07.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project

Originally approved in 2009, the Project aims to:

• Deliver various web based police related services to citizens.
• Facilitate a pan-India search of crime and criminal records of individuals through a national database.
• Generate crime and criminal reports at the state and central level to inform policy interventions and
• Computerise police processes.
• In 2015, an additional objective of establishing a basic platform for an Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) was added to the Project.
• The Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) aims to integrate the CCTNS project with the e-courts and e-prisons databases in the first instance and with the other pillars of the criminal justice system - Forensics, Prosecution, Juvenile homes and a nationwide Fingerprint data base of criminals in a phased manner.
• Why in News? The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for extension of the implementation phase of the Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project for another year beyond 31st March 2017. The extension would help in achieving the remaining objectives of the project comprehensively.

Belmont Forum

• The Belmont Forum, created in 2009, is a group of the world’s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research.
• It provides an opportunity to identify study and deliver international environmental research priorities, for the society, in an accelerated way through trans­national research collaboration.
• India is a member of Belmont Forum, besides Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Commission, France, Germany, Japan, Netherland, South Africa, UK and USA etc.
• Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), represents India in the Belmont Forum since 2012.
• Why in News? “The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of the Collaborative Agreement with French National Research Agency (ANR), France for supporting the Belmont Forum Secretariat from January, 2015 to December, 2017 at a total estimated expenditure of Euro 40,000. The Cabinet also approved continued financial support to Belmont Forum Secretariat beyond 2017.”

Pollution from Coal based Thermal Power Plants

• The Government has taken several steps to modernize and improve the efficiency of coal based thermal power plants and to reduce the pollution level of coal based thermal power plants in the vicinity of these plants.
• Supercritical technology has already been adopted for thermal power generation. The design efficiency of Supercritical units is about 5% higher than that of typical 500 MW subcritical units and these (supercritical) units are likely to have correspondingly lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in ambient air.
• All Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) are required to use supercritical technology.
• Coal based capacity addition during the 13th Plan period shall be through super-critical units.
• Indigenous research is being pursued for development of an Advanced Ultra Supercritical Technology (A-USC) with targeted efficiency improvement of about 10% over supercritical unit.
• A capacity of about 7751.94 MW of old and inefficient unit has already been retired till date.
• Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme under National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency is under implementation by BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency). In PAT cycle–II, individual target for improving efficiency has been assigned to 154 thermal power stations.
• High efficiency Electrostatics Preceptor (ESP) are installed to capture Particulate Matters from Flue gases.
• SO2 emission control is achieved through dispersion of flue gases through tall stacks (275 metres) to reduce the concentration of polluting gases at ground level.
• Harmful pollutants emitted from a typical, uncontrolled coal plants include: Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, PM (soot or fly ash), Mercury, VOCs, Lead, Cadmium, toxic heavy metals, Arsenic, Carbon Monoxide and trace amounts of uranium.
• Ozone is a secondary pollutant; it is formed due to the reaction of emissions from coal power plants such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds with atmospheric Oxygen, in the presence of sunlight. 

Article 142

• A. 142: The Supreme Court may pass such decree or order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
• The recent highway liquor ban was imposed by the SC under A. 142.
• The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it will use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to transfer the Babri Masjid demolition related trial in Rae Bareilly against top BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to Lucknow, where a CBI court is hearing conspiracy and other serious criminal charges against "lakhs of unknown kar sevaks" for the actual act of razing down the 15th century mosque.

Cyber Physical Systems

• With autonomous vehicles and robot-executed surgeries becoming commonplace around the world, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has initiated a Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) programme.
• CPS is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the deployment of computer-based systems that do things in the physical world, such as, for instance, the self-driven cars produced by Google and Tesla. However, even smart grids (where electricity is optimally distributed on the basis of calculations in real time by micro-processors) as well as autonomous unmanned vehicles and aircraft navigation systems qualify as ‘cyber physical systems.’
• CPS is a mechanism controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms, tightly integrated with internet and its users. It is an engineered system that are built from and depend upon, the seamless integration of computational algorithms and physical components.
• In general Cyber means computation, communication and control that are discrete and logical. Physical means natural and human-made systems governed by the laws of physics and operating in continuous time. Computing and communication systems bridges with the physical world are referred to as Cyber Physical Systems. 

06.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

Right to Privacy

• Important cases cited when the above matter comes up before judiciary: ‘M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra’ (8 judges bench; 1954) and ‘Kharak Singh v. the State of U.P.’ (6 judges bench; 1962)
• Both judgments had categorically rejected the existence of privacy as a guaranteed right under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• The above issue was in news recently due to WhatsApp-Facebook contract, whereby the former could share the contact details of its users with the latter.

