Prelim Booster

News Discussion
26-May-2022
 Excercise Bonosagar
Recently, The third edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN)
Bilateral Exercise ‘Bongosagar’ commenced at Port Mongla, Bangladesh.

👉 About
◎ Aim è To develop a high degree of
interoperability and joint operational skills
through the conduct of a wide spectrum of
maritime exercises and operations between the
two navies.
◎ Edition è Its first edition was held in 2019. The
present one is the third edition of Bonosagar.
◎ Type è maritime exercise.
 Excercise Bonosagar
◎ The harbour phase of the exercise includes professional and social
interactions, and friendly sporting fixtures, in addition to the tactical level
planning discussions on the conduct of the exercises at sea.
◎ The sea phase of the exercise would facilitate ships from both the navies to
participate in intensive surface warfare drills, weapon firing drills,
seamanship evolutions and coordinated air operations in a tactical scenario.
 PARAM PORUL Supercomputing Facility
PARAM PORUL, a state-of-the art Supercomputer at NIT Tiruchirappalli
under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was inaugurated.

👉 About
◎ PARAM PORUL supercomputing facility is
established under Phase 2 of the NSM with 838
TeraFlops Supercomputing Facility.
◎ The majority of the components used to build
this system have been manufactured and
assembled within the country, along with an
indigenous software stack developed by C-DAC,
in line with the Make in India initiative.
 PARAM PORUL Supercomputing Facility
◎ PARAM PORUL system is based on Direct Contact Liquid Cooling technology
to obtain a high power usage effectiveness and thereby reducing the
operational cost.
◎ Applications installed: Multiple applications from various scientific domains
such as Weather and Climate, Bioinformatics, Computational Chemistry,
Molecular Dynamics, Material Sciences, etc. have been installed
◎ Significance è
○ NIT is carrying out research in the areas of societal interest such as
Health, Agriculture, Weather, and Financial Services. The facility installed
under NSM will strengthen this research.
○ The computer will provide a major boost to the research and
development initiatives in Indian academia and industries.
 PARAM PORUL Supercomputing Facility
👉 National Super Computing Mission
◎ Launched in 2015.
◎ Aim is to connect research and academic institutions to a Supercomputing grid all
over the country. The grid consists of more than 70 high-performance computing
facilities, It will increase the research capacities and capabilities in the country.
◎ These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing
grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NKN is another program of
the government. NKN connects academic institutions and R&D labs over a high-
speed network.
◎ Implementing Agency: Department of Science and Technology and Department of
Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) through the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Institute of Science
(IISc), Bengaluru.
 National Creche Scheme
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) said that no funds
were released by the Centre in FY 2021-22 for the functioning of creches
under the National Creche Scheme.

👉 About
◎ Launched in 2006, the scheme was previously
known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche
Scheme for The Children of Working
Mothers.
◎ It was launched to primarily nurture children
from mothers belonging to low-income
groups who go to work at least 15 days in a
month.
 National Creche Scheme
◎ The fund sharing pattern under National Creche Scheme amongst Centre,
States/UTs & Non Governmental Organisations/Voluntary Organisations is
in the ratio of 60:30:10 for States, 80:10:10 for North Eastern States and
Himalayan States and 90:0:10 for UTs.
◎ While BPL families pay Rs. 20 per child per month, the fee ranges from
Rs.100 to Rs. 200 for others.
◎ Implementation è This centrally sponsored scheme is being implemented
by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD).
◎ Features of the National Creche Scheme è
○ Daycare Facilities including Sleeping Facilities.
○ Early Stimulation for children below 3 years and pre-school Education for
3 to 6 years old children.
○ Supplementary Nutrition (to be locally sourced)
 National Creche Scheme
○ Growth Monitoring
○ Health Check-up and Immunization.
◎ The guidelines provide that è
○ The Crèches shall be open for 26 days in a month and for seven and half
(7-1/2) hours per day.
○ The number of children in the crèche should not be more than 25 per
crèche.
○ User charges will be levied to bring in an element of community
ownership.
◎ Target Group è The scheme focuses on children of 6 months to 6 years, of
working women in rural and urban areas who are employed for a minimum
period of 15 days in a month, or six months in a year.
 Sex Work as a ‘Profession’
Invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the
Supreme Court of India recognizes sex work as a ‘profession’ under Article
21.

