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HYPERLOOP 2020

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CONSOLIDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR ESE 2020

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Contents 1. Education ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) ................................................................... 4

Mohan Reddy Committee ............................................................................................................................................. 4

SATH-E Project ............................................................................................................................................................... 4

SHREYAS program .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

NISHTHA mission ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

Institutes of Eminence Scheme ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Study in India programme ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) ...................................................... 7

EQUIP project ................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Draft of National Education Policy ................................................................................................................................. 8

School Education Quality Index (SEQI) ........................................................................................................................ 10

2. Labour and Employment ............................................................................................................................................. 11

National Minimum Wage ............................................................................................................................................. 11

Equal pay for equal work ............................................................................................................................................. 12

Periodic Labour Force Survey ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Skill India announces Annual Kaushalacharya Awards ................................................................................................ 12

Foundation Stone laid for Indian Institute of Skills ...................................................................................................... 13

Skill India gets its first Batch of IES officers to the ISDS cadre ..................................................................................... 14

3. Health .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Mera Aspataal application ........................................................................................................................................... 15

National Institute of Sowa Rigpa (NISR) at Leh ............................................................................................................ 16

Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh ...................................................................................................................................... 16

International Classification of Diseases (ICD) .............................................................................................................. 17

Robotic surgery facility in Safdarjung Hospital ............................................................................................................ 18

14. Ban on e-cigarettes ................................................................................................................................................ 18

India joins the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Development Hub ...................................................... 19

4. Rural and Tribal Development .................................................................................................................................... 21

Integration of Rural Development & Agriculture Ministry .......................................................................................... 21

Social audits of major rural development schemes ..................................................................................................... 21

Aadi Mahotsav ............................................................................................................................................................. 22

Union Territory of Ladakh and 6th Schedule of Constitution of India ......................................................................... 23

Van Dhan Yojana .......................................................................................................................................................... 23

Social Development Yearly Hyperloop 2020

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5. Reports and Indices ..................................................................................................................................................... 24

The World Happiness Report- 2019 ............................................................................................................................. 24

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2018 .................................................................................................... 24

India lags behind in inclusive growth ........................................................................................................................... 25

World Population Prospects 2019 ............................................................................................................................... 26

6. Bills and Acts ............................................................................................................................................................... 26

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019 .............................................................................. 26

The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 ..................................................................................................................................... 27

The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill – 2019 ............................................................................ 27

One Hundred And Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 ......................................................................................... 28

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 ............................................................................................... 29

Chief Justice of India's office under RTI Act ................................................................................................................. 31

Ayodhya Verdict .......................................................................................................................................................... 31

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh become separate Union Territories ........................................................................... 32

NRC in Assam ............................................................................................................................................................... 32

7. The General Elections Special ..................................................................................................................................... 33

The Election Commission of India ................................................................................................................................ 33

The Parliament ............................................................................................................................................................ 34

System of Election ....................................................................................................................................................... 35


1. Education Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) The Ministry of Human Resource Development has introduced the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC). The Scheme: • It facilitates academic and research collaborations

between Indian Institutions and top leading Universities of the world.

• The scheme aims to support around 600 joint research proposals.

• Expose Indian academicians to the best collaborators abroad, provide Indian students an opportunity to work in the world class laboratories, develop strong bilateral relationships in research, and improve the international ranking of Indian Institutions.

Mohan Reddy Committee The Mohan Reddy committee was appointed to come up with a medium and short-term perspective plan for expansion in engineering education. The Important recommendations: • Stop setting up new colleges from 2020 and review the creation of new capacity every two years

after that. • No additional seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas such as mechanical,

electrical, civil and electronics. Institutes should be encouraged to convert current capacity in traditional disciplines to emerging new technologies.

• Introduce undergraduate engineering programs exclusively for artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cybersecurity and 3D printing and design.

SATH-E Project Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E) is implemented by NITI Aayog.

• An initiative in based on formal agreements with the States and will be funded through a cost-sharing mechanism between NITI Aayog and the participating states.

• It aims to transform elementary and secondary school education. • It envisages the entire governmental school education system responsive, aspirational and

transformational for every child • SATH-E aims to create role model States for education and mainstream ‘islands of excellence’

across the country to facilitate qualitative and quantitative transformation of learning outcomes.



SHREYAS program The Ministry of Human Resources Development has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to the general graduates. The scheme: • The program aims to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work

exposure’ and earning of stipend. • The programme basket comprising the initiatives of three Central Ministries, namely 1. the Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and 3. The Ministry of Labour & Employment viz the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS),

the National Career Service (NCS) and introduction of BA/BSc/BCom (Professional) courses in the higher educational institutions.

SHREYAS portal • Portal will enable educational institutions and industry to log in and provide their respective

demand and supply of apprenticeship. • The matching of students with apprenticeship avenues will take place as per pre-specified

eligibility criteria. Significance of the programme: • To make our degree students more skilled, capable, employable • It is aligned to the needs of our economy so that they contribute to country’s progress and also

obtain gainful employment. • To fill the gap between education and industry/service sectors on a sustainable basis.

NISHTHA mission The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has launched ‘National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA)’, a national mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level.

About the mission:

• NISHTHA is the largest teachers’ training programme of its kind in the world. • To motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students. • Teachers will get awareness and develop their skills on various aspects related to:

o Learning Outcomes o Competency-Based learning and Testing o Learner-centered Pedagogy o School Safety and Security o Personal-social qualities o Inclusive Education


o ICT in teaching-learning including Artificial Intelligence o Health and well-being including yoga o Initiatives in School Education including library, eco-club, youth club, kitchen garden o School Leadership qualities o Environmental Concerns o Pre-school, Pre-vocational Education and School-Based assessment.

• It aims to build the capacities of around 42 lakh participants- o Covering all teachers and heads of schools at the elementary level in all Government

schools, o Faculty members of State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) and

District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), o Block Resource Coordinators and Cluster Resource Coordinators in all States and UTs.

• Training will be conducted directly by 33120 Key Resource Persons (KRPs) and State Resource Persons (SRP) identified by the State and UTs, who will in turn be trained by 120 National Resource Persons identified from National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), etc.

