5th June 2019

 #SelfiewithSapling 

What to study? 

For prelims and Mains: about the campaign and its significance, about World Environment Day. 

  

Context: On the eve of World Environment Day, Union Environment Ministry has launched a people’s campaign called #SelfiewithSapling, urging people to advocate the cause on social media. 

Under the campaign, people have been urged to plant a sapling and post selfie with the planted sapling on social media. 

  

World Environment Day: 

Every June 5th is World Environment Day. On this day, communities and individuals around the world work to increase awareness of the importance of conserving the environment, the positive global impact of environmental regulations and controls and engage in activities that serve to educate and improve their environment locally. 

The World Environment Day is a part of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) for creating awareness and action worldwide for the environment. The first World Environment Day was celebrated in 1973. 

The theme for 45th World Environment Day is Beat Air Pollution. It is the call for action to combat the global crisis for ‘fresh air’. 

Host: China. 

Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme 

  

What to study? 

For prelims and mains: Key features and significance of the programme, about World Bank and related facts. 

  

Context: The Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) and the World Bank recently signed a $287 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme. 

  

About the Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme: 

• The programme aims to improve the quality of health care, reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and fill equity gaps in reproductive and child health services in Tamil Nadu. 
• The programme supports interventions to strengthen institutional and state capacity to achieve results. 
• The programme will promote population-based screening, treatment and follow-up for NCDs, and improve monitoring and evaluation. Patients will be equipped with knowledge and skills to self-manage their conditions. Lab services and health provider capacity will also be strengthened to address mental health. To tackle road injuries, the programme will improve in- hospital care, strengthen protocols, strengthen the 24×7 trauma care services and establish a trauma registry. 
• Another key aim of this programme is to reduce the equity gaps in reproductive and child health. Special focus will be given to nine priority districts, which constitute the bottom quintile of the RCH indicators in the state and have a relatively large proportion of tribal populations. 
• This Programme focuses on results instead of inputs through a Programme-for-Results (PforR) lending instrument. This will provide a much greater focus on outputs and outcomes through better alignment of expenditures and incentives with results. 

  

The Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Program will support the state government to: 

• develop clinical protocols and guidelines; 
• achieve national accreditation for primary, secondary, and tertiary-level health facilities in the public sector; 
• strengthen physicians, nurses and paramedics through continuous medical education; 
• strengthen the feedback loop between citizens and the state by making quality and other data accessible to the public. 

  

Background: 

Tamil Nadu ranks third among all Indian states in the NITI Aayog Health Index which is reflected in vastly improved health outcomes. The state’s maternal mortality rate has declined from 90 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 62 deaths in 2015-16 while infant mortality has declined from 30 deaths per 1000 live births to 20 in the same period. A key contribution to these achievements has been the establishment of emergency obstetric and neonatal care centres and the 108 ambulance service with previous support from the World Bank. These have ensured that no mother has to travel more than 30 minutes to access emergency obstetric and neonatal care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

  

Paper 2: 

Topics Covered: 

1. Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources, issues relating to poverty and hunger. 
2. Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections. 

  

Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) 

  

What to study? 

For Prelims and Mains: About Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS)- objectives, functions and significance. 

  

Context: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has decided to waive off fee for SC/ST candidates who join vocational training under Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS). 

  

About Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS): 

• Formerly under the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Jan Shikshan Sansthan was transferred to the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in 2018. 
• Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) were established to provide vocational training to non-literate, neo-literate, as well as school dropouts by identifying skills as would have a market in the region of their establishment. 
• They were formerly known as Shramik Vidyapeeth. 
• The JSSs are unique, they link literacy with vocational skills and provide large doses of Life Enrichment Education (LEE) to the people. 
• They aim for convergence with other stakeholders in society. It is their endeavor to shape their beneficiaries into self reliant and self-assured employees and entrepreneurs. 
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• Nandan Nilekani-led panel on digital payments 
    
  What to study? 
  For prelims and mains: key recommendations of the panel, challenges to less- cash economy and reforms needed. 
    
  Context: Nandan Nilekani-led panel on digital payments has submitted its recommendations. 
    
