General Studies-III
Topic– Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021
Context:
The Government of India has notified Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021.
- In India, the copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013.
- The Copyright Rules, 2013 were last amended in the year 2016.
Objective of the amendments:
- Bringing the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislations.
- To ensure smooth and flawless compliance in the light of the technological advancement in digital era.
- To adopt electronic means as primary mode of communication and working in the Copyright Office.
Key amendments:
- The compliance requirements for registration of software works have been largely reduced.
- As now the applicant has the liberty to file the first 10 and last 10 pages of source code, or the entire source code if less than 20 pages, with no blocked out or redacted portions.
- The time limit for the Central Government to respond to an application made before it for registration as a copyright society is extended to one hundred and eighty days, so that the application can be more comprehensively examined.
New provision under the amendments:
- A new provision regarding publication of a copyrights journal has been incorporated, thereby eliminating the requirement of publication in the Official Gazette. The said journal would be available at the website of the Copyright Office.
- In order to encourage accountability and transparency, new provisions have been introduced.
- It will deal with the undistributed royalty amounts and use of electronic and traceable payment methods while collection and distribution of royalties.
- To reinforce transparency in working of copyright societies a new rule has been introduced, whereby the copyright societies will be required to draw up and make public an Annual Transparency Report for each financial year.
Significance:
The amendments have harmonised the Copyright Rules with the provisions of Finance Act, 2017 whereby the Copyright Board has been merged with Appellate Board.
General Studies- III
Topic– Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
Drone use permission
Context:
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption to Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) for surveying in coalfield areas of Coal India Ltd.
- As per the permission, the drones will be deployed for acquisition of data for monitoring of Mapping and Surveying activity.
- In that drones will be using UAV Based Optical, LiDAR and Thermal Payloads, volumetric measurement, and, inspections in coalfield areas of Coal India Limited.
- The conditional exemption is valid till 04 April 2022 from the date of issue of the letter or until the full operationalization of Digital Sky Platform (Phase-1), whichever is earlier.
General Rules for Flying a Drone in India:
Based on our research and interpretation of the laws, here are the most important rules to know for flying a drone in India.
- All drones except those in the Nano category must be registered and issued a Unique Identification Number (UIN).
- A permit is required for commercial drone operations (except for those in the Nano category flown below 50 feet and those in the Micro category flown below 200 feet).
- Drone pilots must maintain a direct visual line of sight at all times while flying.
- Drones cannot be flown more than 400 feet vertically.
- Drones cannot be flown in areas specified as “No Fly Zones”, which include areas near airports, international borders, Vijay Chowk in Delhi, State Secretariat Complex in State Capitals, strategic locations, and military installations.
- Permission to fly in controlled airspace can be obtained by filing a flight plan and obtaining a unique Air Defense Clearance (ADC)/Flight Information Center (FIC) number.
- Foreigners currently are not allowed to fly drones in India. For commercial purpose they are required to lease the drone to an Indian entity that in turn supports to acquire UIN and UAOP from DGCA.
General Studies-III
Topic– Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
Context:
Clean Ganga Fund Playing an Instrumental Role in Ganga Conservation& Rejuvenation: Ministry of Jal Shakti
About NMCG:
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
- It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
- NGRBA was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986.
- NGRBA has since been dissolved in October 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council) in September 2019
Five tier structure to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga:
- National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
- Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation).
- National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
- State Ganga Committees and
- District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.
Namami Gange Programme:
‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014.
- It has budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
- It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The main pillars of the programme are:
- Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure & Industrial Effluent Monitoring,
- River-Front Development & River-Surface Cleaning,
- Bio-Diversity & Afforestation,
- Public Awareness
Challenges:
- Pollution: Most of the Ganga is polluted and it is due to presence of five states on the river’s main stem i.e. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
- Violation of e-Flow Norms: According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), 4 of the 11 hydro power projects on the upper reaches of the river Ganga’s tributaries are violating Ganga ecological flow (e-flow) norms which is further interrupting the natural flow of the river.
- Illegal Construction: The problem of illegal and rampant construction near river beds has become a major hurdle in cleaning the river.
- Poor Governance: There is less utilisation of funds allotted under the programmes due to lack of monitoring and superviison.
Way forward:
- The main goal of the Government’s flagship program Namami Gange has been to make Ganga clean and restore its pristine glory.
- Rejuvenation of such a long river not only poses tremendous challenges but also requires huge investment.
- The Government has already quadrupled the budget, but still, it will not be sufficient for such a mammoth amount of work.
- Therefore, a Clean Ganga Fund was created by the Government, in which everyone can contribute funds to clean the river Ganga.
General Studies-III
Topic– Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity
Context
Cabinet approves modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country.
Highlights
- This will increase income of farmers as other feed stocks such as cereals (rice, wheat, barley, corn & sorghum), sugarcane and sugar beet to be used for production of ethanol.
- For benefiting a large population of farmers, Government is encouraging distilleries to produce ethanol from maize & rice available with FCI.
- India is well on the path of achieving a 10% blending target by 2022. This will help increase the income of our farmers and enhance their livelihoods.
- Government has fixed a target of 10% blending of fuel grade ethanol with petrol by 2022, 15% blending by 2026 & 20% blending by 2030.
- Diversion of excess sugarcane and sugar to ethanol will facilitate the clearance of cane price dues of farmers.
- Sugarcane farmers have benefited in the past six years as the capacity of molasses based distilleries has more than doubled and is currently at 426 crore litres.
What is Bioethanol?
Bioethanol fuel is mainly produced by the sugar fermentation process, although it can also be manufactured by the chemical process of reacting ethylene with steam.
- Bioethanol is the principle fuel used as a petrol substitute for road transport vehicles.
- The main sources of sugar required to produce ethanol come from fuel or energy crops.
- Ethanol or ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) is a clear colourless liquid, it is biodegradable, low in toxicity and causes little environmental pollution if spilt.
- By blending ethanol with gasoline we can also oxygenate the fuel mixture so it burns more completely and reduces polluting emissions.
Benefits of Bioethanol
Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels.
- It comes from a renewable resource i.e. crops and not from a finite resource and the crops it derives from can grow well in India (like cereals, sugar beet and maize).
- The road transport network accounts majorly for of all greenhouse gas emissions.
- Blending bioethanol with petrol will help extend the life of the India’s diminishing oil supplies and ensure greater fuel security, avoiding heavy reliance on oil producing nations.
- By encouraging bioethanol’s use, the rural economy would also receive a boost from growing the necessary crops.
- Bioethanol is also biodegradable and far less toxic that fossil fuels.
- Bioethanol is produced using familiar methods, such as fermentation, and it can be distributed using the same petrol forecourts and transportation systems as before.
Mains Question:
The Government’s initiative to increase blending percentage in petrol would enable sugar mills to make timely payment of cane dues of farmers. Discuss.
