Current Affair 1:

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007

According to the 2011 Census, nearly 8.6% of India’s population, including 8.2% males and 9% females, were senior citizens or those who were of age 60 years and above. With significant strides in improved life expectancy over the years, the senior citizen population is expected to further increase in the future.

If we highlight the 2017 UN report on ‘World Population Ageing’, it has been projected that in 2030, older persons (above 60 years old) will outnumber the children under the age of 10 years.

What are the issues with ageing populations?

1. With increasing age, older persons become dependent. In addition to the health issues, they are also subjected to different forms of abuse like emotional, physiological, financial, and verbal. Instances of children and relatives mistreating the elderly and depriving them of food and healthcare are also being reported from different parts of the country.
2. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals that incidences of reported crimes against senior citizens has also been on a rise, from 18,714 in 2014 to 27,696 in 2019, an increase of 48%.

  

1. Gradual breakdown of joint family system in the society is cited as the reason by the government, behind the rising number of cases of neglect, crime, exploitation, and abandonment of parents and senior citizens.

Multiple schemes and legal statutes are being implemented in India to offer support and protection to senior citizens in order to ensure that they are taken care of. One such important legislation is the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (MWPSC Act) which was brought in to ensure need-based maintenance for parents and senior citizens and their welfare. The Act defines maintenance as including provision for food, clothing, residence, medical attendance, and treatment.

Maintenance for parents and senior citizens is made mandatory by the law

1. The Act makes it mandatory for children or legal heirs to provide the basic amenities to their parents or grandparents (or senior citizens).
2. Maintenance Tribunals have been established to ensure the implementation of the law. Monthly maintenance of up to Rs. 10,000 can be awarded and the children or relative should deposit this within 30 days from the day of the order by the tribunal.
3. Senior citizens can also revoke transfer of property in case of negligence by relatives. The failure to comply with the maintenance orders issued by the Tribunal can also attract imprisonment.
4. Section 17 of the Act states that no party to a proceeding should be represented by a lawyer while parents or senior citizens may avail the services of the Maintenance Officer appointed by the State Government.
5. State governments have been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that every district has at least one old age home for destitute senior citizens.

Is there is proper implementation of the Act?

Definitely no. We can substantiate this with SC judgement.

The SC, in Dr. Ashwani Kumar v. Union of India & Ors. asked the government to obtain information about the number of old age homes, medical and geriatric care facilities in each district from state governments and union territories, and file status reports.

1. It was further highlighted that the elderly was not aware of their human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and State Governments.
2. The Central Government can devise plans for the State Governments to execute the various provisions of the Act. The SC directed the Centre to prepare a plan of action for giving publicity to the various provisions of the MWPSC Act and the other statutory rights of the elderly.
3. Further, the Central government was asked to conduct a review to monitor the progress in implementation of the Act by the State Governments.
4. The apex court also noted that some of the schemes were outdated and asked the Centre to relook at them.
5. All these directions by courts imply that the implementation of the Act is not satisfactory.

MWPSC Amendment Bill, 2019 has been referred to Standing Committee

An amendment bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2019 to make changes to the MWPSC Act. The bill was referred to the Standing Committee and might come up for discussion in the upcoming parliament session.

Conclusion:

The rights of elderly persons is one such emerging situation that was perhaps not fully foreseen by our Constitution framers. Therefore, while there is a reference to the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children in Article 39 of the Constitution and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, there is no specific reference to the health of the elderly or to their shelter in times of want and indeed to their dignity and sustenance due to their age. We need a change in policy and attitude towards elderly population.

Current Affair 2:

Bru – Reang Settlement Agreement

Why in news?

Leaders of the Mizoram Bru refugees have demanded commencement of their permanent rehabilitation in Tripura in the light of the quadripartite agreement signed in New Delhi in January

Who are Bru tribe – Historical background?

Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.

In 1997, the murder of a Mizo forest guard at the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram's Mamit district allegedly by Bru militant led to a violent backslash against the community, forcing several thousand people to flee to neighbouring Tripura. Since then Bru people have been leaving in various camp in Tripura.

What was agreement?

In January 2020 a quadripartite agreement signed between central government, state government of Tripura, state government of Mizoram, and representative of Bru organization in presence of Union Home Minister that promise to end their 23-year-old internal displacement crisis.

Salient features?

1. Under the agreement, the centre has announced a package of Rs. 600 crores under this agreement. As per the agreement the Bru tribes would be given land to reside in Tripura
2. A fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakhs will be given to each family as an amount of government aid. They will be able to withdraw this amount after two years.
3. Each of the displaced families will be given 40×30 sq ft residential plots.
4. Apart from them, each family will be given Rs. 5,000 cash per month for two years.
5. The agreement highlights that each displaced family will also be given free ration for two years and aid of Rs. 1.5 lakh to build their houses.