• A Mobile App and Learning Management System (LMS) based on MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) have been developed by NCERT.

Institutes of Eminence Scheme The UGC has considered the reports of the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) appointed by Government under the Chairmanship of Shri N Gopalaswami recommending (15) Public institutions and (15) Private institutions for considering to give status of Institutions of Eminence.

About Institutions of Eminence scheme:

• The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.

• The selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy without having to report to the University Grants Commission (UGC)

• The selection was made through challenge method mode. • Only higher education institutions currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50

of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) are eligible to apply for the eminence tag.

• The private Institutions of Eminence can also come up as greenfield ventures-provided the sponsoring organisation submits a convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

Study in India programme To facilitate Internationalization of Higher Education in India, a Programme viz. ‘Study in India’ is under implementation.



Objectives:

• To make India a preferred education destination/hub for foreign students. • To improve the soft power of India with a focus on the neighbouring countries and use it as a

tool in diplomacy. • To rapidly increase the inflow of inbound International Students in India through systematic

brand-building, marketing, social media and digital marketing campaigns. • To increase India’s market share of global education exports. • Improvement in overall quality of higher education. • To reduce the export-import imbalance in the number of international students. • Growth in India’s global market share of International students • To increase in global ranking of India etc.

Key facts: • The programme focuses on attracting International students from select 30 plus countries

across South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa. • The programme envisages participation of select reputed Indian institutes/universities by way

of offering seats for the International students at affordable rates, along with fee waivers to meritorious foreign students ranging from 100% to 25%.

• A centralised admission web-portal (https://studyinindia.gov.in) acts as a single window for the admission of foreign students.

Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a new scheme - ‘Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy’ (STRIDE).

About STRIDE: • STRIDE will provide support to research projects that are socially relevant, locally need-based,

nationally important and globally significant. • STRIDE shall support research capacity building as well as basic, applied and transformational

action research that can contribute to national priorities with focus on inclusive human development.

• STRIDE shall support creation, development and integration of new ideas, concepts and practices for public good and strengthening civil society.

STRIDE components: 1. Component-1 will endeavor to identify the motivated young talents with research and

innovation aptitude in universities and colleges. 2. Component-2 will be mainly to enhance problem solving skills with help of social innovation

and action research.


3. Component-3 will fund high impact research projects in the identified thrust areas inhumanities and human sciences through national network of eminent scientists from leading institutions.

EQUIP project

The Higher Education Department of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has finalized and released a 5-year Vision Plan titled as Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).

About the project:

• EQUIP was crafted by ten committees led by experts within the government. • EQUIP is meant to bridge the gap between policy and implementation. • The project is made to bring transformation in the higher education system in the upcoming 5

years.

Goals set for Higher Education Sector by Expert Group are: • Doubling Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). • Resolving geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions. • Promoting India as a global study destination. • Upgrade Quality of Education to global standards. • Positioning minimum 50 Indian institutions among Top-1000 Global Universities. • Promote Research & Innovation ecosystems for positioning India in Top-3 countries globally in

matters of knowledge creation. • Introducing governance reforms in higher education for well-administered campuses. • Accreditation of all institutions for assurance of quality. • Doubling employability of students passing out of higher education. • Harnessing education technology for expanding reach and improving pedagogy. • Achieving a quantum increase in investment in higher education.

Draft of National Education Policy The Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) has released the draft of the National Education Policy 2019. The drafting committee was led by the Chairman and eminent scientist K Kasturirangan.

Key recommendations:

• The committee has proposed to rename HRD as Ministry of Education (MOE). • One of the objectives of the draft policy is to achieve foundational literacy in grade 5th and

beyond by 2025 School Education

1) The committee proposes a major reconfiguration of curricular and pedagogical structure with Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as an integral part of school education.



2) The Committee also recommends the extension of Right to Education Act 2009 to cover children of ages 3 to 18.

3) It also seeks to reduce the content load in the school education curriculum. 4) There will be no hard separation of learning areas in terms of curricular, co-curricular or extra-

curricular areas and all subjects, including arts, music, crafts, sports, yoga, community service, etc., will be curricular, it says.

5) It also proposes an expansion in the midday meal programme which would include a nutritious breakfast and a midday meal for pre-primary and primary school students.

6) The Committee has also recommended teaching of Hindi, English and one regional language in the non-Hindi states. For Hindi-speaking states, the committee has recommended teaching of Hindi, English and one of the modern Indian languages from other parts of the country.

Teacher Education 1) The massive transformation in teacher education by shutting down sub-standard teacher

education institutions and moving all teacher preparation or education programmes into large multidisciplinary universities/ colleges.

2) The four-year integrated stage-specific BEd programme will eventually be the minimum degree qualification for teachers.

Higher Education 1) A restructuring of higher education institutions with three types of higher education

institutions is proposed: focused on world-class research and high-quality teaching, focused on high-quality teaching across disciplines with significant contribution to research, and high-quality teaching focused on undergraduate education. This will be driven by two missions - Mission Nalanda and Mission Takshashila.

2) A new apex body, Rashtriya Shiksha Ayog, is proposed to enable a holistic and integrated implementation of all educational initiatives and programmatic interventions and to coordinate efforts between the Centre and the states.

3) The National Research Foundation, an apex body is proposed for creating a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.

4) The report proposes the formation of National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA) as the sole regulator for higher education, including professional education.

5) It also seeks to transform the UGC to Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for disbursing developmental grants and fellowships across the entire higher education sector including professional education.

6) The private and public institutions will be treated on par and education will remain a 'not for profit' activity.

7) Several new policy initiatives-- for promoting internationalization of higher education, improvising the quality of open and distance learning, to enhance participation of underrepresented groups, and eliminate gender, social category, and regional gaps in education outcomes.


8) It has also recommended setting up three new national institutes for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit and an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI).

School Education Quality Index (SEQI)

• It was developed by NITI Aayog to evaluate the performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector.

• The index aims to provide States and UTs in education platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions.