Rail Development Authority

The regulator will perform four primary functions—

• Tariff determination (it will not set the tariffs; it will only recommend tariffs “commensurate with costs”);
• Ensuring fair play and level playing field for stakeholder investment;
• Setting efficiency and performance standards;
• Dissemination of information

McMahon Line

• Frontier between Tibet and Assam in British India, negotiated between Tibet and Great Britain at the end of the Shimla Conference (October 1913–July 1914) and named for the chief British negotiator, Sir Henry McMahon.
• It runs from the eastern border of Bhutan along the crest of the Himalayas until it reaches the great bend in the Brahmaputra River where that river emerges from its Tibetan course into the Assam Valley.
• Thus it demarcates the boundary line between Tibet and present-day state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Air Service Agreement

• ASA is the basic legal framework for any air operation between the two countries.
• “An air transport agreement (also sometimes called an air service agreement or ATA or ASA) is an agreement which two nations sign to allow international commercial air transport services between their territories.
• The bilateral system has its basis under the Chicago convention and associated multilateral treaties.
• Why in News? Recently the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Georgia.

What’s a Planet?

• In simple words, a ‘planet’ is a celestial body that “must orbit the sun, must be round, and along with its satellites, must “orbit in a clear path around the sun”.
• The exact definition, according to the IAU, of “a planet in the Solar System would be as follows: A celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.”

Geotagging

• ‘Geotagging’ is the process of adding geographical identification like latitude and longitude to various media such as a photo or video. Geotagging can help users find a wide variety of location-specific information from a device. It provides users the location of the content of a given picture.
• ‘Geomapping’ is a visual representation of the geographical location of geotagged assets layered on top of map or satellite imagery.
• Who does Geotagging? The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), ISRO (Hyderabad) has a software platform, Bhuvan that allows users to explore a 2D/3D representation of the surface of the Earth. It also acts as a platform for hosting government data.
• Geotagging for monitoring of assets is already started in Ministry of Rural Development for MGNREGA and Department of Land Resources for monitoring of watershed activities in the states. Postal department has also geotagged the post offices using NRSC Bhuvan Platform.
• Several assets are created in the states under various schemes of various Ministries. Monitoring of such wide spread activities is of paramount importance to states and Government of India to understand flow of funds, inventorising the assets, bringing in transparency, planning of assets for future, and finally informing the farmers about the facilities available. Geotagging helps with such monitoring.
• A recent proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Family Welfare seeks to prepare an inventory of the assets created in the last one decade under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana through Geotagging technique.

05.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

Kani Tribe

• They have a rich traditional knowledge of the medicinal resources in the forests of Agasthyamalai Hills.
• The tribal physicians among them – known as “Plathi” – are the exclusive holders of the traditional medicinal knowledge.
• A formulation named “Jeevani”, which means “giver of life”, was made by a research institute, sourcing ingredients from a plant known called “Arogyapacha” by this tribe.
• A recently discovered arboreal crab – the first of its kind – has been named after this tribe.
• Scientists have discovered a new species of long legged, tree-dwelling crabs in Western Ghats of Kerala. The new species named Kani maranjandu after the Kani tribe in Kerala, are substantially different from other congeners. This is the first report of its kind to offer a record of an arboreal crab — a species that lives in trees.

Barak Missiles

• In News: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Defence Ministry on Monday approved the purchase of Barak surface-to-air missiles (SAM) for the Navy among other proposals. Israeli-built Barak short-range SAMs are installed on most of the front-line warships, including the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
• About DAC: The DAC, set up in 2001 as part of the post-Kargil reforms in defence sector, approves the long-term integrated perspective plan for the forces, accords acceptance of necessity (AON) to begin acquisition proposals, and has to grant its approval to all major deals through all their important phases. It also has the power to approve any deviations in an acquisition, and recommends all big purchases for approval of the Cabinet committee on security.

