Vultures : bringing them back from extinction

Population of vultures declined due to following reasons:

• Eating dead animals which have been treated by pain killers "diclofenac"
• Use of pesticide organochlorides
• DDT

Issue of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Definition

• non-infectious and non-transmissible among people 

Leads to

• morbidity(diseased state of individual) and premature deaths 
• most common in low and middle income countries

AgustaWestland choppers issue

Background:

• Earlier Mi-17 cargo helicopters were used for VVIP deployment.
• Indian Air Force has sought the AgustaWestland choppers as a replacement
• The Comptroller and Auditor General "it was a waste of resources"

Solar Fencing

• Non-Lethal Solar Powered Perimeter Security System. 
• Operate as Psychological and Physical Barrier. 
• The System will alert any kind of intrusion through an audio alarm system that can be in the vicinity of more than 500 meters, within a second. 

Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT)

What is DBT??
direct benefits transfer is a government scheme that aims :
entitlements and benefits to the people can be transferred directly to them through biometric based Aadhaar linked Bank Account.

POLIO

• caused by virus
• mainly affects child below age of 5 yrs
• virus enters through mouth

Judicial Reforms in India

Need:

1. time-taking process
2. costly
3. large pendency of cases
4. lower faith in subordinate courts, High Court (appeal to higher courts)

Fourteenth Finance Commission Constituted

• Article 280
• Chairman
  Dr. Y.V.Reddy (former Governor Reserve Bank of India)

Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013

AIM

1. To position India among the top five global scientific powers by 2020 
2. Focus on faster, sustainable and inclusive development 
3. National development and sustainable and more inclusive growth

SRISHTI

Science, Research and Innovation System for High Technology led path for India 

2G Auction/high reserve fee

Issue: 

Telecom giants complaint before auction started that the reserve fee too high

What is reserve fee??

The reserve fee is simply the starting point of bidding. No bidding can be made below this price. If bidding doesn’t push the price up then the item is sold at the reserve price. However if the bidding intensity is high then the final price could go much higher than the reserve price

Advantage of low reserve price:

Lower the reserve price --> more and more bidders participation in the auction --> more extensive participation --> more comprehensive price discovery of the resource --> more successful auction

Agricultural waste management and vermi-technology

Issue:
Harvesting the residue left in the field poses a major problem as removing it requires manpower and money

What farmer does??
In some places simply burn the dried leaves, stalk in the field itself as it is an easy option.
advantage of this:

• free manure, 
• increased water holding capacity

The Prohibition of Unfair Practice in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and University Bill

NEED:
"India's demographic dividend(major population age) in coming years by 2020  is around 29 years that means a population with an average age of 29" (Ref here TheHindu)
Whats interesting here is that the same for 

• China is 37 years
• US is  38 years

 This means around 2020 we will have maximum population as young Indians.
So its important that young Indians are meaningfully participated in the economy and contribute to growth.

Old age,elderly,senior citizen problems

Who are aged??

60 years + are called aged.

Characteristics of old aged people: 

characteristic of old aged,senior citizen, elderly people

Genetically Modified Crops (GM Crops) and current Issue

Created for human or animal consumption using latest molecular biology techniques.

Specific change introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques.

Census 2011

 Our Census Our Future!!

 
Total Population of India
2011 1.21bn
2001 1.02bn

"we are the second most populous country just after China who is at 1.35bn"

We are closing on them very fast and soon we will take them down :-) !!

Track Child

What it is??

• A child tracking system for maintaining real time data of all children availing rehabilitation services under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme.
• Implemented by the Union Women & Child Development Ministry

Citizen Science

What it is??

• Public participation in scientific research 
• Scientific research conducted by crowdsourcing, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists 
• Citizen Science is when people make their own voluntary contributions to the progress of science from home. 

U.S. presidential Election

Basics

• For the post of President and Vice-President every 4 years
• Candidate must be at least 35yrs of age
• They must be native-born citizens of United States and a resident of at least 14 years

Antarchakshu

• Launched by The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

TCAS

Train Collision Avoidance System
Based on a combination of GPS and Radio Frequency enabled technology, applies brakes without the intervention of the loco (train) pilots once it detects another locomotive on the move or stationary on the same track and avoids collision.
Jointly developed by RDSO of the Railways and Hyderabad-based private firm HBL Power Systems Ltd.