• It consists of 30 critical indicators that assess the delivery of quality education. • These indicators are categorized as below: Category 1: Outcomes

a. Domain 1: Learning outcomes b. Domain 2: Access outcomes c. Domain 3: Infrastructure and facilities for outcomes d. Domain 4: Equity outcomes

Category 2: Governance processes aiding outcomes

• Schooling should result in successful learning outcomes. • A credible system of assessment in this regard is crucial to design necessary remedial actions. • SEQI assigns almost half its weight to learning outcomes. • States and UTs have been grouped as Large States, Small States and UTs. • The indicator values have been appropriately scaled, normalized and weighted to generate an

overall performance score and ranking for each State and UT. • Of the eight Small States, seven perform better on the Outcomes category. • Of the seven UTs, four perform better on the Outcomes category, • In terms of Infrastructure & Facilities for Outcomes, States’ and UTs’ performance is strongly

linked to the presence of Computer Aided-Learning (CAL) at the elementary level and vocational education at the secondary and senior-secondary level.

• SEQI is envisioned as a dynamic instrument that will continue to evolve. • In particular, the linkages between policy actions and SEQI indicators will be analyzed to reflect

the efforts made by States and UTs to improve school education.



2. Labour and Employment National Minimum Wage The Ministry of Labour and Employment had constituted an expert committee under the Chairmanship Dr. Anoop Satpathy to review and recommend methodology for fixation of National Minimum Wage (NMW). The recommendations are,

• The committee has recommended fixing the need based national minimum wage for India at INR 375 per day (or INR 9,750 per month) as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising of 3.6 consumption units.

• It has recommended to introduce an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to INR 55 per day i.e., INR 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW.


• It has recommended a balanced diet approach by using the nutritional requirement norms as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Indian population.

• It proposes minimum wage should include reasonable expenditure on ‘essential non-food items’, such as clothing, fuel and light, house rent, education, medical expenses, footwear and transport, which must be equal to the median class and expenditure on any ‘other non-food items’ be equivalent to the sixth fractile (25-30 per cent) of the household expenditure.

Equal pay for equal work

Equal Pay for Equal Work for casual workers • In an Office Memorandum dated October 7, 2019, the Department of Personnel and Training

directed the ministries/department/PSUs to submit the action taken report on the matter. • Earlier, the High Court had asked for Centre’s response on the implementation of equal pay for

equal work law as mandated by a Supreme Court judgement. What was existing

• Where the nature of work entrusted to the casual workers and regular employees is the same, the casual workers may be paid at the rate of 1/30th of the pay at the minimum of the relevant pay scale plus dearness allowance for work of 8 hours a day.

• In cases where the work done by a casual worker is different from the work done by a regular employee, the casual worker may be paid only the minimum wages notified by the Ministry of Labour & Employment or the State Government/Union Territory Administration, whichever is higher, as per the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

• Persons on daily wages (casual workers) should not be recruited for work of regular nature.

Periodic Labour Force Survey

The latest edition of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has been released.

Key Findings: • The unemployment rate (UR) in both rural and urban India is at its highest since 1972. • In urban areas, the UR among men is more than twice and has increased twice among women

since 2011-12. • The unemployment rates in urban areas are higher than those in rural areas. • The overall unemployment rate is 6.1 per cent in India. • In urban areas, the unemployment rates for females are higher than those for males. • The unemployment rate among youth between 15 and 29 years has risen sharply since 2011-

12. • The UR has also sharply increased among those who are more educated. • The unemployment among rural not-literate females has reduced.

Skill India announces Annual Kaushalacharya Awards

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) organized Kaushalacharya Samadar 2019 to felicitate trainers from different sectors for exceptional contribution towards creating a future-ready and skilled workforce.



• 53 Trainers felicitated for outstanding contribution, including experts of WorldSkills Competition winners, trainers from NSTI, ITI, JSS and from reputed Corporates

• Kaushalacharya Awards to become an annual ceremony

The evolution of skill training • It depends on the quality of instruction at the workplace and quality of instruction at the

classroom. • Corporates and universities have supported the Skill India Mission by providing training

academies with quality infrastructure for training of trainers. • The initiative has also been supported by international organisations like Temasek Foundation

and Singapore Polytechnic that have bolstered capacity-building programs for trainers and assessors.

• This has allowed Standardized Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedure to be developed for the implementation of comprehensive training programme for trainers in the short-term skilling ecosystem.

Foundation Stone laid for Indian Institute of Skills

Indian Institute of Skills: • To provide skill training in highly specialized areas to students who want to pursue technical

education after completing Class X and Class XII, making them employable and industry ready for the New India and the global market.

• IISs in line with Institutes of Eminence including IITs and IIMs with first-hand learning facilities from internationally renowned existing skill institutions

• IIS aims to enroll 5,000 students per year with campus placement of 70% trainees. • The Union Cabinet had given its nod to set up Indian Institute of Skills (IISs) in three locations of

the country — o Mumbai, o Ahmedabad and o Kanpur.

• These institutes will be constructed & operated on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and in not-for-profit basis.

• This institute will facilitate learnings and trainings through strong industry connect in both public and private sectors.

• The courses in this institute will include modern training methodologies using digital and augmented learning platforms.

It is also an important step towards promoting apprenticeship-embedded courses and offering higher order qualifications leading up to certificates, diplomas and degrees in conjunction with universities.


Skill India gets its first Batch of IES officers to the ISDS cadre • The fresh batch of the newest central government services, the Indian Skill Development

Services commenced their training program at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru.

• This service has been specially created for the Training Directorate of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and is a Group ‘A’ service.

• These are the first batch which is joining the ISDS cadre from the Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by UPSC.

• The induction of young talent as ISDS officers is one of the special initiatives taken by the MSDE and the government as a whole, to significantly strengthen the skill development ecosystem in the country.

Aim: • To attract young and talented administrators towards institutionalizing the Skill Development

environment in the country. • It will supply critical human resources not only in India but also internationally.

Mandates: • Catering to the highly specific task of skill development • The ISDS services are a unique combination of skills, technology, management and public

service,

ISDS Posts • The Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS) has 263 all India posts. • The cadre comprises of

o 3 posts at Senior Administrative Grade, o 28 posts at Junior Administrative Grade, o 120 posts at Senior Time Scale and o 112 posts at Junior Time Scale.