Bathy Thermograph System

• India is considering procurement of expendable Bathy thermograph systems for the Navy to detect temperature changes under water through the foreign military sales route from the U.S.
• An Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) is a small probe that is dropped over the side of a ship. As it falls through the water, it measures temperature. Small wires transmit the temperate data back to the ship where it is recorded for further analysis.
• Because the probe falls through the water at a known rate, the depth of the probe can be inferred from the time of launch. Scientists then plot temperature as a function of depth to create a temperature profile of the water.
• It may surprise you to learn that temperature profiles play an important role in multibeam mapping operations. In order to make accurate depth measurements using multibeam sonar, we need to know how fast the sound wave emitted from the sonar unit travels through seawater. The speed at which sound travels changes as the density of water varies through the water column. Temperature and salinity are the two main variables that affect the density of seawater.
• Therefore an Expendable Bathythermograph System helps with making accurate measurements – directly of Temperature throughout the water column, and indirectly of Sound speed profile for the water column and Depth of water and consequently in mapping the seabed.

Right to Vote in India

• In India, the right to vote is provided by the Constitution and the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, subject to certain disqualifications.
• Article 326 of the Constitution guarantees the right to vote to every citizen above the age of 18.
• Further, Section 62 of the Representation of Peoples Act (RoPA), 1951 states that every person who is in the electoral roll of that constituency will be entitled to vote.
• Thus, the Constitution and the RoPA make it clear that every individual above the age of 18, whose name is in the electoral rolls, and does not attract any of the disqualifications under the Act, may cast his vote.
• Therefore voting is both a constitutional and statutory right.

04.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

Gibraltar

• Gibraltar is a British overseas territory occupying a narrow peninsula of Spain’s southern Mediterranean coast, just northeast of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the east side of the Bay of Gibraltar (Bay of Algeciras).
• In the news: Following the triggering of formal Brexit negotiations, it was revealed the EU’s draft document on its Brexit strategy said no agreement on its future relationship with the UK would apply to Gibraltar without the consent of Spain – giving it a potential veto. Spain – a member of the EU – reportedly lobbied for the condition. Gibraltar, which voted by 96% to stay in the EU in June’s referendum, accused Spain of using Brexit to pursue its territorial aims.

UPSC

• In News: “Prof. Syiemlieh joined the Commission as Member on June 25, 2012 and was later appointed to perform the duties of the post of Chairman, UPSC under Article 316 (1A) of the Constitution of India w.e.f. January 4, 2017. He took the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, under clause (1) of Article 316 of the Constitution of India, today (3rd April, 2017).”
• Usually, the Commission consists of nine to eleven members including the chairman.
• Further, no qualifications are prescribed for the Commission’s membership except that one-half of the members of the Commission should be such persons who have held office for at least ten years either under the Government of India or under the government of a state.
• The chairman and members of the Commission hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• The President can appoint one of the members of the UPSC as an acting chairman in the following two circumstances: (a) When the office of the chairman falls vacant; or (b) When the chairman is unable to perform his functions due to absence or some other reason.

New BRV-PV Vaccine

• Developed by Serum Institute of India.
• It is a vaccine against rotavirus.
• Currently, two vaccines exist against rotavirus, but they must be kept refrigerated at all times. In addition to being heat-stable, BRV-PV is also cheaper than the other two rotavirus vaccines on the market, with a price of less than $2.50. This price should help ensure that countries quickly incorporate the new vaccine into routine immunization programs.
• Rotavac, a rotavirus vaccine produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, became part of India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) when it was introduced in 4 states in April 2016, and was subsequently extended to 5 more states last month. The key step forward in the manufacture of Serum Institute of India’s new BRV-PV vaccine — to be ultimately called Rotasiil — is that it does not, unlike Rotavac, require refrigeration, and is, therefore, easier to store in low-income countries where rotavirus poses the greatest threat to children.
• Rotavirus: Rotavirus is a virus that causes diarrhea, mostly in babies and young children. The diarrhea can be severe, and lead to dehydration. Vomiting and fever are also common in babies with rotavirus.

Multilateral Groupings Trivia

India is a founding member of:

• International Labour Organisation
• South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation
• Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

Seats of Learning from India’s Past

• Takshashila: Rawalpindi District of the Punjab, Pakistan
• Somapura: Naogaon District, Bangladesh
• Jagaddala: North-west Bangladesh on the border with India
• Nalanda: Nalanda District, Bihar
• Odantapuri: Nalanda District, Bihar
• Vikramashila: Bhagalpur District, Bihar
• Valabhi: Bhavnagar District, Gujarat

A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in ancient Bengal and Magadha. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious; Somapura Mahavihara; Odantapurā; and Jaggadala. The monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them ... it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them.

