ARCHIVES

GS-2

Mizoram to be developed as “Bamboo State of India”

(Topic: Government Schemes and Policies)

Mizoram has very high production of bamboo

• Generates revenue for state
• Major source for furniture and paper
• Createslivelihood opportunity for youth and encourages vast potential

Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System”Bhavishya”

(Topic: Government Schemes and Policies)

Objective –

• To introduce transparency and establish accountability in the pension sanction and payment process
• Eliminate delays and bring satisfaction to the retiring employees and pensioners
• Progress of a particular pension case can be tracked by the individual as well as the administrative authorities
• Once implemented, the Department of P&PW will know in advance the number of employees retiring from the Government of India in the next 12 months and the status of each of these cases
• The forms for processing of pension can be submitted online

• Individual (Retiree & Pensioner)
• Drawing & Disbursing Officer
• Head of Office (HOO)
• Directorate of Estate (DOE)
• Pay & Accounts Offices (PAO)
• Central Pension Accounts Office (CPAO)

Environment Minister flags in ‘Swachh Bharat, Swachh Himalaya’ campaign of BSF

(Topic: Government Programmes)

Campaign-

• Border Security Force completes 50 years of service to the nation on 1^st Dec 2015
• The campaign was carried out in the Himalayan region from Oct 12 to Nov 25, 2015

Aim-

• To create awareness among the civil population
• Need to ensure basic cleanliness in day to day life
• Measure for ensuring cleanliness of Himalayas that encompasses many glaciers (the Ganga)
• Highlight environmental issues of the Himalayan valleys and foothills

Government formulates strategy to address price rise of ‘Raw Jute’

(Topic: Government Strategy for Agricultural Development)

Objective-

• To evolve a suitable strategy for stabilising the raw jute market
• Tracking the situation of rise in the price of raw jute

Strategy formulated-

Stock limits, De-hoarding Operation-

• Appropriate measures for notifying stock limits for limits for raw jute for balers, traders and millers
• To undertake de-hoarding measures with the help of State Government
• To make available jute produced during off-season

Lifting of export ban by Bangladesh-

Department of Commerce and Ministry of External Affairs have been requested to take up the matter with their counterparts in Republic of Bangladesh for lifting the ban on export of raw jute from Bangladesh

Promoting Jute Cultivation-

• Long-term measures shall be taken by the State Government and Department of Agriculture
• Encouraging jute cultivation and checking its declining trend

‘Bharat KoJaniye’ online quiz launched for the Indian Diaspora

(Topic: Government programmes, Indian Diaspora)

Launched by: Union Minister for the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MoIA) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

Target- Indian Diaspora Youth and NRIs

Aim-

• Help the Diaspora youth and NRIs to learn and understand the culture, history and the development of their ancestral country
• Educate them about India’s progress in various fields like-
  • Science and Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Industry
  • Communication and Information Technology
  • Different facets about Indian Life
• Create awareness about India’s rich cultural heritage and its diversity
• Top 10 participants of both PIOs and NRIs will be invited for the final round in India that will be held on New Delhi on 7^th January 2016
• The MoIA will arrange for their travel and other logistic arrangements during the trip and will be felicitated during the ‘PravasiBhartiya Divas event at New Delhi, which will be held from 8^th to 10^th January 2016

4-day Urban Mobility India Conference

(Topic: Urban Development Programme)

Theme- ‘Transforming mobility for Livability’

Inaugurated by- Ministry of Urban Development

Partnered by- United Nations Environment Programme

Participants-1,200 delegates from India and 50 from abroad including-Mayors, Municipal Commissioners, Experts, Town Planners, Designers, Architects

Aim-

• To facilitate states and urban local bodies to forge Agreements of Cooperation for Technology Support with concerned agencies and organisation
• To bring best practices across the globe to the knowledge of all stakeholders

• Multimedia Integration
• Traffic Engineering and Safety
• Real time Traffic Modelling
• Climate Change in Transportation
• Pedestrians and Mode choice in transport
• Land Use Planning
• Inclusive uses of road space
• Strategies for low carbon transport
• Shaping the future cities

India re-elected as Member of International Maritime Council (IMO) for 2016-17

(Topic: India and its International Membership)

India has been re-elected as member of International Maritime Council (IMO), under category ‘B’ at the 29^th session of the assembly- IMO Headquarters London from 23 Nov-2 Dec, 2015

IMO-

Matters:

• Global shipping industry
• Working programme strategy
• Budget

Consists: 40 member countries, elected by IMO Assembly

India and IMO-

• One of the earliest members of the IMO; among the first few countries, which had ratified the SOLAS Convention, 1974
• Joined it as a member-state in the year 1959
• India has had the privilege of being elected to and serving the council of the IMO ever since it started functioning

