Current Affairs Summary-March 2017

Current Affairs Summary-March 2017

INTER-STATE RIVER WATER DISPUTES (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017

Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation introduced Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Lok Sabha. The Inter State Water Dispute Act, 1956 which provides the legal framework to address such disputes, suffers from many drawbacks

Under this Act, a separate Tribunal has to be established for each Inter State River Water Dispute.

Only three out of eight Tribunals have given awards accepted by the States. Tribunals like Cauvery and Ravi Beas have been in existence for over 26 and 30 years respectively without any award.

Delays are on account of no time limit for adjudication by a Tribunal, no upper age limit for the Chairman or the Members, work getting stalled due to occurrence of any vacancy and no time limit for publishing the report of the Tribunal.

The bill a Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) to be established by the Central Government consisting of relevant experts, before such dispute is referred to the tribunal. The Committee would strive to settle the dispute within a period of one year, which may be extended by 6 months. In case of failure of such negotiations, the dispute would be referred to the Tribunal.

Bill proposes a Single Standing Tribunal (with multiple benches) instead of existing multiple tribunals.

The tribunal shall consist of one Chairperson, one Vice-Chairperson and not more than six other Members

The term of office of the Chairperson is five year or till he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier, the term of office of Vice Chairperson and other member of tribunal shall be co-terminus with the adjudication of the water dispute.

Timeline: The tribunal should settle a dispute in four-and-a-half years.

The decision of the Tribunal shall be final and binding.

About Administrative Tribunals

Administrative tribunals are set up under law by the Parliament (Article 323A) to hear cases related to service matters of employees of Union or of any State or local or other authority.

The Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), set up under Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, must be either a sitting or a retired High Court Judge.

Article 323(B) provides for setting up of tribunals by appropriate legislature for adjudication of other matters which include: taxation; foreign exchange, import and export; industrial and labor related matters; land reforms; urban ceiling on property; elections to Parliament and state legislature; food stuffs and rent and tenancy rights. The Parliament or the relevant legislature can also provide by law to exclude the jurisdiction of all courts except jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in matters to be heard by these tribunals.

About Election Commission of India (ECI)

EC is Independent, Constitutional body established as per the provisions of Article 324 of Constitution. At present ECI consists of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioner. They have equal powers; receive equal salary, allowances and other perks. CEC can only be removed by President on the basis of resolution passed to that effect by both the houses of parliament with special majority either on ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity only. Other EC cannot be removed from the office except on recommendation of CEC.

 Some of the major functions of ECI include Conducting free and fair elections of President, Vice President, Parliament, State legislatures; Preparing and periodically revising Electoral rolls; Granting recognition to Political Parties and allotting them symbols; Formulating Code of Conduct; Cancelling polls in case of rigging; Conduct by-polls; to advice President and Governor regarding disqualifications of members of Parliament or state legislatures; act as court to settle disputes between political parties.

AADHAAR

The government has made Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns; for obtaining PAN; for availing benefits under Mid-Day Meal; and also for verification of mobile phone connections.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit number issued by the UIDAI to the residents of India, however, it does not confer any right of citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder.

Demographic information required: Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Address, Parent/Guardian details (required for children, optional for adults),Contact details phone and email (optional)

Biometric Information required: Photo, 10 finger prints, Iris

Features and benefits of Aadhaar

 Aadhaar has helped save government more than INR 49,000 crore in subsidies and more than 106 crore people have already been allotted Aadhaar till date.

 One Aadhaar: As it contains biometrics which is unique, it helps in identifying fake and ghost beneficiaries in a government scheme, thereby helping in better targeting and stemming leakages.

 Identification Services: Agencies can check identity of a person online from anywhere in India by requesting UIDAI after obtaining prior consent of the person. This eliminates need of various identity documents required in opening bank accounts etc.

 Blocking Biometrics: Aadhaar card holder gets alerts every time his/her identity is authenticated and can also block biometrics, thus not allowing anyone to access details for identification.

 Marginalized and excluded residents not having sufficient documentation to meet the proof of identity or proof of address will also be issued Aadhaar number by way of “introducer” system.

 Electronic benefit transfers: Aadhaar acts as financial address and thus offers a secure and low cost platform to directly remit benefits to intended beneficiaries.

 Improving Efficiency and Efficacy: Clear accountability and transparent monitoring would significantly improve access and quality of entitlements to beneficiaries and the agency alike.

 Self-service puts residents in control: Using Aadhaar as an authentication mechanism, residents should be able to access up-to-date information about their entitlements, demand services and redress their grievances directly from their mobile phone, kiosks or other means.

 

Issues with Aadhaar

 Privacy Issues: Right to liberty and freedom of expression is compromised if right to privacy is not there. In the absence of a comprehensive privacy law in India, making Aadhaar mandatory may lead to misuse of personal information and surveillance by the State thus taking away privacy.

 Release of Information: Information of an individual can only be revealed in two cases:

ü On the order of District Court

ü In the case of national security on direction of a “joint secretary” (Section 33(2))

 National security is a vague term and these safeguards are weaker than those for telephone tapping as given in Telegraph Act, 1885 which allows sharing of data for public emergency or public safety and second, the order to share information can be issued only by Home Secretary.

 Potential to profile individuals: The Act does not have provisions to protect against determining of behavioural pattern and profiling of a person using big data analytics.

ü It does not prohibit law enforcement agencies from using Aadhaar as a link across various datasets such as telephone records or air travel records

ü It does not prescribe maximum duration for which authentication record of an individual can be maintained.

 Section 57 enables the government to impose Aadhaar identification in virtually any other context that is not mentioned in the bill.

 Cognizance of offence: No court shall take cognizance of any offence except on a complaint made by the UIDAI. Thus, a person who is aggrieved by breach of data has no remedy at his/her disposal.

 Discretionary powers of UIDAI: The Act empowers UIDAI to specify other information that may be collected, without prior approval from Parliament.

 No provision for public or independent Oversight: The Act does not provide for independent oversight or limitations on surveillance.

 Prosecution: The Aadhaar Act does not make UIDAI liable for criminal prosecution in case of breach of data as per Section 43 of the Information Technology Act.

 Compensation: Unlike in western countries, the Act does not have any provision for compensation to the person whose data is compromised.

 Authentication Failure: In addition to wrong inclusion, exclusion of poor households, and misuse of biometric data, failure of biometric authentication stands approximately at 30 % due to connectivity and other issues.

Conclusion

 Aadhaar presents a unique opportunity to improve governance processes and outcomes. It is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public sector delivery reforms, managing fiscal budgets, increase convenience and promote hassle-free people-centric governance. It facilitates financial inclusion of the underprivileged and weaker sections of the society and is therefore a tool of distributive justice and equality.

 

TAWANG

Tawang district is the smallest of the 16 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh.  The second largest monastery in Asia and the largest in India is the Tawang Monastery. It was established by Mera Lama Lodre Gyasto during the 17th century. It was also the birth place of the 6th Dalai Lama. There is a magnificent 8-m high statue of Lord Buddha. It is a holy site for Tibetan Buddhists and a prominent center for Gelug or Gelugpa, the pre-eminent Buddhist school in Tibet. Tawang shares boundaries with Tibet in the north, Bhutan in the south west and Sela range of West Kameng in the east.

 In 1959, when the current Dalai Lama fled Tibet, he came into India through Tawang.

 It has sent representatives to parliament in every election since 1950.

INDIA-CHINA BORDER DISPUTE

In terms of length, India shares 3,488 kms of border with China. The Sino-Indian border is generally divided into three sectors namely: (i) The Western sector, (ii) The Middle sector, and (iii) The Eastern sector.

The Western Sector

The Indian boundary with china in the western sector is about 2152 km long .It is between Jammu and Kashmir and Xinjiang (Sinkiang) province of china.

Aksai Chin

Two borders between India and China were proposed during the time of the British Raj – the Johnson’s Line and the McDonald Line. The Johnson’s line shows Aksai Chin to be under Indian control whereas the McDonald Line places it under Chinese control.

India considers the Johnson Line as the correct, rightful national border with China, while on the other hand, China considers the McDonald Line as the correct border with India.

The line that separates Indian-administered areas of Jammu and Kashmir from Aksai Chin is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and is concurrent with the Chinese Aksai Chin claim line.

China and India went to war in 1962 over disputed territory of Aksai Chin. India claimed this was a part of Kashmir, while China claimed it was a part of Xinjiang.

The Middle sector

The middle sector boundary in about 625 km long which runs along the watershed from Ladakh to Nepal. The states of Himanchal Pradesh and Uttrakhand touch this border with Tibet (China).

The Eastern Sector

The boundary in the eastern sector is 1,140 km long and runs from the eastern limit of Bhutan to a point near the Talu Pass at the trijunction of India, Tibet and Myanmar. This line is called the McMahon Line after Henry Mc Mahon, a British representative who signed the 1913-14 Shimla Convention.

                                                                                                                                                

Recent military exercises

 Surya Kiran: The Surya Kiran exercise with Nepal is underway at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.

 Al Nagah-II: Al Nagah-II exercise with Oman is underway at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.

 Bold Kurukshetra exercise: The Bold Kurukshetra exercise with Singapore is an armoured exercise under way at the Babina field firing range in Uttar Pradesh.

