UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 07-03-2020

Delimitation Commission

• Recently a 'delimitation commission' has been set up by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• The commission will headed by a former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.
• The commission has been set up for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
• The Election Comissioner (Sushil Chandra) will be the ex-officio member of the commission.
• The Election Commissioners of the concerned states and UT will also be its members.
• The Commission will delimit the constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, and of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland in accordance with the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002.

Delimitation Act, 2002

• Articles 82 and 170 of the Constitution of India provide for readjustment and the division of each State into territorial constituencies (Parliamentary constituencies and Assembly constituencies) on the basis of the 2001 census.
• Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India provide for refaxing the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of the States on the basis of the 2001 census.
• The Delimitation Act, 2002, was enacted to set up a Delimitation Commission for the purpose of effecting delimitation on the basis of the 2001 census so as to correct the aforesaid distortion in the sizes of electoral constituencies.

Indian Ocean Commission

• The Indian Ocean Commission is an intergovernmental organization that was created in 1982 at Port Louis, Mauritius and institutionalized in 1984 by the Victoria Agreement in Seychelles.
• The COI is composed of five African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles.
• The five islands share geographic proximity, historical and demographic relationships, natural resources and common development issues.
• The Commission has four observers — China, EU, Malta and International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).
• COI's principal mission is to strengthen the ties of friendship between the countries and to be a platform of solidarity for the entire population of the African Indian Ocean region.
• COI’s mission also includes development, through projects related to sustainability for the region, aimed at protecting the region, improving the living conditions of the populations and preserving the various natural resources that the countries depend on.
• India was recently accepted as an observer in the Indian Ocean Commission, getting a seat at the table of the organization that handles maritime governance in the western Indian Ocean.
• India’s entry is a consequence of its deepening strategic partnership with France as well as its expanding ties with the Vanilla Islands.
• The Vanilla Alliance is an airline alliance formed in 2015 to improve air connectivity within the Indian Ocean region by strengthening cooperation between the airlines of Indian Ocean Commission members.
• The COI has funded a number of regional and national conservation and alternative livelihoods projects through ReCoMAP, Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Countries of the Indian Ocean, this project ended in 2011.

Vanilla Islands

• Vanilla Islands is an affiliation of the island nations Seychelles, Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius, Comoros, Mayotte in the Indian Ocean to form a new travel destination brand.
• Aim of the co-operation that has been founded in 2010 at La Réunion is to pool forces and jointly market the region compared to the solely individual marketing of each island in the past.
• Indian Navy has launched ‘Operation Vanilla’ by sending INS Airavat, in support of flood-hit Madagascar in January 2020, which was in line with India’s vision of Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR).

Special Gram Sabhas

• In order to mark the Internationl Womens Day, all the states and union territories are going to organize 'Special Gram Sabhas' and 'Mahila Sabhas' (Women's Assemblies) in all Gram Panchayats.
• Community Resource Persons (CRPs), Aanganwadi, Asha and Sakhiand Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) workers will partner Ministry of Panchayati Raj to organize the event.
• Poshan Panchayat, land rights, education, safety, reproductive health and equal opportunity will be points of discussion of assemblies.
• The main focus areas of the assemblies wiil be:

1. The ban on sex determination tests and celebrate birth of a girl child.
2. Pre-natal and neo-natal care, immunization and nutrition for all women.
3. Encourage girls to go to schools and complete their schooling with focus on safe environment at home and in school.
4. Report violence, abuse or injustice against women and girl children.
5. Active participation of elected women representatives in Gram Panchayats and contribute to decision making.
6. It will also highlight issues like the importance of breast feeding during the first 1,000 days of the new-borns for their ideal physical and mental growth; and raising awareness about Child Helpline – 1098.

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)

• The 73rd Constitutional Amendment provided autonomy to rural local government.
• The act provides for a Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayati raj system and a three-tier system of Panchayati raj in every state, that is, panchayats at the village, intermediate, and district levels.
• It mandates one-third reservation for women in Panchayats at all decision-making levels.

