Relevance IN - Prelims (about PRAKHAR)
What's the NEWS

• Delhi Police flagged off 15 'PRAKHAR' vans, with the latest addition taking the number of such special vehicles to curb street crimes in the national capital to 30,

Know! more about PRAKHAR

• These patrol vans tasked especially to curb street crimes as well as crimes against women in the vulnerable areas are specially designed and equipped with latest gadgets for quick transmission of information about any crime
• Each 'PRAKHAR' van is also equipped with Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) with inbuilt GPS besides the wireless set.
• The MDT immediately transmits the calls related to street crimes as soon as it is received in Command Room to the concerned nearest PRAKHAR' van for immediate action
• These vans conduct intensive patrolling and dedicated checking at the vulnerable points in the crime-prone areas of the districts, he said.
• With the latest induction, each district will now have two such vans to cover the vulnerable stretches

Appointments
President Kovind appoints Justice Bobde as next CJI, to take oath on November 18

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the process of appointment of CJI)
What's the NEWS

• President Ram Nath Kovind signed a warrant under Article 124 of the Constitution of India appointing Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).

Know! more about it

• Justice Bobde will take oath as CJI on November 18.
• The oath will be administered by President Kovind. With a long stint of eight years under his belt as SC judge, Justice Bobde would be become the 47th CJI and is expected to demit office on April 23, 2021.
• The development comes a few days after present CJI Ranjan Gogoi initiated the process of appointment of Justice Bobde as the next CJI and wrote a letter to the Centre recommending his name.
• This process is followed by all CJIs ahead of their retirement. Gogoi will retiring from his post on November 17, just a day before Justice Bobde takes oath.
• Justice Bobde is the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court to take up the judiciary's top post.
• Article 124 of the Constitution of India provides the matter of appointing judges of the Supreme Court. Though no specific provision exists in the Constitution for appointing the Chief Justice, who as a result, is appointed like the other judges conventionally, the outgoing CJI recommends the name of the senior-most judge (i.e. by date of appointment to the Supreme Court) for appointment by the President of India, as his successor.

Prelims Factoids
EU′s Sakharov Prize

Relevance IN - Prelims (about EU's Sakharov Prize)
What's the NEWS

• Ilham Tohti is a renowned Uighur activist who recently announced as a winner of Sakharov Prize of European Union.

Know! about him

• He is a human rights defender and advocate of China's Uighur minority. He has been working for over two decades to foster dialogues between Chinese People and Uighur Muslims.
• He was sentenced to life in prison in September 2014 for his activism.
• Chinese government convicted him of creating hatred and terror through his teaching on Uighur issues.

Know! about the award given by European Parliament

• European Parliament awarded him Sakharov Prize of human rights and described him a voice of moderation and reconciliation.
• He was the host of Uyghur Online website where he used to criticize policies of the Chinese government for the exclusion of China's Uyghur population from Chinese development.
• He was creating greater awareness about the status of the Uighur community in Chinese society.
• The Chinese government declared him a separatist because of his actions and finally sentenced to life in prison.

Know! about the Uighur issue

• In recent years, Uighur people have become a subject of unparallel repression by the Chinese government.
• As per the data provided by European Union Parliament, more than 1 million Uighur Muslims have been detained in internment camps where they are forced to give up their religious and ethnic identity and swear loyalty of Chinese government.

National Affairs
Data on Police Organizations released by BPRD
Relevance IN - Prelims (about DoPO 2018) and about BPRD)
What's the NEWS

• Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018) has been released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development's (BPRD) flagship publication
• This data comprises of important information on manpower, police infrastructure, resources and much more.

Know! about the report highlights

• There has been an increase of 16,051 in the strength of Central armed police forces (CAPFs) and 19,686 personnel in the sanctioned strength of the state police in the one year since 2017.
• Police Stations in India have increased from 15579 to 16422. The number of increased police stations are included with Cyber Police stations whose strength has increased from 84to 120 in the country.
• The department has recorded 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police in the State Police Forces to 1,69,550. Now, the total share of women police personnel in Indian Police is 8.73%.

Know! about BPRD

• Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) works under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Its primary objective is to modernization of the police to ensure the speedy and authentic study of police department issues.
• BPRD has two divisions - Research, Statistics, Publication and Development.
• The government of India established a National Police Mission under supervision of BPRD to modernize and transform the police forces in the country. National Police Mission is trying to ensure equip the police personnel with necessary resources, material and intellectual.

Environment Conservation
Four Indian start-ups selected for 2019 SEED Awards
Relevance IN - Prelims (about SEED awards) + Mains (GS III environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• Four Indian start-ups working on sustainable development among the awardees
• Fourteen Start-ups have been selected for this year's SEED awards in which four are Indian - start - ups.

Know! more about the award

• The awards, an annual affair, are granted to organisations working on sustainable development. For 2019, out of 906 applications across nine countries, 14 winners and 52 finalists have been selected for innovative and locally-led start-up eco-inclusive enterprises.
• The award highlights the contribution of green and social enterprises to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Every year, awards are decided under various categories.
• This year's categories includes SEED Low Carbon, SEED Africa Awards, SEED South Africa Climate Adaptation Awards and SEED Gender equality award.

Know! more about SEED

• SEED was founded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
• The SEED awards are granted to organizations working towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDG).
• It is a global partnership for action on sustainable development and the green economy.
• This initiative works in Asian and African countries including Ghana, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand and Uganda and supports small and growing enterprises with business and capacity-building support.

Know! the Indian start-ups who won the award

• Under the SEED Low Carbon category, an organisation called Aikya Organics, located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has won the award from India.
• Aikya Organics has been working on promoting gender equality by training 1,200 women farmers.
• Apart from Aikya, four more finalists have been selected from India which include Stonesoup, Aarohana Ecosocial Development, Ecozen Solutions and Farmers Fresh Zone.
  
  

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