June

20,
2018
INDIAN NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR STANDARDIZATION (INSS)
In June 2018, Union Commerce Minister released Indian National Strategy for
Standardization (INSS).
About:

• INSS provides a vision for the country to achieve the highest quality standards in production and
distribution of goods and services in an attempt to reclaim Brand India.
• It addresses four broad pillars of Quality Ecosystem: (i) Standards Development (ii) Conformity
Assessment and Accreditation (iii) Technical Regulations and SPS Measures (iv) Awareness and
Education.
• Significance: Unless products are standardised it becomes difficult to market them. Standardisation
boosts both exports as well as domestic economic growth by enabling realisation of value of product
and services.

UNORGANISED WORKERS
In June 2018, the Union Ministry of Labour invited tenders to design, develop and run the
new UWIN — Unorganised Workers Identification Number — Platform.
About:

• It will be a national database for unorganized workers to assign a 10-digit UWIN to every worker and
include details of both nuclear and extended families of unorganised workers.
• UWIN will be a Aadhaar-seeded identification number system to facilitate welfare delivery to 40
crore workers in the sector.
• The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008 had first mandated that every worker be
registered and issued a smart ID card.

CHRYSILLA VOLUPES
In June 2018, Scientists rediscovered after 150 years a rare species of spider, which was
believed to have become extinct, from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) located in the
Western Ghats region of Kerala.
About:

• The spider belongs to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae).

• Dorsal surface of abdomen is shiny bluish black. There are black annulations on the yellowish legs.
Eight black eyes are arranged in the front and sides of head region. Compared to female, male is
lean.

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Male spider (Chrysilla volupes)

NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY OF INDIA (NDLI)

In June 2018, the Union HRD Minister launched the ‘National Digital Library of India’.
About:

• What is it? It is a digital repository containing textbooks, articles, videos, audio books, lectures,
simulations, fiction and all other kinds of learning media.
• Objective: To make digital educational resources available to all citizens of the country to empower,
inspire and encourage learning.
• Agencies involved:
o NDLI is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of
National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology
(NMEICT).
o It is developed by IIT Kharagpur.
• Significance: National Digital Library initiative by MHRD together with National Virtual Library of
India platform by Ministry of Culture will enable India leave an indelible mark on the World stage.

TRANSGENDERISM NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS

According to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) categorisation of diseases published
in June 2018 , Transgender people should no longer be considered mentally ill.
About:

• According to the new catalogue, so-called “gender incongruence” is now listed under “conditions
related to sexual health”, instead of “mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders”.
• WHO says gender incongruence is characterised as a “marked and persistent incongruence between
an individual’s experienced gender and the assigned sex.”
• The document, which member states will be asked to approve during the World Health Assembly in
Geneva next May, will take effect from January 1, 2022, if it gets adopted.
• Significance of move:
o It is believed that the re-categorisation will reduce stigma so that it may help better social
acceptance for these individuals.

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o Since the catalogue is used by doctors and insurers to determine coverage, the move away
from a mental disorder could “even increase access to healthcare”.
• Global scenario: Several countries have already taken steps to reclassify “transgenderism” and take
it off the list of mental disorders, including France and Denmark.

VENU MADHAV
In June 2018, Nerella Venu Madhav died after a brief illness at the age of 85.
About:

• He was a renowned mimicry artist.

• The artiste rose to international fame after his enthralling performance at United Nations.
• He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001.

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