NGT
slams MoeF report on clean air programme.
The
National Green Tribunal has slammed the Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) over its report on the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which
proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024.
The
NGT disapproved the submission of the MoEF that a committee, upon further
deliberation, has concluded that 20-30% pollutant reduction under the NCAP
seems realistic. It said the MoEF’s view was against the constitutional mandate
under Article 21.
A
Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice A.K. Goel said the MoEF’s stand that
pollution could not be controlled except to the extent of certain percentage
was directly hit by the constitutional and statutory mandate.
Right to Clean Air stood recognized as part of Right to Life and failure to address air pollution was denial of Right to Life, the Bench said.
The
tribunal said the enforcement of ‘Sustainable Development’ principle and
‘Public Trust Doctrine’ required stern measures to be adopted to give effect to
the mandate of international obligations for which the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 and other laws had been enacted.
Portal for Registration and Renewal of
Jewellers.
•
The Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched online
system of Registration and Renewal of Jewellers and for recognition and renewal
of Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.
Purpose:
•
These online modules will bring about ease of doing business for both jewellers
and entrepreneurs who have established Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.
•
Hallmarking of precious metals will be mandatory from 1st June 2021.
•
The online system of audit will facilitate expeditious disposal of complaints
regarding malpractices in the Hallmarking of Jewellery Items.
What is Hallmarking?
•
Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of
proportionate content of precious metal in precious metal articles.
•
Hallmarks are thus official marks used in many countries as a guarantee of
purity or fineness of precious metal articles.
•
Objective: To protect public against adulteration and obligate manufacturers to
maintain legal standards of fineness.
•
Registration is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Hallmarking Scheme.
• The BIS certified jewellers can get their jewellery hallmarked from any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centres.
Bureau of Indian Standards:
•
BIS is established as the National Standards Body of India under the BIS Act,
2016.
•
It is under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution.
•
Objective: Harmonious development of activities of Standardisation, marking and
quality certification of goods.
•
The standards and certification scheme support various public policies
especially in areas of providing safe reliable quality goods; minimizing health
hazards to consumers; promoting exports and imports substitute; control over
proliferation of varieties etc.through Standardization, Certification and
Testing.
Arunachal Pradesh to seek 6th schedule
status
The
BharatiyaJanata Party government in Arunachal Pradesh has decided to appeal to
the Centre for bringing the State under the purview of the Sixth Schedule of
the Constitution towards protecting the rights of its indigenous peoples.
The
Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.A resolution would be moved and discussed
in the monsoon session of the Assembly from August 27 and would be submitted to
the Centre, Home Minister Bamang Felix said.
“No
government had sought Sixth Schedule status since Arunachal became a State more
than three decades ago. From the suggestions from the Consultative Committee,
community leaders and advocates, we have come to understand that we were living
under the wrong expression of being protected by the Inner Line Permit,” Mr.
Felix said.
The ILP, warranted by the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873, is an official travel document issued by the State government concerned to let in an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.
India-Vietnam joint commission meeting
held via video conferencing.
The
17th meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic,
Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held via video-conference today.
•It
was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and his
Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. During the meeting, both sides reviewed
the recent developments in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
and discussed the future trajectory of their wide-ranging engagement.
•They
agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the
two countries and to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas such as civil
nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.
•The
External Affairs Ministry said in a release that the co-chairs exchanged views
on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially in the
context of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Jaishankar underlined Prime
Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat for enhancing resilience through
self-reliance and human-centric globalization as the basis for India’s economic
revival.
•Two
MoUs were also signed on the margins of the Joint Commission Meeting. Both
sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums, including at the UN
Security Council, where both India and Vietnam will serve concurrently as
non-permanent members in 2021. They also agreed to step up cooperation and
coordination at important regional forums under the ASEAN framework.
Longest River Ropeway in Assam.
• The Assam government has inaugurated a 1.8-km ropeway across the Brahmaputra river, and described it as India’s Longest River Ropeway
Highlights:
•
It is built at the cost of Rs. 56 crore, it extends from Central to Northern
Guwahati. It takes eight minutes to traverse the entire length of the ropeway.
•
It passes over the mid-river Peacock Island that houses Umananda, a medieval
Shiva temple.
•
This is one of the most advanced & longest river crossing Aerial Tramway
systems in India.
•
The Aerial tramways are particularly well-suited in extreme terrain since the
towers can be erected at larger intervals.
•
Thousands of people commute every day between the capital city of Guwahati and
the town of North Guwahati, where IIT Guwahati is located.
•
Other travel options between the two banks are by ferry (30 minutes or more,
depending on current and season) or by road through a bridge that usually takes
over an hour in the traffic.
•
Apart from substantially reducing travel time, the ropeway will provide a
breathtaking view of the Brahmaputra river and promote tourism in the State.
•
Tourists can take the ropeway to North Guwahati and spend quality time on that
side.
Hospitality
services will also develop on that side and thus the ropeway is expected to be
an overall boost for tourism in the city.
•
It is considered as a convenient and non-polluting means of transport, as well
as a source of environmentally friendly tourism.
