Social Issues
International Women's Day

Relevance IN - Prelims (about International women's day and steps taken by the government for the welfare of women) + Mains (GS II Social issues)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of HRD will celebrate the International Women's Day (IWD) in schools and colleges across the country.
• The Government has launched a special theme-based focused campaign from 1^st-7^th March in the run up to the International Women's Day on 8^th March this year with Education being the theme on 1^st March.

• The seven themes that are being observed by the Government of India include Education, Health and nutrition, Empowerment of women, Skills & entrepreneurship, Participation in sports, Rural women agriculture and Urban women.

Government initiatives for the education of the girl child

• The Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys.
• At elementary level, GER is 94.32 % as against 89.28% for boys. At Secondary level, it is 81.32 % as compared to 78 %.
• The Ministry has decided to designate a girl student as class monitor "Main Hoon Monitor" for at least half of the academic school session of the year 2020-21 and beyond.
• A Self-Defence Olympiad will be organised for girls at school level on the lines of Yoga Olympiad.
• To ensure safety and security of girls, Self defence training is imparted to girls of class VI to XII belonging to Government Schools.

Steps taken by the Ministry of HRD to promote education among girls.

• Integrated Scheme of School Education-Samagra Shiksha
• Provision has been made to upgrade the existing Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) from upper primary level upto senior secondary level in convergence with the erstwhile Girls Hostel Scheme.
• KGBVs are residential schools for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).
• For supporting single girl child in higher education , Swami Vivekananda Single Girl Child Scholarship for Research in Social Science was started in 2014-15.
• UGC has provided support for eight exclusive women universities.
• The All India Council for Technical Education is implementing the PRAGATI scholarship scheme for assistance of girls pursuing technical education.
• The Government has decided to increase female enrolment in various Programmes by creating supernumerary seats.

About International Women's Day

• International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8.
• International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
• The day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911.
• The day is not country, group or organization specific - and belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.
• No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women's network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women's Day.
• The theme for 2020 is #EachforEqual- An equal world is an enabled world.

International
Scotland may become the first country in the world to end ‘period poverty'
Relevance IN - Prelims (about period poverty)
What's the NEWS

• The Scottish Parliament passed the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill that aims to make sanitary products free for women of all age groups.
• The Bill has only passed the first hurdle to become a law. It still needs to be considered by a parliamentary committee, following which it will require approval from the parliament. It will finally need the Royal Assent of the Queen.

Know! about period poverty

• As of now, in Scotland, the provision of free sanitary products is already available in schools, universities and colleges.
• Referring to "period dignity", the legislation aims to develop a universal system in Scotland, which will provide free sanitary products for "anyone who needs them".
• One of the primary aims of the Bill is to ensure that those who menstruate have "reasonably convenient" access to period products free of charge.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Svalbard Global Seed Vault)
What's the NEWS

• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault - referred to as the earth's ‘doomsday vault' - now contains about 1.05 million seeds.
• The aim of the vault is to preserve a vast variety of crop seeds in the case of a doomsday event, calamity, climate change or national emergency.

Know! more about it

• A fresh stock of 60,000 new seed samples from 36 different institutions worldwide was deposited to the reserve vault of seeds in February 2020.
• On February 25, 30 gene banks deposited seeds, including samples from India, Mali and Peru
• The vault - in the island of Spitsbergen, midway between Norway and the North Pole - opened in 2008 and preserves seeds for several food varieties.
• The vault is artificially cooled at temperatures of below 18 degrees Celsius. The Arctic's climate keeps it cold in case of a power failure. It serves as a backup for plant breeders to develop new varieties of crops.

Know! the benefits

• There is a need to preserve this biodiversity to provide healthy diets and for providing farmers with sustainable livelihoods so that they can adapt to new conditions
• The Seed Vault and seed banks around the world play a vital role in this critically important mission
• A withdrawal was made from the vault in 2015 after Syria's civil war damaged a seed bank near Aleppo.
• A year-long upgrade to the vault - at a cost of $11 million - was made in October, 2019 by Norway.

Government Schemes
Om Birla launches ''Suposhit Maa Abhiyan'' in Kota
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Suposhit Maa Abhiyaan)
What's the NEWS

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla launched the ''Suposhit Maa Abhiyan'' with the aim to create a malnutrition-free India (by 2022) and to support pregnant women and adolescent girls.

Know! more about the campaign

• In the first phase of the campaign, 1,000 kits of 17 kg balanced diet each were provided to 1,000 pregnant women.
• It includes milet flour, wheat, maize, gram, jaggery, large soybean, groundnut, ghee, dates, roasted gram, lentil, oatmeal and rice.
• Suposhit Maa Abhiyan is a campaign to preserve and maintain the health of our future generations.
• A pledge has been taken to provide nutrition to every pregnant woman of the region.
• Under this Abhiyan, 1,000 women would be given food items for one month.
• At the same time, the health of the child, including medical examination, blood tests, medicines, delivery, would be covered.
• The identified women would be required to register on a website for adoption. Only one pregnant woman would be adopted from a family.

