Prelims Tidbits 08 Sep

US backs sale of fighter planes to India 

• The Trump administration has told the U.S. Congress that it “strongly supports” the sale of F-18 and F-16 fighter planes to India, built by American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively 
• Both companies have offered to assemble these planes in India, should New Delhi decide to buy them.

• The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole combatjet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas(now Boeing) and Northrop
•  F/A-18 has a top speed of Mach 1.8
• It can carry a wide variety of bombs and missiles, including air-to-air and air-to-ground

Single Engine fighter acquisition for the IAF:
• F-16: Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, USA
• Gripen: Manufactured by Saab, Sweden
Twin Engine fighter acquisition for the Indian Navy:
• Rafale: Manufactured by Dassault Aviation, France
• F-18: Manufactured by Boeing, USA

Dhauladhar get snowfall

• The foothills of the Dhauladhar mountain ranges in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday received the season’s first snowfall, while rain lashed several other areas of the State.
• The Dhauladhar ranges received mild snowfall , bringing the day temperature in Dharamsala down to around 2 degrees Celsius.
• In Himachal Himalayas, The Greater Himalaya is represented by the Zaskar range, lesser Himalaya by Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar ranges and the Outer Himalaya by the Shiwalik range.

Central Information Commission:

• The Central Information Commission (CIC) is set up under the Right to Information Act and is the authorised/statutory body, established in 2005, under the (Minstry of personnel) Government of India.
• The Chief Information Commissioner heads the Central Information Commission. CIC hears appeals from information-seekers who have not been satisfied by the public authority, and also addresses major issues concerning the RTI Act.
• The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of—

1. The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee.
2. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
3. A Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

• CIC is a high-powered independent body which inter alia looks into the complaints made to it and decides the appeals regarding the information sought by the public. 
• It entertains complaints and appeals pertaining to offices, financial institutions, public sector undertakings, etc., under the Central Government and the Union Territories. 
• The Commission consists of a Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten Information Commissioners. It is not only an advisory but an action body as well.
• The Chief Information Commissioner and an Information Commissioner have a fixed tenure and are not eligible for reappointment 

FUNCTIONS:
Commission has suo-moto power to order an inquiry for violation of RTI Act. 
 While inquiring the Commission has the power of a civil court. 
 The Commission has the power to secure compliance from the public authority and power to impose penalty. 
 The Commission submits an annual report to the Central Government on the implementation of the provisions of this Act which is placed before Parliament.

 TRAI

•    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is the independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India. It was established by an act of Parliament, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997, to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.
• Central Government of India appoints a Chairperson and maximum six other members in Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India. The Chair person must have worked as Supreme Court Judge or Chief Justice of a High Court. The TRAI members should have professional knowledge in telecommunication industry, finance, law, accountancy, and management.
• Any person with working experience for minimum 3 years as Secretary or additional Secretary or any equivalent post in the Central or State Governments in India are also eligible for posts of TRAI Chairperson and Members. TRAI authority can appoint officers and other employees as and when required for efficient functions of the authority.

Functions of TRAI
a)guide Govt on spectrum auction ,license fee,tenure etc.
b)Level playing field to Public v/s Private Players 
c)Provide service to service providers & protect consumers /decide service quality norms 
d)monitor service quality through "performance monitoring reports 

The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

The 51st International Literacy Day is being celebrated on 8th September, 2017 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and the theme announced by UNESCO is `Literacy in a digital world’.

The programme would include; felicitation to the dignitaries, distribution of Saakshar Bharat Awards to the best performing States, Districts, Gram Panchayats and NGOs.

What

1. The International Literacy Day is celebrated on 8th September every year throughout the world.  On this day, in the year 1965 the World Congress of Ministers of Education met in Tehran for the first time to discuss the programme of education at the international level.  
2. The UNESCO in its 14th Session in November, 1966, declared 8th September as the International Literacy Day.  Since then, ILD is celebrated on 8th September every year by most of the member countries. 
3. The key aspect of the observance of ILD is to mobilize public opinion in favour of struggle against illiteracy. 
4. ILD is a forum to disseminate information on literacy and raise the public awareness and the significance of literacy for individual and national development.
5. The National Literacy Mission Authority started celebrating International Literacy Day every year from 1988 onwards.  
6. The   eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major national concerns of the Govt. of India since independence. The occasion of ILD is used for raising public awareness to eradicate illiteracy and create environment in favour of adult education programmes.
7. From 1996 onwards some new elements were introduced to make the programme more attractive. 
8. In the year 1996 a ‘Mashal March’ was organized involving school students and literacy functionaries. In subsequent years, variety of activities were included as a part of ILD celebration.