Status on Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

A study conducted by the Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) on the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, across 24 States, has revealed that more than half have not notified the State rules.

• Only ten states including Bihar, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have notified the rules.
• Recently, Rajasthan was recognised as the best State in implementation of Accessible India Campaign on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd).
  • This year's theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities was- "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality"- declared by the United Nations (UN).
  • It focuses on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pledges to "leave no one behind". This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) states that State shall make effective provision for securing right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, within the limits of its economic capacity and development.
• The subject of ‘relief of the disabled and unemployable’ is specified in state list of the Seventh schedule of the constitution.

Accessible India Campaign (AIC)

• Accessible India Campaign (AIC) is the nationwide flagship campaign of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• The aim of the Campaign is to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all over the country.
• It was launched on International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December, 2015.

Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016

• Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.
• The types of disabilities have been increased from 7 to 21. The act added mental illness, autism, spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, speech and language disability, thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness, acid attack victims and Parkinson’s disease which were largely ignored in earlier act. In addition, the Government has been authorized to notify any other category of specified disability.
• It increases the quantum of reservation for people suffering from disabilities from 3% to 4% in government jobs and from 3% to 5% in higher education institutes.
• Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education. Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions will have to provide inclusive education.
• Stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings in a prescribed time frame along with Accessible India Campaign.
• The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies, monitoring implementation of the Act.
• A separate National and State Fund be created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

• The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006 and it came into force on in May 2008.
• The convention seeks to engage member countries in developing and carrying out policies, laws and administrative measures for securing the rights recognized in the Convention and abolish laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination.
• It requires countries to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications technologies.
• It asks member countries to recognize the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection which includes public housing, services and assistance for disability-related needs, as well as assistance with disability-related expenses in case of poverty.

GSAT-11 Launched

Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 was launched by European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariane-5 Rocket, from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, South America.

• ISRO’s rocket GSLV III can carry load up to four thousand kilograms. Beyond that capacity, all heavier ISRO payloads are launched by ESA.

• GSAT-11 is part of ISRO’s high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet. Two HTSs — GSAT-29 and GSAT-19 are already in space.

GSAT-11

• GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite.
• The GSAT 11 has Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka-band Return Link Transponders.
• Mass: 5,854 Kg
• Orbit type: Geostationary Orbit
• Mission Life: 15 Years

Applications

• Faster Internet Connectivity: GSAT will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country. It will enable greater capacity and high data rates over region due to use of the spot beam technology.

  • The broadband domain in India is through the underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations. GSAT will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas. 

• Bharat Net Connectivity: It will provide substantial bandwidth coverage to gram panchayats for supporting e-governance and other platforms.
• VSAT Terminals: Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications.

Spot Beam

• A spot beam is a satellite signal that is especially concentrated so that it covers only a limited geographical area. The narrower the beam greater the power. The satellite reuse beams (signals) several times in order to cover the entire country.

Types of Orbits

In general, there are two types of orbits:

• Polar Synchronous
• Geosynchronous

Polar Orbit

• A polar orbit travels north-south over the poles and takes approximately 90 minutes for a full rotation.
• These orbits have an inclination near 90 degrees. This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath it.
• These satellites have many uses such as monitoring crops, global security, measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the atmosphere.
• Almost all the satellites that are in a polar orbit are at lower altitudes.
• An orbit is called sun-synchronous when the angle between the line joining the center of the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.
• These orbits are also referred to as “Low Earth Orbit (LEO)” which enables the onboard camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.
• It passes over any given point on Earth’s surface at the same local solar time.

Geosynchronous Orbit

• Geosynchronous satellites are launched into orbit in the same direction the Earth is spinning and can have any inclination.
• When the satellite is in orbit at a specific altitude (approximately 36,000km above the Earth's surface), it will exactly match the rotation of the Earth.
• While, Geostationary orbits fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but with that one special quality of being parked over the equator.
• In the case of geostationary satellites, the Earth’s force of gravity is exactly enough to provide acceleration required for circular motion.
• Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit(GTO): To attain geostationary or geosynchronous earth orbits, a spacecraft is first launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
• From the GTO the spacecraft uses its engines to shift to geostationary or geosynchronous orbit.

Important Facts for Prelims (5th December 2018)

USMCA trade deal

• The United States, Canada and Mexico have reached an agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
• The original 1994 NAFTA deal has also been renamed as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA.
• The goal of NAFTA was to encourage economic activity by eliminating barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
• USMCA will give workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in the region.
• It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people of North America.

India Water Impact Summit-2018

• India Water Impact Summit is being jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.
• The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water-related problems in the country.
• The discussions this year will be on rejuvenation of the Ganga River Basin.
• There will be multi-country dialogue on the subject, with showcasing of technological innovations, research, policy frameworks and funding models from India and abroad.

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)

• National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society in 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
• It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
• NGRBA has since been dissolved in 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council which comes under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.)

Indian Navy Day 2018

• Indian maritime forces celebrated Navy Day on 4 December.
• The day marks the exemplary role of the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
• The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region.

India’s First Private Satellite Launched

• US space agency SpaceX launched India’s first privately built satellite ExseedSAT 1 along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries.
• The mini communication satellite weighs just a kg and is made up of aluminium alloy.
• The satellite is owned by Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space and will serve the amateur radio communication.

Mangdechhu Project

• Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project is a hydropower project in Bhutan.
• 720MW run-of-river power plant was built on the Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag District of central Bhutan.
• It was built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with support from Government of India.
• It is among the ten Hydroelectric Projects planned under the 10,000MW hydropower development by the year 2020 programme of the Royal Government of Bhutan.