UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 07-02-2020

Average Body Temperature

• The thermometer reading of 98.6°F was laid down as the “normal” human body temperature, for about half a century.
• Over the last few decades, the benchmark has often been questioned.
• Different studies have found the human body temperature averaging out differently, including at 97.7°, 97.9° and 98.2°F.
• Now, new research has found that body temperatures have, in fact, been declining over the last two centuries.
• that body temperatures have, in fact, been declining over the last two centuries.
• This was determined from an analysis of records of Americans dating between the 19th century and 2017.
• The new study, published in the journal eLife that concluded the average human body temperature has never been constant in the first place.
• The calculations from a research correspond to a decrease in body temperature of 0.05°F every decade.
• The researchers have proposed that the decrease in body temperature is the result of changes in the environment over the past 200 years, which have in turn driven physiological changes.
• The decrease in average body temperature could be explained by a reduction in metabolic rate, or the amount of energy being used.
• The strong influences of age, time of day, and genders on body temperature preclude definition of Average body temperature.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

• National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India is a Statutory public body constituted in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance.

• It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA).
• The NHRC is the National Human Rights Commission of India, responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the Act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants".
• Recent amendment in the PHR Act added Chairpersons of National Commission for Backward Classes, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as the new deemed Members of the NHRC.

• The Chairpersons for National Commissions for Minorities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women were already the deemed Members of the Commission. 
• The NHRC has been holding the Statutory Full Commission meetings on time to time to explore new areas of cooperation, share best practices and activities of different National Commissions to work towards promotion and protection of human rights in a more cohesive manner.

Lucknow Declaration

• Lucknow Declaration in a joint deceleration adopted at the first India- Africa Defence Ministers conclave at Lucknow, Defexpo 2020.
• Lucknow Declaration emphasized the need for stronger international partnership in countering terrorism and violent extremism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence.
• The Declaration also called for strengthening the UN Counter-Terrorism mechanisms and to ensure strict compliance with the UN Security Council sanctions regime on terrorism.
• It aims to increase cooperation in securing sea lines of communication, preventing maritime crimes, disaster, piracy, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing through sharing of information and surveillance.

National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)

• National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) is a central sector scheme being implemented since 2008.
•  It aims to award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.
• Under the Scheme one lakh fresh scholarships @ of Rs.12000/- per annum per student are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and their  continuation/renewal  in classes X to XII for study in a State Government, Government-aided and Local body schools.
• There is a separate quota of scholarships for each State/UT.
• The selection of students for award of scholarships under the scheme is made through an examination conducted by the States/UTs Governments.
• The scheme is boarded on National Scholarship Portal (NSP) since 2015-16.
• According to recent findings of National Institute of Planning and Administration (NIEPA), it has helped to reduce the dropout rate at the secondary and senior secondary classes- HRD Minister.

National Scholarship Portal

• The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) has been developed by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) .
• It streamlines and fast track the release of Scholarships across Ministries / Departments with efficiency, transparency and reliability.
• The eligible students from different States/UTs register themselves on NSP.

National Judicial Pay Commission

• The Second National Judicial Pay Commission has filed the main part of the Report in 4 volumes covering the subject of Pay, Pension and Allowances, in the Registry of the Supreme Court.
• The Commission has been constituted pursuant to the Order of the Supreme Court in All India Judges Association case and the Government of India, Ministry of Law & Justice.
• Former Judge of the Supreme Court is the Chairman, Former Judge of Kerala High Court is the Member and, District Judge of Delhi Higher Judicial Service is the Member-Secretary of the Commission.

• The Report recommends for a hike in Judges salary.
• Recommendation has been made to discontinue the New Pension Scheme (NPS) which is being applied to those entering service during or after 2004. 
• The old pension system, which is more beneficial, will be revived.
• The recommendations made by the Commission are applicable to the Judicial officers throughout the country.
• Supreme Court will have to issue directions regarding the implementation of recommendations after hearing the stakeholders.

Social and Infrastructure Development Fund

• Social and Infrastructure Development Fund (SIDF) was announced in 2008 to set apart a sum of Rs.500 crore (subsequently enhanced to Rs.586.20 crore in 2017) for North Eastern Region (NER).
• The fund will be especially used for Arunachal Pradesh and other border areas facing special problems that cannot be tackled through normal schemes.
• It is a one-time package that covers projects, prioritized by the State Governments as per their requirement, which, inter alia, include construction of new roads and bridges, re-establishment of new sub-stations/transmission lines, construction/upgradation of hospitals, establishment of schools, water supply projects etc.
• 37 projects have been approved against the funds available under SIDF.

Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) had prepared Conceptual Development Plan (CDP) for Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC).
• Four nodes were identified for development namely

1. Visakhapatnam,
2. Machilipatnam,
3.  Donakonda and
4.  Chittoor.

• Amongst these nodes, the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) has prioritized Visakhapatnam and Chittoor.
• National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) approved the development of Vishakhapatnam and Chittoor as priority nodes in phase-1 of VCIC.

• The loan has been agreed between State Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB). 
• Grant of USD 5 million from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) to build climate change resilient infrastructure in Visakhapatnam.

National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust

• NICDIT is an apex body under the administrative control of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for coordinated and unified development of the following industrial corridors:
  1. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)
  2. Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC)
  3. Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)
  4. Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC)
  5. Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC).
• NICDIT will support project development activities and appraisal, approval and sanction of projects as per extant delegation.
• It will also coordinate and monitor all central efforts for the development of Industrial Corridor projects.
• Government of India (GoI)’s contribution to NICDIT will be used as a revolving corpus.
• Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund (DMIC-PITF) was re-designated as National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) in 2017.

Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund

• The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund is a $150 million multi-donor trust fund (2013-2021) administered by ADB under the Urban Financing Partnership Facility.
• It aims to support fast-growing cities in Asia to reduce the risks poor and vulnerable people face from floods, storms or droughts, by helping to better plan and design infrastructure to invest against these impacts.
• The fund supports cities by improving urban planning, designing climate resilient infrastructure and investing in projects and people.
• The eligible countries to receive support from the fund are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Viet Nam.

Source: PIB, Indian Express, AIR