 Nomadic Elephant 2017: The twelfth edition Indo-Mongolian Joint Military Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2017 has begun at Vairengte in Mizoram.

INDIAN OCEAN RIM ASSOCIATION (IORA)

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held its first summit meeting in Jakarta on 5-7 March on the 20th anniversary of its formation.

 The theme of conference was “Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean.”

Outcomes of summit The 21 member states issued a strategic vision document, known as the Jakarta Concord, that “sets out a vision for a revitalized and sustainable regional architecture’’.

 The Jakarta Concord is a strategic document which sets the ways and means to strengthen the regional architecture in the Indian Ocean Rim and elevate IORA as a regional cooperation.

 Besides maximizing the potential of trade, investment and economic cooperation in the region, the Jakarta Concord also aims to address non-traditional issues, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, human trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal migration and piracy.  The Summit adopted the Declaration on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism.  IORA developed its first Action Plan setting out short term, medium term and long-term flagship initiatives for 2017-2021.

About IORA

The organisation was first established as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched on 6–7 March 1997 by the conclusion of a multilateral treaty known as the Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC).

The Association comprises 21 member states and 7 dialogue partners; the Indian Ocean Research Group has observer status.  The IORA membership includes India, Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

 Its seven dialogue partners are the US, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.  Indonesia is the chair of IORA in the period 2015-2017.

BIMSTEC

The first meeting of National Security Chiefs of BIMSTEC Member States was hosted by India in New Delhi on 21 March 2017. The idea of the security meet was mooted during the BRICS-BIMSTEC summit in Goa in 2016.The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organization involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. The BIMSTEC comprises of seven countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economical cooperation among South Asian and South East Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The headquarters of BIMSTEC is in Dhaka.

WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION (WTO)                                

India has asked WTO for expediting the negotiation process for a global services pact. India had, in February, submitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) a legally-vetted proposal for a Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement. Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement.

The proposed pact is similar to the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in Goods that recently came into force, and aims to ease customs norms to boost global goods trade.

India argued that the draft legal text covering Mode 1 (cross-border services), Mode 2(consumption abroad) and Mode 4 (movement of short-term services providers or natural persons) is based “on a careful mix of certain mandatory obligations, and those qualified as ‘to the extent practicable,’ or as ‘endeavor’ obligations.”

Several developing countries said that it would impose burdensome commitments on them.

 Major industrialized members such as the European Union (EU), Canada, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, among others, welcomed the Indian proposal.

THE PERMANENT INDUS COMMISSION

The Permanent Indus Commission is a bilateral commission of officials from India and Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of the Indus Waters Treaty.

 Under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), India has full use of the three “eastern” rivers (Beas, Ravi, Sutlej), while Pakistan has control over the three “western” rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum), although India is given rights to use these partially as well for certain purposes.

However, India is allowed to use 20% of Indus water for irrigation, power-generation, and transportation.

 The Permanent Indus Commission mandated to implement the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)

 

Pakistan has been flagging concerns over the designs of five Indian hydroelectric projects: 1000 MW Pakal Dul, 850 MW Ratle, 330 MW Kishanganga, 120 MW Miyar, and 48 MW Lower Kalnai.

                                                                                                                                                

Project Name	River/tributary		Location		Type of dam
Pakal Dul Dam	Marusadar River, a tributary of the Chenab River		Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.		The Pakal Dul Dam is a proposed concrete-face rock-fill dam
Ratle	Chenab River, downstream of the village of Ratle		Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.		The Ratle Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station currently under construction
Kishanganga	Kishanganga is a tributary of Jhelum river.		It is located 5 km north of Bandipore in Jammu		Run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to
When Kishanganga enters Pakistan, it is called “Neelam river.”		and Kashmir,		divert water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin
Miyar	Miyar Nallah, a tributary of Chenab		Miyar Nallah,a tributary of Chenab located near Udaipur Town of District Lahaul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.		Miyar HEP (3 x 40 MW) project is Run-of-the-River scheme on Miyar Nallah,
Lower Kalnai	On Lower Kalnai Nalla, tributary to river Chenab		Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir.		The project involves setting up of 48 MW (2 x 24 MW), hydroelectric power project

 

 

ITI-DKD-Y CORRIDOR

Indian Railways is going to run a trans-continental container train full of goods from Dhaka to Istanbul, which would cover a 6,000-km journey across five countries – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.

This proposed “Trans-Asian Railway (TAR)” or the “ITI-DKD” (Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad; Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka) corridor will be 6,000 km long, covering Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Amritsar-Lahore-Islamabad-Zahedan-Tehran- Istanbul.

There is also a proposal to extend this corridor to Yangon (Myanmar). Thus, the “ITI-DKD-Y” corridor could become one of the major international rail corridors in the world.

The feasibility studies of the strategic route connecting the capitals of the countries have been done by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) as part of its Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) project for an integrated freight network across Europe and Asia.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP)

It is a UN Agency with headquarters in Rome Italy

SOUTH ASIA SUBREGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION (SASEC)

The SASEC member countries are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The SASEC program was formed in 2001 in response to the request of the four countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal – from ADB to assist in facilitating economic cooperation among them.  These four countries comprise the South Asia Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ), formed in 1996, as a vehicle for accelerating sustainable economic development through regional cooperation.

The Asian Development Bank is the secretariat and lead financier of the program

 

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA)

 

India has joined the International Energy Agency as an associate member.

 India is already a partner of the International Energy Agency, but the upgradation of the status will enhance its status and weight in its dialogue with major oil suppliers and consumers.

 The “Association” status would facilitate it to participate in meetings of the standing groups, committees and working groups that constitute the IEA governance structure.

 India can also richly gain from IEA’s data gathering processes, survey methodologies and range of energy data, which could enable India in the near future to set up its own robust integrated database agency.

 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. The IEA works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond. Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide. China, India, Indonesia, Moroccoa, Singapore and Thailand are the associate members of IEA.

 With India as a member, International Energy Agency now formally covers 70% of the world’s energy

 

International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN)

 ISGAN is an agreement under International Energy Agency (IEA) and India is one of the founding Member of ISGAN.

 Its 13th Executive Committee (ExCo) Meetting was held in Gurugram.

 ISGAN creates a mechanism through which stakeholders from around the world can collaborate to accelerate the development and deployment of smarter electric grids.

 ISGAN promotes a dynamic exchange of knowledge and best practices, tool development, and project coordination.

 It aims to improve the understanding and adoption of smart grid technologies, practices, and systems as well as related enabling government policies.

 

TIR CONVENTION

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for India’s accession to the Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) and for completion of necessary procedures for ratification, for its entry into force. The Convention will help Indian traders to have access to fast, easy, reliable and hassle free international system for movement of goods by road or multi- modal means across the territories of other contracting parties.

The TIR Convention facilitates trade and international road transport by permitting customs-sealed vehicles and containers to transit nations without them being generally inspected at border crossings.

 TIR’s single transit document also significantly reduces the risk of presenting inaccurate information, while only approved transporters and vehicles are allowed to operate.

 

COMMISSION ON THE LIMITS OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF (CLCS)

 

Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) is one of the three institutions created under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The other two institutions are the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

 The purpose of the CLCS is to facilitate the implementation of the UNCLOS in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

 To consider the data and other material submitted by coastal States concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles.

 To provide scientific and technical advice, if requested by the coastal State concerned during preparation of such data.

 

India has huge interest in CLCS and applied for extending the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 350 nautical miles from the existing 200 nautical miles.

 

EIGHT TRIBUNALS FACE AXE

 

The Lok Sabha approved amendments in the Finance Bill of 2017 to wind up eight tribunals. These Tribunals are proposed to be replaced, and their functions are proposed to be taken over by existing Tribunals under other Acts.

 

The Supreme Court in 2014 held that appellate tribunals have similar powers and functions as that of High Courts, and hence matters related to their members’ appointment and reappointment must be free from executive involvement.

 

GLOBAL ENERGY ARCHITECTURE PERFORMANCE

The index benchmarks the energy system performance of 127 countries according to 18 indicators covering three core dimensions: energy access and security, sustainability and contribution to economic growth. The list was topped by Switzerland followed by Norway and Sweden in the second and third place, respectively. India has marginally improved its position to 87th place on a global energy architecture performance index. Regarding India, the report noted that it is “facing a vast array of challenges in the power sector in order to meet its growth targets“.

Among the BRICS nations, Brazil was the top performer as it was ranked at the 30th place, followed by Russia (48th), South Africa (76th), India (87th) and China (95).

 

AADHAAR PAY

 

The government has requested all public sector banks to go live with Aadhaar Pay (a digital payment platform for merchants). While the government launched BHIM as a payment application for peer-to-peer transactions, Aadhaar Pay is meant for merchants to receive digital payments from customers over the counter through Aadhaar authentication.

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for all credit information bureaus in the country to provide a full credit report, on demand and without any charge, to individuals whose credit history is available with them. At present, there are four such companies in India: CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd, Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd, Experian Credit Information Co. of India Pvt. Ltd and Transunion Cibil Ltd.  As you can avail one free report from each bureau,

this means that you can get four free reports every year.

 

FARMER PRODUCER ORGANISATIONS (FPOS)

A conclave was held in Delhi to discuss the idea of creating a national-level association of FPOs as a lobbying platform. A Producer Organisation (PO) is a legal entity formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen.FPO is one type of PO where the members are farmers. Farmers, who are the producers of agricultural products, can form groups and register themselves under the Indian Companies Act.

