Daily Current Affairs 30 October 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

 Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

• Dissolving the 22­-year­-old Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority that has so far addressed air pollution in Delhi, the Centre has constituted a “permanent” body — Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.
• Encompassing Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the all­powerful body assumes several powers to coordinate action among States, levy fines — ranging up to ₹1 crore or five years in prison — to address air pollution. Brought in via an ordinance, the commission awaits a formal perusal by the Supreme Court before it can be brought into effect
• The panel will have at least six permanent members and will be headed by a former or incumbent Secretary to the Central government, or a Chief Secretary to a State government. It will have members from Ministries as well as representatives from States.
• The Central Pollution Control Board and its State branches have the powers to implement provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act for air, water, and land pollution. In case of dispute or a clash of jurisdictions, the commission's writ will prevail specifically to matters concerning air pollution.
• A major weakness, environmentalists, and experts have said in tackling air pollution in Delhi­-NCR, has been the inability of agencies such as the CPCB to consistently enforce rules on the ground. 
• EPCA had almost similar powers but failed miserably in cleaning the air even after being in force for more than 20 years. The question of whether it’s a positive move or just a wasteful exercise will be decided on the fact whether the ordinance changes the status quo when it comes to ground implementation

What is EPCA?

• The EPCA was constituted with the objective of protecting and improving the quality of the environment and preventing and controlling the environmental pollution in the National Capital Region, under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The EPCA is also mandated to enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the city as per the pollution levels.
• The reason why EPCA is an authority, and not just an advisory committee, is because it has powers similar to those enjoyed by the Centre. Specifically, it can issue directions in writing to any person, officer or authority, including for – but not limited to – stoppage of electricity, water and other services. If its directions are not followed, it has powers to file criminal complaints (under section 19 of the Act) before courts.
• The EPCA has been empowered to take Suo motu action as well as on the basis of complaints made by any individual, representative body or organization functioning in the environmental issues sector. One of the EPCA’s important powers is the redressal of grievances through complaints.
• Given that the EPCA has been empowered to initiate prosecution, the presence of officials from so many departments and municipal corporations is a cause for concern. This is because most violations of environmental law in India happen thanks to the connivance of enforcement agencies, including municipal bodies.
• EPCA was reconstituted with 20 members after the expiry of its last tenure in 2018. Members include DG of TERI; CEO of Centre for Energy, Environment, and Water; former professor of surgery, AIIMS.

Source: The Hindu

2) Indian Railways launches OPERATION MERI saheli

• Indian Railways has launched the “Meri Saheli” initiative for focused action on the security of women across all zones with an objective to provide safety and security to lady passengers traveling by trains for their entire journey from starting station to destination station.
• An initiative of RPF, the Strategy entails interaction with lady passengers especially those traveling alone by a team of young lady RPF personnel at the originating station. These lady passengers are briefed about all precautions to be taken during the journey and told to dial 182 in case they face or see any problem in the coach. The RPF team collects only the seat numbers of the ladies and conveys them to stoppages en-route. The platform duty RPF personnel at the stopping stations en-route keep unobtrusive watch over the concerned coaches and berths and if the need arises, interact with the lady passengers. RPF/RPSF escort onboard also covers all the coaches/identified berths during its duty period.
• RPF teams at the destination collect the feedback from the identified lady passengers. The feedback is then analyzed and corrective action, if any, is taken. If some distress call comes from a train covered under the “Meri Saheli” initiative, the disposal of the call is monitored at the level of senior officers.
• The “Meri Saheli” initiative was started as a pilot project in South Eastern Railway in September 2020 and after getting encouraging response from lady passengers, it was extended to all zones and KRCL w.e.f. 17.10.2020. The operation is gathering momentum.

Source: PIB

3) POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)

• Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, and Health & Family Welfare today launched a Scheme titled “SERB-POWER (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research)”, designed exclusively for women scientists, in a function today on an e-platform. The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has been contemplating to institute a scheme to mitigate gender disparity in science and engineering research in various S&T programs in Indian academic institutions and R&D laboratories.

SERB – POWER Scheme will have two components namely 

• SERB-POWER Fellowship 
• SERB- POWER Research Grants. 

