Prasar Bharati signs MoU with IT Ministry to launch 51 education TV channels.
India’s
public broadcaster Prasar Bharati entered into an MoU with the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology to launch 51 direct-to-home (DTH)
education TV channels.
The
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Prasar Bharati and
Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics
under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
About:
Under
the MoU, 51 DTH education TV channels will be available as DD co-branded
channels to all DD FreeDish viewers.
This
move aims to bring quality educational programmes to every household, including
those in rural and remote areas.
This
initiative will go a long way in achieving Government’s goal of providing
education to all.
Six women led startups win COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge
Six
women led startups have won COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge.
•
MyGov in collaboration with UN Women, launched this Challenge in April 2020.
•UNWomen
is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment
of women.
•
It was to support and promote women entrepreneurs and women led startups as
also solutions byentrepreneurs impacting a large number of women.
•
Entrepreneurs and individuals proposing technology solutions in the field
Bioinformatics, datasets, Apps fordiagnosis etc that can be leveraged for
strengthening the fight against Corona.
US formally exits the Paris climate accord.
The
United States formally exited from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change
which is a global deal to take collective actions for saving the world from
disastrous consequences of global warming.
More abouts ;
Though
the US under President Donald Trump had announced his decision to withdraw from
the Agreement in 2017, the formal withdrawal could technically happen only a
day after the US presidential election as per the UN climate body’s exit
procedures for the deal.
It
made the US the first country to withdraw from the Agreement.
With contributing 14% of total carbon emission, the US is currently the second biggest emitter after China (26%). The EU nations collectively contribute to 9% of total emission followed by India at 7%.
Recently,
countries such as China, Japan and South Korea had announced their intentions
to raise climate action ambition to reach respective ‘net zero targets’,
aligning themselves with the EU’s similar plan.
US state of Mississippi got a new flag.
The
voters in Mississippi approved a new flag, “The New Magnolia”, featuring a
magnolia flower.
•The
flag will replace the old one that has been in use for 126 years, and which
carried the Confederate battle emblem on it.
•Mississippi
is nicknamed the “Magnolia State”, a reference to the magnolia trees that grow
there.
Why
did Mississippi change its flag?
Mississippi
was the last state in the US to have a flag that featured the Confederate
battle emblem.
In
the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter protests that followed the death of African
American George Floyd this May, the state was under pressure to change its
flag, with some protesters demanding the removal of statues or monuments that
could be perceived as symbols of racism, including some Confederate monuments.
The
Confederate States of America or the Confederacy refers to the government of 11
Southern slaveholding states that seceded from the Union in 1860-61 in the
American Civil War after they felt threatened by the election of Republican
candidate Abraham Lincoln as the US President in 1860.
India-Central Asia Dialogue.
The
2nd meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was hosted recently virtually
via video conferencing.
Highlights:
•
India extended a $1-billion line of credit to Central Asian countries for
priority projects in connectivity, energy, IT and health care.
•
The meeting jointly expressed support for the peace negotiations in Afghanistan
agreeing on the principle of an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled
peace process.
•
The countries also condemned terrorism and reaffirmed their determination to
destroy terrorist safe havens, networks, and Funding Channels.
India-Central Asia Dialogue:
•
India's Connect Central Asia Policy is a broad-based approach, including
political, security, economic and cultural connections.
•
The dialogue included representatives from five Central Asian countries-
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as that
of Afghanistan.
•
The dialogue focused on varied issues including trade, connectivity and
security as well as bringing stability by restoring peace in Afghanistan.
•
The first India-Central Asia Dialogue was held in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) in
January 2019.
Significance of Central Asia for
India:
•
Region is a land bridge between East Asia and Europe, between South Asia and
Europe and between West Asia and East Asia/Europe.
•
The region has economic interests like energy security and opening avenues for
consumer Market for India.
SARFAESI Act may be amended to allow ARCs becoming resolution applicants in insolvencies ..
The
RBI rejected Aircel’s resolution plan on the grounds that Asset Reconstruction
Companies (ARCs) cannot infuse equity in an insolvent company at the resolution
stage.
