Mediation Bill

Syllabus: GS Paper-2-Polity

 Why in News? 

 · Mediation Bill has passed recently in the Parliament. 

 Mediation: 

 · Mediation is an Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) 

 · Mediation involves a neutral third party known as mediator who helps parties that are involved in a dispute to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.

 · Mediation is generally considered as more cost-effective and less adversarial method when compared to the traditional court litigation. 

 History of Mediation:

 · In India, the mediation dates back to centuries before the British came to India. 

 · Informal panchayats were used to resolve disputes between the parties. 

 · Even today, Panchas or Pancha Parameshwars, as neutral third parties are used to settle disputes in some tribal areas.

 · After the onset of the British colonialism, mediation was recognized as a formal and legalized ADR mechanism.

· The introduction of Lok Adalats in the Indian Judicial system has showed the importance of ADR mechanism.

 · The Legal Services Authority Act had given a statutory status to the Lok Adalats in the year 1987. 

 Mediation Bill:

 · This bill has been passed recently by the Parliament. 

 · It was first introduced in the year 2021.

· During this period, the bill was referred to the parliamentary standing committee. 

 · With the passage of the bill, India will now have a dedicated legislation governing mediation (Samadhan). 

 · It will now settle the civil or commercial disputes through mediation before approaching any court

 Important Provisions:

 • The mediation process should be completed within 180 days and it can be extended by another 180 days by the parties. 

 • A party can withdraw from mediation after two sessions. 

 • It provides for the setting up of The Mediation Council of India.

 • The MCI will register the mediators and recognises the mediation service providers and institutes. 

 • Mediators have to be appointed by the parties by agreement 

 • The bill provides a list of disputes which are not fit for mediation. 

Koya Tribes 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-2-Important Tribes

 Why in News? 

 To revitalise the Koya Tribal language, the Andhra Pradesh has decided to rope in Native speakers to teach the students of the primary schools in their native language in Chintoor Agency of Alluri Sitarama Raju district. 

 Importance:

 · UNO has declared 2022-32 as the International Decade of International language. 

 · It has claimed that at least 50% of today’s spoken languages will be extinct or seriously endangered by 2100. 

 Koya Tribes:

· They are found in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. 

 Language:

· They speak Koya language which is a Dravidian language. 

 Festivals: 

 · One of the most important festivals which is celebrated by the Koyas is the Sammakka Saralamma Jathara.

· It occurs once in every two years on the full moon day of the Magha Masam. 

 Livelihood: 

 · They mainly depend on animal husbandry and forest produce.

 · They practice Podu which is a form of shifting cultivation. 

 · They appoint only males for the positions of physician, priest and also the village leader.

White-bellied Sea Eagle 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Environment & Ecology 

 Why in News?

· White-Bellied sea eagles in India are making nests on the powerline towers.

 · The use of powerline towers as nesting sites can be both risky and beneficial to these coastal raptors. 

 · It indicates that there are lack of trees and other natural nesting. 

 White-bellied Sea Eagle:

 · It belongs to the family Accipitridae

 · IUCN Status-Least Concern 

 Distribution:

 · It has a distribution range on Mumbai to eastern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Southern Asia, through all coastal south-eastern Asia, southern China to Australia. 

 · They come under the category of raptors as they hunt and feed on other mammals, small birds etc.

 · They generally feed on sea snakes and fishes. 

 · White-Bellied Sea Eagle is a diurnal bird of prey. 

 · A Diurnal bird is active during the daytime which is opposed to nocturnal birds, which are active at night.

 · They are adapted to forage, hunt and carry out different activities during the daylight hours.

Namoh 108 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Science & Technology 

 Why in News? 

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology has unveiled a lotus variety Namoh 108, at a function in the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute. 

 Namoh 108: 

 · It is a lotus variant which is crafted by CSIR-NBRI.

 · It has 108 symbolizes deep devotion. 

 · It was discovered several years before in the state of Manipur and kept it at NBRI as part of its collection of flowers and plants.

 · It is the first lotus variety with its entire genome sequenced.

 · It flowers from the month of March to December. 

 National Botanical Research Institute: 

 · It is one of the constituent research institutes of CSIR. 

 · It was setup in the year 1853. 

 · Its headquarters is located in Uttar Pradesh. 

 · It undertakes both basic and applied research on various aspects of plant science, documentation, conservation and genetic improvement. 