ISDS Training Programs: • A complete overview of management and governance of skilling in particular, and functioning

of the government system in general, will be offered. • After this capsule, there will be a foundation course and then further training will be provided.



3. Health Mera Aspataal application

The Mera Aspataal Initiative was launched precisely to find a mechanism to gauze patient reaction to the services offered in the hospital and help improve the services by taking corrective measures.

• The ranking of Hospitals in the Mera Aspataal Application for the facilities is done on the basis of Patient Satisfaction Score (PSS).

• The PSS is calculated as weighted average of number of satisfied and dissatisfied patients based on the feedback collected in a particular facility.

• As per performance analysis report of Mera Aspataal for period Sept-2016 to Jan-2019, 24 percent of patients were dissatisfied with the services offered at the public health facilities.

• Major reasons for dissatisfaction were staff behavior, cost of treatment and cleanliness issues and other reasons like, long waiting time, overcrowding, inadequate information, lack of amenities, etc.


• The patients' feedback including, areas requiring improvement are shared with the respective State Govts. and Central Govt. hospitals for ensuring remedial follow-up actions.

National Institute of Sowa Rigpa (NISR) at Leh

• The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of National Institute for Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) in Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh.

• It will be an autonomous National Institute under Union Ministry of AYUSH. • It is mandated to undertake interdisciplinary education and research programmes in Sowa-Rigpa

system of traditional medicine in collaboration with premier national and international Institutes and facilitate the integration of different systems of medicine.

About National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) It will be apex Institute for Sowa-Rigpa in the country.

Functions: • It will help to promote interdisciplinary research & education of Sowa-Rigpa. • It will facilitate quality education, quality control & standardization, scientific validation and

safety evaluation of Sowa-Rigpa products, standardized Sowa-Rigpa based tertiary health delivery.

• It will identify best Sowa-Rigpa treatment within the framework of its traditional principle and possible correlation with bio-molecular western medicine in providing health care facilities to the general public.

Sowa-Rigpa • It commonly known as Tibetan system of medicine. • It is also dubbed as Science of healing. • It is one of the oldest, Living and well documented medical tradition of the world. • It has been originated from Tibet and popularly practice in India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia

and Russia. • In India, this system of traditional medicine is widely practiced in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim,

Darjeeling (West Bengal), Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) and Ladakh (UT). • Yuthog Yonten Gonpo is believed to be the father of Sowa Rigpa. • He had composed rGyud-bZhi (four tantra) the fundamental text book of this medicine. rGyud-

bZhi is based on indigenous medicine of Tibet enriched with Ayurveda, Chinese and Greek Medicine.

Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh

Aim: The Mission aims at targeted reduction of stunting, undernutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies.



Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh (BPKK) • The BPKK will be a repository of diverse crops across 128 agro-climatic zones in India for better

nutritional outcomes. • The Harvard Chan School of Public Health through its India Research Center and the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation will document and evaluate promising regional dietary practices. • In consultation with Ministry of WCD and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project team

will select around 12 high focus states which are representative of the geographical, social, economic, cultural and structural diversities of India.

Efforts taken for better nutrition • Two other approaches are required to complement the Government’s efforts to promote

healthy dietary practices. o One, addressing the challenge of malnutrition at such a vast scale requires a basic

understanding of the social, behavioural and cultural practices that promote and reinforce healthy dietary behaviours both at the individual and community level.

o Two, creating the first ever database that links relevant agro-food system data at the district, with an aim to map the diversity of native crop varieties that will be more cost-effective and sustainable over the long run.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

The World Health Organization has for the first time recognised “burn-out” in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is widely used as a benchmark for diagnosis and health insurers.

Key Facts: • WHO defines burn-out as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace

stress that has not been successfully managed” • The syndrome is characterised by three dimensions:

1) Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion 2) Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to

one’s job 3) Reduced professional efficacy.

About ICD: • The ICD is the global health information standard for mortality and morbidity statistics. • ICD is increasingly used in clinical care and research to define diseases and study disease

patterns, as well as manage health care, monitor outcomes and allocate resources.


• More than 100 countries use the system to report mortality data, a primary indicator of health status. This system helps to monitor death and disease rates worldwide and measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

• About 70% of the world’s health expenditures (USD $ 3.5 billion) are allocated using ICD for reimbursement and resource allocation.

Robotic surgery facility in Safdarjung Hospital

Safdarjung Hospital: • The first Central Government hospital to start this facility for poor patients for free

Robotic surgery Advantages: • It has the advantage of providing minimally invasive surgery, reducing significantly the

morbidity & mortality of critically ill, cancer and kidney failure patients. • The Robotic system provides 7 degrees of freedom, 3-D vision, 10 times magnification and

better dissection with more precision. • The operating time also decreases resulting in improvement in turnover of patients and

decrease in waiting list of patients for surgery significantly.

Highlights: • This has been integrated with the E-Health online education programme of Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare . • It is now connected with 52 Medical colleges across India. • The department is going to start international LIVE webcast of robotic surgeries from the second

week of November, 2019. • A National Robotic training centre has also been set up for training of young doctors.

14. Ban on e-cigarettes

• Cabinet approves promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance: • The Centre is in the process of issuing guidelines to ban the manufacture, import, sale and any

kind of trade in e-cigarettes.

Highlights • Terming e-cigarettes or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems “addictive” • The chief constituent of e-cigarettes is nicotine.



• It also has a high level of toxicity and can lead to development of cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, have adverse effect on the immune and gastrointestinal systems, and raise the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women

India joins the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Development Hub

India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R&D) Hub as a new member.

• This expands the global partnership working to address challenges and improve coordination and collaboration in global AMR R&D to 16 countries, the European Commission, two philanthropic foundations and four international organisations.

Antimicrobial Resistance: • It is the broader term for resistance in different types of microorganisms and encompasses

resistance to antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic and antifungal drugs. • It occurs naturally but is facilitated by the inappropriate use of medicines, for example using

antibiotics for viral infections such as cold or flu, or sharing antibiotics.

