A) Schemes/Policies/Initiatives/Social Issues
Women Scientist Scheme (PIB)
- Context: A scientist from the Women Scientist Scheme of the Department of Science and Technology has shown for the first time—through mathematical modeling—that the deadly effects of nuclear weapons can be partially mitigated or reduced with the help of dust particles.
- The study illustrated the reduction in the energy released and the damage radius from an intense explosion (nuclear explosion in particular) by the introduction of dust particles.
- It has shown how the blast waves from the explosion decayed in the process.
Women Scientists Scheme
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched “Women Scientists Scheme“ during 2002-03.
- This initiative primarily aimed at providing opportunities to women scientists and technologists between the age group of 27-57 years who had a break in their career but desired to return to mainstream.
‘KAPILA’ Kalam Program and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) (PIB)
- Context: Union Education Minister virtually launched the ‘KAPILA’ Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness campaign on the 89th birth anniversary of former President and Scientist Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
- Under this campaign, students pursuing education in higher educational institutions will get information about the correct system of the application process for patenting their invention and they will be aware of their rights.
- It has also been decided to celebrate the week of October 15th to 23rd as ‘Intellectual Property Literacy Week’.
- The Institution Innovation Council was established by the Ministry of Education in 2018.
- So far, IICs have been established in about 1700 higher educational institutions. IIC will be established in 5000 higher educational institutions under IIC 3.0.
India’s National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy- 2016
- Its clarion call is “Creative India; Innovative India: रचनात्मक भारत; अभिनव भारत.
- The Policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset, while protecting public interest;
- The Policy will be reviewed every five years;
- The policy is entirely compliant with the WTO’s agreement on TRIPS;
- The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) is the nodal agency for all IPR issues;
- The ‘Cell for IPR Promotion & Management (CIPAM)’, setup under a professional body under the aegis of DIPP, is to be the single point of reference for implementation of objectives of the National IPR Policy.
- Copyrights related issues will also come under DIPP’s ambit from that of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
- Films, music, industrial drawings will be all covered by copyright.
- The first and foremost objective of the Policy is “IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion”.
- Under this objective, one of the key focus areas is awareness on IPR for school children.
- For the first time ever, IPRs have been exclusively included in the NCERT textbook for Class 12 school syllabus.
Scheme for IPR Awareness – Creative India; Innovative India
- Aims at raising IPR awareness amongst students, youth, authors, artists, budding inventors and professionals;
- To inspire them to create, innovate and protect their creations and inventions across India including Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 cities as well as rural areas in the next 3 years;
- Launched by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce.
- World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated on April 26.
What is meant by Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)?
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are about creations of the mind, they are granted to creators of IP, for ideas that are new and original, by the respective governments.
- No one can use others’ IPR without their permission.
- These rights come with limited monopoly and exclusivity.
What are the different types of IPR?
- There are different types of IPR namely, patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, protection of geographical indications (GIs), IC lay-out designs, trade secrets and new plant varieties.
Are IP rights territorial in nature?
- Yes, IP rights are territorial. It means that an Indian registration is valid only in India.
- For protection of Intellectual Property in any other country, one has to seek protection separately under the relevant law.
Types of IPR in India
- A patent is granted for an invention which is a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application.
- “New invention” means the subject matter has not fallen in public domain or that it does not form part of the state of the art;
- Inventive step is the feature(s) of the invention that involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
- The Indian Patent Office has been recognized as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA) by World Intellectual Property Organization under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, thus joining an elite group of about 17 countries.
What is the term for patent in India?
- The term of every patent in India is 20 years from the date of filing.
What is Paris Convention?
- Paris Convention is an international convention.
- India is also a member to this convention.
- Under this convention, if one applies for registration of a patent in any member country, within six months from the date of filing of patent application in India, they will have the same priority as in India.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- India is a contracting party to PCT that allows the patent applicant to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large number of countries by filing a single “international” patent application instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications.