 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research: 

 · It was established in the year 1942.

 · Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. 

 · It is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology. 

 · It is autonomous organization which operates under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. 

 · It covers many streams such as oceanography, drugs, genomics, aeronautics, information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology etc. 

 Structure: 

 · Prime Minister of India is the president of the organization. 

 · Union Minister of Science and Technology is the vice-president of the organization.

 · The governing body is headed by the director-general. 

 · CSIR Advisory body consists of 15 members.

INS Vagir 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Defence

 Why in News? 

Submarine INS Vagir has reached Australia on August 20.

INS Vagir:

 · It is a 5^th Scorpene class submarine of Project-75. 

 · It is a kalvari class diesel-electric attack submarine.

 · Its name is originated from Vagir which is a submarine that served the Indian Navy between 1973 and 2001. 

 · It is also known as Sand-Shark.

· It is built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in collaboration with the French M/s Naval group. 

 · The submarines which belong to this class will have Diesel Electric Transmission Systems. 

 · They are hunter-killer type submarines which indicates that they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels. 

 Importance: 

 · It will boost the Indian Navy’s capability.

 · It undertakes diverse missions such as anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance missions etc. 

 Important Points: 

 · The other submarines of the first batch of the six Kalvari class are: a) INS Kalvari b) INS Khanderi c) INS Karanj d) INS Vela e) INS Vagsheer.

GitHub 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Science & Technology 

 Why in News?

· India tops AI projects in GitHub 

 · In the year 2022, software developers in India have contributed to about 24% of the AI related projects in GitHub according to the Stanford’s latest Artificial Intelligence Index report. 

 GitHub:

 · It was created in the year 2005.

 · It was developed by the Linus Trovalds who is the developer of Linux. 

 · It is known for being the world’s largest open-source developer community platform

. · It is the place where users upload their projects and even code for others to view, edit and tweak. 

 · By using GitHub any developer can upload whatever software code or app code they have on the platform.

 · They can have collaborations to improve the code, find errors and also fix problems.

 · Any public projects can be viewed by other and features are also free for the users. 

 · Organisations can also use paid accounts to upload their projects. 

 Important features of GitHub: 

 · GitHub does not allow to post violent content, misinformation, active malware etc. 

 · Doxxing is not allowed which involves revealing personal information with malicious intent 

 · It prohibits pornographic content.

 · It does not mean all nudity or all code related to sexuality is prohibited. 

 · If a user violates the platform rules, then it can remove or block their content.

Alzheimer 

 Syllabus: GS Paper-3-Science & Technology 

 Why in News? 

 · A new drug known as donanemab has slowed cognitive decline in 47% of participants with Alzheimer. 

 · Donanemab and two approved drugs lecanemab and aducanumab are the monoclonal anti-bodies which neutralise the build-up of amyloid in the brain.

Alzheimer:

 · It is a neurological disorder which occurs among the older adults.

 · It causes the brain cells to degenerate and die. 

 · It leads to dementia which affects memory.

 · It affects thinking and behaviour of an individual.

 Symptoms:

 · Mood-Swings

 · Disorientation 

 · Poor Judgement 

 · Confusion ·

 Problem with speaking or writing etc.

 Treatment:

 · At present there is no cure for this disease. 

 · But there is prevention which includes:

 · Exercising Brain · Developing new hobbies · Learning new languages · Solving puzzles etc.

Questions

1.Consider the following statements regarding Mediation Bill: 

 Statement-I: Under this bill, mediation process should be completed within 90 days

 Statement-II: A party can withdraw from mediation after two sessions.

 Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements? 

 a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I. 

 b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I. 

 c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect 

 d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct

2.Consider the following statements regarding White-bellied Sea Eagle: 

 1. The IUCN status of White-bellied Sea Eagle is endangered. 

 2. White-Bellied Sea Eagle is a nocturnal birds.

 Which of the above statements are incorrect? 

 a. Only 1 

 b. Only 2 

 c. Both 1&2 

 d. Neither 1 nor 2

3.Consider the following statements are correct regarding Namoh-108: 

 1. It is one of the varieties of Lotus. 

 2. It is crafted by CSIR-NBRI. 

 3. It is the first lotus variety with its entire genome sequenced 

 How many of the above statements are correct? 

 a) Only One 

 b) Only two 

 c) Only three 

 d) None