What causes antimicrobial resistance? • The main cause of antibiotic resistance is antibiotic use. • When we use antibiotics, some bacteria die but resistant bacteria can survive and even

multiply. • The overuse of antibiotics makes resistant bacteria more common.



4. Rural and Tribal Development

Integration of Rural Development & Agriculture Ministry

The Government of India has decided to integrate the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The need: • The success in the rural sector through schemes like “Swachh Bharat” has not been seen vis-a-

vis agriculture. • The flagship rural development schemes have been well-funded. They have been target-

oriented with clear deadlines and dashboards tracking implementation on a near real-time basis. The same sense of purpose and scale has been missing in agriculture-specific programs.

• The inability to make any tangible impact on the ground by schemes of agriculture ministry like e-Nam, soil health cards, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

Potential benefits • Agriculture and rural coming under a single minister is a good thing as it will help bring in

synergies. • The benefits of rural development can be more targeted towards farmers’ welfare. • It will streamline the decision making process and negate bureaucratic hindrances among

different ministries.

First water grid in the country

Marathwada region is going to get the first water grid in the country.

Jal Jeevan Mission • Jal Jeevan Mission has been launched in order to free women from the trouble of having to toil

hard to fetch water. • Jal Jeevan Mission involves saving water and delivering water at one’s doorstep. • The Government will spend 3.5 lakh crore rupees for this, in the next five years. • By providing safe drinking water to all parts of the country. • A new ministry is forms to address all water issues that looks at the management of water

resources and drinking water supply Social audits of major rural development schemes The Department of Rural Development decides to institutionalize social audits in major schemes of Rural Development.

• National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and • The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G).

It is being jointly conducted by the Department of Rural Development and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.


• The objective of the seminar is to understand the current status of social audits and Social Audit Units (SAUs) and develop a plan for roll out of social audit in other programmes.

• It will take stock of the current status of Social Audits and SAUs in terms of independency, funds, issues identified, actions taken, etc.

• It will provide a platform for SAUs to share their experiences of conducting social audit. • Models and best practices in social audit from across states in India and also from other

countries will be showcased. • Participants will also develop an action plan for strengthening SAUs and roll out of social audit

in other rural development programs especially NSAP and PMAY-G.

About social audit for schemes: • Social Audit is recognized by many, including the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), as a

powerful tool to enforce transparency and accountability. • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the first Act to

mandate Social Audits by the Gram Sabha of all the projects taken up in the Gram Panchayat. • In addition to MGNREGA, a few states have taken up social audit of other schemes as well. • Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) audits are done in Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya

and West Bengal. • National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) audits are done in Andhra Pradesh and West

Bengal. • Meghalaya Legislature has enacted ‘The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public

Services Social Audit Act, 2017’ which mandates social audit in 26 different schemes in Education, Health, Rural Development and other areas.

• Eight States have taken up Social Audit of 11 different schemes including o Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), o Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), o National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), o Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) and o Mid-Day Meals (MDM).

Aadi Mahotsav

The scheme of the festival is: • A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Culture, Craft, Cuisine and Commerce. • The festival will feature exhibition-cum-sale of tribal handicrafts, art, paintings fabric, jewelry

and much more through 70 stalls. The tribal textiles:

• Master tribal craftsmen from Jammu & Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and from Gujarat in the West to Nagaland/Sikkim in the East will be available in the Mahotsav.

Cashless payment: • For the first time the tribal artisans will be accepting payment through major credit/debit cards

for which Point of Sale (POS) machines have been provided in each stall. • The Mahotsav will display the rich digital commerce and e-commerce being promoted by

Tribes India.



TRIBES India:

• Has signed MoUs with Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, PayTM and GEM, a government of India portal for e-commerce of the tribal products.

• Besides TRIBES India also has its own e-com portal www.tribesindia.com.

The Aadi Mahotsav is an effort to take tribal commerce to the next level of digital and electronic transactions.

The Mahotsav art form exotic handicrafts will also show the electronic and digital skills of the tribal as a special attraction.

Union Territory of Ladakh and 6th Schedule of Constitution of India

• The 119th meeting of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was held on 11th September, 2019 to deliberate the issue of inclusion of UT of Ladakh under Fifth/Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

6th Schedule of Constitution of India: • Under the Sixth schedule, there are the constitution of district councils and regional councils

with special provisions for the administration of the tribal-dominated areas. • To secure their culture, identity and land rights while delivering on development

Recommendation of Committee

It recommends that the Union Territory of Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The Commission feels that this will help in:

1. Democratic devolution of powers; 2. Preserve and promote distinct culture of the region. 3. Protect agrarian rights including rights on land 4. Enhance transfer of funds for speedy development of Ladakh region.

Van Dhan Yojana

• The initiative aims to promote MFPs-centric livelihood development of tribal gatherers and artisans.

• It mainstreams the tribal community by promoting primary level value addition to MFP at grassroots level.

• Through this initiative, the share of tribals in the value chain of Non-Timber Forest Produce is expected to rise from the present 20% to around 60%.

• The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level.

• At State level, the State Nodal Agency for MFPs and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at grassroot level.


• Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG) consisting of representatives of Van Dhan SHGs in the cluster.

5. Reports and Indices The World Happiness Report- 2019

The United Nations has released the World Happiness Report- 2019. Key facts:

• The list is topped by Finland for the second year in a row. • India slips 7 spots, ranks 140th • People in war-torn South Sudan are the unhappy with their lives. • The report ranks countries on six key variables that support well-being: income, freedom, trust,

healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity. About World Happiness Report:

• The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

• It is released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations by the UN General Assembly.

• It ranks the countries of the world on the basis of questions primarily from the Gallup World Poll.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2018 The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).



Key Findings: • India reduced its poverty rate sharply from 55 per cent to 28 per cent in ten years between

2005-06 and 2015-16. In India, a total of 271 million (27.10 crore) people moved out of poverty during these ten years.

• MPI reduced from 640 million people (55.1%) in 2005-2006 to 369 million people (27.9%) in 2015-16.

• In India, poverty reduction among children, the poorest states, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims was fastest.

• Although Muslims and STs reduced poverty the most over the 10 years, these two groups still had the highest rates of poverty.