 

Farmers in Neduvasal village of Tamil Nadu are protesting against an onshore hydrocarbon project block allotted under the Discovered Small Fields bidding. India now imports more than 80 per cent of its crude oil and 40 per cent of its natural gas requirement. The new Hydrocarbon exploration licensing policy promotes revenue sharing contracts rather than production sharing model.

 

Unlike crude oil, domestic gas prices are not market-linked but are formulae-based. It is determined every 6 months as a weighted average of four international benchmarks — US-based Henry Hub, Canada-based Alberta gas, UK-based NBP and Russian gas.

 

The Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy has the following provisions:

Revenue-sharing contract: Sharing revenue with the government as soon as commercial production begins.

Unified licensing policy: Exploration of all possible hydrocarbons in a block

Open acreage licensing: Bidders can select the exploration blocks on its own without waiting for the formal bid round.

Pricing and marketing freedom for new gas production from difficult terrains.

 

BLUE REVOLUTION

 

Government has envisaged a program named ‘Blue Revolution’ based on integrated approach to tap India’s potential in the fisheries sector. Blue Revolution in technical sense refers to integrated development and management of Fisheries. In a broader sense, blue revolution is now assumed to encompass even infrastructure development and creation of livelihood for communities along coasts.

 

Government is planning to double the farmer income by 2022. Emphasis on blue revolution is a step towards it.

• Productivity enhancement shall be achieved by production oriented activities such as:
• Production of quality fish seeds
• Cost effective feed and adoption of technology.
• Use of High Yielding Verities of brooders
• It will have a sub mission on Fish Fingerling (finger shaped fishes)

 

Pilot Project on Ornamental Fisheries

It is a fishery sub-sector dealing with breeding and rearing of coloured fish of both freshwater and marine water.

They are used for aesthetics like aquarium.

The major objectives of the pilot project are:

Promote ornamental fish culture with cluster-based approach.

Augment ornamental fisheries trade and exports.

Rural and peri-urban employment opportunities

Employ modern technology and innovation.

Production of fisheries can help improve agricultural exports of India. Blue revolution focused on infrastructure development and livelihood opportunities will help improve employment in the allied sectors of Agriculture.

Prime Minister has recently announced plans to develop a smart city around Kandla port in Gujarat, one of the 12 major ports of India. Government is also planning to help fishermen cooperatives to buy fishing boats at 50% subsidized rates.

Government has launched Sagarmala project in 2015 to develop coastal Indian communities. Sagarmala Project Its main objective is to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively.

Four components of Sagarmala project are:

• Port Modernization
• Port Connectivity
• Port led industrialization
• Coastal Community development

 

TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS-WAREHOUSE RECEIPTS

Central Depository Services (CDSL) is set to launch the country’s first demat facility for commodity markets that would primarily allow warehouse receipts in demat form. This would be a move to promote trade in agricultural products.

 

Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR)

Warehouse Receipts are documents issued by warehouses to depositors (like farmers) against the commodities deposited in the warehouses.

Negotiable warehouse receipts are those that are transferable by simple endorsement /signature. Therefore they can be traded. Currently a farmer can take the produce to a certified warehouse and receive a negotiable warehouse receipt with a unique identity (ISIN).

It provides better price realization for farmers than the APMC markets.

 It is safer collateral for lenders like banks and NBFCs to make credit available to farmer.

 It gives a more efficient market place for hedgers and lowers disruptions in supply for the end customer

 

Due to majority of smaller farm sizes in India, the total produce is many times lower than a single tradable lot at the exchange. MSP has become the market price instead of being the minimum assured price creating a disincentive for farmers to carry the goods to the warehouses.

The suspension of forwards contracts, ban on trading of chana and castor in 2016 by the government has impacted volumes and market confidence thus lowering private participation in this market. The storage cost at certified warehouses is higher than the cost at the non-certified one.

 

JAL VIKAS MARG PROJECT

 

Ministry of Shipping is implementing phase 1 of Jal Vikas Marg Project (capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1) between Varanasi and Haldia with technical and financial assistance of World Bank. This Project envisages developing a navigable channel (achieve Least Available Depth of 3.00 meters for commercial navigation of 1500-2000 tonnes of ship) between 1,620 km Allahabad and Haldia (National Waterway-1) stretch on river Ganga.

National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is a waterway passing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal serving major cities like Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Howrah, Kolkatta, Haldia, etc.

International Waterway Authority of India (IWAI) is the implementing agency of this project.

IWAI along with Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) will create logistics hubs with rail connectivity at important nodal points along the National Waterway.

The project includes development of fairway; multi-modal terminals at Varanasi, Haldia and Sahibganj; strengthening of river navigation system; conservancy works, modern River Information System; Digital

 

DEFENCE SECTOR ALLOCATION: A NEGLECTED AREA

Parliament Standing Committee on Defence supported Ministry of Defense proposal of setting up of a “Non- lapsable Capital Fund Account”. Such proposal has been recommended because defense procurement often takes years to complete however budget allocated lapses at the end of the financial year. Thus defense ministry if forced to return money meant for capital acquisition.

 

Defence budget is pegged at 1.62% of GDP this year (lowest since 1956-57). This is way below defence ministry panel recommendation of atleast 2.5% of GDP.

 

Departmentally related Standing Committee:

 

There are total 17 departmentally related Standing Committees

Term of the members of these committees is 1 year.

Out of these 17 standing committees some are serviced by Rajya Sabha Secretariat while other is serviced by Lok Sabha Secretariat (Parliament Standing Committee on Defence is serviced by Lok Sabha Secretariat).

Each of these committee consists of not more than 45 members- 30 to be nominated by the Speaker, Lok Sabha from amongst the members of Lok Sabha and 15 to be nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of Rajya Sabha.

No Minister is eligible to be nominated to these Committees.

Major functions of these committees are:

Consideration of Demands for Grants.

Examination of Bills referred to by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha.

Considering long term policy documents of respective ministry.

These committees serves as an instrument for parliamentary surveillance over administration by providing necessary direction, guidance and inputs for broad policy formulations and in achievement of the long-term national perspective by the government.

 

KALVARI CLASS SUBMARINE

 

Indian navy successfully test fired an anti-ship missile from INS Kalvari (Scorpene class) Submarine. Recently, INS Khanderi, second of the six Scorpene class submarine was launched at Mazagon Dock Limited.

 

PROJECT 75: Under this project, French company DCNS will provides design and technology to public sector Mazagon Docks limited to make six Scorpene submarines. These are expected to be commissioned by 2020.

 

SWATHI-WEAPON LOCATING RADAR

 

It is an indigenous mobile artillery locating radar (WLR) handed over to army and developed by DRDO.

Swati has a range of 50 km, which brings all artillery guns presently in service worldwide under coverage. It is being used extensively along the LoC and has played a major role in suppressing fire from other side of border

 

ADMIRALTY BILL

Lok Sabha passed The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016.

Admiralty laws deal with cases of accidents in navigable waters or involve contracts related to commerce on such waters. The Bill seeks to consolidate the existing laws on civil matters of admiralty jurisdiction of courts, admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, and arrest of ships.

The law would be applicable on every vessel irrespective of place of residence or domicile of owner.

It will not apply to Warships and naval auxiliary and vessels used for non-commercial purposes.

Inland vessels and vessels under construction are excluded from its application, however, Central Government by notification can bring these vessels under this law.

LIVING PERSON STATUS TO GANGA AND YAMUNA

The Uttarakhand HC division bench declared the Ganga and Yamuna living entities, bestowing on them same legal rights as a person. The Ganga and TheYamuna, all their tributaries,Glaciars like Gangotri,Yamunotri and Forest are declared as living person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities.

Director of the Namami Gange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as “parents” for the rivers

 

Earlier precedents: Earlier New Zealand has recognised the Whanganui Riverans ecosystem as living being. In Ecuador, people went to court in the name of the Vilcabamba River, being affected by a road widening project.

 

It’s a positive move as National acquatic animal Gangatic Dolphine and other river ecosystem animal will be saved inadvertantly.

 

GREEN NOD FOR NEUTRINO PROJECT SUSPENDED

 

India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a particle physics research project under construction to primarily study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300 meters deep cave near Bodhi west hills reserved forest near pottipuram village in Theni district, Tamil Nadu. After photons, neutrinos are the most abundant particles in the universe. They are affected only by a weak sub-atomic force of much shorter range.

 

The petitioner says that the project was 4.9 km away from Mathikettan Shola National Park in Idukki district, Kerala. This makes INO a category ‘A’ project (within 5 km of a national park) requiring clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

 

Site stands on an aquifer that feeds three important river systems – Periyar, Vaigai, and Vaippar

Rock-blasting during construction could seismically impact reservoirs including Mullaperiyar and Idukki

Department of Atomic Energy could use the underground space for storing high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants  Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai being the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.

 

DAROJI SLOTH BEAR SANCTUARY

 

It is located in Ballari district in karnataka and 15 km near Hampi. Created exclusively for preservation of Indian sloth bear.