• It is ecologically sustainable as it is run by electric power protecting the beauty of the area, while simultaneously providing passengers with a Comfortable and Speedy Means of Travel.
Employment creation through Honey
mission.
Khadi
and Village Industries Commission, KVIC has taken a big leap towards
AtmaNirbhar Bharat by creating local employment for migrant workers through its
flagship Honey Mission programme.
Minister
of State for MSME, Pratap Chandra Sarangi today distributed 700 bee boxes to 70
migrant workers of Saharanpur and Bulandshahr districts of Uttar Pradesh. They
had returned to their hometown from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat due to
COVID-19 lockdown. KVIC has imparted them training on bee-keeping and provided
the necessary tool kit and bee boxes for them to carry out bee-keeping
activities.
Speaking
on the occasion, Mr Sarangi lauded the initiative saying it will contribute to
increasing India’s honey production which is the core objective of Honey
Mission. He said, creating employment for the migrant workers at their
doorsteps will make them self-reliant.
National Strategy for Financial Education.
The
Reserve Bank of India has released the National Strategy for Financial
Education 2020-25.
•NSFE:
2020-25 has recommended adoption of a ‘5 C’ – Content, Capacity.
Community,
Communication and Collaboration – approach to achieve financial well-being of
all Indians. It is put together by National Centre for Financial Education
(NCFE) in consultation with Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange
Board of India,Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.
Recommendations:
• Financial literacy content for school children (including curriculum and co-scholastic),teachers, young adults, women, new entrants at workplace/ entrepreneurs (MSMEs),senior citizens, persons with disabilities, illiterate people, etc.
•
Capacity development of various intermediaries, who can be involved in
providing financial literacy, and development of a ‘Code of Conduct’ for
financial education providers.
•
Community-led approaches for disseminating financial literacy in a sustainable
manner.
•
Communication approach, use of technology, mass media channels for
dissemination of financial education messages.
•
Integrating financial education in the school curriculum, various professional
and vocational courses (undertaken by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship)
through their Sector Skilling Missions and B.Ed./M.Ed. programmes.
NSFE Strategic Objectives:
•
To inculcate financial literacy concepts through financial education, to make
it an
Important
Life Skill.
•
To encourage active savings behaviour and participation in financial markets to
meet Financial Goals and Objectives.
•
To develop credit discipline and encourage availing of credit from formal
financial institutions as per requirement.
•
To improve usage of digital financial services in a safe and secure manner.
•
Risk Management through relevant and suitable insurance cover and plan for old
age and retirement through coverage of suitable pension products.
• To disseminate knowledge about rights, duties and avenues for grievance redressal.
ASTROSAT
discovers rare findings in outer space
ASTROSAT, the first multi wavelength satellite has detected extreme UV light from galaxy that 9.3 billion light years away from the Earth.
ASTROSAT
is the first multi-wavelength space telescope of India. It was launched on
September 28, 2015. With its success, ISRO is planning to launch ASTROSAT-2 as
its successor. The five major instruments on board covers soft X-ray, hard X-ray,
far UV, near UV, and visible light.
The
first multi-wavelength satellite of India has five unique X-ray and UV
telescopes. They detect extreme UV light from galaxies that are billion light
years away from the earth. It is an IRS class satellite. IRS is Indian Remote
Sensing Satellite.
The
NASA Hubble Space Telescope is larger than the UV Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
However, it did not detect UV emission from the galaxy as it is too faint. On
the other hand, the UVIT was able to achieve the detection as the background
noise in the UVIT detector is much less than that on the HST.
Special focus on mains .
Government's permission to issue
Electoral Bonds.
The
Government likely allows the sale of electoral bonds ahead of Assembly
elections in Bihar in October-November 2020. The Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018
was notified in the official gazette on 2nd January 2018 and allows periodic
issuances of electoral bonds.
About Electoral Bond:
•
It is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.
•
It is issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and
Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit. State Bank of India is authorised to
issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of
issuance.
•
It is redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.
• Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act,1951 and has secured at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.
•
Its transactions can be made only via this account. It is available for
purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or
established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January,
April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.
•A
person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.
•
During general elections, the central government may specify an additional
period of thirty days for sale of these bonds. There have been some occasions
when the government has deviated from the specified periodicity for issuance of
these bonds.
Issues related to Electoral Bonds:
•
The Scheme acts as a check against traditional under-the-table donations as it
insists on cheque and digital paper trails of transactions, several key
provisions of the scheme make it Highly Controversial.
•
Neither the donor (who could be an individual or a corporate) nor the political
party is obligated to reveal whom the donation comes from.
•
In 2019, the Supreme Court held that all political parties who had received
donations through electoral bonds must submit details to the Election
Commission of India.
•
This undercuts a fundamental constitutional principle, the freedom of political
information, which is an integral element of Article 19(1) (a) of the
Constitution.
•
It defeats the fundamental principle of transparency in political finance
because it conceals from public scrutiny the identity of the corporates and
moneybags.
•
The government is always in a position to know who the donor is because the
bonds are purchased through the SBI.