03.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

Sanskritization

• It is a particular form of social change found in India. It denotes the process by which castes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility by emulating the rituals and practices of the upper or dominant castes.
• This term was made popular by Indian sociologist M. N. Srinivas in the 1950s, although earlier references to this process can be found in Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
• M.N. Srinivas defined sanskritisation as a process by which "a low or middle Hindu caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual ideology, and way of life in the direction of a high and frequently twice-born caste. Generally such changes are followed by a claim to a higher position in the caste hierarchy than that traditionally conceded to the claimant class by the local community.
• One clear example of sanskritisation is the adoption, in emulation of the practice of twice-born castes, of vegetarianism by people belonging to the so-called "low castes" who are traditionally not averse to non-vegetarian food.

International Labour Organization

• India is a founder member of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which came into existence in 1919. At present, the ILO has 187 members.
• The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the ILO brings together 1) governments, 2) employers and 3) workers’ representatives of 187 member States , to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.
• The Union Cabinet recently has given its approval for ratification of the two fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization namely, Minimum Age Convention (No 138) concerning minimum age for admission to employment, and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No 182) concerning the prohibition and immediate action for elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour.
• The principal means of action in the ILO is the setting up of International standards in the form of Conventions, Recommendations and Protocol. India has so far ratified 45 Conventions, out of which 42 are in force. Out of these 4 are Fundamental or Core Conventions.

Algal Bloom

• Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can be debilitating or even fatal.
• But not all algal blooms are harmful. Most blooms, in fact, are beneficial because the tiny plants are food for animals in the ocean. In fact, they are the major source of energy that fuels the ocean food web.
• A small percentage of algae, however, produce powerful toxins that can kill fish, shellfish, mammals, and birds, and may directly or indirectly cause illness in people. HABs also include blooms of non-toxic species that have harmful effects on marine ecosystems. For example, when masses of algae die and decompose, the decaying process can deplete oxygen in the water, causing the water to become so low in oxygen that animals either leave the area or die.
• The satellite based information service for Detection and Monitoring of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) has been implemented at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) by Ocean Colour Application Team (OCAT).
• According to researchers, the bloom develops in the Arabian Sea “as a result of a continuous process of winter cooling and convective mixing.
• Cool dry continental air from the northeast causes an increase in surface density of the sea water due to evaporative cooling and increased salinity.” The “vertical mixing of the water masses causes recharge of water column with nutrients from the deep. The resulting nutrient enrichment increases the biological production” of the water, they noted.

Algal Bloom and India

• The coastal States of India may not suffer from the massive algal bloom that has been reported from the Arabian Sea. Ocean-watchers had earlier reported that a bloom of the size of Mexico, which originated in the Gulf of Oman, had reached the Arabian Sea and feared that it could reach Indian shores.
• Those at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, (INCOIS), Hyderabad, confirmed that the algal species green Noctiluca scintillans had bloomed. The presence of the green algae gives deep green colour to the ocean in the areas of spread.
• Researchers at INCOIS say that the current bloom was unlikely to impact the coastal States of the country. The researchers use remote sensing technique for the identification of the bloom species. In-situ studies were also carried out earlier by deploying research vessels to understand the various phases of the algal bloom.

02.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

e-Visa

• With a view to stimulating economic growth, increasing earnings from the export of services like tourism, medical value travel, travel on account of business thereby making India an attractive destination for foreign direct and portfolio investment, Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, at its meeting held on November 30, 2016, had approved various measures for liberalization, simplification and rationalization of the visa regime in India.
• With effect from tomorrow i.e. April 1, 2017, e-Visa has further been sub-divided into 3 categories i.e. e-tourist visa, e-Business visa and e-Medical visa.
• E-visa facility has been extended to the nationals of 161 countries for entry through 24 airports (E-visa service was earlier granted through 16 airports) and 3 Indian Ports i.e. Cochin, Goa and Mangalore to tap the potential of cruise tourism from different countries. (that means entry through both airports and seaports)
• This service will also be provided from Mumbai and Chennai seaports shortly.
• The liberalization of the visa regime will considerably facilitate entry of foreigners into India for tourism, business and medical purposes. Consequently, the arrival of foreigners in India is expected to go up substantially in the coming years. This will in turn give a boost to the tourism, medical and business sectors resulting in substantial increase in direct and indirect employment in these sectors.

South Asia Growth Quadrangle

• The South Asia Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) was launched in April 1997 by the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN).
• The Ninth Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on May 1997 in Male, Maldives endorsed SAGQ as a subregional initiative under SAARC.
• The goals of SAGQ are:
• to create an enabling environment for accelerating economic growth;
• to overcome infrastructural constraints;
• to make optimal use of and further develop the complementarities in the subregion, and
• to develop economic and institutional linkages and nodal points for facilitating cooperation on policy framework and project implementation.

