United States has recently withdrawn from UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
UNHRC is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system and successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights.
It is a separate entity from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), but the council works closely with the OHCHR.
It is headquartered in Geneva.
It consists of 47 seats with tenure of 3 years.
It is a subsidiary body to UN General Assembly (UNGA), which elects the members to UNHRC.
No member may occupy a seat for more than 2 consecutive terms.
Currently, US occupy a seat in UNHRC and it is half-way through a three-year term.
If a country has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its term of membership, UNGA via a two-thirds majority, can suspend the rights and privileges of any council member.
United States has quit the UN cultural agency UNESCO, cut UN funding and announced plans to quit the UN-backed Paris Climate agreement.
National Digital Library
Ministry of Human Resources and Development has launched National Digital Library.
It is a repository of millions of academic texts from around the world which will be open for all to use.
The earlier version of digital library was limited to schools and other educational institutes.
The digital library at present hosts 17 million-plus books, audiobooks, images etc in 200-plus languages from more than 170 institutions.
It has been built by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
National Testing Agency (NTA)
It is being setup by Union Human Resource and Development ministry.
Its main purpose is to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.
Union HRD has recently proposed that NTA will also train paper setters to set better question papers and provide better model answers.
It will take over all examinations from the CBSE such as JEE, NEET except the 10th and 12th board examination.
It will be registered as a society under the Indian Societies Registration Act.
The entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, giving adequate opportunity to candidates.
It will be given a one-time grant of Rs.25 crore from the Government to start its operation in the first year. Thereafter, it will be financially self-sustainable.
It will relieve CBSE, AICTE and other agencies from responsibility of conducting the entrance examinations.
Automation of Crime Records Bureau
Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in the country to complete automation of the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB).
IT-based web/mobile application “i-App cloud” helps the police access the entire information of crimes under various IPC sections.
The data is collected from District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB).
It is further integrated into the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) data banks.
It provides comparative analytics of gender violence, bodily offences and property offences in each unit, range, region and State using data charts.
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme
The GSP programme provides for the duty-free treatment of designated articles when imported from beneficiary developing countries to USA.
United States Trade Representative (USTR) is currently viewing India’s eligibility under the programme.
USTR had accused India of implementing a wide array of trade barriers in dairy sector that create serious negative effects on U.S. commerce.
India requires that dairy products be derived from animals which have never consumed any feeds containing internal organs, blood meal, or tissues of ruminant origin.
This has been treated as trade barriers after complaints from bodies representing the dairy industry.
However, India is trying to defend it by saying that its position is based on religious, cultural and moral grounds.
India imports dairy products from countries such as Australia and Switzerland.
Rare Spider
Scientists have rediscovered a rare species of spider after 150 years, which was believed to be extinct.
Last time, it was sighted from Periyej Lake in Gujarat in 1868, but subsequently vanished.
Recently it is spotted in Wayanad wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats region of Kerala.
It belongs to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae) and scientifically named as Chrysilla volupes.
Helicopter parenting
It describes an over controlling behaviour of parents which can negatively affect children’s ability to manage their emotions and deal with the challenging demands of growing up.
In a recent research, it was found that children with helicopter parents may be less able to deal with the challenging demands of growing up, especially with navigating the complex school environment.