The salient features of each of these are as follows:

Salient features of the SERB-POWER Fellowship:-

• Target: Women researchers 35-55 years of age. Up-to 25 Fellowships per year and not more than 75 at any point in time.
• Components of support: Fellowship of Rs. 15,000/- per month in addition to regular income; Research grant of Rs. 10 lakh per annum; and Overhead of Rs. 90,000/- per annum.
• Duration: Three years, without the possibility of extension. Once in a career.

Salient features of the SERB – POWER Research Grants :

• POWER Grants will empower women researchers by funding them under the following two categories:
• Level I (Applicants from IITs, IISERs, IISc, NITs, Central Universities, and National Labs of Central Government Institutions): The scale of funding is up to 60 lakhs for three years.
• Level II (Applicants from State Universities / Colleges and Private Academic Institutions): The scale of funding is up to 30 lakhs for three years.
• POWER Grant will be regulated through terms of reference conforming to SERB-CRG(Science and Engineering Research Board-Core Research Grant) guidelines.
• While a Search-cum-Selection Committee constituted for the purpose will help in identifying the POWER Fellowship, the existing Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) mechanism will be used to select the POWER Research Grants.
• It is proposed to institute 25 POWER Fellowships annually. A total of 50 Power Grants each will be sanctioned in Level I & Level II per annum.
• It was felt that  SERB-POWER Fellowships and Grants will also serve as a benchmark of recognition in the national scenario. These Schemes of the Government will definitely empower women scientists and cultivate a women-friendly culture in our academic and research institutions and ensure more women in leadership positions in decision-making bodies.
• The launch which was attended by Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Chairman, SERB & Secretary, DST, Professor Sandeep Verma, Secretary, SERB, and Scientists from the Ministry of Science and Technology echoed the intent of the government to bring more numbers of women scientists in the R&D ecosystem.

Source: PIB

4) India and Japan on cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan on bilateral cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
• The MoC will contribute in strengthening bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding in the field of communications and will serve as a strategic initiative for India as Japan is an important partner with “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” status.
• The MoC will help in cooperation between two countries in various fields like 5G network, telecom security, Submarine cable, standard certification of communication equipment, utilization of latest Wireless Technologies and ICTs, ICTs capacity building, Public Protection, and Disaster Relief, Artificial Intelligence (AI) / BlockChain, Spectrum Chain, Spectrum Management, Cooperation on Multilateral platforms, etc.
• The MoC will further enhance opportunities for India to get into the global standardization process.  Cooperation in ICTs technologies will help in strengthening ICTs infrastructure in the country.  Cooperation in the development of future submarine cable networks and technologies will help in boosting connectivity of mainland India to remote areas.  The MoC aims to promote human capacity building in the field of ICTs and further development of the startup ecosystem which will contribute to realizing the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Source: PIB

5) Indian Army launches a Software for Infrastructure Management

• Infrastructure development has gained significant importance in many of the Army stations where major works are planned to replace vintage accommodation of pre independence era.  The process is cumbersome and time consuming involving multiple agencies. Land has also become a very scarce resource since all cantonments and military stations have now come closer to major population centres. Presently all functions towards infrastructure development and management to include ascertaining availability of land, planning and monitoring of works, environment conservation and responsive quartering policies are carried out manually, which is not only time consuming but is also in-efficient.
• Realising that automation is the key to empowering all stake holders to transform and become efficient, transparent and enhance accountability, Indian Army has introduced a software named the “Infrastructure Management System (IMS)’ software which was inagurated by the COAS on the sidelines of the Army Commanders Conference on 28 October 2020.

The scope of the software package developed includes the following

• To automate works initiation, preparation of list and its approval by the MoD.
• To accord administrative approval and monitoring of execution by the CFA.
• To automate availability of CAO pool accommodation, plan vacation, re-allocation and undertake maintenance.
• To automate approval of accommodation allocation/extention for children education ground, special children and Battle/Physical casualty.
• Manage cantonment roads including emergency closure.
• Make land, works and quartering policies available on line.
• Monitor land encroachment, Old Grant Bungalows, VIP references and transfer/exchange of land.