• This asymmetry of information threatens to colour the process in favour of whichever political party is ruling at the time.
Issue Related to Channeling of
Black money:
•
Elimination of a cap of 7.5% on corporate donations, elimination of requirement
to reveal political contributions in profit and loss statements and also the
elimination of the provision that a corporation must be three years in
existence, undercuts the intent of the scheme.
•
Any troubled, dying or shell companies can donate an unlimited amount
anonymously to a political party giving them a convenient channel for business
to round-trip their cash Parked in tax havens for a favour or Advantage Granted
in return for Something.
Way Ahead:
•
Voters can help bring in substantial changes by demanding awareness campaigns.
If voters reject candidates and parties that overspend or bribe them, democracy
would move a step Higher
•
There is a need for fixing the governance system and effective regulation of
political financing along with bold reforms to break the vicious cycle of
corruption and erosion of
Quality of Democratic Polity.
•
It is crucial to plug the loopholes in the current laws to make the entire
governance machinery more Accountable and Transparent.
Critically analyse the factors
responsible for flooding in Assam plains almost every year. Support your reason
by examples.
Context:
Assam is facing a second wave of flood in July after its first wave of flood in May this year. It is facing almost 3-4 waves of flood every year through the Brahmaputra river system, which affects most of the parts of Assam. Nearly 35 lakhs of peoples are affected in 26 districts of the state with heavy loss to life & submergence of major parts of the Kaziranga National park.
About Brahmaputra River :
Originated
from Chemayungdung glacier in Tibet (China) known as the ‘Yarlung Tsangpo’
flows through Tibet from west to east, enters Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Dihang
(Siang)’, continues to flow in Assam as the Brahmaputra & as the Jamuna in
Bangladesh.
Its
main left-bank tributaries are Dibang, Lohit, Dhansiri & Kapili while main
right bank tributaries are Subansiri & Manas in India.
‘Majuli
Island’ is the world’s largest riverine island in Assam surrounded between the
channels of Brahmaputra.
The
Brahmaputra is coursing through almost entire Assam barring a few regions of
the Karbi Anglong region.
It
is one of the most voluminous (extreme volume & quantity of water) rivers
of India.
Its
basin countries are China, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh.
Factors responsible for flooding :
Heavy
rainfall through south-west monsoon & presence of hills in Meghalaya led to
falling of rain-bearing winds.
Natural
& man-made reasons contribute to flooding.
The
Brahmaputra brings an excess quantity of water & silt & deposited it in
the basin causing the river to overflow.
It
also causes a lot of erosion & flood problems.
Building
dams destroyed the ecology.
Deforestation.
Embankments supposed to prevent soil erosion also end up a reason for flooding. Heavy rainfall leads to breaking of embankments.
The
immense growth of habitations along the river banks, it doesn't allow the river
to expand during its excess quantity of water.
Destroying
wetlands along the river banks which works like a sponge during flooding to
absorb water.
Climate
change leads to heavy rainfall in a relatively less period of time which causes
intense rainfall & flooding.
Challenges in capital 'Guwahati':
Guwahati
mostly flooded during monsoons due to its topography having a shape like 'bowl'
which makes it susceptible to waterlogging.
'Mission
flood control Guwahati' report of the Assam Government mentions that unplanned
expansion of the city, encroachment to wetlands, shrinkage of forest cover, low
lying areas & rainwater from the surrounding hills of Meghalaya bring flood
in the city. But a proper workout to resolve the issue is yet awaited.
What can be done?
Authorities
should make a long term plan to build embankments & regular dredging to
control the floods.
Countries
can go for integrated basin management which will bring all the basin sharing
countries together like India, China, Bhutan & Bangladesh.
Preventive
measures should be taken from all the catchment & basin sharing countries
in their respective area, otherwise only working at the last resort when flood
strike in Assam is only a defensive measure but not a solution.
Benefit due to flood:
Due to flooding new alluvial soil constantly get deposited in Assam's flood plain leading to continuous increase & recharge of soil & increase in croplands.
This
benefit is only a fraction of whatever losses Assam is facing every year.
Concerns:
After
more than 65 years of independence, a solution to this repeated problem is still
awaited.
The
state is mostly dependent upon the embankments which were introduced in the
1950s when the actual hydrology of most rivers including the Brahmaputra was
not well-known.
The
river changes its course very frequently, so it is almost impossible to contain
it within the embankments.
The
high-pressure flow of the water constantly pressured the embankments wall &
subsequent breakage which need frequent reinforcement.
Embankments
It
is a long ridge made along the river by soil or rock & used to hold or
control the flow of rivers or water bodies which might at times get flooded.
Way Forward
While
India has done tremendous progress in increasing the connectivity with the
north-East states, flooding is a repeated problem which still needs a concrete
solution. With the growing importance of North-East to India which works as a
connecting point with South-East Asia & the rising threat from the neighboring
countries, it is imperative to contain the problem of flooding. This
containment of flooding also helps in achieving most of our goals along with
preventing economic & social losses.