National
8^th Foundation Day of Land Ports Authority of India
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Land Ports Authority of India )

What's the NEWS

• The 8th Foundation Day of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), celebrated in New Delhi
• The occasion discussed diverse elements of land ports including cargo operations at Integrated Check Ports and other border infrastructure.

Know! about LPAI

• The Land Port Authority of India is responsible for handling border infrastructure. It creates, upgrades and maintains the integrated check posts and also border infrastructure.
• The Inland Custom Ports and Kartarpur Sahib Corridor had been also constructed by Land Port Authority of India.
• The Authority works to offer stable and efficient systems of shipment and passenger movements across worldwide borders.
• It also works to lessen the reside time and trade transaction time and costs. It promotes humans-to-human beings contact.
• The Land Ports Authority of India or LPAI is a statutory body (created through the Land Ports Authority of India Act, 2010) working under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing border infrastructure in India.
• It manages several Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) all across Borders of India.

Energy Sector
Govt to star rate deep freezers and light commercial ACs

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the initiatives taken by BEE and its star labelling programme + about UDIT) + Mains (GS III Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc + steps taken by the government)
What's the NEWS

• On the occasion of 19^th foundation day, BEE has expanded the coverage by including Energy Efficient "Deep Freezers" and "Light Commercial Air Conditioners (LCAC)".
• Through launch of these two new appliances under voluntary regime, 26 appliances would now be covered under this programme.

Know! more about it

• Deep freezers and light commercial air conditioners which are used in commercial establishments will soon be star rated according to the efficiency of their power consumption.
• This will result in the saving of 900 crore units of power by the year 2030.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) rates electronic appliances on the basis of efficient power consumption.
• Deep freezers and light commercial air conditioners are some of the biggest energy guzzlers in the commercial space and their inclusion in the star-rated programme will reduce power consumption and Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere
• The program will be initially launched in voluntary mode from 2ndMarch, 2020 to 31st December, 2021. Thereafter, it will be made mandatory after reviewing the degree of market transformation in this particular segment of appliances

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) which comes under the Union ministry of Power, was founded in the year 2001.
• The star labelling programme was launched by BEE as part of its mandate under the Energy Conservation Act 2001.
• So far, more than 24 appliances have been star-rated by BEE under voluntary rating programme. After the inclusion of deep freezer and light commercial air conditioners, the number will become 26.
• Apart from the voluntary rating regime, the BEE also has a mandatory rating regime. A total of 10 appliances which consume very high energy have been put under this list.
• Domestic Air Conditioners, refrigerators, gyser and a host of electric appliances come under the rating regime of the BEE.
• More the number of stars, higher the efficiency of the appliances. The higher rated appliances consume less energy and save money and environment. The maximum star rating is 5 star while minimum rating is one star.

Urja Dakshata Information Tool (UDIT)

• A first ever initiative taken by BEE with World Resources Institute (WRI), to facilitate a database on energy e¬fficiency was launched.
• UDIT is a user-friendly platform that explains the energy efficiency landscape of India across industry, appliances, building, transport, municipal and agriculture sectors.
• UDIT will also showcase the capacity building and new initiatives taken up by the Government across the sectors in the increase energy efficiency domain.

Know! about WRI

• World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization that was established in 1982 that spans more than 60 countries, with international offices in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States
• The organization's mission is to promote environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and human health and well-being.
• WRI partners with local and national governments, private companies, publicly held corporations, and other non-profits, and offers services including global climate change issues, sustainable markets, ecosystem protection, and environmental responsible governance services

Environment Conservation
Centre declares National Chambal Sanctuary in MP as eco-sensitive zone
Relevance IN - Prelims (about eco-sensitive zone and about national Chambal sanctuary)
What's the NEWS

• The Centre declared the National Chambal Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, home to gangetic dolphins and 75 per cent population of critically endangered species gharial, as eco-sensitive zone (ESZ).
• The central government hereby notifies an area to an extent of zero to two kilometres around the boundary of National Chambal Sanctuary in the state of Madhya Pradesh as the National Chambal Sanctuary Eco-sensitive Zone

Know! more about National Chambal Sanctuary

• Spread over 435 square kilometres, the National Chambal Sanctuary lies across Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh with a length of more than 400 kilometers.
• It is home to naturally living population of 75 per cent of gharial. The sanctuary also harbours national aquatic animal the fresh water gangetic dolphins, nine species of fresh water turtles and more the 180 species of migratory birds.
• In its notification, the government prohibited any new construction of hotels and resorts within one kilometre from the boundary of the wildlife sanctuary or up to the extent of the ESZ, whichever is nearer.
• The distance of one kilometre from the boundary of the wildlife sanctuary till the extent of the Eco-Sensitive Zone, the establishment of new hotels and resorts shall be allowed only in pre-defined and designated areas for ecotourism facilities as per Tourism Master Plan
• Forests, horticulture areas, agricultural areas, parks and open spaces earmarked for recreational purposes in the Eco-sensitive Zone shall not be used or converted into areas for commercial or residential or industrial activities.
  
  

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