About Indian sloth bear

There are eight species of Bears in the world. Indian Sloth Bear is confined to India and Sri Lanka only

Locally called KARADI in Karnataka

BARASINGHA CONSERVATION

 

Bhoorsingh the Barasingha– Kanha tiger reserve becomes first in India get official mascot.

 

Barasingha also called swamp dear is state animal of Madhya Pradesh. It comes under vulnerable category in IUCN red list. It is extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh and its native of India and Nepal. Kanha tiger reserve is spread over Mandla and Balaghat district. The swamp deer differs from all the Indian deer species in that the antlers carry more than three tines because of this distinctive character it is designated barasingha meaning twelve-tined.

 

About National Green Tribunal (NGT): The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. The Tribunal is mandated for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.

 

WORLD’S NATURAL SALTIEST POND

 

Name – Don Juan Pond situated in figid McMurdo valley in Antarctica.

Its unique feature is it remains in liquid form and does not freeze.

Saltiest water body on earth, 8th times brinier than The Dead Sea.

 

Don Juan Pond gets its salt and some of its water from a nearby deposit of calcium chloride salt.

The salt deposit sucks water from the icy air whenever the humidity increases. That salt laden water then slowly trickles downhill towards the pond. The rest of the pond’s water comes from occasional snow melt that helps to wash the salt into the pond.

 

DIVYA NAYAN

Chandigarh based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) lab develops the most advanced reading machine for visually challenged. It is portable device is based on the principle of contact scanning of a printed document and converting it into speech. It can scans any script and reads it aloud for visually challenged to understand.

 

The National Water Policy (2012) was formulated which advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through rain water harvesting, direct use of rainfall and other management measures.

Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under “The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986” for the purpose of regulation and control of ground water development and management.

CGWB has taken up Aquifer Mapping and Management programme during XII Plan.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have merged two separate programmes, namely, National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetland Conservation Programme (NWCP) into a new Integrated Scheme of National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-Systems (NPCA) for conservation and management of identified lakes and wetlands in the country.

 

What is Access and Benefit Sharing

Access and benefit-sharing (ABS) refers to the way in which genetic resources may be accessed, and how benefits from that result from their use are shared between the people or countries using the resources (users) and the people or countries that provide them (providers).

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

National Biodiversity Authority is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act.

 

EASING OF RULES FOR CLEARANCE OF NON-POLLUTING INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

 

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF) has said that Projects under the new category of “white”, which is practically non-polluting, will not require environmental clearance.

 

MOEF in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board has reclassified the industries into “Red”, “Orange”, “Green” and “White” with an objective to promote “Ease of Doing Responsible Business”.

 

Projects are supposed to get environmental clearances under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 or Consent under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Water (Prevention and Control of

Pollution) Act, 1974.

 

It will simplify procedures to fast-track industries falling under the “white” category which includes real estate projects.

 

ALGAL BLOOM

 

The algal bloom has expanded from the shores of Oman on the west to India and Pakistan on the east raising environmental concerns.

An algal bloom is a rapid increase in the population of algae in an aquatic system.

Algal bloom is caused by Noctilucascintillans—microscopic dinoflagellates that feed on plankton and suck up energy from the sun through microscopic algae living within their cells. Dinoflagellates are one-celled aquatic organisms bearing two dissimilar flagella and having characteristics of both plants and animals. They produce extremely dangerous toxins that can sicken or kill people and animals.

 

WHO REPORT ON NOISE POLLUTION

World Health Organisation “Worldwide Hearing Index” claims Delhi to be the second worst city with highest noise pollutions. Guangzhou in China had the worst noise pollution, while Zurich in Switzerland had the least. Prolonged exposure to noise above 60 dB can lead to irreversible Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).

 

SPARROW CONSERVATION

 

The House Sparrow which was declared as the State bird of Delhi in 2012 is now fast disappearing. The Great Sparrow Count is a Nature Forever Society of India (NFSI) Initiative. The aim is document the population and distribution of 24 different species of sparrows found across the world.

NFSI is a non-profit organization found to conserve house sparrows. March 20 is celebrated as World Sparrow Day across 50 countries annually since 2010.

 Seminary hills in Nagpur is to be designated as a sparrow conservation site. A similar sparrow conservation programme is also being launched at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), Borivali, and forest department’s Rambagh Colony in Chandrapur

Mihir Shah Committee 2016 identified that India’s existing water-governance system as silo-based which views ground water, river basin rejuvenation and other such challenges as isolated tasks.

 

WFN (Water Footprint Network) classifies water usage into three types: green (rain water); blue (surface and groundwater); and grey (amount of water required to carry off pollutants).

 

World Health Organisation released UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-water (GLASS) report 2017, advocating the need for increase in spending on sanitation, drinking-water and hygiene.

 

WWF TO UNDERTAKE GANGES DOLPHIN COUNT

 

World Wide Fund for Nature-India has raised concern about the decreasing numbers of Ganges Dolphin in River system. WWF decide to count the number of Dolphins by using equipment which help in more accurate imaging. Earlier, counting was based on sightseeing.

About Ganges Dolphin

It is the national aquatic animal of India.

It is a fresh water dolphin found in the river system of Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.

IUCN status: Endangered

 

Ganges Dolphin is legally protected in all range states and occurs in a number of national parks and other designated areas. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (Bihar) in the mainstream of the Ganges River was designated as a protected area for dolphins.

 

IUCN is an International Union created in 1948, comprises of both government and civil society organisations. It is only environmental organisation with official United Nations Observer Status. It engage in data gathering and analysis, environmental research, advocacy, lobbying conservation, spreading education about equitable and ecologically sustainability. It publishes the Red Data Book under Global Species Programme

IUCN Red Data Book is listed to catalogue:

o Extinct

o Extinct in wild

o Critically Endangered,

o Endangered

o Vulnerable

o Near Threaten

o Least Concern

 

What is CITES

It is an International agreement between governments, drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN. To ensure that international trade in the specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. CITES regulates international trade in species by including species on one of the three Appendices.

o Appendix I – species cannot be traded internationally for primarily commercial purposes, e.g. Tiger, Himalayan brown bear, elephant, and Tibetan antelope.

o Appendix II – species can be traded internationally for commercial purposes, but within strict regulations, requiring determinations of sustainability and legality, e.g. Hippopotamus, bigleaf mahogany, and the gray wolf.

o Appendix III – a species included at the request of a country which then needs the cooperation of other countries to help prevent illegal exploitation, e.g. walrus, Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, and the red-breasted toucan.

 

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Switzerland based International Non-Governmental organisation, est. in 1961 and engages in conservation of wildlife and natural habitat.

 

EARTH HOUR/LIGHT POLLUTION

 

In an effort to spread the message of energy conservation, and climate change, billions of people across the globe had observed ‘Earth Hour’ on March 25, 2017, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

 

It is a symbolic event organised by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) at Sydney (Australia) in 2007.

Across the globe, various organisations, households and individuals switch off their lights for one hour to show that they care about the future of the planet earth.

Through this, people also come to know about the contemporary environmental issues such as global warming and depletion of natural resources.

What is Light Pollution?

Unshielded light fixtures which emit more than 50% of their light skyward or sideways.

Photo-pollution increases air pollution by suppressing a naturally occurring Nitrate radical that cleans the air at night. (Nitrate prevents ground level Ozone formation).

Artificial light also increase the chemicals for ozone pollution by 5%.

Lights can attract or repel animals and insects. Most of the animal life functions on a diurnal or nocturnal system that is thrown out of sync by light pollution. This can place the entire species in danger, or attract unwanted species into human areas.

It disturbs the reproductive cycles of some animals and the migration of birds that navigate using the stars, and to disorient night-flying insects.

Light spill and sky glow interferes with astronomical equipment, and makes viewing faint celestial bodies difficult, even with the aid of a telescope.

 Moreover, it obstructs the observations, research and scientific study of night sky.

 Human-Health

 Affect the circadian rhythms which regulate physiologic activities such as brain wave patterns, hormone production, and cell regulation.

 Disrupting these rhythms can result in a variety of health problems, including sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, diabetes, cancer (particularly breast and prostate cancer), cardiovascular disease, immunological disorders, and obesity.

 Melatonin, the naturally occurring hormone that regulates the sleep and wake cycle, is acutely affected by light pollution. The hormone is activated by darkness and repressed by light.

 

NATIONAL LARGE SOLAR TELESCOPE

In March 2017, wildlife panel of the Union Government cleared a proposal for diversion of forest land from the Changthang, Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir for the establishment of National Large Solar Telescope (NLST).

The project of NLST would be implemented by Bangalore based, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP).

National Large Solar Telescope

It will be a 2-m class, multipurpose and state-of-the-art solar telescope (NLST). NLST will be the largest solar telescope in the world, because till recently, only one meter class solar telescopes are in existence throughout the world. NLST will be larger than the current solar telescopes such as the 1.5-m German telescope GREGOR (on Tenerife) and the 1.6-m New Solar Telescope at Big Bear. NLST would be a unique research tool for the country and will attract several talented solar astronomers to the country.

Features of National Large Solar Telescope

It is capable of doing both day and night astronomy because of unprecedented high spatial resolution.

It will fill the longitude gap between Japan and Europe. Currently, there is no telescope between these regions.

 It will provide high spatial resolution that would provide crucial information on the nature of magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere.