- From the IP point of view, industrial design refers only to the ornamental or overall visual appearance of a product
- For registration of industrial design, under the Designs Act, 2000 following points must be adhered to:
- The design should be new or original, not previously published or used in any country before the date of application for registration.
- Design should relate to features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation, the composition of lines or colours applied to an article.
- Design should be applied to any article by any industrial process or means whether manual, mechanical, chemical, separate or combined.
- Design should not be linked to any functional aspect of the article.
- What cannot be protected by an industrial design?
- A manufacturing process;
- Functional features of an article
- A principle of construction, or how an article is built
- The materials used in the construction of an article
- The useful purpose (functionality) the design serves or is intended to serve
- Colour per se or Ideas
What is the duration of the design registration in India?
- Registration of a design lasts for 10 years from the date of registration which can then be renewed for another 5 years.
- However total term for registration cannot exceed 15 years.
- A trademark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
- A trademark can be a sign, words, letters, numbers, drawings, pictures, emblem, colours or combination of colours, shape of goods, graphic representation or packaging or sound or any combination of the above as applied to goods or services.
- Though the registration of a trademark is not compulsory, registration is a prima facie proof of the title and it gives the registered proprietor an exclusive right to use the trademark and take legal action in case of infringement.
- If a trademark is not registered and if someone not having the right in the trademark uses that trademark, the proprietor of the trademark can take the common law action of passing off.
- The initial registration is valid for a period of 10 years from the date of registration which is renewable for the period of every 10 years, for an indefinite period of time.
- India has acceded to the Madrid Protocol which allows applicants to file applications in other countries that are members of the Protocol through a simple Form and by payment in one currency.
- Foreign applicants can also file indicating India as the designated country.
- A Geographical Indication (GI) is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
- The manufactured goods should be produced or processed or prepared in that territory.
- Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
- #LetsTalkIPis a social media campaign to promote Indian GIs.
- The Cell for IPR Promotions & Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has also launched “Gift a GI” campaign to help in branding and promotion of registered GI products.
- The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) currently exercises jurisdiction over Trademarks, Patents, Geographical Indications and Copyright Cases.
- The IPAB has its headquarters at Chennai.
- The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was established by the Central Government under the Trademarks Act 1999.
- A GI registration gives the registered proprietor and authorized users the legal right to the exclusive use of the GI, and no unauthorized person can use the tag.
What is the benefit of registration of geographical indications?
- It confers legal protection to Geographical Indications in India
- Prevents unauthorized use of a Registered Geographical Indication by others
- It provides legal protection to Indian Geographical Indications which in turn boost exports.
- It promotes the economic prosperity of producers of goods produced in a geographical territory.
Is a registration of a geographical indication compulsory and how does it help the applicant?
- Registration is not compulsory.
- Registration affords better legal protection to facilitate an action for infringement.
- The registered proprietor and authorized users can initiate infringement actions.
- The authorized users can exercise the exclusive right to use the geographical indication.
How long the registration of Geographical Indication is valid?
- The registration of a geographical indication is valid for a period of 10 years
Can a registered geographical indication be assigned, transmitted, etc?
- A geographical indication is a public property belonging to the producers of the concerned goods.
- It shall not be the subject matter of assignment, transmission, licensing, pledge, mortgage or such other agreement
- However, when an authorised user dies, his right devolves on his successor in title.
How a geographical indication is different from a trade mark?
- A trademark is a sign which is used in the course of trade and it distinguishes goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
- Whereas a geographical indication is an indication used to identify goods having special characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.
GI LOGO, TAGLINE LAUNCH
- A logo and tagline for Geographical Indications (GI) has been launched to increase awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the country.
- Odisha recently got a Geographical Indications (GI) tag for its variant of the rasagola.
- Odisha’s rasagola comes under the food category which includes other famous items such as the Tirupathi laddu, Hyderabad haleem, Dharwad pedha and Bikaneri bhujia.
- Karnataka has the highest number of GI-tagged products.
- However, when geographical area is factored in, Kerala has the highest.
- Sarees and fabrics have been given the highest number of GI-tags, followed by specialised crafts, rice, mango etc.
