POINT IAS

preparation simplified

PRELIMS REVISION – 21 (FROM JULY, 2018)

  1. The hepcidin hormone, released by the liver, is a central regulator of iron in the body. Dysregulation of the hormone leads to anaemia on one hand and excess iron accumulation in organs such as liver and heart leading to multi-organ failure. Hemochromatosis is a rare hereditary disease that is characterised by iron accumulation or overload in various tissues. The symptoms are non-specific and hence difficult to diagnose. Read more at The Hindu.
  2. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) since 2009-10. The objectives of the scheme are to contribute to the improvement in the well being of children in difficult circumstances, as well as to the reduction of vulnerabilities to situations and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children. The Scheme, also envisages for creating a mechanism for tracking ‘missing’ and ‘found’ children under ICPS and Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act,2000 ( JJ Act). Therefore, this Ministry had entrusted National Informatics Centre (NIC) to develop a national portal TrackChild which not only have data on ‘missing’ children but it also have live database to monitor the progress of the ‘found’ children who are availing various services in different Child Care Institutions (CCIs) under the ICPS and the JJ Act. Aadhaar cards of over 30,000 children living in child care institutions have been linked to the Track Child portal in a bid to bolster the information base on the number of children under institutional care. Sources: Ministry of Women and Child Development & MoneyControl.
  3. Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) is a crime-fighting software which can detect crime through fingerprints at the crime scene with the help of retinal scan, writers pad, palm and even bare sole scans can help trace criminals with 100% accuracy. The fingerprint data can be shared by the State government with the National Crime Records Bureau, other State governments, investigation agencies, courts, crime experts and even with Interpol and foreign investigation agencies. Another feature of the system is facial recognition of suspects in cases of mob violence and mob lynching, with the help of photographs and CCTV footage. The system will prove handy in cases of terrorist attacks in crowded places like railway stations, giving 50%-60% accuracy if 40% of the information available is accurate. In the case of a first-time criminal, the system will create complete biometric data which will be useful in future. At present the world over, AMBIS is being used by Interpol and other European agencies. Read more at The Hindu.
  4. Out of the 4 launchers, Only PSLV and Sounding Rockets are from the ‘operational’ category. ASLV belongs to the ‘historic’ category while Scramjet Engine – TD is from the ‘future’ category. Source: ISRO.
  5. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been in news for having careful scrutiny of the Flipkart-Walmart deal. The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India. The objectives of the Act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has been established by the Central Government with effect from 14th October 2003. CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government. It is the duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India. The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues. However, CCI, in the context of Flipkart-Walmart de has recently opined that complaints about the deal violating FDI rules ‘may merit policy intervention’ but do not fall under its ambit. Sources: CCI and The Hindu.
  6. The ‘Raksha Mantri’ or the ‘Minister of Defence’ is the Chairman to the Defence Acquisitions Council. The other two boards are headed by the respective secretaries. Read more at Ministry of Defence.
  7. The all India index of Industrial Production (IIP) is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base year. In general terms, the IIP measures the quantum of changes in the industrial production in an economy and captures the general level of industrial activity in the country. It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) revised the base year of the all-India Index of Industrial Production (IIP) from 2004-05 to 2011-12 on May 12, 2017. Revisions in the IIP are necessitated to maintain representativeness of the items and producing entities and also address issues relating to continuous flow of production data. The base year revision captures structural changes in the economy and improves the quality and representativeness of the indices. The revised IIP (2011-12) not only reflect the changes in the industrial sector but also aligns it with the base year of other macroeconomic indicators like the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI). Source: Indian Economic Service.
  8. Index of Industrial Production and the Annual Survey of India are compiled and published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. While the Index of Eight Core Industries and the Wholesale Price Index are compiled and released by Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.
  9. Index of Industrial Production and the Annual Survey of India are compiled and published by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. While the Index of Eight Core Industries and the Wholesale Price Index are compiled and released by the Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.
  10. Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is the principal source of industrial statistics in India providing information on important characteristics of registered manufacturing sector. ASI is considered as the most comprehensive and reliable source of organised manufacturing sector data providing disaggregated industry specific details of production, investment, employment and costs. It does not cover unorganised or unregistered or informal sector enterprises. ASI is the main survey conducted by Central Statistics Office, Industrial Statistics wing. It ensures timely dissemination of statistical information to asses and evaluates the dynamics in composition, growth and structure of organized manufacturing sector. The ASI is conducted under the Collection of Statistics Act, since 1959, to obtain comprehensive and detailed statistics of industrial sector with the objective of estimating the contribution of registered manufacturing industries as a whole to the national income. The ASI data is based on actual book of accounts and other documents maintained by registered factories. Source: Indian Economic Service.