In recent, Bru tribe demanded Immediate implementation of Settlement agreement.

What is important for prelim exam?

1. Where is Dampa Tiger Reserve?
2. Are Bru tribe included in PVTGs? What is PVTGs?

Dampa Tiger Reserves is in Mizoram.

Yes, Bru (Reang) included in PVTGs.

Current Affair 3:

India-Luxembourg Virtual Summit

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The first meeting between India and Luxembourg in 20 years was held recently.

Agreements Signed at the Summit:

1. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
2. MoU between State Bank of India (SBI) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

Both these provide for cooperation in financial services, industry maintenance of orderly markets in securities, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green finance in the local market.

1. MoU between Invest India and Lux-innovation

It provides for support and development of mutual business cooperation, including promotion and facilitation of inbound FDI, coming from or proposed by Indian and Luxembourgish investors.

Others:

Luxembourg is the third largest source of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) investments in India after US and Mauritius accounting for approximately 8.5% of these investments.

Luxembourg’s importance stems from it being one of the founding members of the European Union (EU) as well as one of the three official headquarters to the EU’s institutions along with Brussels and Strasbourg.

Luxembourg welcomed the successful launch on 7th November 2020 by ISRO of the PSLV-C49 mission, which included 4 satellites from Luxembourg.

Luxembourg welcomed India’s election to a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the term 2021-2022 and reiterated Luxembourg’s support for the reform of the UN Security Council, including its expansion in both categories of permanent and non-permanent membership.

Global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

India also invited Luxembourg to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, announced the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 held in New York City on 23 September 2019.

Members of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

Current Affair 4:

Supercomputer Param Siddhi

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Param Siddhi, the high-performance computing-artificial intelligence (HPC-AI) supercomputer established under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) at C-DAC has achieved global ranking of 63 in TOP 500 most powerful non-distributed computer systems in the world released on 16th November 2020.

Difference between Distributed and non-Distributed Computing

Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system is a system whose components are located on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages to one another. The components interact with one another in order to achieve a common goal.

In a non-distributed (or co-located) system, all the parts of the system are in the same physical location. In a distributed system, parts of the system exist in separate locations.

National Supercomputing Mission:

The Mission envisages empowering our national academic and R&D institutions spread over the country by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities.

1. These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
2. The NKN is another programme of the government which connects academic institutions and R&D labs over a high-speed network.
3. Academic and R&D institutions as well as key user departments/ministries would participate by using these facilities and develop applications of national relevance.
4. The Mission also includes development of highly professional High-Performance Computing (HPC) aware human resource for meeting challenges of development of these applications.
5. The Mission implementation would bring supercomputing within the reach of the large Scientific & Technology community in the country and enable the country with a capacity of solving multi-disciplinary grand challenge problems.

The Mission would be implemented and steered jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) at an estimated cost of Rs.4500 crore over a period of seven years.

Objective:

1. To make India one of the world leaders in Supercomputing and to enhance India’s capability in solving grand challenge problems of national and global relevance
2. To empower our scientists and researchers with state-of-the-art supercomputing facilities and enable them to carry out cutting-edge research in their respective domains
3. To minimize redundancies and duplication of efforts, and optimize investments in supercomputing
4. To attain global competitiveness and ensure self-reliance in the strategic area of supercomputing technology

The Mission would be implemented and steered jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) at an estimated cost of Rs.4500 crore over a period of seven years.

Current Affair 5:

Guillain-Barre syndrome

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Why in news?

In a rare complication, some patients infected with Covid-19 have been found suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). In India, such cases have been reported since August.

What is it?

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare disorder in which your body's immune system attacks your nerves. Weakness and tingling in your extremities are usually the first symptoms.

 

These sensations can quickly spread, eventually paralyzing your whole body. In its most severe form Guillain-Barre syndrome is a medical emergency. Most people with the condition must be hospitalized to receive treatment.

The exact cause of Guillain-Barre syndrome is unknown. But two-thirds of patients report symptoms of an infection in the six weeks preceding. These include respiratory or a gastrointestinal infection or Zika virus.

There’s no known cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome, but several treatments can ease symptoms and reduce the duration of the illness. Although most people recover from Guillain-Barre syndrome, the mortality rate is 4% to 7%. Between 60-80% of people are able to walk at six months. Patients may experience lingering effects from it, such as weakness, numbness or fatigue.

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