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Daily Current Capsules - 07th September 2019

Internal Security
1st National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics, organised by CBI
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the objective of this conference ) + Mains ( GS III internal security + awareness in the field of computer, cyber security)
What's the NEWS
  • The first National Conference on Cybercrime Investigation and Forensics has been organized by the CBI,
  • The Minister congratulated the CBI for organizing the first national conference of its kind in the country. While complimenting the CBI, the Minister said that people from the most peripheral and remotest regions of the country trust the functioning of CBI.
Why this conference
  • The nature of crime also evolves with the evolution of society, which makes it essential on the part of investigative agencies to evolve their techniques.
  • The entire crime scenario has changed over the years, he added. He emphasized that the study of cyber crime is important for India, keeping in mind the fact that India has a huge population and that India has the second largest internet users in the world.
  • The cyber manipulators are posing risk to the nation by circulating fake videos on the social media, which needs to be addressed.
  • A Centralised Technology Vertical (CTV) with a cost of Rs 99 crore will be set up within CBI, which will be operational by next year. It will help in getting real time information for the benefit of interrogators.
  • The Minister said that tackling cyber crime cannot be left to CBI alone. He emphasized on the role of NGOs and activists to join this crusade to counter cybercrime by changing the mindset of masses.
  • This conference is a platform for State Police and Enforcement agencies to share their best practices and to replicate them.
  • Cyber crime has become a global phenomena now and this conference will be an enriching experience for the agencies working at grass root levels.
Bilateral Relations
Eastern Economic Forum
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about EEF) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations + international institutions)
What's the NEWS
  • The Prime Minister announced that India would be giving 1 billion dollar worth 'Line of Credit' for the development of the Far East.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 5th Eastern Economic Forum at Vladivostok, Russia as its Chief Guest at the special invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Know! more about the announcements made by India
  • The Prime Minister made a landmark announcement that India would be giving 1 billion dollar worth 'Line of Credit' for the development of the Far East.
  • This is the first time that India would be giving line of credit to an area of another country.
  • India's credit line offer would serve as a take-off point of 'Act Far East' and this move would also add a new aspect to India's economic diplomacy and help strengthen India's cooperation with friendly nations in the region.
Know! other highlights of the bilateral meeting
Indo-Pacific Region
  • Both the Nations have decided to start a new phase of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region. Towards this, the two leaders have agreed to a proposal to establish a maritime link between Chennai and Vladivostok.
Far East Street Exhibition
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ‘Far East Street' exhibition on September 4, 2019 with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ‘Far East Street' exhibition showcased the vibrant culture of the Russian Far East.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral interactions with the leaders of Japan, Malaysia and Mongolia on the sidelines of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum at Vladivostok.
Know! More about the Eastern Economic Forum
  • Eastern Economic Forum was established by Russia to boost the economic development of Russia's Far East and expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • The 5th Eastern Economic Forum was participation from several countries at ministerial level such as China, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and North Korea.
  • Currently, 17 countries including Japan, China, Australia, Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Vietnam invest in the Russian Far East region. According to the EEF website, since 2014, almost 32 per cent of all FDI into Russia has come to this region.
Government policies
Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the recent amendment in Motor vehicles act) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions for the development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementations)
What's the NEWS
  • Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 has been implemented throughout the country since September 1, 2019.
  • This new act has increased fine for many offence to check the road accidents and improve the road safety in the country.
  • Now driving without driving licence will be fined Rs 5000 instead of Rs 500 earlier.
Why the stringent measures were needed
  • According to the 2018 report of the World Health Organization, the highest number of road accidents occur in India worldwide. Even China, the most populous country, is behind us in this regard.
  • As per the report of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 2017; there are about 5 lakh road accidents occurred in India every year in which around 1.5 lakh people are killed.
  • There are around 1.49 lakh people died in 2018 in the road accidents with Uttar Pradesh registering the maximum spike in fatalities.
  • So in order to prevent the menace of road accidents; the central government has amended the Motor Vehicle 1988 by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019.
Know! the new features of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.
  • The Bill increases the minimum compensation for hit and run cases as follows: (i) in case of death, from Rs 25,000 to two lakh rupees, and (ii) in case of grievous injury, from Rs 12,500 to Rs 50,000.