👉 About
◎ Every individual in this country has a right to
a dignified life under Article 21 of the
Constitution. This also includes sex workers.
◎ Directions to Police è “Sex workers are
entitled to equal protection of the law.
Criminal law must apply equally in all cases,
on the basis of ‘age’ and ‘consent’.”
 Sex Work as a ‘Profession’
◎ If the sex worker is an adult and is participating with consent, the police
must refrain from interfering or taking any criminal action.
◎ Held brotherly unlawful è But the court also observed that “voluntary sex
work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful.
◎ Protection for sex worker’s child è A child of a sex worker should not be
separated from the mother merely on the ground that she is in the sex
trade. The court also observed, “Basic protection of human decency and
dignity extends to sex workers and their children.”
◎ Further, if a minor is found living in a brothel or with sex workers, it should
not be presumed that the child was trafficked. In such cases, if the sex
worker claims that he/she is her son/daughter, tests can be done to
determine if the claim is correct and if so, the minor should not be forcibly
separated.
 Sex Work as a ‘Profession’
◎ Legal protection to sex workers against abuse è The court ordered the
police to not discriminate against sex workers who lodge a criminal
complaint, especially if the offence committed against them is of a sexual
nature. The court held that the Sex workers who are victims of sexual
assault should be provided with every facility including immediate medico-
legal care.
◎ Directions to media è The media should not to reveal the identities of sex
workers, during arrest, raid and rescue operations, whether as victims or
accused. Similarly, they should not publish or telecast any photos that
would result in disclosure of such identities.
 National Achievement Survey
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education
released the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report. The last NAS
was held in 2017.

👉 About
◎ It assesses the health of school education
system in the country by conducting
comprehensive evaluation survey of
children’s learning competencies at classes
III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three
years.
 National Achievement Survey
◎ The report also evaluated competencies of students in subjects such as
mathematics, languages, and environmental studies (EVS) for Classes 3 and
5; language, mathematics, science and social science for Class 8; and
language, mathematics, science, social science and English for Class 10.
◎ Who designed the framework for the survey? è National Council of
Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
◎ Who conducted the survey? è Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE)

👉 Findings
◎ Nearly 80% students found learning at home during the pandemic
“burdensome” and felt that they learnt better in school with help from
peers.
 National Achievement Survey
◎ As many as 24% students said they
had no digital device at home. Though
45% students found the experience
“joyful”, 38% also said that they had
difficulties in learning.
◎ Out of a score of 500, students across
various classes performed better in
languages, but lagged behind in
subjects like mathematics and science.
 International Labour Organization
A document has been released by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) on “Inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and
queer (LGBTIQ+) persons in the world of work”.

👉 About ILO
◎ It was established in 1919 by the Treaty of
Versailles as an affiliated agency of the
League of Nations.
◎ It is the only tripartite U.N. agency that
brings together governments, employers and
workers of 187 member States.
 International Labour Organization
◎ It sets labour standards, develops policies and devises programmes
promoting decent work for all women and men.
◎ It became the first affiliated specialized agency of the United Nations in
1946.
◎ Headquarters è Geneva, Switzerland
◎ Its founding Mission is social justice is essential to universal and lasting
peace.
◎ It promotes internationally recognized human and labour rights.
◎ It is providing substantial support in the building of an ethical and
productive framework for fair globalization.
 International Labour Organization
👉(LGBTIQ+)
◎ LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or
questioning.
◎ These terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender
identity.
◎ A document released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on
“Inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer
(LGBTIQ+) persons in the “world of work” recommended member countries,
employers’ organisations and representatives of workers to launch social
protection programmes to remove barriers that LGBTIQ+ persons face in
society.
 Draft Notification for Electronic Waste Management
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the
draft notification for Electronic Waste Management for public feedback.

👉 About Draft
◎ Covered è A wide range of electronic goods,
including laptops, landline and mobile
phones, cameras, recorders, music systems,
microwaves, refrigerators and medical
equipment have been specified in the
notification.
 Draft Notification for Electronic Waste Management
◎ E-Waste Collection Target è Consumer goods companies and makers of
electronics goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is
collected and recycled by 2023 with targets to increase them to 70% and
80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
◎ EPR Certificates è The rules bring into effect a system of trading in
certificates, akin to carbon credits, that will allow companies to temporarily
bridge shortfalls.
◎ Focus on Circular Economy è New Rules emphasizes on the EPR, recycling
and trading.
◎ Penalty è Companies that don’t meet their annual targets will have to pay
a fine or an ‘environmental compensation’ but the draft doesn’t specify the
quantum of these fines.
 Draft Notification for Electronic Waste Management
◎ Monitoring authority è The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) will
oversee the overall implementation of these regulations.
 Try this PYQ 2013
Q. Due to improper/indiscriminate disposal of old and used computers or their parts, which of the
following are released into the environment as e-waste?
1. Beryllium
2. Cadmium
3. Chromium
4. Heptachlor
5. Mercury
6. Lead
7. Plutonium
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only
(b) 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 only
(c) 2, 4, 5 and 7 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Ans: (b)
 Quick revision (True/False)

Question True / False

1. Excercise Bonosagar -> Between India and Sri Lanka. False

2. National Creche Scheme -> Central Sector Scheme. False

3. National Achievement Survey -> Evaluation survey of children’s True

learning competencies at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of
three years.

4. Sex Work -> Supreme Court of India recognizes sex work as a True
‘profession’ under Article 21.

5. International Labour Organization -> is not a specialized agency of the False

United Nations .
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