  Background: 
  The five-member high-level panel headed by Aadhar architect and former Infosys chairman Nilekani was constituted earlier this year by the central bank tasked to submit a comprehensive report holding consultations with all the major stakeholders to strengthen the digital payments industry which has seen a ten-fold growth in the last five years. 
    
  
  
  Key recommendations: 

  • Targets: It has set a target for the government and regulators to achieve a ten-fold volume growth in digital payments over the next three years through customer-friendly pricing mechanisms and broadening access infrastructure. 
  • Measures to increase the outreach: Banks need to ensure that no user is more than 5 kms away from a banking access point and if such areas are found, these must be considered ‘shadow areas’ and a local vendor be made a banking correspondent (BC) as he deals in money and stays there. 
  • Measures to less-cash economy: removing transaction charges on digital payments made to government, inducing a competitive Merchant Discount Rates (MDR) pricing structure and easing KYC costs to banks are among the key recommendations put forward by the committee.  
  • Role of the governments: committee has put the onus on government to be at the forefront of the transition by taking steps such as removing transaction charges on all digital payments made by customers to the government. The committee recommends that the Government, being the single largest participant in payments, take the lead on all aspects of digitization of payments. 
  • Committee has also asked RBI to set an interchange rate for transaction between customers and leave the MDR on competitive market pricing which would reduce the transaction cost for customers.  
  • Special impetus on digitizing mass volume channels such as recurring bill payments, toll and ticket payments at public facilities and digital on boarding of khirana store merchants has also been recommended by the panel in order to achieve the targeted growth. 
  • The panel has also asked the government to set up special risk mitigation and complaint registering digital portals. A special data monitoring mechanism to garner granular district level data on consumer trends and payment behavior has also been suggested by the committee for targeted intervention to improve the existing infrastructure. 
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  • Can an individual simultaneously be a member of both Houses of Parliament? 

      

    What to study? 

    For prelims: constitutional provisions on this. 

    For mains: Concerns and issues associated with simultaneous membership. 

      

    Why in News? Some of those who won in the recent elections were elected from more than one constituency; some were already members of either Rajya Sabha or the legislature of a state. These MPs must vacate one of their seats — because under the Constitution, an individual cannot simultaneously be a member of both Houses of Parliament (or a state legislature), or both Parliament and a state legislature, or represent more than one seat in a House. 

      

    What are the procedures and timelines for effecting this? 

    Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha: 

    • If a person is elected simultaneously to both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and if he has not yet taken his seat in either House, he can choose, within 10 days from the later of the dates on which he is chosen to those Houses, the House of which he would like to be a member. [Article 101(1) of the Constitution read with Section 68(1) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951] 
    • The member must intimate his choice in writing to the Secretary to the Election Commission of India (ECI) within the 10-day window, failing which his seat in Rajya Sabha will fall vacant at the end of this period. [Sec 68(2), RPA 1951]. The choice, once intimated, is final. [Sec 68(3), RPA, 1951] 
    • No such option is, however, available to a person who is already a member of one House and has contested the election for membership of the other House. So, if a sitting Rajya Sabha member contests and wins a Lok Sabha election, his seat in the Upper House becomes automatically vacant on the date he is declared elected to Lok Sabha. The same applies to a Lok Sabha member who contests an election to Rajya Sabha. [Sec 69 read with Sec 67A, RPA 1951] 

      

    Elected on two Lok Sabha seats: 

    There is no one in this category in the new Lok Sabha. Under Sec 33(7) of RPA, 1951, an individual can contest from two parliamentary constituencies but, if elected from both, he has to resign one seat within 14 days of the declaration of the result, failing which both his seats shall fall vacant. [Sec 70, RPA, 1951 read with Rule 91 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961] 

      

    State Assembly and Lok Sabha: 

    
    

    Under Article 101(2) of the Constitution (read with Rule 2 of the Prohibition of Simultaneous Membership Rules, 1950, made by the President under this Article) members of state legislatures who have been elected to Lok Sabha must resign their seats within 14 days “from the date of publication in the Gazette of India or in the Official Gazette of the State, whichever is later, of the declaration that he has been so chosen”, failing which their seats in Lok Sabha shall automatically fall vacant. 
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