- While Tamil Nadu has the highest number of handicraft GIs, Maharashtra leads in the number of GI-tagged agricultural products.
Ministry/Office Administering the Patent, Design, Trademark and GI.
- Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
- Copyright is a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings.
- In fact, it is a bundle of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and translation of the work.
- There could be slight variations in the composition of the rights depending on the work.
- Computer Software is considered literary work; hence it is also protectable under copyrights.
- The Copyright Act, 1957 has been amended in 2012 to bring the Act in conformity with two WIPO internet treaties concluded in 1996 namely, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (“WCT”) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (“WPPT”).
Why should one register for Copyright?
- Copyright comes into existence as soon as a work is created and no formality is required to be completed for acquiring Copyright in India.
- However, certificate of registration of Copyright and the entries made therein serve as a prima facie evidence in a court of law and therefore, would help in establishing authorship and also infringement.
- In case the author or the owner decides not to register, the work should be properly dated and signed. This may be useful in case of engineering drawings.
- Copyright owner has economic rights as well as moral rights.
Is copyright registration mandatory?
- No, it isn’t but getting copyright registration is the best way to seek legal remedy as it serves as a prima facie evidence in a court of law, in case of any dispute arising out of copyright ownership issue.
What is the difference between Copyright and Copyleft?
- Copyleft is like a license or an agreement for a user using the copyleft work, specifically for software.
- As per the terms of copyleft, any person has right to freely use, distribute, modify software code but at the same time the user must donate the modified version of the software code under similar terms and condition to freely use, distribute and modify the modified version. This kind of software is called copyleft software.
- Thus, Copyleft ensures:
- Software available is royalty-free
- Source codes must be disclosed
- Freedom to modify the software
- Anybody redistributing the modified version will provide similar independence to others for freely using, redistributing, and making alteration in that software so that the whole community is benefited.
- In case of copyleft, author (developer) cannot stop others from using, modifying and redistributing as per the conditions disclosed in the GPL license.
Is there any Government agency being setup for improving enforcement measures against copyright piracy?
- Yes, the Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council (CEAC) under Ministry of Human Resource Development has been constituted to seek advice from the creative copyright industries and top police officials of all States and Union Territories for improving enforcement measures to contain copyright piracy.
Ministry/Office Administering the Copyrights
- Registrar of Copyrights, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design
- The aim is to provide protection of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) in the area of Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout-Designs and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Ministry/Office Administering the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry
- Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry, Registrar of Copyrights, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights
- The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 has been enacted in India to give effect to the ‘Trade Related Aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights’ of WTO, which India has ratified.
Farmers’ Rights in the PPV&FR Act, 2001
Access to seed
- Farmers are entitled to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell their farm produce, including seeds of protected varieties.
- However, farmers are not entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act.
- The PPV&FR Act is the first law that integrates a provision for access and benefit-sharing (ABS) along with Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBRs).
- Registered seed must be sold with the full disclosure of their agronomic performance.
- When such seed is sold to farmers but fails to provide the expected performance under recommended management conditions, the farmer is eligible to claim compensation from the breeder.
Reasonable Seed Price
- Farmers have the right to access seed of registered varieties at a reasonable and remunerative price.
- When this condition is not met, the breeder’s exclusive right over the variety can be suspended.
Farmers’ recognition and reward for contributing to the conservation
- Farmers who have been engaged in PGR conservation and crop improvement, and who have made substantial contributions in providing genetic resources for crop improvement, receive recognition and rewards from the national gene fund.
Exemption from registration fees for farmers
- Under PPV&FR Act, farmers have the privilege of being completely exempted from payment of any kind of fees or other payments that are normally payable for variety registration.
Farmer protection from innocent infringement
- If a farmer can prove before court that he or she was not aware of the existence of any rights at the time of an infringement on any such rights, as detailed in the PPV&FR Act, he or she will not be charged.
