13th August Current Affairs

1. Vacancies in Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.

IN NEWS:

Recently, the Supreme Court, has expressed displeasure over delay in filling up vacancies in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.

KEY POINTS:

• It directed the centre and states to complete the process within eight weeks.
• The Court also asked the Centre to submit a report on legislative impact study on Consumer Protection Act, 2019 in four weeks time.
• Legislative Impact Study or Assessment is the study of the impact of a law (being made and enforced) on the society over a period of time.

About National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

• The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
• Its head office is in New Delhi.
• The commission is headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• The Consumer Protection Act of 1986 provided for a three-tier consumer dispute redressal machinery at the National (NCDRC), State and District levels.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 establishes the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) whose primary objective will be to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.

SOURCE: IE

2. Common Survey to Count Elephants and Tigers.

IN NEWS:

From December, India will move to a system that will count tigers and elephants as part of a common survey.

KEY POINTS:

• The announcement was made on 12th August which is celebrated as World Elephant Day.
• The tiger survey is usually held once in four years and elephants are counted once in five years.
• Since 2006, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, which is affiliated to the Environment Ministry, has a standardised protocol in place which is used by States to estimate tiger numbers.
• Based on sightings in camera traps and indirect estimation methods, tiger numbers are computed.
• Elephant numbers largely rely on States directly counting the number of elephants.
• In recent years, techniques such as analysing dung samples have also been deployed to estimate birth rates and population trends in elephants.
• There were 2,997 tigers (2018-19 survey) and 29,964 elephants (2017 survey) in India.
• Need for common survey:Given that 90% of the area occupied by elephants and tigers is common, and once estimation methods are standardised, having a common survey can significantly save costs.

Source: PIB

3. August 12: International Youth Day

IN NEWS:

The International Youth Day is observed on August 12, every year.

KEY POINTS:

• On the occasion, governments and citizens from across the globe come together in order to recognise and bring attention towards problems faced by the youth.
• This day is celebrated by several awareness campaigns, community concerts, and events that bring the socio-economic and socio-political issues, that the youth in every nation face, to notice.
• United Nations announced to commemorate International Youth Day every year on August 12 in the year 1999.
• It was announced on the basis of recommendation made by “World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth” to the UN General Assembly in Lisbon.
• Theme For International Youth Day 2021
• United Nations decides a theme each year which is relevant to all global communities and citizens. This year, the day was observed under the theme “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”.

Significance of the theme

As per the United Nations, theme of this year highlights the crucial need for “inclusive support mechanisms which ensure youth continue to amplify efforts collectively and individually in order to restore the planet and protect life besides integrating biodiversity to transform the food systems.

Apart from that, the theme also addresses other challenges like healthcare, climate change, social inclusion and conservation of biodiversity.

SOURCE:IE

4. World Elephant Day 2021.

IN NEWS:

• World Elephant Day was observed on August 12, across the world.
• The day is observed with the objective of spreading awareness regarding the plight of elephants.
• It also seeks to recognize the importance of elephants in our ecosystem.

KEY POINTS:

Then Union Environment Minister of India Prakash Javadekar and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu in 2020 pledged their support to this cause.

He revealed a beta version of Suraksha, which is a national platform on human-elephant conflict.

The theme World Elephant Day 2021 has not been announced yet.

In the year 2020 the theme was ‘Haathi Hamara Saathi.’

Important Information:

History of World Elephant Day

• First world elephant day was observed on August 12, 2012.
• It highlighted the plight of Asian and African elephants.
• On the occasion, event was organised by Thai-based Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, in association with Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims. The Sims has been a leader in World Elephant Day, since 2012.

Significance of the day

World elephant day focuses on spreading awareness regarding their preservation and protection. Elephants, especially Asian and African, are vulnerable to threats like habitat loss, poaching, mistreatment in captivity hover over elephants.

SOURCE:PIB