Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 17 December 2022

::NATIONAL::

Circumstantial evidence enough to hold public servant guilty of graft by Supreme Court 

• Circumstantial evidence is enough to hold a public servant guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) when direct evidence is absent, said the Supreme Court.

About:

• The ruling held that direct evidence ofdemand or acceptance of bribe is notnecessary to convict a public servant under thePrevention of Corruption Act (POCA), 1988.
• Ruling allows courts to draw inferentialdeduction of guilt of a public servant underSection 7 and Section 13 of POCA.
• Section 7 provides for punishment in caseof gratification other than legalremuneration from public servant.
• Section 13 defines the criminal misconductby a public servant.
• The POCA was amended in 2018 and seeksconformity with the United NationsConvention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

Features of POCA:

• Bribe is termed ‘undue advantage’, definedas gratification other than legalremuneration.
• Giving a bribe is an offense, except whenone is forced to give a bribe. But it should bereported within seven days.
• The trial in cases of bribe and corruptionshould be completed by the special judgewithin two years.
• In case of delays, the reasons for the samemust be recorded and the total trial timemust not exceed four years.
• Police officers cannot begin a probewithout prior approval of the relevantauthority.

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Panini, the father of linguistics

• A grammatical problem that has defeated Sanskrit scholars since the 5th Century BC has finally been solved by Rishi Rajpopat, an Indian PhD student at the University of Cambridge

About Panini, the ‘father of linguistics’:

• Panini probably lived in the 4th century BC, the age of the conquests of Alexander and the founding of the Mauryan Empire, even though he has also been dated to the 6th century BC, the age of The Buddha and Mahavira.
• Panini taught a “metarule” in the event of a conflict between two rules of equal
• strength.
• He likely lived in Salatura (Gandhara), which today would lie in north-west Pakistan, and was probably associated with the great university at Taksasila, which also produced Kautilya and Charaka, the ancient Indian masters of statecraft and medicine respectively.
• ‘Ashtadhyayi’, or ‘Eight Chapters’, an ancient text written by the scholar Panini towards the end of the 4th century BC.
• It is a linguistics text that set the standard for how Sanskrit was meant to be written and spoken.
• It delves deep into the language’s phonetics, syntax and grammar, and also offers a ‘language machine’, where one can feed in the root and suffix of any Sanskrit word, and get grammatically correct words and sentences in return.
• Panini’s grammar, which built on the work of many earlier grammarians, effectively stabilised the Sanskrit language.
• The Ashtadhyayi laid down more than 4,000 grammatical rules.
• Later Indian grammars such as the Mahabhasya of Patanjali (2nd century BC) and the KasikaVritti of Jayaditya and Vamana (7th century AD), were mostly commentaries on Panini.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

UN Recognises‘Namami Gange’, among top 10 World Restoration Flagship programmes

• The United Nations has recognised the NamamiGange initiative to rejuvenate India’s sacred River Ganga as one of the top 10 World Restoration Flagships to revive the natural world.

Key highlights:

• According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, NamamiGange was selected from over 150 such initiatives from 70 countries across the globe. 
• They were selected under the banner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global movement coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• NamamiGange is an Integrated Conservation Mission, started in 2014 withtwin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation, andrejuvenation of the National River Ganga.
• Referred to as the World Restoration Flagships, they are the first examples oflarge scale and long-term ecosystem restoration in any country or region.
• They embody the 10 Restoration Principles of the UN Decade.
• Initiatives now become eligible to receive United Nations-backed promotion,advice or funding.

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WheeboxIndia Skills Report 2023

• India’s employable talent has risen in the past one year, according to The Wheebox India Skills Report 2023. 

Key highlights:

• According to the report, India’s employable workforce has increased from 46.2 per cent to 50.3 per cent which means that 50.3 per cent people were found to be employable as compared to the last year’s data.
• 52.8 % of women workforce are employable, higher than the 47.2 % of employable
• Although, little over 33% of women were working, the ratio of men to womenindicates that more men are employed than women.
• Significant skills gap in the fields of data science, cloud computing, healthcare, andfinance.
• Soft- skills such as adaptability & flexibility, problem-solving, stressmanagement, etc. will become non-negotiable for every job position.

Government Initiatives for Skill Development:

• National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015.
• Skill India Mission 2015.
• PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana for recognition and standardisation of Skills.
• SANKALP and STRIVE initiatives to boost Skill India Mission.

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::Economy::

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2022-23

• The Reserve Bank will issue two tranches of Sovereign Gold Bonds(SGB), which will open for public subscription in December and March.
• Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) 2022-23-Series III will open for subscription during the December 19-December 23 period and the 2022-23-Series IV during March 06-10, 2023.

About:

• SGB Scheme was launched in 2015 under the Gold Monetisation Scheme.
• SGBs are issued by the RBI on behalf of the government.
• The SGBs will be sold through Scheduled Commercial banks (except Small Finance Banks, Payment Banks and Regional Rural Banks), Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL), designated post offices, and stock exchanges -- NSE and BSE.

Features of SGBs:

• 1 gram as a basic unit of denomination.
• Fixed Interest Rate of 2.5% per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.
• 8 years tenor with exit option in 5th, 6th and 7th year.
• Tradable on Stock Exchanges.
• Can be used as collateral for loans etc.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Plasma Waters technology

• Samunnati Agro Solutions India Private Limited, one of the largest Agri Enterprises in India, has signed a cooperation agreement with Plasma Waters, a US-based water-tech company to bring the latest water technology to India.

About:

• Plasma Waters’ continuous-flow cold plasma technology turns water into plasma-activatedwater (PAW), a natural microbicide and growth enhancer.

Significance

• PAW provides a natural alternative that can replace the impact of pesticides.
• It can boost plant growth, resist disease, and provide stress tolerance levels.
• It also enhances the crop’s longevity after harvest resulting in reducing food wastage fromfarm to plate.

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