NABCB secures international equivalence for personnel certification                  

India’s first solar cruise vessel to be rolled out soon                                              

India grants $ 15 mn first time ever for African Union Summit                               

J&K ‘back to the village’ outreach programme                                                         

International Yoga Day                                                                                                

Crop insurance claims surge, delay in disbursals falls                                           

Navy plans to build 6 submarines                                                                              

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast since 2000: study                           

NABCB secures international equivalence for personnel certification

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Context :

• The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), India’s national accreditation body, secured international equivalence for its accreditation programmer for personnel certification bodies in the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation in Singapore.

Background :

• NABCB signed the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC)for its accreditation programme based on international standard, ISO/IEC 17024.

• ISO/IEC 17024: Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons specifies criteria for the operation of a Personnel Certification Bodies (also known as a certification body for persons).

  • The standard includes requirements for the development and maintenance of the certification schemes for persons upon which the certification is based.

Significance :

• With the above recognition, NABCB hopes to facilitate export of Indian services and skills into the world market by attesting that persons are certified following international standards by the certifying bodies.

• Personnel Certification would support many professionals in India, especially those who do not have formal education or certificate program.

• Any person carrying ISO/IEC 17024 certificate with NABCB logo will be recognized internationally.

• This signifies that the accreditation of personnel certification bodies by NABCB is now accepted as equivalent at international level.

NABCB :

• The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies provides accreditation to Certification and Inspection Bodies based on assessment of their competence as per the Board’s criteria and in accordance with International Standards and Guidelines.

• NABCB is internationally recognized and represents the interests of the Indian industry at international forums through membership and active participation with the objective of becoming a signatory to international Multilateral / Mutual Recognition Arrangements

• NABCB is already supporting Ministry of AYUSH and has accredited a certification body for certification for Yoga professionals. This would promote Yoga certification scheme internationally.

                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

India’s first solar cruise vessel to be rolled out soon

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• Kerala is gearing up for the launch of the country’s premier solar-powered cruise boat by December.

More about the news:

Benefits :

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

India grants $ 15 mn first time ever for African Union Summit

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests.

Context :

• India has extended $15 million grant assistance to Niger in support of organising of the African Union (AU) summit scheduled from July 7-8, 2019 in Niamey, the capital of Niger .

More about the news:

• India sees the grant assistance as a reiteration of India’s firm commitment to its developmental partnership with Africa, the continent where it is competing for influence with China.

• India is also establishing in Niamey the Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre under grant assistance.

  • The Centre honours the memory of Mahatma Gandhi whose 150th birth anniversary is in 2019.

• India is also building a convention centre in Niger as part of a plan to build chain convention centres across 20 African states as signature infrastructure projects which was hitherto an expertise for China.

India - Nigeria Relation :

•  India’s relations with Nigeria were elevated to ‘strategic partnership’ in 2007.

• The two countries also have strong defence cooperation.

• With annual bilateral trade of $11. 76 billion in 2017-18,

• Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner in Africa, and India is Nigeria’s largest trading partner globally.

• The bilateral trade amounted to $13.89 billion in 2018-19, up 18.8% year-on-year.

  • Indian companies are among the largest investors in Nigeria and employ a large number of Nigerian nationals.

  • Nigeria is also the fifth largest supplier of crude oil and the second largest supplier of LNG to India.

                                                                                                                Source :- The Times Of India

J&K ‘back to the village’ outreach programme

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Jammu and Kashmir government has launched an ambitious initiative to reach out to the people at the grassroots level through a programme named as ‘Back to the Village’.

Why such a move ?

• The state has suffered a lot since the connect between government officials and the people has broken due to security reasons and also because of the difficult terrain.

• The feedback obtained directly from the people will help design government schemes — central and state —based on their needs.

• This will provide an opportunity for village panchayats to come up with area-specific schemes for the development of their people.

Back to Village Programme :

• The basic objective of this programme is to move governance from its seat of operation to the doorsteps of the people in villages.

4 Main Goals :

• Energising panchayats,

• Collecting feedback on the delivery of government schemes and programmes,

• Capturing specific economic potential and undertaking assessment of needs of villages,

• Besides affording an opportunity to gazetted officers to visit the villages.