 It will help in understanding the formation and decay of sunspots by using Helioseismology, which is a powerful technique for probing the solar interior using acoustic Oscillations.

 

‘WASH in Schools’ Program

The program includes the implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services in the targeted government schools and sensitizing all the stakeholders including school children, teachers, school management communities and communities etc. on practicing positive health behaviors for improving awareness on sanitation.

Namami Ganga Programme

In Namami Gange programme focus is on ‘aviral dhara’ (uninterrupted flow) and ‘nirmal dhara’ (clean flow) of Ganga.

 

History of Cleaning Ganga process

Ganga Action Plan(GAP) Phase I & II:

• Phase I was launched in 1985, covering 25 Ganga towns in three states.
• Phase II launched in 1993 covered 59 towns in five states: Rivers such as Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar, Mahananda had separate action plans.
• Setting up of National Ganga River Basin Authority NGRBA in 2009: Focused on a basin-specific approach; 43 towns were covered in five states. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. .It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).

Namani Gange is the most recent plan

 

 

The Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Forests has found that the mission to clean Ganga and Yamuna has failed due to undue investment on technical aspects like creating sewage treatment plants to prevent the pollution in river Ganga without involving people living on the banks of the river.

The committee thinks that ministry has ignored the social aspects of pollution in the rivers.

 

The government plans to use biological means to deal with waste. It wants to use Seechwal model.

Seechewal inculcated the practice of segregation of solid and liquid waste, treatment of waste water through oxidation ponds, use of treated water for irrigation, and composting of solid waste with a sense of community participation and ownership of the river.

 

FEWER MIGRATORY WATER BIRDS SIGHTED AT ROPAR

Asian Waterbird Census 2017, conducted by Wetlands International, South Asia, and Punjab’s Wildlife Preservation Department on January 16 this year, revealed that the number of water birds this season stood at 2,302 as against 3,114 last year. There was an increase in number of some of the species- Eurasian coot, bar-headed geese, spot-billed duck.

Ropar is a riverine wetland with hardly any vegetation; but there are farmlands along the riverbanks where geese and ducks go for feeding. However, farmers try to keep them away from their land.

 

About Wetland International

Wetlands International is the only global NGO dedicated to the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

Asian Water bird Census is part of a global waterbird monitoring programme, the International Waterbird Census (IWC), coordinated by Wetlands International.

 The AWC initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent and this was 50th AWC.

 In India, the AWC is jointly coordinated by the Bombay Natural History Society and Wetlands International. Every January, thousands of volunteers across Asia and Australasia visit wetlands in their country and count waterbirds.

 

Classification of Coastal Regulation Zone

 Category I (CRZ-I): area between Low Tide Line and the high Tide Line

 Category-II (CRZ-II): The areas that have already been developed upto or close to the shoreline.

 Category-III (CRZ-III): Areas that are relatively undisturbed and those which do not belong to either Category-I or II. These will include coastal zone in the rural areas (developed and undeveloped) and urban areas.

 Category-IV (CRZ-IV): Coastal stretches in the Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and small islands, except those designated as CRZ-I, CRZ-II or CRZ-III

 

WESTERN GHATS CONSERVATION

A draft government notification has allowed the Centre to create an Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA) over 50,000 square kilometers in the Western Ghats spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is still a draft notification and not inducted as a law. The government had come up with a similar draft notification in 2014 but since it was not made into a law, it lapsed.

Issue of conversation of Western Ghats surfaced in 2011 with the Madhav Gadgil committee giving its recommendations Madhav Gadgil committee recommendations. It recommended making entire Western Ghats an Ecologically Sensitive Area because of its rich biodiversity and its ecosystem services like irrigation and drinking water to people.

It advocated zoning of ecological sensitive area of the Western Ghats in three layers –

Most significant area as Ecologically Sensitive Zone I (ESZ I)

Moderately significant area as Ecologically Sensitive Zone II (ESZ II)

Least significant area as Ecologically Sensitive Zone III (ESZ III)

Zone 3 was given considerable flexibilities in infrastructure. By this Gadgil asked to protect about 64% of Western Ghats.

In 2012, K. Kasturirangan committee recommended that only about 60,000 sq km (about 37% of Western ghats) be declared as ESZ. It also recommended a ban on hydroelectric projects here.

 

Later, after protests in Kerala due to perceived loss of livelihood after a declaration of ESZ, the ESZ area was reduced to about 56,825 sq km by excluding 3,117 sq km of settlements and agricultural land in the State. In 2017, Kerala government has requested the Union environment ministry to reduce the ESA further by 887 sqkm.

 

Significance

India’s Forest policy aims to achieve a forest cover of at least 33% in the country. According to the State of Forests report, it is only 25%. Therefore Western Ghats conservation would be a step to achieve this goal.

 Changing patterns of rivers flowing through Western Ghats due to destruction of its biodiversity, can lead to increase in river water disputes in peninsular India.

 Conservation of Western Ghats would also help in improving rainfall patterns in India, thus helping

Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA)

MoEF defines it is as a bio-climatic unit wherein human actions have caused irreversible changes in the structure of biological communities and their natural habitats.

As per Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the government can prohibit industrial operations like mining, sand quarrying and thermal power plants in it.

But Environmental Act 1986 does not mention ESA explicitly.

 

BHARAT EMISSIONS STANDARDS

 

From April, all of India will move to Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) vehicular emission norms. India introduced emission norms in 1991 and by 1996 most vehicle manufacturers had to incorporate technology upgrades like catalytic converters to cut exhaust emissions. Supreme Court in 1999 made Centre notify Bharat Stage-I (BIS 2000) and Bharat Stage-II norms, broadly equivalent to Euro I and Euro II respectively. In 2014, Saumitra Chaudhary committee gave recommendations on Auto Fuel Vision Policy 2025 which had recommended implementation of BS-IV (2017), BS-V (2019) and BS-VI (2024) standards. Currently BS-IV norms are currently followed across 63 Indian cities for petrol and diesel, while the rest still use BS-III fuel. In recent times, government decided to move up to the toughest emission standards of BS-VI from the current BS-IV by April 2020 skipping BS-V standard.

 

The BS-IV compliant fuels have Sulphur concentration of 50 parts per million (ppm). This will come down to as low as 10 ppm in BS-VI compliant fuels and auto engines. By switching to BS-VI, India will join the league of the US, Japan and the European Union, which follow Euro Stage VI emission norms. BS-VI is the Indian equivalent of Euro Stage VI.

 

Technologies used in vehicles for emission reduction

BS 5: Diesel Particulate filter (DPF)

It is a cylinder mounted vertically in engine compartment.

It is used for BS-V emission standard.

It removes Particulate Matter/soot from the diesel exhaust.

It needs temperature of 600 degree Celsius to function, difficult in Indian conditions.

BS 6: Selective catalytic reduction technology (SCR)

It reduces the nitrogen oxides by injecting an aqueous solution having ammonia.

It is used for BS-VI emission standard.

It is fixed in the engine exhaust.

 

LI-FI

Li-Fi or Light Fidelity, also known as visible light communications (VLC) is a super-quick alternative to Wi-Fi. Li-Fi utilizes visible light in place of radio waves to bar data through the air. It uses solar cells as receivers that could deliver communications and access to the world wide web in a way that the current free space optical (FSO) systems on their own cannot do. It can offer speeds in excess of 1GBPS. Has a much higher range and is cheaper than Wifi.

It can be used in aircraft cabins, hospitals and nuclear power plants without causing electromagnetic interference as it uses visible light.

 

VPM1002/ TB VACCINE

 

Pune-based Serum Institute of India Pvt. Limited is set to start a Phase II/III immunization trial for tuberculosis utilizing a novel, recombinant BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine.

 

The National strategic plan for tuberculosis elimination (2017-2025), has set a highly ambitious goal of “achieving a rapid decline in burden of TB, morbidity and mortality while working towards elimination of TB by 2025.”

 

The new vaccine is based on BCG vaccine. However it is more powerful and efficacious as it contains a gene better recognised by the immune system.  The currently used BCG vaccine causes BCG-related disease in HIV-positive babies (due to reduced immunity). The recombinant version is expected to be safe in babies exposed to HIV.

 

IISC RESEARCHERS’ ECOFRIENDLY WAY OF RECYCLING E-WASTE

 

The new approach is based on the idea of crushing e-waste into nanosize particles using a ball mill at very low temperature ranging from -50 to -150 degree C.  This way of recycling does not require chemicals to separate different metals.  The crushed material when mixed with water helps to separate different metals by using gravity.  Unlike the present techniques, it helps to segregate the metals in one phase making the recycling process much simpler.  Although, it uses high energy, it is scalable and environment friendly.

 

HIGH NITROGEN STEEL

High nitrogen steels are a new class of high alloy martensitic, austenitic or duplex grades with up to 0.9 mass% of N in solid solution. The alloy has significant applications in the defence sector due to its much higher ballistic strength than normal steel, but currently the country is largely dependent on imports.

In addition to being non-magnetic and corrosion-resistant, the HNS cost is about 40% less compared to Rolled Homogenous Armour Steel (RHA)

 

TELESCOPE GRAPES-3 UPGRADE TO SNIPE OUT SOLAR STORM

 

On June 21, 2015, a giant cloud of magnetized plasma was ejected from the Sun and slammed into Earth’s magnetosphere, triggering a severe geomagnetic storm. This incident called for more robust preventive scientific measures for solar storm.

