Assam Accord

Highlights:

• Committee has been given a broad mandate. It is headed by Shri M.P. Bezbarauah and includes eminent Assamese persons from different fields.
• The Committee will submit its report within 6 months from the date of notification. The State Government of Assam will provide necessary administrative and logistic support to the Committee.

The Terms of Reference for the Committee are as under:-

• The Committee will examine the effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
• The Committee will hold discussions with various stakeholders including social organizations, legal and constitutional experts, eminent persons from the field of art, culture and literature, conservationists, economists, linguists and sociologists.
• The Committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people.
• The Committee will also suggest measures to be taken to protect Assamese and other indigenous languages of Assam.
• The Committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the Government of Assam for the Assamese people.
• The Committee may suggest any other measures as may be necessary to protect, preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

The HLC has been constituted as per Clause 6 of the Memorandum of Settlement, known as the Assam Accord, signed on 15th August, 1985.

Clause 6 of the Assam Accord:

“Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”

FASTags

Highlights:

• To ensure easier availability of FASTags, Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. (IHMCL), a company promoted by NHAI, is signing MoUs with state-run Oil Marketing Companies (IOCL, BPC, and HPC).
• It will ensure availability of FASTags at petroleum outlets across India. In the first phase, the tags will be available across 50 Fuel Station in Delhi NCR, which will subsequently be expanded to outlets across India.

About FASTags:

• FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.
• FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted.
• The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.
• FASTag is a perfect solution for a hassle free trip on national highways. FASTag is presently operational at 180 toll plazas across national and state highways. More toll plazas will be brought under the FASTag program in the future.
• IHMCL has been mandated to implement the National Electronic Toll Collection Program (NETC) in the country. The company launched the program under the brand name “FASTag” in April 2016.

BENEFITS

1. Saves Fuel and Time

FASTag is read by the tag reader at the plaza and the toll amount is deducted automatically, when the vehicle approaches the toll plaza. The vehicle with FASTag doesn't need to stop at the toll plaza for the cash transaction

2. SMS alerts for transactions

Customer will receive SMS alerts on his registered mobile numbers for all the transactions done in his tag account

3. Online recharge

Customer may recharge his tag account online through, Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/ RTGS or Net Banking

4. No need to carry cash

Customer doesn't need to worry about carrying cash for the toll payments

5. Web portal for customers

Customers can access their statements by logging on the FASTag customer portal

National Electronic Toll Collection Program (NETC)

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market.
• It offers an interoperable nationwide toll payment solution including clearing house services for settlement and dispute management. Interoperability, as it applies to National
• Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system, encompasses a common set of processes, business rules and technical specifications which enable a customer to use their FASTag as payment mode on any of the toll plazas irrespective of who has acquired the toll plaza.

Objectives of National Electronic Toll Collection system:

In the current NETC program, FASTags are being issued by certified banks only through limited channels such as Point-of-Sale at NH toll plazas, online, and selected bank branches, etc.         

ICDS Scheme

About ICDS:

• The Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme providing for supplementary nutrition, immunization and pre-school education to the children is a popular flagship programme of the government.
• It is one of the world’s largest programs providing for an integrated package of services for the holistic development of the child.
• ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories.

Objectives:

• To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years;
• To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child;
• To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout;
• To achieve effective co-ordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development; and
• To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

Beneficiaries

• Children in the age group of 0-6 years
• Pregnant women and
• Lactating mothers

Services under ICDS

The ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services, viz.

• Supplementary Nutrition
• Pre-school non-formal education
• Nutrition & health education
• Immunization
• Health check-up and
• Referral services

• Three of the six services viz. immunization, health check-up and referral services are related to health and are provided through National Health Mission and Public Health Infrastructure.
• The services are offered at Anganwadi Centres through Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHS) at grassroots level.

China Lands Probe on Far Side of the Moon in a World First

Importance of Probe:

• The feat caps a series of lunar missions China has launched over the past few years as part of its plan to become one of the world’s top three aerospace powers by 2030.
• Aerospace is among sectors President Xi Jinping has identified as key to modernizing China’s economy. That means developing its own technology for planes, rockets, satellites and other spacecraft.
• Landing on the unexplored region will enable Chang’e-4’s rover to better study the moon because of the lack of electromagnetic interference from Earth.
• The rover is equipped with a low-frequency radio spectrometer to help scientists understand “how the earliest stars were ignited and how our cosmos emerged from darkness after the Big Bang,”
• Scientists will test whether plants can grow while on the moon.
• Chang’e-3, launched in 2013, and its rover Yutu or Jade Rabbit surveyed the moon’s geology and natural resources after a soft landing.
• In May, China launched a relay satellite called Queqiao that’s now orbiting about 450,000 kilometers (280,000 miles) from Earth, where a gravitational equilibrium can be maintained so it stays on course to relay messages from the rover back to Earth.