Current Affairs Of Today Are
1) National Statistical Office (NSO) survey on sanitation
- The results showed that about 71% of rural households had access to toilets at a time when the Centre was claiming 95% had access.
- The survey was carried out between July and December 2018, with a reference date of October 1.
- The large States which had been declared ODF that is, 100% access to toilets and 100% usage even before the survey began included Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
- Others who were declared ODF during the survey included Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
- According to the NSO, almost 42% of the rural households in Jharkhand had no access to a toilet at that time. In Tamil Nadu, the gap was 37%, followed by 34% in Rajasthan. In Gujarat, which was one of the earliest States declared ODF, back in October 2017, almost a quarter of all rural households had no toilet access, the NSO data showed. The other major States listed also had significant gaps: Karnataka (30%), Madhya Pradesh (29%), Andhra Pradesh (22%) and Maharashtra (22%).
- In the first week of October 2018, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Grameen) said 25 States and Union Territories had been declared ODF, while toilet access across the country touched 95%. In reality, the NSO said 28.7% of rural households had no toilet access at the time.
- The 71% access to toilets was still a significant improvement over the situation during the last survey period in 2012, when only 40% of the rural households had access to toilets
Challenges for waste disposal
NSO data indicated that the next big challenge may lie in the disposal of waste. More than 50% of rural Indian households with toilets had septic tanks, while another 21% used single pits, both of which need to be cleaned and produce fecal sludge that must be disposed of safely. Only 10% of toilets were built with the twin leach pit system pushed by the Swachh Bharat scheme, which safely composts waste on its own without any need for cleaning or disposal
2) National Crime Records Data (NCRB) UAPA cases list
- More than 35% of the cases registered under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were recorded in Manipur, show the National Crime Records Data (NCRB)
- Manipur registered 330 cases in 2017 in which 352 persons were arrested.
- With 156 cases, Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) recorded 17% of such cases, followed by Assam (133) which reported 14% of all cases registered under it in 2017 in the entire
- country.
- Uttar Pradesh (109 cases) recorded 12% and Bihar (52) accounted for 5%.
- The data reveal that though the U.P. has recorded only 12% of the cases, it topped the States in the number of arrests made.
- As per information received from the NCRB, 1,128,999 and 1,554 persons were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) during 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively
About UAPA
Under the UAPA, the investigating agency can file a charge sheet in a maximum of 180 days after the arrests and the duration can be extended further after intimating the court. The antiterror Act has a death penalty and life imprisonment as maximum punishment.
3) Rural Health Statistics, 2018
Facing a shortfall of 2,277 doctors, Uttar Pradesh’s primary health centers (PHCs) have the worst patient-doctor ratio. With 942 of these centers working without electricity, regular water supply or all-weather motorable approach roads, the State’s PHCs has the worst infrastructure in the country
The States that have shown poor PHC ratings include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, and Bihar, show the Rural Health Statistics, 2018
Doctors
The data note that while Uttar Pradesh requires 3,621 doctors for its PHCs, the backbone of health delivery, it has only 1,344 doctors, showing a deficit of 2,277. Though the sanctioned strength is 4,509, there are 3,165 vacancies.
Infrastructure
The State also has the worst infrastructure with 213 centers without electricity supply, 270 without regular water supply and 459 without allweather motorable approach roads.
The States that have poor infrastructure based on the same parameters include Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, and Uttarakhand.
Financial support
- Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that under the National Health Mission (NHM), financial and technical support is provided to the States and Union Territories to strengthen their healthcare systems, including support for recruitment of doctors on contract, based on the requirements posed by them in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope.
- The Budget announcement of 2017-18, 1.5 lakh sub-health centers and PHCs were being transformed into health and wellness centers under Ayushman Bharat for provision of comprehensive primary care that includes preventive healthcare and health promotion at the community level with a continuumofcare approach
The number of seats is increased in MBBS
To improve the availability of doctors through the establishment of new government colleges and increase of seats at existing government medical colleges under a Centrally sponsored scheme and rationalization of norms for government medical colleges in terms of faculty and land have been done. The number of MBBS seats have been increased by more than 29,000 in the past five years.
4) Ken-Betwa river interlinking project
The project involves transferring surplus water from Ken river in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa in Uttar Pradesh and irrigate 3.64 lakh hectares in the Bundelkhand region of both States
Challenges faced by the project
The ₹18,000 crore project has been mired in several controversies. The most recent one is a disagreement between the States on the share of water.
Other than differences between the States, there are outstanding environmental obstructions too. It is not an easy road ahead
Infrastructure of Project
The project involves building a 77 meter tall and a 2 km wide Dhaudhan dam and a 230 km canal. Originally, this phase envisaged irrigating 6,35,661 hectares annually (3,69,881 ha in M.P. and 2,65,780 ha in U.P.). Besides, the project was to provide 49 million cubic meters for drinking water supply en route.
2005 agreement
There is a 2005 agreement between the two States on how water would be shared Madhya Pradesh
says these assumptions are no longer valid and the only way to meet the increased water requirements would be to include local management projects the Kotha barrage, Lower Orr and Bina complex that was envisaged in the second phase of the project in the first phase.
5) SaaB seeks clarity on strategic partnership
- Swedish Defence Major SaaB, which has fielded Gripen for the Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for 114 fighter jets, is looking for clarity on some provisions of the strategic partnership route of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)
- The comments are significant as it is a concern shared by several foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
- Under the strategic partnership policy, foreign OEMs have to tie up with Indian private companies to build the products locally
Drops submarine tender
Recently, SaaB pulled out of the Navy’s tender for six advanced conventional submarines under Project75I, citing tough provisions and a lack of clarity on the strategic partnership route, under which the tender was being processed. SaaB has a major presence in selfprotection systems, electronic warfare suites and camouflage materials. It is working closely with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
6) Bodo insurgent group NDFB
The Centre has extended the ban on Assam based Bodo insurgent group NDFB by five years
About National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
- The National Democratic Front of Bodoland has been indulging in illegal and violent activities, intended to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India in furtherance of its objective of achieving a separate Bodoland
- The NDFB was first declared an outlawed organization in the 1990s
7) Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM)
- The Indian Railways has been giving a lot of importance to the human resource development and training of its personnel and towards this end, it wants to integrate the functioning of all the top Central training institutes with the Railway University at Vadodara for developing world-class training
- A good training institute needed proper infrastructure and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) had shown the way in building the worldclass infrastructure at the Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM)
- The swank and the eco-friendly campus of IRIFM on 14 acres at Moula Ali, Hyderabad
- IRIFM will meet 90% of its electricity needs through solar power, is covered with rainwater harvesting structures and has a 100% wastewater treatment plant. It has 10 different block
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