InstaLinks help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background. This helps you study a topic holistically and add new dimensions to every current event to help you think analytically.
Table of Contents:
GS Paper 2:
1. Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015.
GS Paper 3:
1. National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage.
2. NITI Aayog report on digital financial inclusion.
3. How Israel’s Iron Dome intercepts rockets?
Facts for Prelims:
1. World Food Prize.
2. International Nurses and Midwives Day.
GS Paper : 2
Topics Covered: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015:
Context:
Social media posts appealing for adoption of children orphaned during COVID-19 are illegal, warn experts.
- Activists warn that such posts are illegal under Section 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015, which prohibit offering or receiving children outside the processes laid down under the Act as well as their sale and purchase.
- Such acts are punishable with three to five years in jail or ₹1 lakh in fine.
What is the procedure to be followed with children who have been orphaned?
- If someone has information about a child in need of care, then they must contact one of the four agencies: Childline 1098, or the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) or the helpline of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
- Following this, the CWC will assess the child and place him or her in the immediate care of a Specialised Adoption Agency.
- When there is a child without a family, the State becomes the guardian.
Other childcare options available:
Adoption is only one of the options, it is not the only option. Such children will have uncles or aunts who can look after them. Children may desire contact with their own family and to remain within the same heritage. In such circumstances it is very important to guard the rights of the children involved.
Need of the hour:
This is the time to focus on kinship care. The Ministry of Women and Child Development and all concerned State departments should immediately roll out a kinship care programme and make it part of foster care provisions under the JJ Act.
About JJ Act:
- Aim: To Comprehensively address children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.
- It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district. Both must have at least one-woman member each.
- Also, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) was granted the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
- The Act included several new offences committed against children (like, illegal adoptions, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children, etc) which are not adequately covered under any other law.
- All Child Care Institutions, whether run by State Government or by voluntary or non-governmental organisations are to be mandatorily registered under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Key Provisions.
- About CARA.
- Registration of Childcare institutions as per the Act.
- Latest amendments proposed.
Mains Link:
Discuss the significance of the law.
Sources: the Hindu.
Topics Covered: Issues related to health.
Vaccine hesitancy:
Context:
Authorities in rural and remote districts of Chhattisgarh are engaging tribal activists among others as a strategy to remove vaccine hesitancy among the villagers in the fight against Covid.
What’s the issue?
People believe fake news faster than genuine information in these times. They either believe the vaccine is going to kill them or make them impotent.
What is being done?
- Through posters and folk songs, the administration is trying to attract the rural and tribal populace.
- They are going to make it mandatory for the panch and other village representatives to get themselves and their families vaccinated.
- Similarly, the employers will be mandated to get their employees vaccinated.
Vaccine Hesitancy: A generation at risk:
Vaccine hesitancy is defined by WHO as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services”.
- It was one of 10 threats to global health this year.
What’s the Concern?
A vaccine is one of the essential weapons in the armamentarium in our war against the pandemic. Any hesitation in accepting the vaccine will have a negative consequence on our effort to control the pandemic.
Need of the hour:
- Proactively address the reasons behind this hesitancy.
- Give confidence to the public by discussing the robustness of various processes involved in drug/vaccine development — clinical trial designs, conduct, monitoring, analysis, reporting and the regulatory reviews that happen before it is approved.
- This will make the public aware about the rigorous processes followed for clinical trials, and the approval, as followed by regulators.
InstaLinks:
Prelims and Mains Links:
Meaning, Concerns, challenges and ways to address them.
Sources: Indian Express.
GS Paper : 3
Topics Covered: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage:
Context:
The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Department of Heavy Industry for implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme ‘National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage’ for achieving manufacturing capacity of Fifty (50) GigaWatt Hour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of “Niche” ACC.
About the scheme:
- It is a ₹18,100 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for building Tesla-style giga factories to manufacture batteries.
- The plan is to set up 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) manufacturing capacity for advanced chemistry cell batteries by attracting investments totaling ₹45,000 crore.
- As part of the scheme, each selected ACC battery storage manufacturer would have to commit to set up an ACC manufacturing facility of minimum 5GWh capacity and ensure a minimum 60% domestic value addition at the project level within five years.
What are Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC)?
ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required.
Significance of the scheme:
All the demand of the ACCs is currently being met through imports in India.