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority
- It has also been established under the Act in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
General Functions of the Authority
- Registration of new plant varieties, essentially derived varieties (EDV), extant varieties;
- Developing DUS (Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability) test guidelines for new plant species;
- Developing characterization and documentation of varieties registered;
- Compulsory cataloging facilities for all variety of plants;
- Documentation, indexing and cataloguing of farmers’ varieties;
- Recognizing and rewarding farmers, community of farmers, particularly tribal and rural community engaged in conservation and improvement of plant varieties;
- Preservation of plant genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives;
- Maintenance of the National Register of Plant Varieties; and
- Maintenance of National Gene Bank.
Ministry/Office Administering the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry
- Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Authority, Ministry of Agriculture
- India is a member of the World Trade Organisation and committed to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property.
- India is also a member of World Intellectual Property Organization, a body responsible for the promotion of the protection of IPRs throughout the world.
- India is also a member of the following important WIPO-administered International Treaties and Conventions relating to IPRs:
- Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
- Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
- Patent Cooperation Treaty
- Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks- Madrid Protocol
- Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in respect of Integrated Circuits
- Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol
- Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms
- Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities
Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
- One of the important agreements of the WTO is the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which deals about the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) across countries.
- The TRIPS Agreement sets minimum standards in the international rules governing patents, including on medicines.
- It includes, amongst others, a minimum patent period of 20 years; provision for product patents; and the protection to pharmaceutical test data from ‘unfair commercial use’.
The Doha Declaration: restoring the balance
- The amendment allows countries producing generic medicines under compulsory licence to export all of the medicines to least-developed countries that lack manufacturing capacity themselves.
What is TRIPS Plus?
- TRIPs Plus are higher level of protection norms demanded by the developed countries that are not prescribed by the WTO’s TRIPs regime.
- Although they are named as ‘TRIPS-Plus,’ they are not formally related to TRIPs.
- Since it is the developed countries who owns most of the technologies and patents, they are using various international forums to pressurize higher level of protection for intellectual property.
- Over the last few decades they are creating Free Trade Agreements to give higher level of protection to IPRs.
- Often these FTAs are outside the WTO framework and hence they can give higher level of protection to IPRs there.
- The developing countries have concerns over the higher level of protection demanded by the developed world.
- They fear that once such levels of protection are given multilaterally, it will reduce competition and may led to price rise of medicines, affecting health security in poor countries.
- Common examples of TRIPS plus provisions include extending the term of a patent longer than the twenty-year minimum, or introducing provisions that limit the use of compulsory licenses or that restrict generic competition.
Data exclusivity and TRIPS Plus
- An example for advanced norms under TRIPs Plus is the protection demanded by developed countries for data exclusivity which doesn’t usually come under TRIPs.
- Data exclusivity is the protection of clinical test data submitted to a regulatory agency to prove safety, quality and efficacy of a new drug, and preventing the generic drug manufacturers from relying on this data in their own applications.
- Such a data exclusivity will stop generic drug manufactures of developing countries from using these data while applying for licenses.
India’s stand on TRIPS Plus
- India’s opposition to TRIPs Plus is reflected in the country’s FTA negotiation with countries like Japan and the EU who demand TRIPs Plus level of protection in their proposed CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement).
Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC)
- India’s Second Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) Established at Anna University, Chennai under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC program.
- India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) was set up at Patent Information Centre, Punjab.
- WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
- Over 500 TISCs operate worldwide and establishing a TISC in India will give the host institutions access to the global network.
Services offered by TISCs include:
- Access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and technical) resources and IP-related publications;
- Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information;
- Training in database search;
- On-demand searches (novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement);
- Monitoring technology and competitors;
- Basic information on industrial property laws, management and strategy, and technology commercialization and marketing.
- The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the National Focal Point for the TISC national network.
- As the national focal point, CIPAM shall identify potential host institutions, assess their capacities and support them in joining the TISC program.
- CIPAM will also act as the main intermediary between WIPO and TISC host institutions and coordinate all the activities of the national TISC network.
- Trade dress refers to features of the visual or sensual appearance of a product that may also include its packaging, shape, combination of colors which may be registered and protected from being used by competitors in relation to their business and services.
- The characteristic includes their shape (3 dimensional), packaging, color, graphic design of the product.