• The programme will involve the people of the state and government officials in a joint effort to deliver the mission of equitable development across all our rural areas

• The outreach initiative is primarily aimed at energising the 4,483 panchayats and directing development efforts in rural areas through community participation and to create in the rural masses an earnest desire for a decent standard of living

                                                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

International Yoga Day

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE -  Issues related to the Health.

Context :

• The International Yoga Day is celebrated on 21st June since its inception in 2015.

• The theme for 2019 Yoga Day is Yoga for Climate Action.

International Yoga Day :

• UN says that Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India.

  • The word ‘yoga’ derived from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.

• The United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 2014, announced that June 21 will be seen as International Yoga Day or World Yoga Day.

  • The resolution on ‘International Day of Yoga’ was introduced by India’s Ambassador to UN Asoke Mukerji. It was cosponsored by 177 nations, the highest number ever for any General Assembly resolution.

  • Since 2015, International Yoga Day is celebrated worldwide.

                                                                                                                                           Source :- Indian Express

Crop insurance claims surge, delay in disbursals falls

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The government’s crop insurance scheme — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) — has witnessed a rise in claims from farmers across the country in fiscal 2018-19.

Surge in Crop Insurance claim :

• According to General Insurance Corporation of India, The claims ratio of the general insurance industry has gone up to 93 per cent for the year ended March 2019 as against 85 per cent in the previous year.

• The higher claims ratio means farmers have claimed a larger amount of the crop insurance portfolio under the scheme as against portfolio in the previous year.

• Most of the claims have come from states like Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu and Karnataka given that crop insurance penetration was lower in heartland states like Bihar and UP.

• In overall terms,India has become the third largest crop insurance market in the world after the US and China.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- Indian Express

Navy plans to build 6 submarines

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• The Navy has issued an ‘Expression of Interest’ for shortlisting potential strategic partners for the construction of six P-75 (I) submarines.

Project 75-I :

• This is a step towards opening a second production line for diesel electric submarines in India.

  • The first being the French designed Scorpene class submarines being constructed at Mazagon docks in Mumbai under Project-75.

• The Project 75 India is also the second project being undertaken under the Strategic Partnership model

• The model is being implemented to enable participation of private Indian firms in Make in India in defence.

• The strategic partnership model seeks to identify a few Indian private companies as Strategic Partners who would initially tie up with a few shortlisted foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to manufacture defence platforms and equipment.

• Four segments have been identified for acquisition under Strategic Partnership (SP) route: Fighter Aircraft, Helicopters, Submarines and Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) / Main Battle Tanks (MBTs).

Benefits :

• It is an initiative indicating a major step towards meeting broader national objectives and is in alignment with the government’s ‘Make in India’ scheme.

• The project is expected to provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of submarines in India.

• It would also bring in the latest submarine design and technologies as part of the project.

• It would greatly enhance the manufacturing, industrial sectors, especially the medium, small and micro enterprises, by the development of an industrial eco-system for manufacture of associated spares, systems, and equipment related to submarines.

Background :

• In 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved a ‘30-Year Plan for Indigenous Submarine Construction’, which was to develop two production lines on which six submarines each- named Project 75 and Project 75 (I)- would be built with foreign submarine makers.

• The two projects are important for the navy to replace its ageing Sindhughosh and Shishumar class submarines, which number around 13 and most of which are close to 30 years old.

• While the first Scorpene class submarine, INS Kalvari, was commissioned into the navy in December 2017, the remaining five are at different stages of construction and trials.

                                                                                                                            Source :- Livemint

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast since 2000: study

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context :

• The study, published in Science Advances journal claims that Himalayan glaciers, often called the third pole are losing their ice fast. In fact, double as fast since the turn of the century than the 25 years prior to that.

Key Findings :

•  Himalayas lose an average of 4 billion tonne ice from 1975-2000.

  • After 2000, however, the glaciers start melting twice as fast, losing about 8 billion tonnes, every year up to 2016.

  • That much ice can fill 3.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

• Lower-level glaciers have been shrinking 5 metres height annually since 2000.

• According to the study, the annual glacial melt has accelerated from an average of 10 inches to 20 inches.

• The fast rate of ice loss has been linked to rising average temperatures.

• Melting glaciers will affect great rivers that flow through China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This, in turn, will have a serious impact for billions depending on these rivers in recent future.

                                                                                                                                                    Source :- Down To Earth​

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------