Indian Society & Social Issue: July 2022 Current Affairs | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

Jagriti Mascot

Why in News?

Recently, a mascot named Jagriti has been launched by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) to empower consumers and further generating awareness of their rights.

How will Jagriti work?

•  It would be projected as an empowered consumer who is spreading awareness about consumer rights & addressing solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.
• It would help to generate consumer awareness about the various government initiatives like:
  • Provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019
  • Hallmarking
  • National Consumer Helpline toll free number 1915
  • Provisions of weights & measures Act
  • Decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority
  • Testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal
    

What is the Significance of Jagriti Mascot?

• In addition to increasing the campaign's presence in digital and multimedia channels, it would heighten consumer rights awareness.
• It would be shown with the tagline “Jago Grahak Jago” in various media campaign

NFSA Ranking 2022

In News

• Recently, the Government of India came up with a first-ever state ranking index under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). 

About the Index

• Purpose: The index was released to capture the implementation of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
• Data: This ranking is generated by data provided by the states about their food and public distribution processes, which is vital for ensuring no one goes hungry.
• 3 Pillars were used in this Ranking:
  • NFSA— Coverage, targeting and provisions of the Act:
  • It has 45 percent weightage. 
  • It has been divided into three aspects with 15 percent weightage each:
    (i) beneficiary coverage and rightful targeting,
    (ii) other provisions of NFSA and
    (iii) grievance resolution. 
• Delivery platform: 
  • It has 50 percent weightage.
  • It has been divided into allocation and movement and last mile delivery with 25 percent weightage each. 
• Nutrition initiatives:
  • The third is an evolving pillar and accordingly, a minimalistic weightage has been assigned to it.
• Performance:
  • Odisha topped the list of 34 states and Union territories (UTs). 
  • Ladakh was ranked last on the index. 
  • Nine of the 14 special category states and UTs (states in the North East, Himalayan states and island regions), were ranked among the lowest. 
• Goa came last among the general category states.
• Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh scored the highest and secured the second and third positions in the Index, respectively. 
  • The states performed very well on all parameters and indicators governing the implementation of NFSA through TPDS.
  • Score: Odisha which got an index score of 0.836 is followed by Uttar Pradesh which got an index score of 0.797, Andhra was close behind with a score of 0.794.
• Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim secured the top positions among special category states.
  • Despite the logistical limitations in these areas, they displayed a high degree of accomplishment in competing with the general category states as well.
• Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu scored the highest in terms of coverage, targeting and implementing provisions of NFSA.
  • They obtained nearly full indicator level scores. 
• Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had the best delivery platform displaying the efficiency of the TPDS supply chain.

Significance of Index

• Indices like these will create an environment of competition, cooperation and learning among states while addressing matters of food security and hunger.
• It will help in creating transparency in the system to publish reliable and standard data in the public domain for citizens and for periodically publishing data that global and Indian agencies can use for their research and analysis.

National Food Security Act (NFSA)

• The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was enacted on July 5, 2013
• In order to celebrate the day, the conference was organised to deliberate and discuss nutritional security, food security, best practices followed in Public Distribution System, crop diversification, reforms in PDS and storage sector.
• After enactment, it gave legal entitlement to 67% of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas) to receive highly subsidised foodgrains.
• Under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), foodgrain is sold at highly subsidised prices of Rs. 1/-, Rs. 2/- and Rs. 3/- per kg for nutri-cereals, wheat and rice respectively.
• Under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act, the term “eligible households” comprises two categories:
  • Priority household category is entitled to 5 kg per person per month.
  • Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families are entitled to 35 kg per family per month.
• Coverage under the Act is based on the population figures of Census, 2011. 
• The Act is now being implemented in all 36 States/UTs and covers about 81.35 crore persons.

Food Security

About:

• It is access to enough food by all people at all times for an active and healthy life. 
• Three Dimensions:  Food availability,  Food accessibility &  Food affordability.

Importance of Food Security:

• 101st position among 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2021 (serious level).
• Nearly 47 million or 4 out of 10 children in India are not meeting their full human potential because of chronic undernutrition and stunting: UN

Challenges to Food Security in India

• Overpopulation & Poverty: High per cent of people under BPL.
• Lack of storage facilities: Improper storage facilities for grains & cold storage facilities.
• Transportation infrastructure: Poor roads and inefficient transport systems & limited reach of Mandies.
• Food Wastage: India being the 2nd largest vegetable producer, encounter a waste of close to 18% worth INR 44,000 crore ($7 billion) of produce
• Policy & administration issues: Fragmented approach & improper implementation & lack of monitoring.
• Climatic Change: Like unreliable rainfall, flash floods, cyclones etc.
• Lack of Awareness: about food security programmes
• Shift from cultivation of food crops to cultivation of fruits

Way Ahead

• NFSA’s implementation through TPDS should be made uniform in the country. 
• There is a need for a standard framework to measure the efficiency and impact of food security initiatives through NFSA across all states and union territories.
• Crop Diversification, establishing Food grain banks will help the cause.

To read more information on food security:

• Food Security

Reforms in Education Sector

Why in News?

The Parliamentary Standing Committee carried out a review of education standards, accreditation process, research, examination reforms and academic environment in India’s higher education institutes.

What are the Findings of the Report?

• The higher education department of the Union ministry of Education informed the committee that only 30% of the universities and 20% of the colleges are in the accreditation system.
  • Less than 9,000 colleges out of a total of 50,000 colleges are accredited.
• Many deemed universities, in order to make quick money, have started Open Distance Learning courses undermining qualitative research work.
• Several state universities regularly fail to carry out assessments smoothly, often reporting instances like question paper leaks and rampant cases of copying.

