EducatorIAS

In exercise of the powers conferred by sections of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 the government has notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. These rules shall apply to every manufacturer, producer, consumer, bulk consumer, collection centers, dealers, e-retailer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler involved in manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase, collection, storage and processing of e-waste or  electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I, including their components, consumables, parts, and spares which make the product operational but shall not apply to o used lead-acid batteries as covered under the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 made under the Act; o micro-enterprises as defined in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (27 of 2006); Hence, statement 1 is correct. o radio-active wastes as covered under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962) and rules made thereunder....

Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) o It is a multi-stakeholder partnership that brings together all actors working to prevent marine litter and microplastics. It is a voluntary open-ended partnership for international agencies, Governments, businesses, academia, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations and individuals.  o It provides a unique global platform to share knowledge and experience, partners are able to work  together to create and advance solutions to this pressing global issue. o It was launched at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012  in response to a request set out in the Manila Declaration on Furthering the Implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.  o The partnership is led by a Steering Committee and the United Nations Environment Programme  (UNEP) provides secretariat se...

How does Reserve Bank of India discharge its statutory obligation of being 'Banker to Government'? RBI carries out the general banking business of the governments through its own offices and commercial banks, both public and private, appointed as its agents. Section 45 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, provides for appointment of scheduled commercial banks as agents at all places or at any place in India, for purposes that it may specify, “having regard to public interest, convenience of banking, banking development and such other factors which in its opinion are relevant in this regard”. Reserve Bank of India maintains the Principal Accounts of Central as well as State Governments at its Central Accounts Section, Nagpur. It has put in place a well-structured arrangement for revenue collection as well as payments on behalf of Government across the country. A network comprising the Government Banking Divisions of RBI and branches of agency banks appointed under Section 45 ...

The Inter-communal Unity Appeal made in October 1923 by a group of Indians led by Lala Lajpat Rai, Mufti Kifayatullah, Swami Shraddhanand, Maulana Azad, Kasturba Gandhi and 95 others. All sections of our public need to be reminded of its pragmatic approach: “If any individual or group of individuals belonging to any community commits an act of violence against, or attacks the person, property or honour of women or places of worship (mandir, mosque, church or gurdwara, etc) of his neighbour or townsman or helps those who indulge in such misdeeds, he is, from the religious point of view, guilty of a great sin; and that it is the duty of co-religionists of such offenders to stand up and resist such miscreants and to protect those who are so attacked.”

SVAMITVA scheme The aim of this program is to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.  Benefits of the scheme : This scheme will help in streamlining planning and revenue collection in rural areas and ensuring clarity on property rights. also help in resolving property related disputes. The scheme will enable creation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), leveraging the maps created under this programme. It also  provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, engaging the latest Drone Surveying technology, for demarcating the inhabitant (Aabadi) land in rural areas.  Implementing the scheme  The program is currently being implemented in six states - Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand [HKMMUU] ° Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) will be set up  ...

Major areas need re-examine the efficacy of our political structures in India are : 1) The equation between citizens and government and what its implications are for individual freedom, privacy and national security;  2)The equation between legislature and executive;  3)The balance of administrative and financial power between provinces and the union on the one hand and provinces and local bodies on the other. The way we elect our representatives to legislatures must also come under the lens. 4) The issue of atrophied local authorities and enfeebled legislatures needs attention. For, they are at the coalface, delivering the state to the citizen. 5)The way legislatures are elected and governments are made and unmade must be scrutinised 6)The relation between the state and economy, its role in allocating resources and addressing questions of inequality, its duty to provide basic human needs, the extent of the market’s role in providing services such as health, education, civic a...

Background : History always teaches prepadeness for future risk, when we remember pandemic globally, plague,HIV, SARAS created panic all over the world.For instance The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is believed to have made the zoonotic jump from monkeys through chimpanzees to humans in Africa as early as the 1920s, but the HIV/AIDS epidemic was detected in 1981 and was a pandemic by 1985. From 1981 till December 2018, around 74.9 (range: 58.3 to 98.1) million people worldwide were HIV-infected, and around 32.0 (range: 23.6 to 43.8) million died (43%, range: 41 to 45%) from AIDS-related illnesses.Countries like Uganda and  Thailand used social vaccine to control pandemic of HIV. What is Social vaccine? A social vaccine is a metaphor for a series of social and behavioural measures that governments can use to raise public consciousness about unhealthy situations through social mobilisation. Social mo...

It has been a topsy-turvy start to the third decade of this century. COVID-19 has brought with it many disruptions. Coronavirus has significantly changed the contours of professional life. These days, home is the new office. The Internet is the new meeting room. For the time being, office breaks with colleagues are history. I have also been adapting to these changes. Most meetings, be it with minister colleagues, officials and world leaders, are now via video conferencing. In order to get ground level feedback from various stakeholders, there have been videoconference meetings with several sections of society. There were extensive interactions with NGOs, civil society groups and community organisations. There was an interaction with Radio Jockeys too. Besides that, I have been making numerous phone calls daily, taking feedback from different sections of society. One is seeing the ways through which people are continuing their work in these times. There are a few creative videos...

