Prelim Bits 05-07-2018

Accession to WIPO treaty

Union Cabinet has approved the proposal regarding accession to the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty.
The treaty extends coverage of copyright to the internet and digital environment.
It is seen as a step towards the objective laid in the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, 2016.
The policy aims to get value for IPRs through commercialization by providing guidance and support to IPR owners about commercial opportunities of e-commerce through Internet and mobile platforms.

WIPO Copyright Treaty

The treaty came to force in 2002 and has been adopted by 96 contracting parties till date.

It is a Special agreement under Berne Convention (for protection of literary and artistic works).
It has provisions to extend the protection of copyrights contained therein to the digital environment.

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

WPPT deals with rights of Performers (actors, singers, musicians etc.) and producers of Phonograms (sound recordings) in digital environment.
It recognizes moral rights of the performers for the first time & provides exclusive economic rights to them in digital environment.

Regional Rural Banks (RRB)

RRBs were set up with the objective to provide credit to the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas for development of productive activities.
RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital in the ratio of 50:15:35 respectively.
Union cabinet has recently approved the extension of the scheme of recapitalization of RRBs for the next 3 years upto 2019-20.
This will enable the RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent.
The scheme of Recapitalization of RRBs started in FY 2010-11 and was extended twice in the year 2012-13 and 2015-16.

National Commission for Safai Karmacharis

The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) was constituted in 1994 as a statutory body by “National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993”.
But with the lapse of the act in 2004, the commission is acting as a Non-Statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Its tenure is extended from time to time through government resolutions.
The latest resolution in 2016 extended its tenure to 2019.
With the enactment of “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”, the mandate and scope of the commission has also been enlarged.
The commission will monitor the implementation of the act and take suo-moto notice of matter relating to non-implementation of the Act.
The commission will also advice central and state government for effective implementation.
Union Cabinet has recently approved the creation of one post each of Vice-Chairperson and Member in the commission to fulfil desired objectives of welfare and development of Safai Karamcharis.

Khan Prahari

It is a mobile application is launched by Ministry of Coal for tracking illegal mining.
It is a tool for reporting any activity taking place related to illegal coal mining like rat hole mining, pilferage etc.
Citizens can upload geo-tagged photographs of the incident along with textual information directly to the system.

Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS)

The CMSMS is a web based GIS application through which location of sites for unauthorised mining can be detected.
Its basic objective is reporting, monitoring and taking suitable action on unauthorised coal mining activities.
The basic platform used in the system is of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s map which provides village level information.
The system will use satellite data to detect changes by which unauthorised mining activity extending beyond the allotted lease area can be detected and suitable action can be taken on it.
It is developed by a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) and Bhaskarcharya Institute of Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG).

Under Water Museum

Bolivia is going to build an underwater museum in its sacred Lake Titicaca.
It is in partnership with Belgium and UNESCO would contribute $2 million to the project.
Titicaca is located between the border of Bolivia and Peru with an area of 8,500 sq.km.
It will be both a tourist complex and a centre for archaeological geological and biological research which will make it the only one in the world.

Source: The Hindu, PIB