UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 31-10-2020

Mirror Order in Judgement

• The judgment was based on a petition regarding the custody of a child whose father is based in Kenya and the mother is in India.
• Recently Supreme Court has applied the principle of “mirror order” in a child custody case where one of the estranged parents is living abroad in Kenya.
• A ‘mirror order’ is ancillary or auxiliary in character.
• It supports the original order passed by the court which has exercised primary jurisdiction over the custody of a child.
• When a competent court in India passes a series of the conditions for the transfer of custody of a child to a parent living abroad, an identical or mirror order is passed by an equally competent court to ensure that the conditions of custody are met.
• This mechanism ensures that contradictory judicial orders are not passed and is considered a remedy against transnational parental abduction of children in inter-country marriages.
• The object of a mirror order is to safeguard the interest of the minor child in transit from one jurisdiction to another, and to ensure that both parents are equally bound in each State.
• The mirror order is passed to ensure that the courts of the country where the child is being shifted are aware of the arrangements which were made in the country where he had ordinarily been residing.
• Such an order would also safeguard the interest of the parent who is losing custody, so that the rights of visitation and temporary custody are not impaired.

Public Affairs Index

• The Public Affairs Centre has developed Public Affairs Index (PAI) as a unique statistical tool to evaluate the performance of governance in the States.
• It is largely based on secondary data and has been extracted from Union Government Ministries and Departments.
• According to the PAC, the governance performance is analysed in the context of sustainable development defined by three pillars of equity, growth and sustainability.
• It is a data driven platform to rank the 30 States of India from the lens of governance.
• Recently, the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) has released the Public Affairs Index (PAI)-202
• Key Highlights of Public Affairs Index-2020 are as follows

1. Kerala was adjudged the best-governed state in the country while Uttar Pradesh ended at the bottom in the large states category.
2. The four southern states, namely, Kerala (1.388), Tamil Nadu (0.912), Andhra Pradesh (0.531), and Karnataka (0.468) stood in the first four ranks in the large state category in terms of governance.
3. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar were at the bottom of the ranking, scoring negative points in the category i.e.  -1.461, -1.201 and -1.158 points respectively.
4. In the small state category, Goa ranked first with 1.745 points, followed by Meghalaya (0.797) and Himachal Pradesh (0.725).
5. The worst performers who scored negative points are Manipur (-0.363), Delhi (-0.289) and Uttarakhand (-0.277).
6. Chandigarh emerged the best governed union territory in the category of UTs with 1.05 PAI points, followed by Puducherry (0.52) and Lakshadweep (0.003).
7. Dadar and Nagar Haveli (-0.69), Andaman, Jammu and Kashmir (-0.50) and Nicobar (-0.30) were the least performers.

SERB-POWER

• Recently, the Union Minister for Science and Technology has launched SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research) Scheme.
• It has two components of fellowship and research grants.
• The scheme is designed exclusively for women scientists to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research in various science and technology (S&T) programmes in Indian academic institutions and research and development (R&D) laboratories.
• It will serve as a benchmark of recognition in the national scenario and will empower women scientists and cultivate a women-friendly culture and ensure more women in leadership positions in decision-making bodies.
• Eligibility Criteria:

1. Women researchers in 35-55 years of age.
2. Up-to 25 Fellowships per year and not more than 75 at any point in time.

• Duration: Three years, without the possibility of extension. Once in a career.
• Grants will be regulated through terms of reference conforming to SERB-Core Research Grant (CRG) guidelines.

Manufacturing of Bulk drugs and Medical devices

• Recently Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry has revised the Production Linked Incentive Schemes for promoting domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices.
• In the revised guidelines, the ‘Minimum Threshold’ investment requirement has been replaced by ‘committed investment’ taking into account availability of technology choices which varies from product to product.
• The change has been made to encourage efficient use of productive capital.
• The Department of Pharmaceuticals earlier come out with the two Production Linked Incentive Schemes:

1. Production Linked Incentive scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials, Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients in India.
2. Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices.

Malabar Naval Exercise

• The first phase of the Malabar Naval exercise including Australia along with Japan and the U.S., is scheduled to be held next week off the Visakhapatnam coast.
• This is the first time Australia will be joining the exercise after 2007.
• This will bring all four countries of the Quadrilateral grouping together for military games.
• Phase-1 of Malabar will see participation of

1. U.S. guided missile destroyer USS John S McCain,
2. Australian long range frigate HMAS Ballarat with integral MH-60 helicopter,
3. Japanese destroyer JS Onami with integral SH-60 helicopter,

• From Indian Side following fleets will be participating

1. Destroyer INS Ranvijay,
2. Stealth frigate INS Shivalik,
3. Off-shore patrol vessel INS Sukanya,
4. Fleet support ship INS Shakti
5. Submarine INS Sindhuraj

• The exercise, being conducted as a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ exercise in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

Secure Application for Internet

• Indian Army has launched a messaging app called Secure Application for Internet (SAI).
• It will provide secure voice, text and video calling services to its soldiers.
• The application supports end-to-end secure voice, text and video calling services for Android platform over internet.
• SAI will be utilised pan Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service.
• SAI scores over on security features with local in-house servers and coding which can be tweaked as per requirements.
• The model (of SAI) is similar to commercially available messaging applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS and utilises end-to-end encryption messaging protocol.

Source: PIB, the Hindu, AIR News