India’s Role and Interest-

India is firmly committed to the enduring cause of safety of life at sea, and protection of the marine environment and has been active in associating itself, with various initiatives of IMO and have made significant contribution for its implementation. India has taken concrete steps to upgrade the global safety standards applicable to both cargo and passenger ships

• India ranks amongst the top twenty ship owning countries of the world in terms of
  • Gross Tonnage
  • Deadweight
• India Shipping tonnage has been growing steadily and it is about 10.38 Million GT now.
• With India’s efforts, international bodies (International Chamber of Shipping and others) have now agreed to push back the HRA from 78 degrees East longitude to the 65 degrees East longitude (shift will come into effect from December 1, 2015)- translating it into one of the most significant triumphs for India in the maritime sector on the global stage

Benefits from this Shift-

• Result in huge savings for India’s EXIM trade and consumers on account of reduced insurance premium and consequently freight costs
• Improve safety of fishermen and fishing boats
• Improve the security along India’s coastline

GS-3

Ministry of Mines and Steel Chairs Consultative Committee Meeting on ‘Challenges in Steel Sector’ and ‘Reforms in Mining Sector’

(Topic: Development of Different Sectors and Industrial Development)

Objective-

• To increase steel capacity to 300 million tonnes in the next decade, i.e. by 2025
• The future growth of Indian State Sector expected to be positive with-
• Growth in economy
• Government initiative like Make In India
• Increased investment in Infrastructure

 Challenges-

• Import increased by 75.5% in FY 2014-2015
• Rising debt of the steel industry
• Face difficult financial situation
• The net sales realization of steelcompanies is decreasing due to declining prices of steel products, leading to financial strain due to reduced operating EBIDTA and profits

Reforms at play-

• Mines and Mineral Amendment Act 2015 ( Development and Regulation)
• Minerals Rules 2015 ( Evidence of Mineral Contents)
• Mineral ( Auction) Rules 2015
• NMET Rules
• Mines and Minerals (Contribution to District Mineral Foundation) Rules

Steps Taken-

• There is a need for the Government to work in close coordination with states
• Bring the beneficiaries from exploration and exploration agencies on platform for better Synergy and Progress

DRDO Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness

(Topic: Disaster and Risk Management)

Objective-To showcase technologies and products developed indigenously by the organisation,which can be readily adopted or customized for disaster management

• Use of these technologies will help in reduction of socio- economic and environmental impact of disasters
• Can be easily adapted towards disaster management solution by various stakeholders
• Boost to local manufacturing of these products with technologies that are readily available
• Awareness for the stakeholders- To know about the current developments and upcoming developments that can be utilized for providing better solutions in future

DRDO and Usability-

Disaster management broadly comprises of:

• Pre-disaster: Prevention+ Mitigation + Preparedness
• Post-disaster: Response + Rehabilitation+ Reconstruction + Recovery

Contribution: To the various disaster management operations like

• Tsunami disaster in 2004,
• Uttarakhand flash floods in 2013 and
• J&K floods in 2014

Participants- NDMA, NDRF, MHA, Armed Forces, CRPF, CISF, NSG, NIDH and others

SAARC Regional Workshop on Sharing Best Practices on "Disaster Risk Reduction" 

Objective-

• To provide a platform for the member countries for sharing best practices in the field of disaster risk reduction, experience sharing on Nepal Earthquake April 2015
• Deliberating upon the outcomes of the South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise (SAADMEx -2015)
• Create cooperation between the countries to manage disasters effectively
• Discuss the lessons learnt and to deliberate upon the larger issues of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in context of Sendai Framework
• Help in the direction of ratification of SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters signed in 2011
• Regional centres have also been established and constitutes an important framework of SAARC institutions, which addresses diverse aspects of environment, climate change and natural disasters
• Centres:
  • SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (Maldives),
  • SAARC Forestry Centre (Bhutan) and
  • SAARC Disaster Management Centre (India)

NHAI approves pilot project for developing strategically designed greenbelt along National Highways 

(Topic: Infrastructure, Roads etc)

• NHAI has approved a pilot project submitted by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur for undertaking scientific studies on designing greenbelts along national highways
• The project will be implemented on a 5 km stretch on NH-7 between Jam and Hinganghat in Nagpur region
• Around 20,000 trees of scientifically chosen species are proposed to be planted on both sides of this stretch in multiple rows
• Work activities have been delineated considering two major factors :

To be taken under consideration:

• Traffic frequency
• Available space
• Soil type
• Water availability
• Climatic conditions
• Anthropogenic interference

Plant characteristics to fit in the site requirement

• Height
• Canopy cover
• Air pollution Tolerance Index
• Sociability

The project will run for 5 years, and during this period various experiments will be conducted in NEERI laboratory to record the impact of greenbelt development. Besides developing greenbelt, the project will also assist in developing relevant research infrastructure that may be used for similar studies in future