10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : April 16, 2018

The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) are statutory, non-constitutional bodies, established in 1993 under an act of Parliament, the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The NHRC consists of nine members:

• A Chairperson, should be retired Chief Justice of India (though GoI mulling appointment of retired SC Judges as chairperson)
• One member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• One member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court.
• Two members to be appointed from among persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights.
• In addition, the Chairpersons of four National Commissions (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Women and Minorities) serve as ex officio members.

The cleanest and greenest north-eastern state in the country, Sikkim has now got the formal approval of the state government to forge fraternal ties with the trees.
State Forests Department issued notification titled Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules 2017 to allow people in the state to go ahead and form a relationship of brotherhood/sisterhood with the trees. The aim of this move is to help encourage the people to preserve trees. The practice of forging fraternal relations with the trees is traditional and known by Mitini or Mith in the state.

Recent judgement of supreme court on cauvery was based on this rule. The principle of equitable apportionment internationally recognised by the Helsinki Rules, Compione Rules and Berlin Rules which have also been incorporated in the 1987 to 2002 National Water Policies, have been regarded to be the guiding factor for resolving disputes qua apportionment of water of an interstate river.

International Labor Organization has released its World Employment and Social outlook trend 2018

The union cabinet approved signing of the joint interpretative notes (JIN) on the Agreement for the Promotion & Protection of Investment. The JIN would impart clarity to the interpretation of the existing agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments

Central government  approved two new World Bank supported schemes Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). SANKALP is Centrally sponsored scheme including loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a central sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance. SANKALP and STRIVE are outcome focused schemes marking shift in government’s implementation strategy in vocational education and training from inputs to results.

There has been a long felt need for a national architecture for promoting convergence, ensuring effective governance and regulation of skill training and catalyzing industry efforts in vocational training space. The two schemes shall address this need by setting up national bodies for accreditation & certification which shall regulate accreditation and certification in both long and short term Vocational Education and Training (VET). The architecture shall help, for the first time in the history of vocational education in India, to converge the efforts of various central, state and private sector institutions thereby avoiding duplication of activities and bringing about uniformity in vocational training thus, creating better impact.