1. Human Development Index comprises literacy rates, life expectancy at birth and

a) Gross National Product per head
b) Gross Domestic Product per hear at real purchasing power
c) Gross National Product in US dollars
d) Gross national income per capita

2)National Income is

a) Net National Product at factor cost
b) Net Domestic Product at factor cost
c) Net National Product at market price
d) Net Domestic Product at market price

3)Which of the following are matters on which a constitutional amendment is possible only with the ratification of the legislature of not less than one-half of the states?

1.Election of the President

2.Abolition of legislative council in a state

3.Lists in the Seventh Schedule

4.Representation of states in Parliament.

Select the correct answer code:

a) 1, 2, 3
b) 1, 3, 4
c) 1, 3
d) 2, 3, 4

MAP OF THE DAY

Bhashan Char Island

• Bhasan Char also known as Char Piya, is an island in Hatiya, Bangladesh.
• Located 34 kilometres (21 miles) from the mainland, its name in Bengali means “floating island.”
• The island was formed with Himalayan silt in 2006 spanning 40 square kilometres.
• It is underwater from June to September annually because of the monsoon, and it has no flood fences.
• In June 2015, the Bangladeshi government suggested resettling Rohingya refugees on the island under its Ashrayan Project.
• The proposal was characterized by the UN Refugee Agency as “logistically challenging”.

Prelims Factual News Items of the Day :-

1) Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission

The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”

2) World No Tobacco Day is being observed on May 31, 2021 under the theme “Commit to Quit”.  It is observed since 1987 after member states of  World Health Organisation created “World No Tobacco Day”  to bring global attention towards  tobacco epidemic and associated preventable death.

3)The ‘Bell of Faith’ scheme will now be implemented for senior citizens staying alone in villages. Scheme to cover 250 houses in city in the first phase.

What is the ‘Bell of Faith’ scheme all about?

It is a safety project conceived under Kerala’s Community Policing Scheme.

It will help elderly citizens attract the attention of their neighbours using a loud, remote-controlled alarm in emergencies.

It has been under implementation in Kerala since 2018.

4)The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975 via the treaty of Lagos.

Mission: To promote economic integration in “all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters.

Vision: Creation of a borderless region where the population has access to its abundant resources and is able to exploit same through the creation of opportunities under a sustainable environment.

ECOWAS can be divided into two sub-regional blocs:

1. West African Economic and Monetary Union – established in 1994
2. West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) – established in 2000

ECOWAS is meant to be a region governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance.

The member countries of ECOWAS comprises: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.

4)Defence Ministry notifies 108 negative imports :- Negative imports means that these will not be bought from foreign players rather they will be procured from local market players.
This will promote the local industries and make in India campaign. This is also known as Positive indigenisation.

5)Justice Mishra likely to head NHRC :- Former Supreme Court Justice Arun Kumar Mishra is likely to be the new Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after a high-powered recommendation committee
proposed his name.

Selection Committee for the Chairperson of NHRC has :-

The selection panel consisted of Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Home Minister Amit Shah; Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh; Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla; and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

About Recent Amendments in NHRC – 2019

What are the amendments made?

Composition of NHRC: The amendment Bill provides that a person who has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a Judge of the Supreme Court can be the chairperson of the NHRC.

The change allows 3 members to be appointed, of which at least one will be a woman.

Members of the NHRC: The chairpersons of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and National Commission for Women, National Commission for Backward Classes, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.

Chairperson of SHRC: The Bill provides for a person who has been Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court can be chairperson of a SHRC.

Term of office: The Bill reduces the term of office to 3 years or till the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.

The Bill removes the five-year limit for reappointment found in the act.

Union Territories: The Bill provides that the central government may confer on a SHRC human rights functions being discharged by Union Territories.  Functions relating to human rights in the case of Delhi will be dealt with by the NHRC

6) Maratha community brought under EWS quota :- Previously, the government had decided that the Maratha community could not take advantage of the 10% EWS category as Maratha reservation was in force in the State. The Supreme Court, however, scrapped the SEBC reservation in jobs and education, making it possible for the State government to extend the benefit of the EWS quota to the Marathas.
As per the government resolution, a person fulfilling the criterion for EWS would be eligible for 10% reservation in educational institutes, barring minority institutes.

7) China Allowed the Three Child Policy : China said Monday that it would allow all married couples to have three children, ending a two-child policy that has failed to raise the country’s declining birthrates and avert a demographic crisis.

Recently in 2016 China moved from One child policy to Two Child Policy. Now the change is to three child policy since the younger population is declining and the aged population is increasing because of the low fertility rates.

EDITORIAL OF THE DAY

Power play to bring the digital ecosystem to heel

This article is a critique on the latest IT Rules amendment which direct the intermediaries to Provide the originator of the message information (i.e who was the originator of a particular message).

Who is a Intermediary :- those that meet a user threshold of 50 lakh users. Ex. Whatsapp has more than .5 billion users.

What are the Problems with the New IT Rules amendment :-

1. This will break the End to End Encryption since finding the trace of even one originator will lead to surveillance on the messages of all the users.
2. This is a breach on the Privacy of the Users since every time our messages are being stored and read by the intermediaries.
3. This will provide a backdoor to the Government to shut its critique.
4. This method of finding the originator of the message is not a reliable one since the person who was originator in whatsapp could have received the message on email or other sources so in reality he will not be the actual originator.
5. Author also said that the apt authority to judge whether the originator should be traced or not is the Judiciary , How can the Government be made all powerful to determine the originator?

What does the Author Suggest :-

• The Author says that the government should have consulted the rules first with various stakeholders.
• The government should give explanation for each clause of the rule so that people can understand the rationale behind the change in the Policy.

Editorial 2 :- The Indian model of coexistence

Here Author has traced a history of Israel Palestine Conflict and then gave a solution to the ongoing dispute.

Time Line of Wars :-

1948 – Arab Israeli war ( Israel Won and expanded the territory – Arabs call it the Nakba or catastrophe )

1967 – Six Day War ( Israel Won and captured Sinai Peninsula from the Egypt, Golan Heights from Syria )

1973 – Yom Kippur War – Syria and Egypt lead Forces against Israeli Forces.

Solution Provided by the Author :- The Indian model of democracy and secularism, which accommodates religious, ethnic, linguistic and other diversities, could be a viable model for the peaceful coexistence of formerly antagonistic groups. The European model of the annihilation of natives in the Americas and Australia, last tried on the Jews in Nazi Germany, is not a solution which we can morally countenance and practically resort to. India, on the other hand, evolved a unique model of accommodating the victors and the vanquished, without ever resorting to the latter’s decimation.