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

• SASEC program of Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expanding towards the East with Myanmar formally becoming the 7th member of SASEC in 2017.
• Myanmar was accorded an observer status of SASEC in 2013 when ADB’s annual meeting was held in Noida, India. Myanmar has been participating in annual SASEC Nodal Officials’ meetings as an observer since 2014. It was invited by the participating countries of SASEC countries to become a full member in 2015.
• 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. As a project-based partnership, the SASEC program has been helping realize regional prosperity by enhancing cross-border connectivity, facilitating faster and more efficient trade and promoting cross-border power trade.
• Maldives and Sri Lanka joined SASEC in 2014, further expanding opportunities for enhancing economic linkages in the sub-region.
• SASEC member countries recognize that most of SASEC’s multimodal connectivity initiatives include Myanmar. Road corridors in Myanmar provide the key links between South Asia and Southeast Asia. Ports in Myanmar will provide additional gateways to the landlocked North Eastern region of India. Development of multi-modal connectivity between North Eastern region of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar has the potential of unleashing tremendous economic energy in the sub-region.

Index of Industrial Production

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing.
• The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 38 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 
• In ascending order of their weights in the IIP: Fertilisers, Natural Gas, Cement, Coal, Crude Oil, Refinery Products, Steel and Electricity.

Purana Qila

• Why in News? Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), National Culture Fund (NCF) and NBCC (India) Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here for the ‘Conservation, development & maintenance of Purana Qila project’ at Purana Qila, New Delhi under NBCC’s CSR initiative.
• History: Sher Shah Sur seems to have razed to the ground the city of Dinpanah built by Humayun, and on the same site, which was also perhaps the site of Indraprastha, believed to be the capital of the Pandavas, he raised the citadel of Purana-Qal'a with an extensive city-area sprawling around it. Among the seven cities of Delhi, the Purana-Qal'a is the sixth. It seems that the Purana-Qal'a was still incomplete at Sher Shah's death in 1545, and was perhaps completed by Humayun, although it is not exactly certain which parts were built by the latter.

01.04.17 Daily Current Affairs

James Webb Space Telescope

• The James Webb Space Telescope is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
• The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror (about 6 times larger in area than the Hubble Space Telescope).
• JWST will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
• The James Webb Space Telescope will not be in orbit around the Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope is - it will actually orbit the Sun, 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.
• A Lagrange point is a location in space where the combined gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as Earth and the sun or Earth and the moon, equal the centrifugal force felt by a much smaller third body. ... They are also called Lagrangian points and libration points.
• This space-based observatory is named after James E. Webb (1906- 1992), NASA's second administrator.

Foodstuff and Water Sources

• The global market for foodstuffs is depleting water sources in many parts of the world quicker than they can naturally be refilled.
• The complex trade is increasing pressure on non-renewable groundwater, mainly used for irrigating crops such as rice, wheat and cotton.
• Pakistan, the US and India are the countries exporting the most food grown with unsustainable water.
• Around 43% of the water used to irrigate crops around the world comes from underground aquifers, as opposed to rivers and lakes. Many of these sources are being used up quicker than they can be refilled from rainfall.
• The vast majority of the world's populations live in countries that source nearly all their staple crop imports from nations who deplete significant amounts of groundwater to irrigate these foodstuffs.
• The researchers found that some 11% of the non-renewable groundwater used for irrigation is embedded in the the global food trade. Two-thirds of this are accounted for by Pakistan, the US and India.

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

• The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, set up in 2001, brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar (Joined February 2017), Nepal and Sri Lanka (No Pakistan yet) in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
• Since 2001, SASEC countries have implemented 46 regional projects worth more than $9 billion in the energy, economic corridor development, transport, trade facilitation, and information and communications technology sectors.
• The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves as the Secretariat for the SASEC member countries, and is the lead financier of the SASEC programme.
• Considering the progress made by India in the above areas, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been partnering with Indian Customs for sharing best practices and technical expertise with other countries under the SASEC umbrella. This form of South-South collaboration will support harmonizing the systems and processes within the sub-region thereby creating a conducive environment for intra-regional trade in SASEC to flourish.

World Customs Organisation

• The WCO, established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations.
• The CCC was intially a Customs Committee set up by a group of a few European Governments based on the principles of the GATT. The name ‘WCO’ was adopted in 1994 to reflect its status as a truly global intergovernmental institution.
• Today, the WCO represents 181 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade. As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO is the only international organization with competence in Customs matters and can rightly call itself the voice of the international Customs community.
• The ‘Revised Kyoto Convention’ (RKC) is the legal instrument of the WCO that aims to simplify and harmonize international customs procedures globally, in order to achieve faster, more predictable and efficient customs clearances.