• Bihar was the poorest state in 2015-16, with more than half its population in poverty. • Jharkhand had the greatest improvement, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,

and Nagaland. Definition of MPI poor:

• The report measures multidimensional poverty index, which it says can be broken down to • It shows “who is poor” and “how they are poor”. These factors in two measures, poverty rate

as a percentage of the population, and intensity as the average share of deprivations that poor people experience. The product of these two is MPI. If someone is deprived in a third or more of 10 weighted indicators, the global index identifies them as “MPI poor”.

• Context: The report, covering 105 countries, dedicates a chapter to India because of this remarkable progress. However, India still had 364 million poor in 2015-16, the largest for any country.

India lags behind in inclusive growth According to data computed by the Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India is far behind neighbours China and Indonesia on all major counts of inclusiveness such as education, skills, employment, labor compensation and asset building.

Key findings: • Even among the BRICS countries, India is the least inclusive economy. • Among seven emerging economies of China, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and

Turkey, India is behind six of them on education and skill parameters and behind five of them, excluding Turkey, on asset building and entrepreneurship.

• On employment and labor compensation, India is behind China, Brazil and Argentina but ahead of South Africa, Turkey and Indonesia.

• India is at the bottom on education, with ICRIER suggesting that a country like India, which still has limited access to education, should first focus on it before spending its limited resources on quality and digital literacy.


World Population Prospects 2019 The World Population Prospects 2019 has been released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Key Findings: • India will overtake China as the most populous country by around 2027. • The global population is projected to increase by another 2 billion people by 2050, from 7.7

billion in 2019. • Between now and 2050, 55 countries are estimated to see their populations shrink by at least

one per cent. • Overall, the world’s population is ageing, with the age group of 65 and above growing at such a

fast rate that by 2050. • Although overall life expectancy will increase (from 64.2 years in 1990 to 77.1 years in 2050),

life expectancy in poorer countries is projected to continue to lag behind. • Males are projected to continue to outnumber females until the end of the century, but the

gap will close.

6. Bills and Acts The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019

• The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.

• It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.

• Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice under Muslim personal laws where pronouncement of the word ‘talaq’ thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.



Offence and penalty: • The Bill makes declaration of talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years’

imprisonment with a fine. (A cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without warrant.)

• The bail may be granted only after hearing the woman (against whom talaq has been pronounced), and if the Magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail.

• The offence may be compounded by the Magistrate upon the request of the woman (against whom talaq has been declared). Compounding refers to the procedure where the two sides agree to stop legal proceedings, and settle the dispute.

The Code on Wages Bill, 2019

• Four Acts are subsumed in The Code on Wages Bill - The Payment of Wages Act, The Minimum Wages Act 1948, The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

• The Code ensures minimum wages along with timely payment of wages to all the employees and workers.

• Many unorganized sector workers like agricultural workers, painters, persons working in restaurants and dhabas, chowkidars etc. who were out of the ambit of minimum wages will get legislative protection of minimum wages.

The salient features of the Code are as following: • Many changes have been introduced in the inspection regimes including web based

randomised computerised inspection scheme, jurisdiction-free inspections, calling of information electronically for inspection, composition of fines etc.

• To protect the interest of the workers, the limitation period that the workers can make claims has been raised to 3 years

• As per the bill, the tripartite committee comprising representatives of trade unions, employers and state government would fix a floor wage for workers throughout the country

• The draft law will effectively address the problems relating to delay in payment of wages whether on monthly, weekly or daily basis.

• The bill will ensure that there are no discriminations between male and female as well as transgenders in getting wages.

• The definition ‘wages’ has been simplified in the Bill and is expected to reduce litigation and also reduce compliance costs for employers.

The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill – 2019

The Bill has been formulated recognizing the need for regulation of the use and application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) technology.


Need of the Bill: • The purpose of this Bill is to expand the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to

support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country. • The utility of DNA based technologies for solving crimes, and to identify missing persons, is well

recognized across the world. • To ensure that with the proposed expanded use of this technology in this country, there is also

the assurance that the DNA test results are reliable, and furthermore that the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.

The key components: • Establishment of a DNA Regulatory Board; • Accreditation of DNA laboratories undertaking DNA testing, analysing, etc. • Establishment of the national and regional DNA data banks

Highlights of the Bill: • As per the Bill, national and regional DNA data banks will be set up for maintaining a national

database for identification of victims, suspects in cases, undertrials, missing persons and unidentified human remains.

• Those leaking the DNA profile information to people or entities who are not entitled to have it, will be punished with a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh. Similar, punishment has also been provided for those who seek the information on DNA profiles illegally.

• As per the bill, all DNA data, including DNA profiles, DNA samples and records, will only be used for identification of the person and not for “any other purpose”.

• The Bill establishes a DNA Regulatory Board to accredit the DNA laboratories that analyses DNA samples.

One Hundred And Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019

The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the parliament to amend the reservation policy. The Bill amends Article 15 of the Constitution, by adding a clause which allows states to make "special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens".



Highlights: • To provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions to economically

backward section in the general category • The higher education institutions include private aided or unaided institutions • Reservation in jobs is only in initial appointment • It will be in addition to the existing reservation • ‘Economically weaker sections’ to be defined by the State from time to time on the basis of

family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage. Eligibility criteria:

• Those with annual family income below Rs 8 lakhs • Owning less than five acres of land • People having a residential plot of more than 1,000 square feet • Those owning a residential plot of over 100 square yards in a notified municipality • People owning a residential plot more than 200 yards in non-notified areas will also not be

eligible • Those who are already benefiting from education and job reservations under the social

backwardness criteria

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Recently the Parliament has passed the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as proof of identity.

Highlights: • The existing Aadhar act provides for the use of Aadhaar number as proof of identity of a

person, subject to authentication. • The Bill replaces this provision to state that an individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar

number to establish his identity, by authentication or offline verification. • Authentication involves submitting the Aadhaar number, and their biometric or demographic

information to the Central Identities Data Repository for verification.