- Trade dress protection is intended to protect consumers from packaging or appearance of products that are designed to imitate other products; to prevent a consumer from buying one product under the belief that it is another.
- For Ex. Apple Inc. recently secured the registration over the design of its flagship Apple Stores as trade dress.
Pooling of Patents
- Pooling of patent resources is in line with the Doha Declaration on Public Health which is a part of the TRIPS agreement.
- This declaration recognises the need for taking measures to ‘protect public health’ and ‘promote access to medicines .
3.Aadhaar not mandatory for birth, death registration, clarifies Registrar General of India (TH)
- Context: The provision of Aadhaar is not mandatory for the registration of births and deaths, the Registrar General of India (RGI) has clarified in a recent reply to an RTI request.
- If Aadhaar is provided voluntarily, it must not be printed on any document or stored in any database of births and deaths in full form.
- It noted that registration of births and deaths was done under the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969, which was a Central law.
- However, the implementation of the provisions of the said Act lies with the State/UT governments.
Supreme Court judgment
- In 2017, the RGI had decreed that Aadhaar number would be required for the purpose of establishing the identity of the deceased for the purpose of death registration.
- However, a 2018 Supreme Court judgment changed the situation.
- The portion of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which enables body corporate and individual to seek authentication was held to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
- The RBD Act also had no provision which permits the use of Aadhaar for establishing the identity of an individual for the purpose of registration of birth and death.
- The circular was sent to the Chief Registrars of births and deaths of all States directing them to ensure that local registering authorities did not demand Aadhaar as a mandatory requirement.
- They could accept Aadhaar as one of the acceptable documents, if provided on a voluntary basis.
- However, the first eight digits of the Aadhaar number were to be masked with black ink.
- The full number was not to be stored in any database of births and deaths or printed on any document, added the circular.
Other provisions relating to Aadhaar
- According to the policy of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), tasked with enrolling citizens under the programme, if an individual is unable to produce a proof of birth at the time of registration, they can declare it without supporting documents.
- In case they don’t remember the date, merely stating the age will do.
- The UIDAI had clarified that as per its policy, if a person was only able to declare his or her age during enrolment, the system by default takes January 1 of that year as the date of birth.
- At a later stage if the person is able to provide proof of date of birth, he/she can update the date of birth in Aadhaar by visiting any Aadhaar Kendra.
Petition on linking social media profiles of registered users with their Aadhaar
- A group of petitioners had approached the Madras High Court with a prayer of linking social media profiles of registered users with their Aadhaar numbers on the ground that many people got away with inflammatory posts on social media because of the lack of traceability.
- However, the Division Bench of the Madras High Court did not see merit in the idea.
- The Bench had during the hearings observed that following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Aadhaar case, the unique 12-digit-number can be used only for subsidies and welfare benefits; and pointed out that Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act has been struck down to the extent that it authorised body corporate and individuals to use the number to establish someone’s identity.
- After the S. Puttaswamy decision (2017) in the ‘privacy’ case, any state intervention in the regulation of online content has to pass the test of proportionality laid down by the court.
- The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.
Cannot share Aadhaar data for crime probe
- The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asserted that use of Aadhaar biometric data for criminal investigation is not allowed under the Aadhaar Act.
- The “very limited” exception to this, said UIDAI, is allowed under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, which permits use of or access to biometric data in cases involving national security, only after pre-authorisation by an oversight committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
Aadhaar and PAN
- Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar for filing of return of income and for making an application for allotment of Permanent Account Number with effect from July 1’ 2017.
- Mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or Enrolment ID will apply only to a person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number.
- As per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, only a resident individual is entitled to obtain Aadhaar.
- Resident as per the said Act means an individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment.
Supreme Court verdict on the constitutional validity of Aadhar, 2018
- The Supreme Court, while reading out its verdict in the constitutional validity of the scheme said that it is not mandatory to provide Aadhaar to register or appear for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), University Grants Commission (UGC) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams.
- The apex court added that Aadhaar cannot be made compulsory for school admissions as well.