 

GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV Energies Phase-3) is a muon telescope observation unit, located in Oat (Nilgiri ,Tamilnadu). The first cosmic ray experiment was started in 1955 as GRAPES-1 by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), which was upgraded in various stages to GRAPES-2, before the new experiment GRAPES-3 was established. GRAPES-3 has been established with  the collaboration of the Tata Institute  of Fundamental Research, Mumbai,  India and the Osaka City University,  Osaka, Japan.

What is solar Storm?

It is an eruption of mass and energy from the solar surface mainly in the form of magnetic plasma and hot gases of electrically charged particles; and in addition, more dangerous gamma, ultraviolet and X rays, out into space.

Solar Flaries, Cronal Mass ejection, and sunspot activities are the indicators of solar storm.

Solar storms can happen at any time but tend to become more severe and more frequent in roughly 11-year cycles.

How does Solar Storm affect the Earth?

The collision of charged particles of solar storm with earth’s magnetospheres generates the shimmering Northern Lights, the aurora borealis, and aurora australis in southern hemisphere.

Some charged particles can modify the Earth’s magnetic field and affect compass readings.

The changing magnetic fields can also induce electricity in long pipelines, or produce electrical surges in our power grids leading to brown outs and black outs.

It can affect the space programme, trade communications (stock- exchange), broadcast communications, airlines and navigation.

What are the functions of GRAPES-3?

 To study cosmic rays, air shower detectors and muon detectors from  galaxy.

 To study the sun and its accelerator of energetic particles and its effects on the Earth.

 It studies our galaxy through nuclear composition of cosmic rays and diffusion of γ-ray (gamma rays)

 

FIVE NEW SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES

 

In March 2017, Scientists of Large Hadron Collider accelerator at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) found five new sub-atomic particles.  The newly discovered particles are high-energy versions of the omega-c baryon, a particle made up of two strange quarks and one charm quark

 Omega-c-zero is a part of the same family of protons and neutrons, the so-called baryons, because they have three quarks, the fundamental building blocks of matter.

 These particle states are named, according to the standard convention, Omega-c-zero (3000), Omega-c-zero (3050), Omega-c-zero (3066), Omega-c-zero (3090) and Omega-c-zero (3119). The numbers indicate their masses in megaelectronvolts (MeV).

 

CROP PROTECTION: FIRING TO KEEP THE STORM AT BAY

 

Orchid owners of Himachal Pradesh have, recently, installed the anti-hail storm gun through collective mobilisation of funds. An anti-hail cannon is a shock wave generator intended to disrupt the formation of hailstones in the atmosphere in the beginning stage.  An explosive charge of acetylene gas and air is fired in the lower chamber of the machine and the resulting energy passes through the neck and develops a shock wave.  The shock wave travels at the speed of sound through cloud formations. It splits up the ice bearing layers of the cloud and it is observed that it either comes down as rain or a thin sleet that does not damage the fruit.

 

FOVEA

 

Indian scientists has found that a small depression in the retina of eye called “Fovea” plays a crucial role in helping humans read the text , recognize faces, enjoy colours, focus on computer screens, etc.

The fovea is a specialized region that dominates our visual perception which provides more than half of the input from the eyes to the visual cortex of the brain. It is located near the optic nerve and is best suited for fine task like reading. However Fovea is unable to process rapidly changing visual signals because of slow response of its cone-photoreceptors than cone-photoreceptors present in the peripheral retina. This inability let the humans see continuous motion in movies/flipbooks. (Cone-photoreceptors are the neurons that are frontline of the visual system). Understanding the functioning of Fovea helps in correcting central vision loss like Macular degeneration and design visual prosthetics (Bionic eye). Among the mammals, only humans and other primates have Fovea. Some predatory birds like Owls and few reptiles also have similar structures.

 

Bionic Eye is a retinal implant which interprets images captured by a miniature video camera worn on a pair of glasses. It mimics the function of the retina to restore sight for those with severe vision loss.

 

COLD ATOM LABORATORY

 

NASA is planning to send an experimental instrument called Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) on board SpaceX CRS-12 to International space Station to create coldest spot known in the universe. Aim of the experiment is to study matter at temperatures far below anything found naturally. This ice chest-sized box has been developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The box will have lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic “Knife” to cool atoms to 100 Pico Kelvin (one ten-billionth of a degree above absolute zero). At such low temperature all activities of atom theoretically stops. When atoms are cooled to such low temperatures, they form a distinct form of matter called Bose-Einstein condensate. In such state matter behave less like particles and more like waves.

Observing atoms in Bose-Einstein condensate form in earth is extremely difficult because of gravity which continuously pulls the atoms towards the ground. This prevents atoms from holding on to

their wavelike form for longer period to be observed. However in space ultra-cold atoms can hold on to their wave like forms longer because of no gravity. Studying these hyper-cold atoms will provide new insights into dark matter and gravity. Better understanding of superfluids may help in more efficient

transfer of energy. It may potentially lead to better Sensors, Quantum computers and Atomic clocks used in spacecraft navigation.

 

Bose-Einstein Condensates

They are Superfluids – a kind of fluid with zero viscosity. In this situation all atoms move without friction as if they are all one solid substance.

 

PRECURSOR MOLECULES

Indian researchers, using a novel technology, have not only been able to increase wheat grain yield by more than 20% but also made it more resilient to environmental stress like drought conditions.

The technology entails using precursor compounds that enhances the production of key sugar signaling molecule called Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) molecule which stimulate starch synthesis thus increasing the yield. Reseachers observed that plants treated with precursor compounds were able to achieve 100 times increase in production of T6P molecule compared with plants that did not received the precursor molecule. Genetic methods achieved only 2-3 times increase in production of T6P molecule. Since the pathway of T6P molecule is the same in other plants, the yield can potentially be increased by using suitable precursors. Four precursor compounds were used by researchers, however a particular precursor called ortho-nitrophenyl ethyl gave the best result both with Arabidopsis thaliana plant and wheat in terms of higher absorption of precursor by plants and less time taken by precursor to release T6P molecule. On environmental stress front, researchers found that precursor molecule called 2 (dimethoxy (ortho-nitro) benzyl) helped plants fight with drought like conditions.

 

TRADE MARK RULES

 

The Trade Mark Rules, 2017 have been

notified recently by the Ministry of Commerce

and Industry.

 

It would replace the previous Trade Mark

Rules 2002, and therefore would streamline and simplify the processing of Trade Mark applications.

 

Trade Mark Forms have been reduced from 74 to 8.

o Expedited processing of a registration application has been extended up to registration stage which till now existed only up to examination stage.

o Servicing of documents to Trade Mark Registry has been eased.

 

All fees related to trademark have been rationalized.

o Online filing fees have been made 10% lower than physical filing fees to promote e-filing of trademark.

o Fees for Individuals, Start-ups and Small Enterprises have been reduced to only Rs 4,500.

 

Presently, examination time for a Trademarks application has already been brought down from 13 months to just 1 month in January 2017 despite a 35% jump in filings in 2015-16.The new Rules should give a boost to the Intellectual Property Regime in India.

 

EUROPA CLIPPER MISSION

 

It is NASA’s upcoming interplanetary mission to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

 The term “clipper” refers to the clipper ships that sailed across the oceans of Earth in the 19th century.

 

It holds a salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust

 The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is to determine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three of the ingredients necessary for life — liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable biology.

 

GREYBALL

 

It was revealed that Uber used Greyball, a tool to systematically deceive law enforcement officials in cities where its service violated regulations.

It is a software tool which Uber designed to help it identify users who violate the terms of service of its app, preventing them from securing rides.

 Uber used this tool to avoid authorities in markets where its service faced resistance by law enforcement or was banned.

 The tool allowed Uber to show images of “ghost” Uber cars on the app or show that no cars were available.

 Greyball used geolocation data, credit card information, social media accounts and other data points to identify individuals they suspected of working for city agencies and blocking their request so that they cannot fine the cab when it reaches to pick them up after booking.

 

The Delhi High court allowed generic drug manufacturers to export patented drugs for the purposes of development, clinical trials and regulatory clearances. Section 107A of the Patents Act explains what will not constitute infringement of a patent, and includes selling of a patented invention for the purposes of development.

 

DELTARETROVIRUS

 Filling last major gap in the fossil record of retroviruses, scientists have discovered traces of DNA of deltaretroviruses in the bat genomes.

 Deltaretroviruses are types of retroviruses that cause human B- or adult T-cell leukemia/ lymphoma, and bovine leukemia.

 Retrovirus: A retrovirus is a virus whose genes are encoded in RNA instead of DNA.

 The retrovirus genome needs to be reverse-transcribed into DNA by an enzyme called reverse transcriptase before it can be copied in the usual way.

 Retroviruses are “retro” because they reverse the direction of the normal gene copying process.

 In most viruses, cells convert DNA into RNA which is then made into proteins.

 But in retroviruses, first, the viral RNA is transformed into DNA. Then the cell can copy the DNA or transcribe it back into RNA for viral protein replication.

 This discovery will help understand biology and related aspects of deltaretbro viruses.