Salient Features of the Bill

1. Offline verification of Aadhaar number holder: • The Bill additionally allows ‘offline verification’ of an individual’s identity, without

authentication, through modes specified by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by regulations.

• During offline verification, the agency must (i) obtain the consent of the individual, (ii) inform them of alternatives to sharing information, and (iii) not collect, use or store Aadhaar number or biometric information.


2. Voluntary use: • An individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number to establish his identity, by

authentication or offline verification.

3. Entities using Aadhaar: • An entity may be allowed to perform authentication through Aadhaar, if the UIDAI is satisfied

that it is: (i) compliant with certain standards of privacy and security, or (ii) permitted by law, or (iii) seeking authentication for a purpose specified by the central government in the interest of the State.

4. Aadhaar number of children: • The Bill specifies that at the time of enrolling a child to obtain an Aadhaar number, the

enrolling agency shall seek the consent of his parent or guardian. • After attaining eighteen years of age, the child may apply for cancellation of his Aadhaar.

5. Disclosure of information in certain cases: • The Bill amends disclosure provision to allow disclosures only for orders by High. • Bill amends to allow such disclosure on directions of officers not below the rank of a Secretary.

6. UIDAI Fund: • All fees and revenue collected by the UIDAI will be credited to the Unique Identification

Authority of India Fund. • The fund shall be used for expenses of the UIDAI, including salaries and allowances of its

employees.

7. Complaints: • Amendment allows the individual to register complaints in certain cases. • The Bill defines the Aadhaar ecosystem to include enrolling agencies, requesting agencies, and

offline verification-seeking entities.

8. Penalties: Under the Bill, the UIDAI may initiate a complaint against an entity in the Aadhaar ecosystem for failure to:

• Comply with the Act or the UIDAI’s directions • Furnish information required by the UIDAI. • Adjudicating Officers appointed by the UIDAI shall decide such matters, and may impose

penalties up to one crore rupees on such entities.

About Unique Identification Authority of India: • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established on 12

July 2016 by the Government of India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.



• The UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (Aadhaar) to all the residents of India.

Chief Justice of India's office under RTI Act The Supreme Court said in a unanimous verdict as it upheld the Delhi High Court judgment which ruled that office of the Chief Justice comes under the purview of RTI.

Highlights • The SC has held that the office of CJI is public authority under transparency law, Right to

Information Act • SC cautions that RTI cannot be used as a tool of surveillance • Judicial independence has to be kept in mind while dealing with transparency.

What is RTI Act? • Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 provides timely response to the citizens on their requests

for government information. • The major objective of the RTI Act is to promote transparency, empower the citizens and

accountability in the working condition of the Government. • An RTI can be written on a simple paper addressing Public Information Officer of the concerned

department along with postal order of Rs. 20.

Benefits of RTI Act: • Make government responsive. • Supports participatory development. • Proven anti-corruption tool. • Make citizens part of decision making.

Ayodhya Verdict

In a historic decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the disputed 2.77 acre land in Ayodhya will go to Hindus while Muslims will be given a five-acre plot at an alternate location in the city for construction of the mosque. What Supreme Court said in the judgment

1) The Babri Masjid was not built on vacant land. 2) Archeological Survey of India (ASI) findings can't be disputed as it is an expert authority. 3) Law is committed to protecting all faiths. 4) The claim of Nirmohi Akhara is only of management. 5) Muslims failed to prove that the site was under their possession before the Babri Masjid was

constructed. 6) A suitable plot of 5 acres must be granted to Sunni Waqf Board to set up a Mosque.


7) The disputed land in Ayodhya must be given to a Board of Trustees for the construction of Ram Mandir. Centre directed to formulate a scheme within three months.

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh become separate Union Territories

• The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Puducherry • While Ladakh will be a UT without legislature like Chandigarh. • The Centre will be in direct control of the police and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir

when it becomes a Union Territory. • The state of Jammu and Kashmir ceased to exist and was converted into two union territories

under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, 86 days after Parliament abrogated its special status under Article 370.

• India will now have one state less and two union territories. • The total number of states in the country will now be 28, while the total UTs will go up to

nine. • Both UTs will be headed by lieutenant governors (LG), under the Jammu and Kashmir

Reorganisation Act, 2019. • The UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will be headed by lieutenant governors G C Murmu

and R K Mathur, respectively. • The new UTs come into existence on National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who was India’s first home minister and a freedom fighter.

NRC in Assam

• The top UN refugee official has urged India to ensure that no one is left stateless by the exclusion of nearly 2 million people from a citizenship list in Assam state.

• India to ensure no one ends up stateless, "including by ensuring adequate access to information, legal aid, and legal recourse in accordance with the highest standards of due process.

Background • In NRC of Assam about 31.1 million people were included in the list, leaving out 1.9 million. • The Assam government have claimed that many genuine Indian citizens had been left out of

the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) • They have option to appeal in the Foreigners Tribunal (FT)

National Register of Citizens (NRC) • Register maintained by the Government of India containing names & certain relevant

information for identification of all genuine Indian citizens. • The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and it has not been updated till

recently. • The state of Assam has become the first state in India where the updating of the NRC is being

taken up to include the names of those persons whose names appeared in the NRC, 1951 & still alive and/or of their presently living descendants having permanent residence within the state.



• The purpose is to identify of illegal migrants residing in that state, who entered into it after midnight on 24 March 1971, the beginning of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

7. The General Elections Special The Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country. Appointment & Tenure of Commissioners

• The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. • They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. • They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme

Court of India. • The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by

Parliament. Functions of ECI:

Advisory Jurisdiction & Quasi-Judicial Functions • In the matter of post-election ineligibility of sitting members of Parliament and State

Legislatures. • The cases of persons found guilty of dishonest practices at elections which come before the

Supreme Court and High Courts are also referred to the Commission for its opinion. • The Commission has the power to prohibit a candidate who has failed to lodge an account of

his election expenses within the time and in the manner set by law. Administrative Powers • To decide the territorial areas of the electoral constituencies throughout the country on the

basis of the Delimitation Commission Act of Parliament. • To organize and periodically amend electoral rolls and to register all qualified voters. • To inform the dates & schedules of election and to scrutinize the nomination papers. • To grant recognition to political parties & allot election symbols to them. • To act as a court for settling disputes related to granting of recognition to political parties and

allotment of election symbol to them. • ECI appoints the following- • Chief Electoral Officer– to supervise the election work in the State/UT • District Election Officer– to supervise the election work of a district • Returning Officer–for each assembly and parliamentary constituency. • Electoral Registration Officer– for the preparation of Electoral rolls for a parliamentary/

assembly constituency.