  • The New Bill allows the central government to order for recall of defected motor vehicles which may harm the environment, or the driver, or other road users.
  • The National Road Safety Board, will be created by the central government to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.
  • Now the fine is increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 along with imprisonment of 6 months. On the repetition of this act fine would be Rs. 15,000.
  • Driving without driving lisence will be fined Rs 5000 instead of 500 earlier.
  • Rash driving will cost fine of Rs. 5000 earlier it was Rs.1000.
  • Offence by Juveniles is a new category introduced. Now Guardian of the Juvenile / owner of the vehicle shall be fined Rs. 25,000 with 3 yrs imprisonment. For Juvenile to be tried under Juveniles Justice Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle shall be cancelled.

  • If a vehicle manufacturer fails to comply with motor vehicle standards, the penalty will be a fine of up to Rs 100 crore, or imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
  • If a contractor fails to comply with road design standards, the penalty will be up to Rs.1 lac.
  • Under section 196 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 2019 driving without Insurance will be fined Rs 2000.
  • Under the section 194 D of the act; riding without Helmets will be fined to Rs 1000 and disqualification for 3 months for licence.
  • Under section 194B of the Act; driving without seat belt will cost Rs. 1000.
  • Speeding / Racing will be fined Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 500 earlier.
  • Under section 194 E of the Act; not providing way for emergency vehicles will cost Rs 10,000.
Human Resource Development
Rs 125 crore allotted to IIT-Kharagpur for Centre's SATHI initiative
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about SATHI initiative ) + Mains ( GS II issues relating to development and management of social sector/services relating to education and human resource)
What's the NEWS
  • An amount of Rs 125 crore has been earmarked for the SATHI (Sophisticated Analytical and Technical Help Institute) Centre at IIT-Kharagpur for three financial years starting from 2019-20
Know! about SATHI Centre initiative
  • IIT-Kharagpur has been selected for the SATHI Centre initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian government
  • The initiative will be developed as a state-of-the-art shared, professionally managed science and technology infrastructure facility
  • The primary objective of the centre is to extend help to the neighbouring academic institutes, research establishments and the industries, particularly the start-ups and manufacturing units for using sophisticated instruments, which do not exist anywhere else, in a few selected areas.
  • The equipment and facilities proposed to be acquired for this centre will cater to the ever increasing and diverse need of scientists and technologists of the country.
  • The SATHI Centre will run 24x7 round the year. At least 70 per cent of instrument time will be reserved for external users from other academic institutes, national laboratories, start-ups, entrepreneurs and the industry.
Delhi University, IIT-Madras, BHU among 5 awarded Institutions of Eminence status
Relevance IN - Prelims (about institute of eminence status ) + Mains ( GS II issues relating to development and management of social sector/services relating to education and human resource)
What's the NEWS
  • The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) awarded Institutions of Eminence (IoE) status to five public universities: IIT-Madras, Banaras Hindu University, IIT-Kharagpur, University of Delhi and University of Hyderabad.
  • The decision was taken by the MHRD on the advice of University Grants Commission and the Empowered Expert Committee to award these five public universities the IoE tag.
  • Meanwhile, Letters of Intent (LoI) were issued to five Private Universities for accepting and sending their preparedness for being declared as Institutions of Eminence.
The private Universities
  • Private universities - the Vellore Institute of Technology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Jamia Hamdard University and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology - were issued Letters of Intent to grant them the status.
  • The new greenfield Bharti Institute, a project of Airtel's Satya Bharti Foundation, has also been issued the letter.
  • These institutions will need to submit their readiness for commencing academic operations as IoEs.
The state Universities
  • In addition, letters were issued to two State governments - UP and Haryana - to pass legislation in the State Assembly to change the status of - Shiv Nadar University and OP Jindal University respectively - from Private Universities. The move is required to enable to be considered as IoE Deemed Universities.
  • Jadavpur University (West Bengal) and Anna University (Tamil Nadu) these two State universities were also selected by the Empowered Committee and the State governments have been asked to indicate their commitment towards their contribution under the IoE scheme. Earlier, in the first round under the IoE scheme, six institutions were selected as IoEs.