- The Supreme Court declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.
- The SC held that while Aadhaar would remain mandatory for filing of IT returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN), it would not be mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and telecom service providers cannot seek its linking of Aadhaar for mobile connections.
- The SC also struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act permitting private entities to avail Aadhaar data and ruled that Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months.
- It directed the government not to give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants.
- The apex court upheld passing of Aadhaar Bill as Money Bill by the Lok Sabha.
- Aadhaar card is however must for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies as it empowers the poor and marginalised.
- The Supreme Court has made exception for children saying that no child can be denied benefits of any scheme if he or she doesn’t have Aadhaar card.
- The constitution bench of the top court has also struck down the national security exception under the Aadhaar Act.
- The Supreme Court judgement, said Aadhaar would not lead to a surveillance state because the data was kept in silos.
- The SC held that the unique identification proof empowers and gives identity to marginalised sections of society.
The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019
- An individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number to establish his identity, by authentication or offline verification.
- The authentication of an individual’s identity via Aadhaar, for the provision of any service, may be made mandatory only by a law of Parliament.
- An entity may be allowed to perform authentication through Aadhaar, if the UIDAI is satisfied that it is:
- (i) compliant with certain standards of privacy and security, or
- (ii) permitted by law, or
- (iii) seeking authentication for a purpose specified by the central government in the interest of the State.
- After attaining eighteen years of age, a child may apply for cancellation of his Aadhaar.
4.Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) (PIB)
- Context: 108th Science Congress to be held in 2022 instead of January 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pune to remain host city.
- The organisers had a special display to showcase ‘Villagers Science Congress’, which they plan to retain for the 2022 event.
- The theme of the event, planned to be organized at Symbiosis International University (SIU)’s Lavale campus, is ‘Science and technology for sustainable development with women empowerment’.
Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA)
- The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon.
- It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged.
- The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, with the Honourable Justice Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, as President.
- The 34th Annual Session of the Indian Science Congress was held at Delhi in January 3-8,1947 with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, as General President.
- The 100th Annual Session of the Indian Science Congress was held at Kolkata in January 2013 with Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, as General President.
- These are the only two Prime Minister who acted as the General President.
- In 1976, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the then General President of ISCA introduced the Focal Theme of national relevence which is now discussed in every section, committee and forum during the annual session.
D) International Relations
5.ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme (PIB)
- Context: Union Education Minister addressed the students from various ASEAN nations at the virtual Welcome Meet for the 1st Batch of ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme.
- The ASEAN PhD Fellowship Programme (APFP), funded by the Government of India, was announced on 25th January 2018.
- Under the APFP, 1000 fellowships will be provided exclusively to ASEAN citizens.
- The APFP is also the largest capacity development programme undertaken by the Government of India for foreign beneficiaries.
- The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.
E) Geography, Environment and Biodiversity
5.Pollution monitoring apps of CPCB (PIB)
- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has developed the following apps for monitoring environmental pollution:
Ganga Shravan Abhiyaan (GSA) – River Ganga water quality
- Ganga Shravan Abhiyaan APP allows the general citizen to take part in environmental surveillance.
- Through this APP public can participate in the policy decisions of the environment of their own surroundings.
- The APP facilitates display of data provided by the citizens on the dashboard and survey maps, in addition to findings of scientific surveys.
- Public can participate in the Mission Clean Ganga by providing the information on untreated industrial/domestic discharges, upload the photographs and provide valuable suggestions.
Bio-Monitoring Field Protocol – Biological assessment of Surface water bodies
- This APP is a tool for the biological assessment of surface water bodies and training purposes for the people who monitor the biological aspects of surface waters using the predefined biological parameters present in the water bodies.
Sameer – Display of National Air Quality Index Values
- Sameer, an APP provides hourly updates on the National Air Quality Index (AQI) published by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
- Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality in single number, nomenclature and colour.
- Public can post complaints with pictures and provide valuable suggestions through the APP.