Ensuring the Fair play • The Election Commission of India is considered the guardian of free and reasonable elections. • It issues the Model Code of Conduct in every election for political parties and candidates so

that the decorum of democracy is maintained. • It regulates political parties and registers them for being eligible to contest elections. • It publishes the allowed limits of campaign expenditure per candidate to all the political

parties, and also monitors the same. • The political parties must submit their annual reports to the ECI for getting tax benefit on

contributions. • It guarantees that all the political parties regularly submit their audited financial reports.

Other powers: • The Commission can repress the results of opinion polls if it deems such an action fit for the

cause of democracy. • The Commission can recommend for disqualification of members after the elections if it thinks

they have violated certain guidelines. • In case, a candidate is found guilty of dishonest practices during the elections, the Supreme

Court and High Courts consult the Commission. • The Commission can postpone candidates who fail to submit their election expense accounts

timely. The Parliament

The Parliament of the Union consists of the President, the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (The Council of States).

1.Rajya sabha - the council of states • The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by single transferable vote system. • Rajya Sabha members can serve for six years, with one third of the council being elected every

2 years. 2. Lok sabha - house of the people

• The Prime Minister, runs the government, according to the political composition of the Lok Sabha.

• The members of Lok Sabha elected directly by the adult citizens of India.

Rajya Sabha

Not more than 250 members (243 at present); 12 members are nominated by the President under Article 80 of the Constitution

Lok Sabha

543 members plus 2 members of the Anglo-Indian community, nominated by the President under Article 331 of the Constitution



System of Election

We follow a first-past-the-post electoral system. I.e. for each constituency, the electors can cast their vote for a single candidate (of their choice), the winner being the candidate who gets the most votes.

Scheduling of election

• The election process starts with the issue of notification for the Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Constituencies.

• The scrutiny of the nominations is carried out on the day following the last date for nominations.

• The campaign period is usually of 14 days or more, and the campaign comes to an end 48 hours before the close of the polls in the respective constituencies.

Model code of conduct

• The Model Code lays down broad guidelines as to how the political parties and candidates should conduct themselves during the election campaign.

• The Model Code also prescribes guidelines for the ruling party to ensure that a level field is maintained.

Electronic Voting Machine

• Electronic Voting Machines have been developed to facilitate easy polling and counting. • The machines have been developed by Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and

Bharat Electronics Corporation of India Limited (BEL).

VVPAT – Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail • From 2013, a new system has been added in the EVM called Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. • A printer is attached with the EVM which prints Sl.No., Name and Symbol of the candidate for

whom a voter has voted.

None Of The Above (NOTA) option in EVMS • The electors who do not want to vote for any of the candidates can exercise their option by

pressing the button against NOTA.

Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP) • Comprehensive measures for voters’ education are taken up during the Special Roll Revision

process in the state. • These measures will continue and are further augmented during the electoral process. • Model polling stations are set up.


• Voter helplines, Voters’ Facilitation Centres, Web and SMS based search facilities are active for assistance of voters.

ERMS: The ERMS (Electoral Roll Management System) will cover the entire process of Electoral Roll preparation for the state from Electoral Roll Revision data management to final Electoral Roll publishing.

Salient Features -

• It’s a cluster of window/web based applications developed based web services. • The following tools have been integrated for providing citizen services i.e. Search Facility and

Voter Slip(Online/Mobile based), and Tracking status of your application, Format 1 to 8 reporting module, Database Error finding module and Rationalizations of Polling Station etc.

Matdata (Voter) • Matdata App was used for Voters’ facilitation. Any citizen can search details of enrollment in

Electoral Roll through EPIC Number or through Name by downloading the app on his mobile. • He/She can also locate his/her Polling Station on Google Map. • Further, all nearby Polling Stations near the location of the citizen can be seen on the GPS

enabled mobile.

Matdaan (Polling) • Matdaan App was used for Poll Day Monitoring like Poll events, reaching of Polling Parties

reached, PS Image, Votes Cast, and Voters’ Images etc. • This application has the feature of using it offline in case of non-connectivity of network. • All data captured offline is synchronized with the centralized server as soon as the person using

the app comes in the coverage area. • Through this app, we can find out Voter Turnout (VTR) gender-wise, age-wise and section-wise. • Improvement of quality of image in the roll can also be done through this app as we get the

recent colour photograph of the voter against old / bad quality photograph in the roll.

Samadhan (Redressal) • This application provided the people / political party to lodge their complaints on the common

platform for all complaints received from all sources. • Mobile app was available for the people so that they could submit complaints with

photographs / videos on the common platform. • SMS is sent to complainant on receipt / disposal of complaint. Complainant can track status

and view ATR online through the android App.



Suvidha (Convenience) • The ‘Suvidha’ software provided for standard forms for applying for different permissions. • It also provided a checklist showing the mandatory and optional documents required for

different permissions. • This made the task of person applying and accepting the application simple and transparent.

Sugam (Easy) • This application was used for management of vehicles in the election right from the requisition

of vehicles to its payment / release.

Elecon • The ELECON application was used for creating database of Police / Polling personnel,

generation of command / appointment letters, sending SMS regarding deputation / training, tagging of patrolling party with force, generation of application for postal ballot, formation of polling party / police party after randomization, for sending polling personnel / police force from one district to another district etc.

E-COUNTING (counting) Use of online E-Counting software for uploading table-wise/candidate-wise votes polled from the counting hall was done. From android app in the mobile phone one can view the trend of counting / result.

ETS

EVM Tracking Software (ETS) is used for tracking the availability, movement of EVM.

Webcasting • Webcasting is a process where the entire poll day proceedings are captured as a video file, and

streamed live, for viewing at selected locations.

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