Bill" in the Lok Sabha. beyond current affairs. About the bill The Bill seeks to amend the provisions in the Indian Penal Code, Code of
Criminal Procedure, Customs Act and the Indecent Representation of
Women (Prohibition) Act which affect literary and artistic freedom.
IPC – Sec 295A & 298 The Bill seeks the omission of Section 295A and 298 IPC, which punish acts done to outrage or wound religious feelings. Sections 295A and 298 are proposed to be omitted as redundant as the Section 153A of IPC already dealt with speeches and acts intended to disrupt communal harmony.
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The provision is worded in wide and vague terms and are mostly used to suppress alternate views expressed by writers, thinkers and scholars. IPC – Sec 292 & 293 The Bill seeks to amend the provisions dealing with obscenity. Section 292 IPC, which punishes publication of obscene material, is sought to be omitted wholly. Section 293 IPC, which deals with distribution of obscene material, is sought to be amended to make such distribution an offence only if it is targeted at children below the age of 18 years. Section 67 of the Information Technology Act Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, which deals with online obscenity, is proposed to be amended to cover only child pornography. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 is also sought to be amended by the Bill to state that indecent representation is any depiction which is derogatory to women, i.e. encouraging misogyny or discrimination. The obscenity element is removed from the definition. Customs Act
It further seeks to amend the Section 11 of the Customs Act to state that
the import of a book cannot banned, barring exceptional circumstances where the distribution of the book is likely to lead to a break down in public order despite the State taking all reasonable measures to prevent the same. CrPC- Sec 95 & 96 The Bill also amends Sections 95 and 96 of the CrPC, which enables Government to ban and forfeit books. What is a private member bill? A Member of the Parliament who is not a Minister (i.e. not a member of
the Government) is regarded as a Private Member.
A Bill introduced in either house of Parliament by any such Member of
Parliament is called a Private Members’ Bill. Bills introduced by Ministers are called Government Bills. A private member can also introduce a constitutional amendment bill. NEW NAMING_ A & N ISLANDS
Why in news?
The Prime Minister visited Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to attend the 75th anniversary of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose’s declaration of the formation of the Azad Hind government in 1943. About the news Prime Minister renamed three islands in Andaman & Nicobar.
PM mentioned the Panchteerth related to Babasaheb Ambedkar, the
National Police Memorial, and the Statue of Unity.
He also had a mention on the National Awards been announced in the
names of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel. He inaugurated an ITI at Arong and a Modern Sports Complex in Car Nicobar. New Names 1. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island, formerly Ross Island. o It is an island of the Andaman Islands, near to Port Blair. o It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district.
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o *Don’t confuse it with Ross and Smith islands in North Andaman. 2. Shaheed Island, formerly Neill Island o It is an island of the Andaman Islands, located in Ritchie's Archipelago. o It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district. 3. Swaraj Island, formerly Havelock Island
o It is the one of the largest islands that comprise a chain of islands to the east of Great Andaman in the Andaman Islands.
Related Information (PLUS)
Panchtheerth The current government will develop five places as “Panchteerth” in honour of B R AMbedkar, announced in 2016. It includes 1. Amedbkar’s birthplace in Mhow 2. The place in London where he stayed while studying in UK 3. ‘Deeksha Bhoomi’ in Nagpur, where he took education 4. ‘Mahaparinirvan Sthal’ in Delhi
5. ‘Chaitya Bhoomi’ in Mumbai
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED GYPSUM BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
Why in news? Kerala government to use the building technology developed by IIT Madras for the housing needs of those whose homes were ravaged by the floods in August this year.
About the technology
It is the Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum building technology. GFRG are prefabricated hollow panels, introduced in Australia as an alternative building material in 1990. It is commercially known as Rapidwall. This technology was introduced in India in 2003, using all kinds of gypsum. The concept was enriched and enhanced by the IIT Madras team of researchers and has extended the use of panels as floor/roof slabs, staircase waist, and landing slabs. The technology recycles gypsum to produce low-cost, environment- friendly housing which is also resistant to earthquake damage. Gypsum is a major waste product of the fertilizer industry and coal fired power plants. Gypsum is converted to Plaster of Paris through calcination. The wall panel is made out of Plaster of Paris reinforced with glass fibre. The panel so produced will have cavities which can be filled with
concrete depending upon the load.
