GOVERNANCE

Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy Released                                                

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission to be held in Kathmandu               

2. India-Maldives MoU                                                                                                      

ECONOMY

1. PM Economic Advisory Council: Need to set up GST Council-like body for public spending                                                                                                            

ENVIRONMENT

1. Odisha to conserve two of its largest lakes                                                              

GOVERNANCE

Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy Released

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

Context :

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy

National Resource Efficiency Policy :

• The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP) envisions a future with environmentally sustainable and equitable economic growth, resource security, healthy environment (air, water and land), and restored ecosystems with rich ecology and biodiversity.

• The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy is guided by the principles of

  • Reduction in primary resource consumption to ‘sustainable’ levels, in keeping with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and staying within the planetary boundaries,

  • Creation of higher value with less material through resource efficient and circular approaches

  • Waste minimization

  • Material security, and creation of employment opportunities and business models beneficial to the cause of environment protection and restoration.

• The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy provides an overarching collaborative framework for resource efficiency across all sectors in the country, covering both biotic and abiotic resources and life cycle stages and aspires for cross-sectoral stakeholder partnerships for the cause of resource efficiency for sustainable development.

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission to be held in Kathmandu

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

• The 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will be held in Kathmandu,Nepal.The meeting will be chaired by foreign ministers of both countries.

More in the news:

• India-Nepal Joint Commission was established in June 1987.

  • The meetings are held alternately in Nepal and India.

  • The last meeting of the Commission was held in New Delhi in 2016.

• The joint meeting will review the overall state of bilateral relations, and various areas of cooperation such as connectivity and economic partnership, trade and transit, power and water resources sectors, culture, education and other matters of mutual interest.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

India-Maldives MoU

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

• The India-Maldives MoU on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Maldivian Civil Servants was operationalised.

Background :

• The Prime Minister of India in his visit to Maldives in June 2019, had emphasised India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and assured India’s full support to Maldives and strengthening of democratic and independent institutions of Maldives.

• One of the MoUs signed during the visit was between the National Center for Good Governance, India and the Civil Services Commission of Maldives which envisaged capacity building activities for Civil Servants of Maldives at the National Centre for Good Governance over the next 5 years.

• The Agreement envisaged that the National Center for Good Governance, India will be the nodal institution for designing customised training modules and its implementation taking into account the requirements of the Civil Service Commission of Maldives.

• The subject matter of the training programs include public administration, e-governance and service delivery, public policy and governance, information technology, urban development and planning, ethics in administration and challenges in implementation of SDGs.

                                                                                                                              Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

PM Economic Advisory Council: Need to set up GST Council-like body for public spending

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Context :

• The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has recommended a GST Council-like mechanism for the Centre and states to oversee public expenditure.

Need :

• EAC has said that fiscal consolidation issue as a reason behind this recommendation.

  • The Centre’s fiscal deficit for 2019-20 is 3.3% of GDP.

• Hence,there are limits to public expenditure as there is a fiscal deficit issues.But focused and strategic expenditure by the Centre and states together could yield efficiency gains.

• Both the Centre and states spend a lot of money on sectors such as agriculture, rural development and healthcare.

  • As such, there is a need for utilising the resources in an optimal manner by enhancing coordination between the centre and state governments for essential developmental activities.

Is this the first such recommendations :

• Earlier, former finance minister Arun Jaitley had highlighted the need for such a body. He had made a case for setting up such federal institutions to promote healthcare, rural development and agriculture sectors by optimally utilising resources of the Centre and states.     

                                                                                                                       Source :- Indian Express

ENVIRONMENT

Odisha to conserve two of its largest lakes

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

Context :

• The Odisha Wetland Authority has approved implementation of an integrated management plan to conserve two of its largest lakes - Lake Chilika and Lake Ansupa.

More in the news:

• With reduced inflow over the years, the lake’s hydrology has undergone serious and visible changes.

• The water spread area has reduced and fishery resource is almost non-existent.

• The five-year management of lakes is intended at strengthening livelihood of thousands of fishermen relying on the two water-bodies.

• Besides, tourism promotion and conservation of ecology will be taken up.

• During past two years, the Chilika Development Authority has managed to make 172 sq km free from encroachment which resulted in increase in fish catch by 20%.

Chilka Lake :

• Chilika Lake is India’s largest brackish water lagoon.

• It is spread over 1,100 sq km.

• Lakhs of tourists visit the lake to watch endangered Irrawaddy dolphins and migratory birds during winter.

• About 151 villages carry out fishing, the principal livelihood for two lakh traditional fishermen.

• It is the largest wintering ground for migratory water fowls on the Indian subcontinent.

• In 1981, Chilika became the first Ramsar site in India.

Lake Ansupa :

• Lake Ansupa is Odisha’s largest freshwater lake.

• The lake spread over almost 2 sq km is also the wintering ground for 32 species of migratory birds.

• Its calmness, scenic beauty and forest coverage behold the visitors.

• Ansupa is famous for its sweet water fish, especially labeo bata locally known as pohala.

                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

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