- The National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage will reduce import dependence.
- It will also support the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. ACC battery Storage manufacturers will be selected through a transparent competitive bidding process.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- What are ACCs?
- Applications.
- About the PLI schemes.
- Overview of the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage.
Sources: PIB.
Topics Covered: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
NITI Aayog report on digital financial inclusion:
Context:
NITI Aayog and Mastercard have released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’.
- The report identifies challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to its 1.3 billion citizens.
Challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion:
- Digital Exclusions.
- Unfamiliarity With DBT.
- Breeding of Corruption.
- Inadequate Rural Banking.
- Unsuccessful Banking Correspondent Model.
- Accountability Issue.
Key recommendations in the report include:
- Strengthening the payment infrastructure to promote a level playing field for NBFCs and banks.
- Digitizing registration and compliance processes and diversifying credit sources to enable growth opportunities for MSMEs.
- Building information sharing systems,including a ‘fraud repository’, and ensuring that online digital commerce platforms carry warnings to alert consumers to the risk of frauds.
- Enabling agricultural NBFCs to access low-cost capital and deploy a ‘phygital’ (physical + digital) model for achieving better long-term digital outcomes. Digitizing land records will also provide a major boost to the sector.
- To make city transit seamlessly accessible to all with minimal crowding and queues, leveraging existing smartphones and contactless cards, and aim for an inclusive, interoperable, and fully open system such as that of the London ‘Tube’.
Sources: PIB.
Topics Covered: Science and Technology- developments and their applications.
How Israel’s Iron Dome intercepts rockets?
Context:
In the conflict between Israel and Palestine, both sides have taken to air strikes and rocket attacks.
- Recently, rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome air defence system. It appeared that the rockets were hitting an invisible shield.
What is Iron Dome?
- Deployed in 2011, it is a short-range, ground-to-air, air defence system that includes a radar and Tamir interceptor missiles that track and neutralise any rockets or missiles aimed at Israeli targets.
- It is used for countering rockets, artillery & mortars (C-RAM) as well as aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.
- Its success rate is over 90%.
How does it work, and what makes it so effective?
- The Iron Dome has three main systems that work together to provide a shield over the area where it is deployed, handling multiple threats.
- It has a detection and tracking radar to spot any incoming threats, a battle management and weapon control system (BMC), and a missile firing unit.
- It is capable of being used in all weather conditions, including during the day and night.
What kind of systems does India have?
- India has got S-400, which caters to the three threats (rockets, missiles and cruise missiles). But they have much longer range. S400 has to cater to shooting down missiles, aircraft in some 300 to 400 km range.
- At the moment, India has Akash short-range surface-to-air missiles, and Russian systems including Pechora.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- About Iron dome and its working.
- India’s Akash missile system.
- About Pechora.
- Where is Gaza strip.
Sources: Indian Express.
Facts for Prelims:
World Food Prize:
Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a global nutrition expert of Indian descent has won the prestigious 2021 World Food Prize for her groundbreaking research in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems.
About the World Food Prize:
The World Food Prize is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
- Fields Covered: Any field involved in the world food supply including plant, animal and soil science; food science and technology; nutrition, rural development, etc.
- Eligibility: It is open for any individual without regard to race, religion, nationality or political beliefs.
- Cash Prize: $2,50,000.
- It is presented by the World Food Prize Foundation which has over 80 companies, individuals, etc. as donors.
- Norman E. Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in global agriculture, conceived the Prize. He is also known as the Father of the Green Revolution.
- The World Food Prize was created in 1986 with sponsorship by General Foods Corporation.
- It is also known as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture”.
- M.S. Swaminathan, the father of India’s green revolution, was the first recipient of this award in 1987.
International Nurses and Midwives Day:
Celebrated on May 12 every year.
Theme: A Voice to Lead-A Vision for Future Healthcare.
- Started in 1965 by the International Council of Nurses(ICN).
- This day is the birth anniversary of the famous Florence Nightingale.
- Florence Nightingale was an English nurse, social reformer, and statistician. During the Crimean war, she gained fame while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses, being the pillar of modern nursing.
Join our Official Telegram Channel HERE for Motivation and Fast Updates
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel HERE to watch Motivational and New analysis videos