GARV and SAMVAD

• GARV: Data in respect of about 6 lakh villages, with more than 15 lakh habitations having 17 crore people, has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages. Status of village-wise works sanctioned under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and release of funds to the States for these projects has also been mapped in ‘GARV-II’ to monitor progress of works in each village.  The progress is required to be updated by the implementing agencies of the States on day to day basis. All data would be made available in public domain to ensure transparency, enhance accountability of various stakeholders and facilitate view of near real time progress.
• SAMVAD: Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large. The feedback and suggestions from the people would be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Director(s) and Superintending Engineer(s) of DISCOMs through SMS & e-mail on their dashboard for online monitoring and further action.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

• Ministry of Power has decided to take electrification of all UE villages as Mission mode and set target of electrification by June, 2017.
• Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the Nodal Agency for implementation of the scheme under the overall guidance of MoP.
• REC has engaged RECPDCL for monitoring of UE villages. RECPDCL has deputed engineers in field Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) at Block level in all the states where work has started.
• At present, there are total 18058 nos. of un-electrified villages in India out of which 8143 villages have already been awarded.
• The monitoring of villages is being carried out in 12 stages designated as milestones of a village.
• Total 200 Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas have been deployed in 11 states where work has already been awarded.

31.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

New Development Bank

• During the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014), the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB).
• In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development, thus contributing to collective commitments for achieving the goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
• The NDB is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with the objective of financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

• Union Government’s flagship irrigation programme.
• Out of about 141 m.Ha of net area sown in the country, about 65 million hectare (or 45%) is presently covered under irrigation. Substantial dependency on rainfall makes cultivation in unirrigated areas a high risk, less productive profession. Empirical evidences suggest that assured or protective irrigation encourages farmers to invest more in farming technology and inputs leading to productivity enhancement and increased farm income.
• The overreaching vision of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) is to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural farms in the country, to produce ‘per drop more crop’, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.

Some specific objectives of PMKSY

• Enhance the adoption of precision - irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop).
• Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
• Promote extension activities relating to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.
• Explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for peri - urban agriculture.
• Attract greater private investments in irrigation.

India Energy Outlook

• According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) ‘India Energy Outlook’ report, India’s energy demand is expected to more than double over the next 25 years
• Thanks to rising income, population growth and urbanization, there is a huge potential for energy demand growth in India, which is home to about a fifth of the world’s population but uses only about 6% of the world’s energy. India’s energy demand is expected to more than double over the next 25 years, according to the IEA’s India Energy Outlook.
• India recently declared its ‘Association’ status with the IEA. To be a member country of the IEA, a country must first be an OECD member, which India is not.
• India has a vision of ensuring 24×7 affordable and environment friendly ‘Power for All’ and deeper engagement with IEA is a component of achieving this vision.
• With enhanced cooperation with the IEA, India would be able to play a more visible and influential role in the future global energy governance landscape. “Association” status would facilitate India’s participation in meetings of the standing groups, committees and working groups that constitute the IEA governance structure.
• Shared areas of co-operation under ‘Association’ include energy security, energy data and statistics, energy policy analysis, energy efficiency, energy technologies, renewables, electricity security, and grid integration.

Law Commission’s 267th report

• The Law Commission of India laid out bare the danger of hate speech to the Central government in its 267th Report released recently.
• The Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, called for action from the government and Parliament.
• The top law advisory body to the government urged the expansion of the penal law. It drafted a new law — The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 — inserting new Sections to fortify democracy against hate speeches.
• “Indisputably, offensive speech has real and devastating effects on people’s lives and risks their health and safety. It is harmful and divisive for communities and hampers social progress. If left unchecked, hate speech can severely affect right to life of every individual,” the Commission warned.
• It said even a speech that does not incite violence has the potential of marginalising a section of the society, thus contradicting popular legal and judicial concepts about the ambit of hate speech.
• The Supreme Court in 2014 had referred to the Law Commission for means to arm the Election Commission to crack down on hate speech. Its reference to the Law Commission was on whether it was “proper to define hate speech and make recommendations to Parliament to strengthen the Election Commission to curb the menace of hate speeches irrespective of, whenever made.”
• …Incitement to violence cannot be the sole test for determining whether a speech amounts to hate speech or not…