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(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
Signing of an agreement between: Government of India, Governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives
Under the new agreement
What is Bru-Reang refugee crisis?
In 1997, following ethnic tension, around 5,000 families comprising around 30,000 Bru-Reang tribals were forced to flee Mizoram and seek shelter in Tripura. These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.
Since 2010, Government of India has been making sustained efforts to permanently rehabilitate these refugees. The Union government has been assisting the two State governments for taking the care of the refugees. Till 2014, 1622 Bru-Reang families returned to Mizoram in different batches.
On 3rd July, 2018, an agreement was signed between the Union government, the two State governments and representatives of Bru-Reang refugees, as a result of which the aid given to these families was increased substantially. Subsequently, 328 families comprising of 1369 individuals returned to Mizoram under the agreement. There had been a sustained demand of most Bru-Reang families that they may be allowed to settle down in Tripura, considering their apprehensions about their security.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has notified the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Voluntary Liquidation Process) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 on 15th January. 2020.
The aforesaid amendment provides that a Liquidator shall deposit the amount of unclaimed dividends, if any, and undistributed proceeds, if any, in a liquidation process along with any income earned thereon into the Corporate Voluntary Liquidation Account before submission of an application for dissolution of the corporate person. It also provides a process for a stakeholder to seek withdrawal from the Corporate Voluntary Liquidation Account.
MoU between NITI Aayog and Union Territory of Ladakh for Development of Infrastructure Projects
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation)
Under this MoU, NITI Aayog will be supporting the UT’s administration through its key initiative ‘Development Support Services to States for Infrastructure Projects (D3S-i)’.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation with neighbouring countries)
A formal co-production agreement was signed on the biopic of “BangaBandhu”, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, which will be released during the birth centenary year of Bangabandhu. Bangladesh has decided to celebrate the ‘Mujib Year’ from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021 to mark the centenary year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh.
Deepening India’s engagement with Bangladesh, an airtime exchange programme between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Radio Betar was also launched. With today’s launch content from Maitree service has started airing in Dhaka and reciprocally content from Bangladesh Radio Betar has started airing on All India Radio in Kolkata.
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation with other countries)
The MoU on co-operation in the field of Production, Procurement, Research and Development of Defence related Equipment and Industrial cooperation has been inked on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue 2020.
Under the broad ambit of the MoU, cooperation between Finnish companies and Indian Defence Public Sector Undertakings could be explored.
Timelines:
(Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation with international organisations)
The Government of India, the Government of Assam and the World Bank signed a loan agreement of $88 million to help modernize Assam’s passenger ferry sector that runs on its rivers including the mighty Brahmaputra.
A majority of Assam’s more than 361 ferry routes cross the Brahmaputra or serve its islands, providing a crucial means of transport to thousands of commuters in both the urban and rural areas of the Brahmaputra Valley.
The Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) will
Assam has the largest network of navigable waterways in India. The Government of Assam has taken on the challenge of modernizing the ferries sector which, though vital to the state, remains largely informal. With World Bank support, the government is creating an institutional framework that will mainstream Inland Waterways as a mode of transport that is both attractive and well-suited to a wide cross-section of people living in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam.
(Topic: Space Technology)
GSAT-30 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage.
The satellite will provide communication services to Indian mainland and islands through Ku-band and wide coverage covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia through C-band. GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Television uplinking and Teleport Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications.
In the days ahead, orbit-raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using its onboard propulsion system. During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and the antenna reflectors of GSAT-30 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration. The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.
(Topic: Tourism; Environment)
The Island Development Agency reviewed the progress made towards the programme “Holistic development of islands”. For the first time in the country, under the guidance of IDA, an initiative of sustainable development in the identified Islands within scientifically-assessed carrying capacity has been taken-up.
Development Plans with focus on creation of jobs for the islanders through tourism promotion as well as export of seafood and coconut-based products made in the Islands have been prepared and are being implemented in four islands of Andaman & Nicobar and five islands of Lakshadweep. In the second phase, suitable sites in 12 more islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and 5 islands in Lakshadweep have been covered.
