Daily Current Affairs 4 December 2019

Current Affairs of Today Are

1)  DRDO to develop a naval fighter jet

• The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has offered to develop a new twin­engine deck-based fighter aircraft for the Navy based on the experience of the naval light combat aircraft (LCA) and it should be ready by 2026
• The Navy expected to have the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC­I)  Vikrant operational by 2022
• The current LCA Mk­1 was a technology demonstrator and it would further be put to carrier compatibility tests. And if it worked, whatever lessons they had learned would be plowed back by the DRDO into the new fighter to be developed

Navy Needs new Aircraft Carrier

The country requires three aircraft carriers so that two are operational at any given time

The case for IAC­2 and finalizing the requirements. After this, they would go to the government for Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) and it would be followed by design consultancy to decide the exact contours.

On the IAC­I, which is under an advanced stage of construction in Kochi all ship­build issues are over and trials would begin now that will take delivery by February-March 2021 aviation trials

would take a year after that. Navy should have a fully operational carrier by 2022.

MILAN

The Navy is scheduled to host its largest multilateral exercise, MILAN off the coast of Visakhapatnam in March 2020, for which 41 countries have been invited. So far, over 15 countries have confirmed their participation

2) INDIA and ADB sign $206 million loans to strengthen urban services in 5 Tamil Nadu cities

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on 2nd December 2019 signed a $206 million loan to develop water supply and sewerage infrastructure in 5 cities of Tamil Nadu and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery.
• This is the second project loan for the ADB-supported $500 million multi-tranche financing for Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Programme, approved in September 2018, that will overall develop climate-resilient water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in 10 cities of Tamil Nadu. The first project under the Programme with $169 million financings is currently under implementation.

About the Project

The project will target four cities Ambur, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruppur, and Vellore for developing sewage collection and treatment and drainage systems by setting up or rehabilitating sewage treatment plants, pumping stations, and connecting all households in the project area to the sewerage network, including below poverty line households. Wastewater reuse for the industry will also be achieved in at least 4 cities. Improvement of water supply systems would be targeted in the cities of Madurai and Tiruppur through commissioning of over 1,260 km of new distribution lines to connect nearly 190,000 households with metered water supply, including below poverty line households. Also, nearly 200 km of new transmission mains and 230 km of feeder mains would be constructed along with two new water treatment plants.

3) Ministry of Railways signs an MoU with the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom

As part of its obligations & commitment to reduce carbon footprints, Indian Railways is taking several initiatives in the field of Green Energy to achieve the same. In line with this, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and Department for International Development (DFID), the United Kingdom on 2nd December 2019 for collaboration on energy and sustainability.

Through the Power Sector Reform (PSR) program, the MoU with DFID envisages to include co-operation for the Energy Efficiency & Energy Self Sufficiency for Indian Railways. The MoU will broadly cover:

• Energy planning for Indian Railways in line with Governments’ policies and regulations as applicable from time to time including 100% greener sources of electricity supply through
• Renewable energy planning and deployment
• Offshore wind and solar energy
• Energy storage and new energy technologies
• Off-grid renewable energy services
• Promoting energy sustainability initiatives like
• Adopting energy efficiency practices
• Enabling Fuel efficiency
• Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure deployment
• Battery operated Shunting Locomotives
• Capacity development like training programs, industrial visits, field visits, etc.

4) Kim Jong­-un unveils a ‘modern mountainous city’

• North Korea has celebrated the completion of leader Kim Jong­-un’s signature construction project, a new city near the sacred mountain where his family claims its roots
• The city named Samjiyon is envisaged as what North Korea calls a “socialist utopia” with new apartments, hotels, a ski resort, and commercial, cultural and medical facilities. The town has turned into an example of a mountainous modern city under socialism, an epitome of modern civilization
• It could accommodate 4,000 families and has 380 blocks of public and industrial buildings in hundreds of hectares

Objective of City

The city is one of the largest economic initiatives Mr. Kim has launched as part of his drive for a “self­reliant economy, as Pyongyang calls for Washington to lift economic sanctions in their denuclearisation talks. But its construction was delayed chiefly due to shortages in construction materials and labor as a result of the U.S. sanctions

5) SPG (Amendment) Bill, 2019 Passed in Parliament

• Parliament passed an amendment to the Special Protection Group Act, 1988, that will allow SPG cover to the Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers for five years after leaving the office.
• The SPG (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha by voice vote
• The SPG had been raised to provide security to Prime Ministers after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, but four amendments to the Act had been brought over the years to dilute it to provide SPG cover to former Prime Ministers’ families. 

6) India and Sweden sign Memorandum for India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre

• The India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre in collaboration between the Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office, AIIMS Delhi, and AIIMS Jodhpur aims to develop an ecosystem of open innovation that start-ups and the healthcare delivery stakeholders can use to collaborate and address current and future challenges in the healthcare sector. 
• It will operate on well-defined challenges and services for stakeholders to build capabilities and methodologies and, help socialize and scale up innovative solutions across the country’s healthcare delivery network.  
• A holistic view of innovation shall be taken which shall include technology, data, protocols and processes, skill development and business models. 
• The key components of this Centre to drive innovation are innovation challenges, incubation, mentorship, live Centre of excellence, skilling, global reach, conferences, digital showroom, white papers and support to access capital sources. 
• This initiative will be in alignment with the Government of India’s Skill India and Start-up India, as well as the priorities agreed between India and Sweden for bilateral cooperation. 
• The Innovation Centre’s objectives and strategic direction will be owned and driven by a pre-defined governance structure manned by representatives from all three collaborators. The Centre will run for an initial period of three years. 
• Its impact will be assessed periodically to enable potential expansion at the end of the initial period of 3 years.

7) Aadhaar enabled fertilizer distribution system

• Under the fertilizer Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, a 100% subsidy on various fertilizer grades is released to the fertilizer companies, based on actual sales made by the retailers to the beneficiaries. Sale of all subsidized fertilizers to farmers/buyers is made through Point of Sale (PoS) devices installed at each retailer shop and the beneficiaries are identified through Aadhaar Card, KCC, Voter Identity Card, etc.
• Under Aadhaar enabled Fertilizers Distribution System (AeFDS), the retailers must sell subsidized fertilizers through PoS devices. The Fertilizer sales are monitored online through a web-based Integrated Fertilizer Management System (iFMS). A study conducted by NITI Aayog through M/s Microwave revealed that AeFDS has increased the accountability of stakeholders including fertilizer manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

8) Parliament passes the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019

Parliament passed the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019

Reason For merging 

• The bill has been brought to provide for the merger of union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, because of fruitful utilization of manpower, improve administrative efficiency, reduce administrative expenses and improve service delivery as well as facilitate better monitoring of schemes. It would also ensure better cadre management of employees
• There are two secretariats and parallel departments which consume infrastructure and manpower in each Union territory. The Administrator, Secretaries, and Heads of certain departments functions in both the Union territories on alternate days affecting their availability to people and monitoring the functioning of subordinate staff. The subordinate employees of both the Union territories are separate. Further, various departments of the Government of India have to co-ordinate with both the Union territories separately, causing duplication of works.

Things which won't change

There will be no change in administration and service conditions and reservations. Similarly, there will be no change in the status of Group III and IV employees. The merger would bring about administrative convenience, speedy development and effective implementation of central and state government schemes. The new entity would be called the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and would be governed under the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court