Source: PIB

6) Secure Application for Internet (SAI)

• In the quest for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, Indian Army has developed a simple and secure messaging application named the “Secure Application for Internet (SAI)”.  The application supports end to end secure voice, text and video calling services for Android platform over internet.  The model is similar to commercially available messaging applications like Whatsapp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS and utilises end to end encryption messaging protocol.  SAI scores over on security features with local in-house servers and coding which can be tweaked as per requirements.
• The application has been vetted by CERT-in empaneled auditor and Army Cyber Group.  The process for filing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), hosting the infrastructure on NIC and working on iOS platform is currently in progress.  SAI will be utilised pan Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service.

Source: PIB

7) Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project – Phase II and Phase III

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) Phase II & Phase III with the financial assistance of the World Bank (WB), and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to improve the safety and operational performance of selected dams across the whole country, along with institutional strengthening with system wide management approach.
• The project cost is Rs 10,211 crore.  The Project will be implemented over a period of 10 years duration in two Phases, each of six years duration with two years overlapping from April, 2021 to March, 2031. The share of external funding is Rs 7,000 crore of the total project cost, and balance Rs 3,211 crore is to be borne by the concerned Implementing Agencies (IAs). The contribution of Central Government is Rs 1,024 crore as loan liability and Rs 285 crore as counter-part funding for Central Component. 

DRIP Phase II & Phase III envisages the following objectives:-

• To improve the safety and performance of selected existing dams and associated appurtenances in a sustainable manner.
• To strengthen the dam safety institutional setup in participating states as well as at central level, and
• To explore the alternative incidental means at few of selected dams to generate the incidental revenue for sustainable operation and maintenance of dams

To achieve the above objectives, DRIP Phase II & Phase III has following components:

• Rehabilitation and improvement of dams and associated appurtenances,
• Dam safety institutional strengthening in participating States and Central agencies,
• Exploration of alternative incidental means at few of selected dams to generate the incidental revenue for sustainable operation and maintenance of dams, and
• Project management.
• The Scheme envisages comprehensive rehabilitation of 736 existing dams located across the country.

Source: PIB

8) India in Support of France

Recently, India came out in support of France’s President who has been criticised by Pakistan and Turkey for strongly defending the French people’s right to freedom of expression.

Background:

• Recently, a French schoolteacher was murdered for showing caricatures of the Prophet to his students.
• Condemning the murder, French President defended the freedom of expression and secular values.
• In response, Turkey and Pakistan accused French President of running an anti-Islamic agenda and provoking Muslims.
• Iran and Saudi Arabia too condemned the cartoon. There was a call in the entire muslim world to boycott French products.

India’s Support to France:

• India condemned the criticism of Turkey and Pakistan on French President, by calling the criticism in violation of the most basic standards of international discourse.
• India also condemned the murder of schoolteacher as brutal terrorist attack.
• While France has seen repeated violent incidents around caricatures and cartoons that are deemed offensive, it is unusual for India to wade into a controversy over religion in another country.
• In 2015, after the attack on Charlie Hebdo journalists and cartoonists, India condemned the incident by calling that India was on the side of those who condemn this barbaric incident.
• India’s support for French President could have been influenced by the fact that the charge against the French President has been led by Turkey and Pakistan, two countries that have repeatedly attacked India over Jammu and Kashmir and alleged human rights violations.

India-France Ties:

• Strategic: India has close strategic ties with France, especially on issues of mutual interest from counter-terrorism to defence, and nuclear to space.
• Terror: France backed the India’s proposal for a global conference on terrorism. Both the countries also support organising a new “No Money for Terror” - anInternational Conference on Fighting Terrorist Financing.
• Two countries agreed to enhance their operational cooperation and launch fresh efforts to fight radicalisation, especially Online Radicalisation.
• Defence: Both countries have a defence dialogue at the Ministerial level.
• The three services have regular defence exercises; viz.
• Exercise Shakti (Army)
• Exercise Varuna (Navy)
• Exercise Garuda (Air Force)
• Recently, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has received its first batch (5 out of 36) of French Rafale aviation combat aircraft at Ambala Air base (Haryana).
• Space: Both have decided to deepen space cooperation to meet new challenges together, whether it concerns planetary exploration or human spaceflight.
• France has agreed to be part of India's Venus mission, scheduled for 2025.
• ISRO’s Venus instrument, VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) has been co-developed by Russian and French agencies.
• Multilateral Platform: France has been extremely supportive of India at the UN Security Council on Kashmir and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, among other issues.
• The Prime Minister of India was a special invitee at the 45th G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France where India was one of the "Goodwill" partners.
• Climate: The two countries have a close cooperation on climate change, and have formed the International Solar Alliance.