Model tourism projects
Strengthening infrastructure support
Way Forward
Year End Review 2019 – Ministry of Power
Availability of reliable and affordable energy is key for development of any country. Electrification of approximately 2.6 Crores households achieved
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA): Launched in Sept., 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification by providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural and urban areas by 31st March, 2019
Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana (DDUGJY): 100% villages across the country stands electrified as on 28thApril, 2018
Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) was launched in the year 2014 for improving and augmenting the distribution and sub-transmission systems in Urban areas with a view to improve reliability. Under the scheme, till today, system strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network has been in 371 circles. 560 additional urban Towns have been IT-enabled, and about 30,000 kms of HT/LT lines have been installed across 546 circles in the country. 820 new substations have been constructed, while more than 50,000 Distribution transformers have been installed. For better work flow management in the Utilities, IPDS has also funded Enterprise resource planning (ERP) across several Utilities, out of which implementation has been completed in 6 Utilities.
Smart Metering: In the current financial year, Ministry of Power has issued guidelines to all States to convert all existing consumer meters into Smart meters in prepaid mode. Operation of Smart meters in prepaid mode would allow consumers to pay as per their own financial convenience and electricity consumption requirements.
Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY): A scheme for financial and operation turnaround of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) was launched by the Government for State owned Distribution Utilities at a time when the outstanding debts and losses of the Distribution utilities had increased to levels that were adversely affecting the viability of the Power and Banking Sectors. The purpose of UDAY was to usher reforms across the Power and coal Sectors through competitive and cooperative federalism to pave the way for 24X7 affordable and reliable Power for all. UDAY incorporated a slew of measures, including financial re-engineering measures, as well as operational improvement measures.
Atal JyotiYojana (AJAY) and Solar Study Lamp scheme: Over 1.48 lakh Solar LED Street Lights commissioned in rural areas under AJAY and over 59.18 lakh Solar Study Lamps distributed to school going students under Solar Study Lamp scheme.
North Eastern states: Over 1 crore LED bulbs, 93,900 LED tube lights and 3.65 lakh energy efficient fans distributed under UJALA scheme. Over 1 lakh LED street lights installed under SLNP.
Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA): Over 36.10 crore LED bulbs, 71.61 lakh LED tube lights and 23.10 lakh energy efficient fans distributed across the country. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 47 billion kWh per year with avoided peak demand of 9,590 MW, estimated GHG emission reduction of 38 million CO2 per year and estimated cost saving of INR 18,935 crore per year in electricity bills of consumers.
Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP): Over 1 crore energy efficient LED streetlights have been installed across the country. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 6.9 billion kWh per year with avoided peak demand of 1,152 MW, estimated GHG emission reduction of 4.76 million t CO2per year and estimated annual cost saving of INR 2,686 crore in electricity bills of Municipalities.
National E-Mobility Programme: Procurement process of 10,000 e-cars concluded. The price discovered for e-cars is 25 % less than similar cars in market. Till date, 1510 e-cars deployed/under deployment for Government offices and 470 Captive Chargers (300 AC & 170 DC) commissioned in these offices.
Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure: EESL is also installing Public Charging Stations to promote Electric vehicles. Till date, 65 nos. of Public Charging Stations (PCS) have been commissioned in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area. MoUs signed with multiple stakeholders across the country.
Building Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP): Building energy efficiency project has been completed in 10,310 buildings including Railway stations and Airports.
Agricultural Demand Side Management (AgDSM): Over73,600 energy efficient pumps have been installed in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Decentralized solar power plants: Decentralized solar power plant of60 MW cumulative capacity commissioned in the state of Maharashtra.
Prelims oriented News
National Youth Day: 13th Jan
Thuglak, a Tamil magazine: Founded by the late Cho Ramaswamy
November 26, 2019: 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award: Prof. M S Swaminathan - Doyen of Agricultural Science
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF): The largest singular & specialized disaster response force in the world
IRAD project: Will enhance the analytical capabilities based on international best practice, and will also help to perform analysis based on collected data for further improvement/corrective measures to be taken at accident spot/accident prone areas by the concerned Road Authority.
There are two main agricultural seasons in India –
FASTag Rules relaxed for 65 NHAI toll plazas having High Cash Transactions
Novel coronavirus outbreak in China
Coronaviruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can also evolve and infect people.