Conditions for state Universities
  • Four other institutions, which had also been recommended by the UGC, require the State governments to act before they can be awarded the status.
  • The Tamil Nadu and West Bengal governments must commit themselves to contributing half of the funds required for Anna University and Jadavpur University.
  • The Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Assemblies must pass legislation to end the private university status of Shiv Nadar University and OP Jindal University, so that they could receive the new status of IoE Deemed Universities.
  • Each university will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry, laying out its plan to achieve the objective of becoming a world-class institution. The public institutions on the list will then be eligible for a government grant of Rs.1,000 crore.
Know! all about IoE and the benefits of getting the IoE status
  • In 2017, the University Grants Commission (UGC) started inviting applications from universities who conformed to the set of guidelines provided by them in order to be granted the eminence tag.
  • The need for creating a separate category of universities which will be regulated differently from other universities came about because of the fact that last year none of the Indian universities were placed in World University Rankings.
  • The objective behind the tag of eminence was to give 20 universities (10 public and 10 private), wide-ranging autonomy by the government in administrative and financial matters so that they can emerge as world-class universities over a reasonable period of time and be ranked among the top 500 of any of the world-renowned ranking frameworks in the first 10 years of being declared Institute of eminence.
  • The government universities would be further given financial assistance to the amount of Rs 1000 crore for fulfilling the said objectives.
  • Some of the expectations that a University of Eminence should satisfy within a reasonable time, as provided in the UGC (Declaration of Government Educational lnstitutions as lnstitutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017 are:
  • lt should preferably be multi-disciplinary and have both teaching and research focus of an exceptionally high quality
  • There should be a reasonably good mix of domestic and foreign students.
  • lt should have a good proportion of foreign or foreign qualified faculty.
  • It should have student amenities comparable with that of globally reputed institutions
  • The institution should have reasonably large owned campus with adequate space for expansion.
  • lt should come in the top 500 of any of the world-renowned ranking frameworks (such as the Times Higher Education world University Rankings or QS or, Shanghai's Jiao Tong University) in in the first ten years of setting up on being declared as lnstitution of Eminence, and having achieved top five hundred rank, should consistently improve its ranking to come in the top one hundred eventually over time
Eligibility Criteria
  • The plan was to select a good mix of central universities as well as arts, management and technical institutes.
  • The Top 50 in the National institution Ranking Framework in their category under the latest National lnstitution Ranking Framework.
  • Top 500 in internationally recognised rankings like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or QQS or SJTU (Shanghai's Jiao Tong University) would also be eligible for inclusion in the programme.
Eligible institutes
  • Central Universities
  • Government-owned and controlled deemed universities
  • lnstitute of National importance such as IITs, NITs etc.
  • State universities set up under a law made by legislative assembly of a state
How IoEs will be different from other universities
  • The institutes will be free from most UGC regulations which are binding on other universities, except for some flexible guidelines
  • They will not have to adhere to UGC mandated curriculum and would be free to fix their own curriculum and syllabus
  • They would be able to admit 30 per cent of foreign students on merit and deciding the fee charged from foreign students will also be their prerogative
  • They can recruit foreign faculty upto 25 per cent of its faculty strength
  • They will have the flexibility of course structure in terms of number of credit hours and years to take a degree, after approval of their Governing Council and broadly conforming to the minimum prevailing standards
  • They shall be free to enter into academic collaborations with other institutions of India
  • However, all these facilities will be subject to the University of Eminence meeting the goal of becoming an institution of global repute at the end of fifth and subsequent years failing which they could be penalized by the Empowered Expert Committee to the extent of revoking their eminence tag and reverting them back to their original status.
'Institute of Eminence' status (1.0)
  • Human Resource Development (HRD) last year in June named six universities selected for their world-class 'Institute of Eminence' status to enjoy heightened autonomy - and in the case of public institutions substantial extra government funding.
  • Out of the six announced, Reliance Foundation's proposed Jio Institute near Navi Mumbai, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) and Manipal University are in the private sector, and the remaining three - the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore - are in the public sector.

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