Kishori Health Cards

• 'Kishori Health Cards is a scheme for all the Adolescent Girls (11-18 years) which is maintained by Anganwadi Centre (AWCs), under Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Its objective is to record the information about the weight, height and Body Mass Index (BMI).
• The scheme will be implemented across the country.
• It is a redesign of the already existing Adolescent Girls (AG) Scheme being implemented as a component under the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.

• It aims to improve the following

1. Nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls,
2. Link them to opportunities for learning life skills,
3. Going back to school,
4. Help them gain a better understanding of their social environment.
5. Take initiatives to become productive members of the society.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme

• ICDS is one of the flagship initiatives of government of India that is being implemented in the state by Women and Child Development Department.
• It seeks to provide young children with an integrated package of services such as supplementary nutrition, health care and pre-school education.
• Health and Nutrition needs of a child cannot be addressed in isolation from those of his or her mother and therefore the programme also extends to adolescent girls, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
• ICDS programme seeks to provide all basic essential services to children and mothers in an integrated manner right in their villages or wards.
• Gradually, the scheme has been expanded to urban slums and to rural and tribal blocks

NAMC

• Recently, Ministry of AYUSH has developed 'National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes (NAMC)' for the classification of diseases.
• It is a comprehensive classification of diseases described in Ayurveda as well as Standardized Ayurveda Terminologies.
• The codes are available on National AYUSH Morbidity and Standardized Terminologies Electronic Portal (NAMASTE Portal) developed by the ministry.
• It is aimed at standardardization of Ayurvedic diagnostic and treatment protocol.

NAMASTE Portal

• It provides Standardized Terminologies & Morbidity Codes for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems of medicine along with W.H.O ICD-10/11 codes meant for dual coding and morbidity reporting for Yoga, Naturopathy and Homoeopathy Systems.
• It is meant for unambiguous reporting, electronic data submission through individual institutions and gradually moving towards adopting Electronic Health Records (E.H.R.).
• It serves as a reference repository of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani terminologies and Morbidity Codes for further development of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani international terminologies and ICD-11 morbidity Codes.
• A nationwide digital platform called 'AYUSH Grid' has been initiated by Ministry of Ayush in collaboration with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

AYUSH Grid

• Its aim is to bring onboard all AYUSH facilities including hospitals and laboratories and to promote traditional systems of healthcare.
• It provides digitalization of the entire AYUSH sector.
• It aims to develop a network of people, knowledge and technology.
• It provides that the strategies for development will be in sync with the international and national policies and health care needs.
• It will make it easier to assess the efficacy of alternative medicine systems and thus enabling AYUSH hospitals and laboratories to share data.

Digital Initiatives of Ministry of AYUSH

• AYUSH Hospital Management Information Systems (A-HIMS) - It is a comprehensive IT platform to effectively manage all functions of health care delivery systems and patient care in AYUSH facilities.
• It has an exclusive dashboard for citizens to interact and engage with AYUSH Health Services across India.
• Bhuvan Yoga Application - It has been designed in collaboration with ISRO.
• It provides geo-time location and documentation of a yoga event.

Khelo India Winter Games

• Union Sports Ministry inaugurated first-ever five-day Khelo India Winter Games at Gulmarg, Jammu & Kashmir.
• It is being organised to promote winter sports in India and to popularise it among the youths of the country.
• The competitions of the Khelo India Winter Games, Jammu &Kashmir will be conducted in four age categories for both boys and girls.
• Athletes in the age categories of 19-21 years, 17-18 years, 15-16 years and 13-14 years will compete in alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing.
• A total of three winter sporting competitions are being held during the Ladakh leg of Khelo India Winter Games.
• These are Open Ice Hockey Championship, Figure Skating, Speed Skating.
• The government is conducting University Games, Youth Games and Winter Games for the first time under the Khelo India programme to channelize 20 percent share of youth energy of the world from India.

Source: AIR, PIB, The Hindu