National Air Quality Index (AQI)
- Launched by the Environment Minister, AQI is a huge initiative under ‘Swachh Bharat’
- It is to act as ‘One Number- One Colour-One Description’ to judge the Air Quality for Common Man.
- There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.
- The Air Quality Index (AQI) is the weighted average of different pollutants.
- A lower value of AQI means better air quality.
- It considers eight pollutants [PM10, PM5, Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Ammonia (NH3) and Lead (Pb)] for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
- Associated likely health impacts for different AQI categories and pollutants have been also been suggested.
6.Remittances growth is muted in India this year (TH)
- Context: Remittances growth is muted due to ‘structural’ reasons which will hamper consumption demand locally and argued that flows had started to moderate even before the pandemic outbreak.
- According to a report, India received over $70 billion inflows last year.
- India is the largest recipient of remittances (in value terms) in the worId and received nearly $76 billion of flows (2.7 per cent of GDP) in FY20.
- These flows help boost household income, support private consumption and add stability to current account balance (CAB)
- Kerala is one of the largest recipients of remittances in India.
- The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be more vulnerable to loss of employment and wages during an economic crisis in a host country.
- Similarly, weak economic outlook of the United States would adversely affect employment and/or incomes of migrant workers and hence remittance flows to India.
- As per a recent World Bank report, remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to decline by 19.7 per cent to $445 billion, representing a loss of a crucial financing lifeline for many vulnerable households.
- It also highlights that general trend is with decrease in global oil prices reduces remittances to India in the long run.
Foreign Worker’s remittance
- A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.
- Remittances are also are one of the largest sources of external financing.
- Beneficiaries in India can receive cross-border inward remittances through banking and postal channels.
- Banks have general permission to enter into a partnership with other banks for conducting remittance business.
- The International Financial System (IFS) platform of Universal Post Union (UPU) is generally used for the postal channel.
- Besides, there are two more channels for receiving inward remittances, viz. Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) and Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) which are the most common arrangements under which the remittances are received into the country.
What is Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA)?
- Rupee Drawing Arrangement (RDA) is a channel to receive cross-border remittances from overseas jurisdictions.
- Under this arrangement, the Authorised Category I banks enter into tie-ups with the non-resident Exchange Houses in the FATF compliant countries to open and maintain their Vostro Account.
Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS)
- Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) is a way of transferring personal remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in India.
- Only inward personal remittances into India such as remittances towards family maintenance and remittances favouring foreign tourists visiting India are permissible.
- Under the scheme there is a tie-up between reputed money transfer companies abroad known as Overseas Principals and agents in India known as Indian Agents who would disburse funds to beneficiaries in India at ongoing exchange rates.
- Amounts up to INR 50,000/- may be paid in cash to a beneficiary in India. These can also be loaded on to a pre-paid card issued by banks.
- Any amount exceeding this limit shall be paid by means of account payee cheque/ demand draft/ payment order, etc., or credited directly to the beneficiary’s bank account.
Remittances and Basic Economic Data
Structure of Public Account
- There are five major heads of accounts under the Public Account:
- (i) Small Savings, Provident Fund and Other Accounts
- (ii) Reserve Funds
- (iii) Deposits and Advances
- (iv) Suspense and Miscellaneous and
- (v) Remittances.
Gross National Income
- GNI = value of goods and services produced by (residents + foreigners) + money came to India in the form of remittances or other – money going to foreign country in the form of remittances or other.
- The current account constitutes net income, interest and dividends and transfers such as foreign aid, remittances, donations among others.
- It is measured as a percentage of GDP.
- Trade gap = Exports – Imports
- Current Account = Trade gap + Net current transfers + Net income abroad
- Current Account Deficit or CAD is the shortfall between the money flowing in on exports, and the money flowing out on imports.
- A nation’s Current Account maintains a record of the country’s transactions with other nations, in terms of trade of goods and services, net earnings on overseas investments and net transfer of payments over a period of time, such as remittances.
- This account goes into a deficit when money sent outward exceeds that coming inward.
- A country with rising CAD shows that it has become uncompetitive, and investors are not willing to invest there. They may withdraw their investments.
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