Track-Child Portal

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has recently initiated the Track Child Portal, which enables tracking of the missing and found children.

• Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with objectives that includes:
  • Contribution to the improvement in the wellbeing of children in difficult circumstances.
  • Reduction of vulnerabilities to situations and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children.
• It also envisages for creating a mechanism for tracking 'missing' and 'found' children under ICPS and Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act,2000 ( JJ Act).
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development had entrusted National Informatics Centre (NIC) to develop a national portal Track-Child.
• Track-Child portal has been designed and developed adhering to the guidelines provided in the following:
  • Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000,
  • Model Rules 2007 and
  • Provisions laid down in the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).
• The portal enables to track the missing and found children.
• It is an initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• It is implemented with the support from various stakeholders that includes:
  • Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Railways,
  • State Governments or UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority and so on.
• It is an integrated virtual space for all stakeholders & ICPS bodies which includes:
  • Central Project Support Unit (CPSU) and Child Care Institutions (CCIs),
  • State Child Protection Society/Units and District Child Protection Units (DCPU),
  • Police Stations, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), etc. in the 35 State/UTs.
• It also provides a networking system amongst all the stakeholders and citizens to facilitate tracking of a "Child in distress".
• It requires data entry and updating at various levels such as Police stations, Child Care Institutions (CCIs)/Homes, Shelters, Child Welfare Committees, and Juvenile Justice Boards and so on.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

Recently Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry has visited India with an aim to enhance collaboration between European free trade partners and India.

• The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is the intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
• It was set up in 1960 by its then 7 Member States for the promotion of free trade and economic integration between its members.
• The 4 EFTA States are competitive in global economy and score among the highest in the world in competitiveness, wealth creation per inhabitant, life expectancy and quality of life.
• The EFTA Council is the highest governing body of EFTA.
• The Council usually meets 8 times a year at the ambassadorial level (heads of permanent delegations to EFTA) and twice a year at Ministerial level.
• The EFTA Parliamentary Committee (PC) and the EFTA Consultative Committee (CC) are two important advisory bodies to the EFTA Council.
• The PC is a forum for parliamentarians in the four member states while the CC is comprised with representatives from trade unions and employers’ organisations.

Ude Desh ki Aam Nagrik (UDAN) Scheme

The scheme has successfully completed 6 years that aims to improve infrastructure and connectivity in India.

• UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) is a government-backed initiative to improve infrastructure and connectivity in India, especially in remote and underserved regions.
• The UDAN scheme envisages to connect more regions and create new domestic hubs by using smaller aircraft with seating capacity that ranges from 20 to 80 seater.
• It is a vital component of India's National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016, launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on 2016.
• The civil aviation ministry has utilised 70% of the funds allocated under UDAN and associated schemes to upgrade airport infrastructure.
•  The second phase of the scheme is aimed at making short-haul destinations popular and affordable for the general populace.
• It involved upgrading infrastructure at 15 airports, heliports, and water aerodromes.
• The Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust provides viability gap funding that the civil aviation ministry offers the operators to help run the routes successfully.
• The goal of creating 1,000 UDAN routes and developing 100 un-served and underserved airports by 2024 remains top priority by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
• The target is also revised with the development of 50 new airports, heliports and water aerodromes.
• It has also facilitated the birth of new airlines like India-One, Star Air, Fly-Big, and Fly91.
• IndiGo is the country’s largest carrier by market share, is an active participant in the UDAN scheme.

Hindu Rate of Growth

Recently at the short duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha there were arguments about Hindu Rate of Growth and Hindutva rate of growth.

• Hindu Rate of Growth refers to the low pace of economic growth rates during 1950s and 1978 to describe the slow growth in the country.
• The term was coined by Raj Krishna, an Indian economist, in 1978 to describe the slow growth.
• Krishna noted that only if the rate of growth is persistently slow and accompanied by low per-capita GDP, then it will be known as Hindu rate of growth but it has to factor in population growth as well.
• ‘Hindutva rate’ of GDP Growth – The phrase was introduced by Sudhanshu Trivedi, a BJP member.
• Hindutva rate of growth refers to the average GDP growth rate of 7.8%.
• The recent analysis show that the Hindutva rate of growth is terribly similar to the Hindu rate of growth.

Anarcho-Capitalism

It has recently gained popularity with Javier Milei, who calls himself an anarcho-capitalist, won the race to become the President of Argentina last month.

• Anarcho-Capitalism is a political philosophy which calls for the abolition of the state and for the provision of law and order to be controlled by private companies in a free market.
• Anarcho-capitalism is a radical left-wing movement that promotes libertarian socialist economic theories.
• It challenges other forms of anarchism by supporting private property and private institutions with significant economic power.
• The term was coined by American libertarian economist Murray Rothbard.
• The Belgian political economist Gustave de Molinari is considered to be the first anarcho-capitalist.
• Traditionally, free market advocates have supported the private provision of most goods and services, except police and courts which, it was believed, could only be provided by the state.
• But anarcho-capitalists believe that private companies competing in a free market can provide policing and legal services as well, often far better than the state when it comes to quality and price.
• Anarcho-capitalists argue, private companies can also provide a far better police and legal system.