It eliminates the use of bricks. Overall benefits of GFRG technology Substantial reduction in the structural weight of the building contributing to savings in foundation and reduction in earthquake design forces No plastering, no painting requirement for walls and ceiling Increased speed of construction with lesser manpower
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Environment friendly and cost effective Save fertile agricultural land and energy intensive burnt clay bricks Saving of 8-10 per cent built-up area for the same carpet area Increased thermal resistance of gypsum, reduces the air conditioning load on the buildings Approvals GFRG panels have been approved as a green material by the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) under
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
GFRG have also been approved by the World Bank as being eligible for 'carbon credits' under the Kyoto Protocol. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Government of India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently approved standards for the structural design of GFRG buildings BRAILLE CALENDAR
Why in news? Braille calendars reach users in Odisha. About the news The visually impaired in Odisha will also welcome the New Year with a new calendar for 2019. The special Odia calendar and almanac in Braille format named ‘Braille Dinapanjhika 2019’ is meant for free distribution.
What is braille?
Braille is a system of touch reading and writing for persons who are blind, in which raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet. It allows people who are blind to read, write, and communicate without needing eyesight. Represented through a series of raised bumps that correlate to letters, number, and punctuation marks, and joined together to form words and sentences, braille is read by moving the hand or hands from left to right along each line.
Braille is actually a code for transcribing printed text and is not a different
language.
What is the braille alphabet?
It is a group of unique symbols, each representing one of the twenty six letters of the alphabet. The only differences between the Braille alphabet and any other traditional alphabet is that it must be embossed onto paper rather than being printed, and it is read with fingers rather than eyes. ECONOMY
FISCAL CONSOLIDATION
Why in news? Eight months into the financial year, the Revenue trends underline the government’s challenge on the fiscal consolidation front. What is fiscal consolidation? Fiscal Consolidation refers to the policies undertaken by Governments at national and sub-national levels to reduce their deficits and accumulation of debt stock.
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The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act gives the targets for fiscal consolidation in India. Key deficits of government are the revenue deficit and the fiscal deficit. Revenue deficit Revenue deficit is the gap between the consumption expenditure
(revenue expenditure) of the Government and its current revenues
(revenue receipts).
It also indicates the extent to which the government has borrowed to
finance the current expenditure. Revenue receipts consist of tax revenues and non-tax revenues. Tax revenues comprise proceeds of taxes and other duties levied. The expenditure incurred for normal running of government functionaries, which otherwise does not result in creation of assets is called revenue expenditure. Examples of revenue expenditure
o Interest Payments and Servicing of Debt
o Pensions. Government’s expenditure on Grants-in-Aid and contributions to o States and Union Territories
Fiscal deficit
Fiscal deficit is the difference between revenue receipts plus non-debt capital receipts on the one side and total expenditure including loans, net of repayments, on the other. It is simply the difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government with borrowings not included in the revenue part. It measures the gap between the government consumption expenditure including loan repayments and the anticipated income from tax and non-tax revenues. It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government.
Following measures are envisaged by the government to achieve fiscal consolidation Improved tax revenue realization Enhancing tax GDP ratio by widening the tax base and minimizing tax concessions and exemptions also improves tax revenues. Better targeting of government subsidies and extending Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for more subsidies.
CURRENT AFFAIR CAPSULES CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK
21 rhinos have died due to accidents and natural causes in Chitwan National Park. Chitwan National Park, the first national park in Nepal was established in 1973 and granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. Finder of Rare Entities (FiRE) It is an algorithm developed by Delhi researchers to detect rare cells like circulating tumour cells, cancer stem cells, antigen-specific T cells, circulating endothelial cells. Rare cell populations can shed light on the process of cancer metastasis (spreading of cancer to other parts of the body) thus providing information for early detection and clinical management of the disease.
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MAP AIDED PROGRAMME GIZA, EGYPT Deadly blast hits tour bus near Giza pyramids in Egypt. Giza is an Egyptian city on the west bank of the Nile, near Cairo. Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau and houses ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza.
PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS REVISION SERIES (PQRS)-(2015) 1. Which of the following National Parks is unique in being a swamp with floating vegetation that supports a rich biodiversity? (a) Bhitarkanika National Park (b) Keibul Lamjao National Park (c) Keoladeo Ghana National Park (d) Sultanpur National Park
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