What Do We Know About the Accreditation System?

About:

• Accreditation is a procedure wherein standardisation happens as to what minimum benchmarks are to be created.
• It is a formal, independent verification that a program or institution meets established quality standards in terms of testing, inspection, or certification.

Significance:

• It is an important tool to improve the quality of product and services in the field of health, education, food as well as other areas.
• It also promotes the adoption of quality standards relating to Quality Management Systems, Food Safety Management Systems and Product Certification.
• It helps in realizing the objective of improving quality competitiveness of Indian products and services.

Grading Process:

• Presently, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission (UGC), evaluates higher education institutions on a range of parameters, including teaching-learning, research and infrastructure, and gives institutions grades ranging from A++ to C.
  • If an institution is given a D, it means it is not accredited.
• The grading remains valid for five years.
• The International Accreditation Forum:
  • IAF is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programs of conformity assessment.
  • Conformity Assessment Bodies: These are bodies that can certify product, process or services, management systems or persons.
    E.g. International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
  • India is also a member.

What are the Key Recommendations of the Committee?

• Analysis of Issues:
  • Issues faced by NAAC and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), which recognises courses offered by higher education institutions, should be analysed and worked on.
• Frequent Accreditations:
  • The norms for frequency and periodicity of the accreditations be defined so that institutions do not develop a tendency to carry the score for years without a review, which leads to complacency and undermines quality mechanisms.
• Exam Management:
  • The committee recommends that the parameter of the institution’s exam management competency be also considered as a mandatory norm towards consideration of accreditation.
  • It also suggested strict actions, including derecognition, for higher institutions involved in malpractices in collaboration with coaching centres.
  • All universities and colleges must be scored on how foolproof their examinations are.
• Deemed Universities:
  • The So-called “deemed universities” should also be allowed to use the term ‘university’ since there is no such concept in other countries.
• Funding of Institutions:
  • To encourage more funding, it suggested “donations by individuals, alumni and institutions” should be 100% tax deductible.
• Digital Courses Norms:
  • It also noted that there was an urgent need to revisit and revamp the norms for starting online courses.
  • With regard to Open Distance Learning courses, the committee strongly recommended adequate measures to curb such tendencies after carefully examining the options.

What Initiatives have India Taken for the Education Sector?

• National Education Policy:
  • NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”.
  • The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education.
• Margadarshan:
  • Institutions having good accreditation records or the top-performing institutions are selected to mentor relatively newer 10 to 12 potential institutions.

Interpol’s Icse Initiative on Child Sex Abuse 

In News 

• India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has joined the Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) initiative .

About International Child Sexual Exploitation database

• The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM) and make connections between victims, abusers and places. 
• The database avoids duplication of effort and saves precious time by letting investigators know whether a series of images has already been discovered or identified in another country, or whether it has similar features to other images.
• The image and video database is an intelligence and investigative tool, which allows specialized investigators to share data on cases of child sexual abuse.
• It helps victim identification specialists worldwide analyse and compare child sexual abuse images.
• INTERPOL’s Child Sexual Exploitation database holds more than 2.7 million images and videos and has helped identify 23,564 victims worldwide.

Significance for India 

• India reported over 24 lakh instances of online child sexual abuse from 2017 to 2020, with 80% victims being girls below the age of 14 years.
•  More than 60% unidentified victims were prepubescent, including infants and toddlers. 
  • Around 65% of unidentified victims were girls, but severe abuse images were more likely to have boys.
• It will allow India to collaborate with investigators in other countries for detecting child sex abuse online and identifying abusers, victims, and crime scenes from audio-visual clips using specialised software.
  • India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software.

India’s Efforts to  combat online child sex abuse

• In 2019, the CBI set up a special unit called the ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE)’, for tracking and monitoring posting, circulation and downloads of CSEM online.
  • Based on intelligence developed by the unit, the CBI started a country-wide operation against the alleged peddlers of online CSEM in India last year. 
• Back in 2020, the cyber wing of the Maharashtra Police had acquired a software from Interpol to track child sex abuse captured on video and in photos.
• In 2019, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, a US-based non-profit organisation, had started sharing tip-offs about child sex abuse with Indian agencies. 

DGCA’S Denial of a Pilot Licence to Transgender Person Discriminatory: Ministry

Why In News: Social Justice Ministry slamed the aviation regulator, demands guidelines for licensing of transgender persons as pilots.

• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) denied commercial pilot license to a transgender candidate.
• The actions of the DGCA violates the provisions stated under The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019, as it ends up being discriminatory by denying/ terminating employment or occupation on the basis of gender of the person.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019

Definition of a transgender person:

• The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth.
• It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra

Prohibition against discrimination:

• The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to:
• education;
• employment;
• healthcare;
• access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public;
• right to movement;
• right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property;
• opportunity to hold public or private office; and
• access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is.

Right of residence:

• Every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be included in his household.

Employment:

• No government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person in employment matters, including recruitment, and promotion.
• Every establishment is required to designate a person to be a complaint officer to deal with complaints in relation to the Act.

Education:

• Educational institutions funded or recognised by the relevant government shall provide inclusive education, sports and recreational facilities for transgender persons, without discrimination.

Health care:

• The government must take steps to provide health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.

Certificate of identity for a transgender person:

• A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.

Welfare measures by the government:

• The Bill states that the relevant government will take measures to ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender persons in society.
• It must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational training and self-employment, etc.

National Council for Transgender persons (NCT):

• The Council will advise the central government as well as monitor the impact of policies, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons.
• It will also redress the grievances of transgender persons.