•This
brought into focus the conflict between the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
(IBC) and SARFAESI Act on whether an ARC can bid for bank rupt firms or not.
ARC,
a registered company under Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial
Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, is special type of financial
institution that buys the debtors of the bank at a mutually agreed value and
attempts to recover the debts or associated securities by itself.
RBI
regulates ARCs as Non-Banking Financial Companies. While IBC specifically
permits ARCs registered with RBI to act as RAs and submit resolution plans, the
Sarfaesi Act is silent on whether such firms can do so.
Resolution
applicants (RA) means a person who individually or jointly with any other
person, submits a resolution plan to the resolution professional.
Key
differences between IBC and SARFAESI Act:
IBC:
It
provides a comprehensive legal framework for time-bound insolvency resolution
process and liquidation.
IBC’s
ambit is wider, as it takes into consideration of all kinds of creditors: both
financial and operational; secured and the unsecured.
It
is regulated by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs through the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Board of India.
IBC
specifically permits ARCs registered with RBI to act as RAs and submit
resolution plans.
It
empowers banks and other financial institutions to directly auction residential
or commercial properties that have been pledged with them to recover loans from
borrowers.
It
empowers secured creditors to enforce their security interest.
It
is regulated by the Ministry of Finance and the RBI.
SARFAESI
Act is silent on whether such firms can do so.
Deploying backend tech for 5G faces roadblocks.
There
could be a delay in the rollout of 5G technology because of differences between
most states and the Centre in policies for setting up critical telecom
infrastructure.
Some
issues faced:
The
fee levied by states on companies for installing mobiletowers and laying fibre
cables.
States
have multiple policies at different levels such asmunicipal, panchayat etc.,
which creates confusion on theground.
Only
18 states opted for Right of Way (RoW) policy.
To
ease development of telecom infrastructure acrossthe country, Union government
in 2016 came outwith RoW policy.
It
is a framework to set up telecom towers, lay fibrecables, settle disputes in a
time-bound mannerand to improve coordination among private firms,states and
local bodies.
As
India gears up for the launch of 5G services, volume of data traffic is
expected to increase further. Therefore, it is necessary that operators deploy
fibre across their tower sites.
According
to National Digital Communications Policy of 2018, fiberisation of towers
across the country needs to be raised to 60% from the current 31% to sustain
the increasing demand for 4G data and evolution to 5G technology.
The
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has “insisted” the Ministry of Railways
to devise a modern environmental management plan to control air, water and
noise pollution at major Railway Stations.
More abouts:
•
The CPCB had called for the formation of a joint committee comprising Railway
and State government/local body officials to ensure basic civic amenities and
improve environment conditions at Class-I stations.
•
The move follows a recent high-level meeting convened by the CPCB involving top
officials of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Housing & Urban
Development.
•
The Railways in turn requested the CPCB to assign due weightage to different
components/parameters in the template for environment performance based on
rating of railway stations that are currently under review by the CPCB.
•
However, the central agency insisted on developing a modern environmental plan
to address issues relating to air, water and noise pollution in each of the 720
stations taken up for Assessment across the Country.
Pollution Concerns:
•
Poor quality of environment parameters, particularly noise levels, has been an
issue of concern at major railway stations.
•
Joint inspections conducted by the Central and State pollution control
authorities at select stations in the last two years revealed that a majority
of them, including the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central railway
station and Tiruchi junction in Southern Railway, had not complied with the
green norms under various statutory rules of the CPCB.
• These stations had not obtained necessary approvals under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Air Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which was also insisted upon by the National Green Tribunal.
About the Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB):
•
CPCB is a statutory organisation which was constituted in September, 1974 under
the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
•
It was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
•
It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the
Ministry of Environment and Forests of the provisions of the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986.
•
Principal Functions of the CPCB, as spelt out in the Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1981
✓ to promote cleanliness
of streams and wells in different areas of the States by prevention, control
and abatement of water pollution.
✓ to improve the quality
of air and to prevent, control or abate Air Pollution in the Country.
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