 

MENTAL HEALTHCARE BILL

Parliament has passed the Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016 that will repeal the Mental Health Act, 1987

The Bill has been passed to harmonise the country’s mental health laws to the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which the country is a signatory.

Suicide is decriminalized- person attempting suicide will be treated as mentally ill and will not be treated under IPC

The Bill also specifies the process and procedure to be followed for admission, treatment and discharge of mentally-ill individuals.

A person with mental illness shall not be subjected to electro-convulsive therapy without the use of muscle relaxants and anesthesia.

 

DRAFT INDIAN MEDICINE AND HOMOEOPATHY PHARMACY CENTRAL COUNCIL BILL, 2016

 

The Ministry of AYUSH has decided to introduce ‘The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Central Council Bill, 2016. Alternative system of medicine which includes Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy is an integral part of the healthcare system in India.

A regulatory framework for education in medicine is therefore a must. Two Acts: Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act, 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act, 1973 were constituted with the same objective. Two statutory bodies: Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) were formed.

The present draft bill is set to replace the two existing Acts.

Objectives

The Bill is to set up regulatory framework at the Central as well as State level for

 standardization and quality control of education,

 practice of pharmacy in Ayurveda, Siddha, UnaniTibb and Homoeopathy

 To maintain registers of the pharmacists.

Key Features of the Bill

 Making appointments of regulators through election rather than selection.

 A new institutional set up for regulation of education for Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.

o An Advisory Council for Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy respectively having representation both from the States and UTs to develop a national agenda on education in concerned fields.

o National Commission for Indian Systems in Medicine (NCISM): Policy making body for medical education in Indian System of Medicine

o National Commission for Homeopathy: Policy making body for medical education in Homeopathy.

 Inclusion of Yoga and Naturopathy in NCISM.

 Transitionary provisions have been included for smooth transition of CCIM and CCH to NCISM and NCH.

 Creation of five mutually independent and autonomous Boards with sharp demarcation of functions.

 To provide National Licentiate Examination for practice by medical professionals.

 To allow profit-institution to establish colleges. Earlier only not-profit was allowed

 

MEDICAL TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2014

 

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 (MTP Act), allows a woman to terminate her foetus till the 20th week of pregnancy. However, in certain exceptional circumstances, court relaxes the aforesaid time period and allows termination of pregnancy only if the foetus poses danger to the woman’s life or is detected with an abnormal deformity. To detect any abnormality in foetus, a pregnant woman can undergo the medical test only after 18-week period of her pregnancy. However, the report of the test itself can take 2-3 weeks to arrive; meanwhile, the pregnant women would have crossed the time limit allowed to opt for abortion.

 Medical professionals are of the opinion that approx. 2-3 percent foetus out of 26 million new lives, can be detected to be abnormal even after 20 week period and therefore, the cap on the time period for termination of pregnancy should be relaxed. Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) (Amendment) Bill 2014 is intended to extend the legal limit for abortion from the present 20 weeks to 24 weeks and will also allow for abortions-on-demand up to 12 weeks. The earlier act (MTP 1971) was guided by the objective of population control and preventing high mortality related to pregnancy; whereas, the new amended law would take into consideration a woman’s choice and autonomy over her body by extending the time limit to go for abortion.

 

COMMUNITY RADIO

 

Recently, Ministry of I&B increased the subsidy for setting up Community Radio Station

from 50% to 90% in the North Eastern States and 75% in other states subject to a maximum limit of Rs 7.5 lakh. Universities & NGOs have been permitted to set up Community Radio (CR) stations in India. Community Radio is a type of broadcasting service which caters to the community interests rather than focus on commercial interests. E.g. Focus on eradicating social evils in the community etc.

Usually it is run by members of the same community that it serves.

 

VISION ZERO CONFERENCE: OCCUPATIONAL, SAFETY AND HEALTH

 

It is an emerging effective tool for improving the occupational safety and health of the worker by achieving the Zero-Accident at workplace.

 The tools involve the safety manual, network and alliance for Ground Level Corporation, protective equipment, industrial hygiene, and environment protection at workplace.

 

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016

 

The latest Human Development Report, 2016 was released in March 2017 by United Nation Development Program (UNDP). First Human Development report was published in 1990. This approach was developed by economist Mahbub Ul Haq and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.

It introduced a new approach called Human Development Approach which is about expanding the richness of human life (focus on their health, education, etc) rather than simply the richness of the economy (GDP) in which human beings live.

Three dimensions of Human Development

First is Decent Standard of Living which is calculated though the Gross National Income Per Capita.

Second is Long and healthy life which is calculated through Life Expectancy at Birth.

Third is Access to Knowledge which is calculated through mean years of education among the adult population and expected years of schooling for children.

HDR report also includes four other indices

 Inequality Adjusted HDI: It adjusts the Human Development Index (HDI) for inequality.

 Gender Development Index: measures gender gaps disparities between women and men in three dimension of human development namely health, knowledge and living standards.

 Gender Inequality Index: It was introduced in 2010. It is index for measurement of gender disparity using three dimensions

Reproductive health for women: It uses maternal mortality rate and adolescent birth rate.

Empowerment: It uses proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with at least some secondary education.

ü Economic status: It is measured by labour force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years and older.

Multidimensional Poverty Index: It also measures deprivations across the three dimensions as used for HDI namely health, knowledge and living standards.

Norway is ranked 1st (score: 0.949) in HDR 2016 report followed by Australia at 2nd (score: 0.939) and Switzerland at 3rd (score: 0.939).

 

Maternal Mortality Rate for India is 174 (deaths per 100,000 live births). For very high human development countries average is 14.

Infant Mortality Rate for India is 37.9 (per 1000 live births) while for very high development countries have an average IMR of just 5.4.

 

 

NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR TUBERCULOSIS ELIMINATION 2017-2025

Why in news?

 On the World TB day (24 March, 2017), Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare announced the National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination 2017-2025. The action plan aims to achieve active case finding of TB to 100% by 2020 and complete elimination of TB by 2025. Nearly 75,000 cases of Multi drug-resistance (MDR) have been reported annually during the treatment stage.

Of the total MDR cases, 1.5% is related to more dangerous extensively drug-resistant TB (X-DR TB).

The aim of this Action Plan is to do away with the earlier strategy of self-reporting where few patients get themselves tested; and rather, focus on detecting more cases, both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant, by government itself reaching out to patients.

 The requirements for moving towards TB elimination have been integrated into the four strategic pillars of “Detect – Treat – Prevent –

Build” (DTPB).

 It is a vision document designed to address co-morbidity of TB with HIV by strengthening care such as joint management of TB/HIV co-infected patients, TB/DM management etc.

 Implementation will be a combined effort of all stakeholders such as NGOs, local -governments, state welfare schemes and machinery working towards the same goals.

 

For the first time, the TB control programme talks about having in place patient-friendly systems to provide treatment and social support, which would encompass the reducing out of pocket expenditure such as; cost of treatment, cost of travels, cost of diagnosis and wage loss.

 The plan conceives a shift from regulatory approach to partnership approach (Synergy) with the largely unorganized and unregulated private sector.

 It seeks to make the daily regimen universal by moving away from the thrice weekly regimen, followed by RNTCP.

 Moreover, new anti-TB drug Bedaquiline has been introduced under Conditional Access Programme (CAP).

 Under the ‘Make in India’ thrust of the Government of India, it is proposed to explore the possibility of developing capacity to produce first-line drugs for RNTCP in the public sector.

 IT based E-Nikshay platform has been made user friendly so that Private Doctors find it easy to notify.

 Swasth E-Gurukul TB and myriad TB Awareness Media Campaigns would not only focus on awareness but also on fighting stigma and discrimination prevalent against the TB patients.

 The strategic plan envisions a TB Corpus Fund

maintained by Bharat Kshay Niyantran Pratishtan’ (India TB Control Foundation).

 Furthermore, this document calls for effective linkages between Central Tuberculosis Division, AADHAR, Social Walfare Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Nikshay Platform.

What is NIKSHAY?

It is an IT tool which facilitates monitoring of universal access to TB patients database.

Developed jointly by the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Implemented at national, state, district and Tuberculosis Unit (TU) levels.

Utilises SMS technology for communication with TB patients and grassroots level healthcare services providers as well as health and family welfare policy makers.

Moreover, the tool establishes a correlation between TB & HIV, leading to outcome analysis of treatment.

 

PARTHA MUKHOPADHYAY WORKING GROUP ON MIGRATION

 

The Working Group on Migration (headed by Partha Mukhopadhyay) set-up by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) in 2015, submitted it report to the government by recommending various policy matters for social welfare measures and administrative actions for the development of migrants.

Economic Survey 2016, pointed out that there are 9 million people annually migrate within the country, whereas Census 2011 and National Sample Survey Organisation has highlighted that migrants constitute 30 percent of national population as well as total working force.

 

Construction Worker Welfare Cess Fund

 This fund is maintained by Construction Workers welfare Boards under Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996, for which a welfare board was created by Central and state government concern.

 The major source of the fund to the Board is collection of cess @ one percent of the cost of construction incurred by the employer under the act.

 The construction workers are basically unskilled, migrant, socially backward, uneducated with low bargaining power. Moreover, their work has inherent risk of life and health. Thus the fund is for the various welfare measure of workers.