Source: Indian Express

9) Second Meeting of India-Central Asia Dialogue

• Recently, India virtually hosted the second meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue.
• The first meeting of the dialogue was held in Samarkand, the Republic of Uzbekistan in January 2019.
• Combat Terrorism: All the nations strongly condemned terrorism and reaffirmed their determination to combat it by destroying terrorist safe-havens, networks, infrastructure and funding channels.
• They also underlined the need for every country to ensure that their territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries.
• Afghan Peace Process: All countries called for the settlement of the Afghan conflict on the basis of Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.
• Infrastructure: They appreciated India’s efforts to modernise the infrastructure of the Chabahar port in Iran, which could become an important link in trade and transport communications between the markets of Central and South Asia.

Initiatives Announced by India:

• An additional USD 1 billion Line of Credit by India for the Central Asian countries.
• It is expected that the money will be spent on major infrastructural and connectivity projects.
• Grant financing for high impact community development projects in the countries.
• Establishment of working groups by India Central Asia Business Council comprising the key chambers of all participating countries.
• The council was launched by the Government of India along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in February 2020.
• It aims to promote business in the region and to collaborate and provide an industry view to the governments of the six countries.

Line of Credit

• It is a credit facility extended by a bank or any other financial institution to a government, business or an individual customer, that enables the customer to draw the maximum loan amount.
• The borrower can access funds from the line of credit at any time as long as they do not exceed the maximum amount (or credit limit) set in the agreement and meet any other requirements such as making timely minimum payments.

India-Central Asia Dialogue

• It is a ministerial-level dialogue between India and the Central Asian countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• All five nations became independent states after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, post-Cold war.
• All the countries participating in the dialogue, except for Turkmenistan, are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
• The dialogue focuses on a number of issues including ways to improve connectivity and stabilise war-ravaged Afghanistan.
• In the first dialogue, India proposed setting up of ‘India-Central Asia Development Group’ to take forward development partnership between India and Central Asian countries.
• The group will enable India to expand its footprints in the resource-rich region amid an ongoing standoff with China and to fight terror effectively, including in Afghanistan.

Source: The Hindu

10) Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana

• Recently, electric pottery wheels to 100 potter families in Maharashtra were distributed under the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana (KSY) of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
• Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana (KSY) was launched in 2018.
• Aim: To strengthen and improve the living of potters in the country by making them self reliant (Atma Nirbhar).
• Features: Providing potters with modern equipment and training to reconnect them with the society and revive their art.
• Implementation: KVIC has created proper marketing channels including tie-up with the Indian Railway for selling the products of potters.
• Benefits: Proper training and distribution of advanced equipment under the scheme has eliminated drudgery from the process of pottery making and also resulted in increasing the production by 3-4 times.
• This has led to an increase in income of potters manifolds.
• Other Initiatives for Potters: The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has announced expansion of and doubling of support to potters. This include:
• Encouraging successful traditional potters to set up units under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme.
• PMEGP is a credit-linked subsidy scheme which promotes self-employment through setting up of micro-enterprises.
• Setting up of clusters in Terracotta, Red clay pottery, with new innovative value added products to build pottery to crockery/tile making capabilities under the SFURTI scheme.
• The Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) aims to make traditional industries more productive and competitive by organizing the traditional industries and artisans into clusters.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

• KVIC is a statutory body established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, 1956.
• The KVIC is charged with the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of programmes for the development of Khadi and other village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.
• It functions under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Source: PIB

11) 59th Raising Day of the ITBP

• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) celebrated its 59th Raising Day on 24th October 2020.
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBPF) is a Central Armed Police Force functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• Other Central Armed Police Forces are: Assam Rifles (AR), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), National Security Guards (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• The ITBP was raised on 24th October, 1962 during the India-China War and is a border guarding police force specializing in high altitude operations.
• Presently, ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of Indo-China Border.
• ITBP Border Out Posts are of the height upto 18,750 feet where the temperature dips down minus 40 degree Celsius.
• The Force is also deployed for Anti Naxal operations and other internal security duties.
• ITBP was initially raised under the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Act, 1949. However, in 1992, parliament enacted the ITBPF Act and the rules were framed in 1994.

Source: PIB