Daily News Analysis 13th November 2018

Daily News Analysis (Prelims + Mains) – 13th November 2018

Topic for Prelims

Prime Minister Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC)

The PM met and interacted with the members of PM-STIAC.

The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister, Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan, members of the Council, and senior officers of the Government of India.

About PM-STIAC

• It replaced earlier Scientific Advisory Committee to Prime Minister and to Cabinet.
• It has nine members, including Chairperson.
• Apart from nine members, it will also have twelve special invitees —eleven ex officio secretaries 10 central ministries, related to science, technology, energy and education, are special invitees to the panel.
• PM-STIAC is total 21-member advisory panel to renders advice on all matters related to Science, Technology and Innovation and monitors the implementation of the Prime Minister’s vision on these issues.

Conference on Global Digital Content Market

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is hosting a conference on Global Digital Content Market (GDCM)2018 in New Delhi.

India has been chosen as a host nation for the conference by World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO) due to the strong creative industry in the country in films, music and media. The focus for this year’s conference is the Asia Pacific region.

GDCM 2018 is the second edition of the conference. The first conference was held in Geneva 2016.

The conference will feature sessions on music, film, broadcasting and publishing, as well as collective management, emerging models and the implications for the market and policy makers.

The aim of GDCM 2018 is to give industry stakeholders a platform to come together and discuss new avenues in the films, music, gaming and creative industry along with points of challenge that is presented due to the changing creative landscape because of the disruption brought about by digital technologies.

World Intellectual Property Organization

• It is established in 1967 under WIPO convention.
• WIPO Convention is the constituent instrument of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), was signed at Stockholm 1967, entered into force in 1970 and was amended in 1979.
• WIPO is an intergovernmental organization which in 1974 became one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations system
• Its the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation.
• It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states.
• Its Headquarters situated at Geneva, Switzerland
• Around 250 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have official observer status at WIPO meetings.

WIPO mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

It help governments, businesses and society realize the benefits of IP by providing:

• a policy forum to shape balanced international IP rules for a changing world.
• global services to protect IP across borders and to resolve disputes.
• technical infrastructure to connect IP systems and share knowledge.
• cooperation and capacity-building programs to enable all countries to use IP for economic, social and cultural development.
• a world reference source for IP information.

WIPO administers 26 treaties including the WIPO Convention.

Most notable WIPO administred treaties are  

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works adopted in 1886, deals with the protection of works and the rights of their authors.

It provides creators such as authors, musicians, poets, painters etc. with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms. It is based on three basic principles and contains a series of provisions determining the minimum protection to be granted, as well as special provisions available to developing countries that want to make use of them.

• WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is special agreement under the Berne Convention which deals with the protection of works and the rights of their authors in the digital environment.

In addition to the rights recognized by the Berne Convention, they are granted certain economic rights.  The Treaty also deals with two subject matters to be protected by copyright: (i) computer programs, whatever the mode or form of their expression; and (ii) compilations of data or other material (“databases”).

• Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled,2013 adopted in Marrakesh

It forms part of the body of international copyright treaties administered by WIPO.

It has a clear humanitarian and social development dimension and its main goal is to create a set of mandatory limitations and exceptions for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled (VIPs).

INDRA 2018

The joint military exercise between Indian and Russia on combating insurgency under the aegis of United Nations (UN) is being conducted at Babina Field Firing Ranges, Babina Military Station.

Aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct to enhance interoperability of the two Armies in the peace keeping/ enforcement environment under the aegis of the UN.

INDRA 2018 is tenth exercise in the series of Exercise INDRA.

MoHRD launched two new initiatives LEAP and ARPIT

Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP)

It is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions.

Main objective of LEAP is to prepare second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.

The programme would provide senior faculty, with high academic credentials, the required leadership and managerial skills including skills of problem-solving, handling stress, team building work, conflict management, developing communication skills, understanding and coping with the complexity and challenges of governance in HEIs, financial & general administration.

The implementation of LEAP Programme will be through 15 NIRF top ranked Indian Institutions and Foreign Universities identified for the training are also within the top 100 in the world global rankings.

Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT)

It is significant and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.

ARPIT implemented through, 75 discipline-specific institutions which has been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase, which are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum.

ARPIT will be an ongoing exercise so that every year NRCs will continuously develop new refresher module in their earmarked discipline each year.

The training materials will be uploaded and made available through SWAYAM. NRC will publish the list of the faculty who have been certified.

The NRCs will revolutionize professional development of faculty by catering to massive numbers by leveraging ICT and online technology platform of SWAYAM.