 

SIDI RITUALS          

 

A controversy broke out after a section of Dalit families that has been taking part in the risky ritual of Sidi during the annual fair at Hariharapur in Holenarsipur taluk has refused to do so this year.  The origins of Sidi are lost in time but the legend is that it is a voluntary punishment that the Dalits have taken upon themselves down the ages.  The Dalits believe that their forefathers stole paddy from a rich farmer’s house and were saved from his wrath by deity Udusalamma. They believe the deity saved them after they promised to take part in the ritual

 

ASSAM’S ANCIENT INK (MAHI)

Demystifying the science behind Assam’s ancient herbal ink Mahi, researchers are planning to recreate the lost techniques of manuscript writing, which is linked to the marketing of heritage tourism and the development of eco-friendly technologies in the digital age.  It is made up by natural substances, the technique involves extracting ‘mahi’ using cow urine from a cocktail of fruit pulp and tree bark such as haritaki, amla, bibhitakhi or bhomora, mango and jamun infused with the blood of eels or catfish. Rust from iron tools or nails were also added for an intense black hue colour.

 ‘Mahi’ was used in early and medieval Assam for writing on ‘sancipat’ (folios made of the bark of the sanci tree) manuscripts. Few of them was gifted by Kumar Bhaskar Barman, the then King of Pragjyotishpura (ancient Assam) to Harshavardhana, an emperor who ruled north India from 606 to 647 C.E., a testimony to the period of use.

 There is no loss of text due to its antifungal character and endurance because of its herbal ingredients in contrast to acidic iron gall ink which was used during same time in Europe.

 

SANKARAM ON UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The Buddhist Heritage sites at Salihundam (Srikakulam district) and Sankaram near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district, in addition to Lepakshi (Anantapur district) and the Nagarjunakonda International Museum (Guntur district) are likely to find a place in the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites.

 

Salihundam in Srikakulam district–

Situated at south bank of River vamsadhara, stupas and shrines were built between 2nd to 12th century reflecting Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana phases.

Stone images of ‘Marichi’ (the Goddess of dawn) and ‘Tara’ (a Yogini of Buddhist era) were excavated along with a few gold coins of later Satavahana period.

 

Lepakshi Temple in Anantapur district

o It is the location of shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Veerabhadra which were built during the Vijayanagara Kings’ period (1336–1646)

o The temples are the finest example of mural paintings on the walls of Shiva temple and Vijayanagar architechtural style of the temple building

o Large granite Nandi bull and a hanging pillar(it does not touch the ground) among all 70 pillars of Veerbhadra temple built by the brothers, Virupanna and Veeranna in 1583 who were initially in the service of the Vijayangar kings, is special feature.

 Nagarjunakonda International Museum

o Situated on an island in Nagarjunasagar dam, named after great Buddhist scholar Acharya Nagarjuna. Nagarjunakonda “the place” was a great religious center promoting Brahmanical and Buddhist faiths,

o It was an extensive Buddhist establishment nourishing several sects of Buddhism that culminated into the full-fledged Mahayana pantheon.

o The museum established to collect, preserve and exhibit the antiquities retrieved from the excavations and is housed in a spacious structure similar to a Buddhist Vihara.

 

WOMEN’S INDIAN ASSOCIATION

Why in News?

 President Pranab Mukherjee recently inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Women’s Indian Association at Adyar, Chennai.

 

About Women Indian Association

 It was the first organization to create an overall awakening among women. Its functions were-

o To train women to be responsible to give public services.

o To bind women together for mutual service and the good of the country.

o To influence government policy on women’s suffrage and issues of educational and social reforms. E.g. It sent representation in Montagu reforms (1917) for women suffrage.

o To promote compulsory primary education for girls and Hindu women’s inheritance laws.

 Its role is recognized for enactment and implementation of –

o Child Marriage Restraint Act/Sarda Act– To raise the minimum age for marriage of women

o For abolishing the Devadasi system especially in Tamil Nadu.

 Its official monthly publication was Stri-Dharma published in English. It had news related to women and articles on women’s condition.

81 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS

 

About Annie Besant

 She was a member and later the head of Theosophical Society which later shifted its headquarters to Adyar, Chennai.

 Her propaganda in England for a self-government to Indians made way for formation of Home Rule League in London. Home rule was chosen instead of Swaraj because English people did understand that more. It had divisions in:

o India- To educate Indians about implications of Home rule Movement

o England- To educate British public about political conditions of India.

 As a crusader of education, she established Central Hindu College at Banares in 1897. She also opened schools and colleges for girls like Central Hindu Girls School at Banares, Madanapalli High school and College and Adayar National College.

 In 1911 she organized the “order of the Rising Star” for the protection of the good and destruction of evils.

 In 1912 Mrs. Besant organized a band of public workers called “The Brothers of Service” under Indian National congress to promote workers’ union in the spiritual, educational and political fields.

 Through Home rule she wanted to help Indians to get self- knowledge, self-respect and self-government. According to home rule Indians would be free to determine their domestic issues.

 Her weekly newspapers were Commonweal (focusing on people’s problems) and New India.

 In 1917, she started Indian Boys Scout Association for her movement.

 In 1917 only she became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress and also introduced the tri-colour flag for the Congress party.

 

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2017

 It is an annual report published since 2012 by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative of United Nations. 2017 report is 5th in the series.

 The happiness rankings are based on 6 criteria namely: GDP per capita, Healthy years of life expectancy, Social support (as measured by having someone to count on in times of trouble), Trust (as measured by a perceived absence of corruption in government and business); Perceived freedom to make life decisions, and Generosity (as measured by recent donations).

 

 As per recently released World Happiness Report 2017, India has been ranked at 122nd/155 countries. In 2016 report India was ranked at 118th position.

 Norway is ranked 1st followed by the Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.

 Central African Republic, Burundi and Tanzania are ranked as last 3 nations.

 Among BRICS group, Brazil was ranked at 22nd, Russia at 49th China at 79th and South Africa at 101.

 As per the report “having a job” is an overwhelming factor contributing to Happiness. Rising unemployment

negatively affects everyone even those who are unemployed.

 

INDIA’S LONGEST ROAD TUNNEL

India’s longest road tunnel called Chenani-Nashri tunnel (also known as Patnitop tunnel) measuring 9.2 kms connecting Udhampur with Ramban on Jammu-Srinagar highway (NH-44) has been commissioned. It is single tunnel with two lane road.  It will reduce existing distance between Chenani and Nashri

them by more than 30 kms. Yet another 8.45 km road tunnel between Quazigund and Banihal on the same corridor (NH-44) is scheduled for completion by March 2018. It will be twin tunnel with four

lane roads.  Both the above tunnel will shorten the combined distance the between Jammu and Kashmir by more than 50 kms, provide all weather connectivity and ease traffic on NH-44 (earlier known as NH-1A) thereby facilitating seamless ride.

 

NEW WI-FI SYSTEM TO OFFER SUPER-FAST CONNECTIVITY

 Researchers and scientists of Edinburg University have recently developed a Wi-Fi technology based on Infrared rays.

 The current Wi-Fi technology uses radio signals with a frequency of 2.5 or 5 gigahertz. The new system uses infrared light with wavelengths of 1,500 nanometres and higher.

 The new technology has the potential to transfer data with more than 40 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s), which is 100 times faster than the existing Wi-Fi technology.

 

SHAHPUR KANDI DAM

 Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir agreed to resume work on stalled Shahpur Kandi Dam project, which is to be built on the river Ravi.

 The 55.5 high gravity dam, , will help in providing irrigation facility to 5000 hectares of land in Punjab and 32173 hectares in J&K besides generation of 206 MW power.

 Located in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, it will help India utilise its rights over eastern rivers of the basin under Indus Water Treaty.

 

IRENA

Why in News?

 International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue (BETD2017), held on March 20, 2017 estimated that global carbon emissions can be reduced by 70% by 2050 and completely phased out by 2060.

 

What is International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)?

 It is an intergovernmental organization, principal platform for international co-operation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.

 Promotes the widespread adoption of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy.

 India is a member country of IRENA.

 

JALYUKT SHIVIR YOJANA

Why in News?

 A field study conducted by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) says that Jalyukt Shivir Yojana is promoting indiscriminate digging of farm ponds and has accelerated the rate of groundwater extraction.

 

About the scheme

 It is a scheme to make Maharashtra a drought free state by 2019.

 It was launched in 2014 to harvest rainwater and enhance groundwater levels.

 Its aim was to provide small scale irrigation facility at the farmer’s disposal.

 The components of Yojana are –

o Deepening and widening of streams

o Construction of cement and earthen stop dams

o Work on nullahs

o Digging of farm ponds

 It also has the provision for Magel Tyala Shet Tale (Farm Pond on Demand scheme).

 

GRADING OF COAL INDIA MINES

 The Coal Controller’s Organisation, a Coal Ministry outfit, has been tasked with grading and notifying the mines of Coal India Ltd. from April 2017.

 Until now, the grading was done by the coal-producing subsidiaries of CIL (internal grading by Coal India) and was vetted by the CCO.

 

Why this move?

 The change has been triggered by a new thrust on quality following recurring complaints on coal quality and grade mismatch by coal consumers in both the power and the non-power sectors.

 While CIL had geared itself up to produce coal as per demand, quality still remained an issue.