Supply Chain can be understood as a value-creation process, wherein all firms in a chain, link and align, to enhance the value of the chain as a whole(Porter, 1985). The process of value creation is achieved by firm operations, integration of processes, logistics and maintenance of products through quality control.  Supply Chain Management in agriculture is defined as “The management of movement of agricultural commodities, from the farm through the rural and urban markets to reach the doorsteps of end consumer- both household and industrial consumer; consists of various players, starting from the agricultural producer, through the middle men, commission agents and traders, the bulk purchasers or procurers, millers or intermediary processor, warehousing agents, or cold storage space providers and transporters, through whom  material finally reaches either retail distribution system for raw consumption or the food processing industries where it goes through ...

How India has played a crucial role in assuming these “global responsibilities” by responding to a variety of crises in its neighbourhood and beyond .? Discuss  India as a “first responder” reflects the country’s growing capability and increasing willingness to assume the role of a leading power. By contributing its resources to prevent or mitigate regional and international crises, India is demonstrating its commitment as a responsible actor in the international order. Beyond narrow self-interest, such contributions help project India’s soft power abroad and portray India in a positive light. They also reflect India’s expanding sphere of influence and capacity to shape events abroad. The international order is facing a variety of transnational challenges that occasionally erupt into acute crises.  This is particularly apparent in seven issue-areas. 1. Natural disasters When the forces of nature unleash their fury on South Asia, the Indian government and m...

One Health Initiative - an inter-sectoral approach to tackling the most urgent health threats in India as well as in low and middle income countries across South and South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Atal JaiAnusandhan Biotech Mission - Undertaking Nationally Relevant Technology Innovation ( UNaTI ), which is expected to transform Health, Agriculture and Energy sectors during the next 5 years. GARBH-ini  - A Mission to promote Maternal and Child Health and develop prediction tools for pre-term berth.  IndCEPI  - A Mission to develop affordable vaccines for endemic diseases, Development of Biofortified and Protein Rich wheat - contributing to POSHAN Abhiyan, Mission on  Anti Microbial Resistance  for Affordable Diagnostics and Therapeutics Clean Energy Mission  - Innovative Technology interventions for Swachh Bharat. UMMID ’: initiative to tackle inherited genetic diseases of new born babies: Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse (L...

India is relatively strong at the level of individual competence but weak at the organisational and systemic levels

Antibody defense To fight a virus, the immune system develops antibodies, proteins that bind to parts of the virus and impede the infection. When a person makes antibodies in response to an infection or upon getting a vaccine, it’s called active immunity. The initial ramp up to antibody production can take about a week or two, but once that has occurred, the immune system will be able to quickly respond to the next exposure to the virus. For some viruses and vaccines, active immunity can last decades or even lifelong. Convalescent plasma, also called passive antibody therapy, is a type of passive immunity. It can provide antibodies immediately, but the proteins will last only for a short amount of time, weeks to possibly a few months.  use of convalescent plasma is not a new concept. By giving patients plasma or serum from patients who have developed antibodies to a particular virus or bacteria, an infected patient is given a massive boost to their adaptive immune system, which con...

In the year 2019,Chinesedoctor who shocked the scientific community  by announcing the birth of twins whose genes had allegedly been altered to confer immunity to HIV.(“illegally carrying out the human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction), The claim shocked scientists of entire  worldwide, raising questions about bioethics.  What do you mean by Bioethics?  "The discipline dealing with the ethical implications of biological research and applications especially in medicine. Bioethics includes the study of what is right and wrong in new discoveries and techniques in biology, such as genetic engineering and the transplantation of organs."or  Bioethics refers to the principles and guidelines set for guiding research from its inception till the completion and scientific publication of the research results. It is an ethical theory that brings together the law, medicine, philosophy, social sciences, theology, politics and other disciplines to addres...

Quantum Technology : Quantum Technology is based on the principles of quantum theory, which explains the nature of energy and matter on the atomic and subatomic level. It concerns the control and manipulation of quantum systems, with the goal of achieving information processing beyond the limits of the classical world. Quantum principles will be used for engineering solutions to extremely complex problems in computing, communications, sensing, chemistry, cryptography, imaging and mechanics. Quantum field has not yet matured for commercialization, due to the extreme scientific challenges involved. Function of Quantum Computers  Quantum computers store and process information using quantum two level systems (quantum bits or qubits) which unlike classical bits, can be prepared in superposition states.  This key ability makes quantum computers extremely powerful compared to conventional computers when solving certain kinds of problems like finding pr...

How environmental protection confers health protection. Substantiate? 

Universal public healthcare is essential not only to curb outbreaks, but also to ensure crisis preparedness and the realisation of the promise of right to health? Comment ?  

Discuss the role  of women in science and technology in India ? What steps taken by India inpromoting women in science and technology with suitable examples ?

UPSC GS Paper 4 syllabus Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude Ethics and Human Interface : Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions. Dimensions of ethics. Ethics in private and public relationships. Human Values  - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values. Attitude : content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion. Aptitude  and foundational values for Civil Service , integrity, imparazcxtiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections. Emotional intelligence -concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance. Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world. Public/Civil servic...