POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                            

1. Prime Minister to Launch Kisan Man Dhan Yojana                       

2. Tamil Nadu ranks lowest in coverage of iodised salt                      

3. Need not pick incriminatory dying declaration, rules Supreme Court                                                                                              

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                        

1. Sixth round of India-China strategic economic dialogue                

2. 22nd Session of UN Committee on CRPD at Geneva                    

ECONOMY                                                                                            

1. ‘ANGAN’- A three-day international Conference on Energy Efficiency in Building Sector                                                         

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                     

1. India Will Restore 26 Million Hectares of Degraded Land by 2030                                                                                                       

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Prime Minister to Launch Kisan Man Dhan Yojana

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

Context :

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi shall launch the Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana in September 2019.

PM  Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana :

• The Scheme shall secure the lives of 5 Crore Small and Marginal Farmers by providing a minimum pension of Rs 3000 per month, to those who attain 60 years of age.

• All the small and marginal farmers who are currently between the ages of 18 to 40 years can apply for the scheme.

• Farmer’s monthly contribution can be made from the installments of PM-KISAN or through CSCs.

                                                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

Tamil Nadu ranks lowest in coverage of iodised salt

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• India Iodine Survey report has been released.

India Iodine Survey :

• The survey was conducted by Nutrition International in collaboration with the AIIMS and the Indian Coalition for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD).

• The survey tested the iodine content in samples of cooking salt from households to estimate the coverage of iodised salt.

• The survey covered a total of 21,406 households in 29 States and 7 Union Territories in India.

Key Highlights of the survey :

• The study shows that 76.3% of Indian households consumed adequately iodized salt, (which is salt with at least 15 parts per million of iodine).

• The five worst performers were Tamil Nadu (61.9%), Andhra Pradesh (63.9%), Rajasthan (65.5%), Odisha (65.8%) and Jharkhand (68.8%).

• The North-Eastern states were doing well with respect to the consumption of iodized salt as compared to the rest of India.

• Gujarat produces 71% of salt in the country, followed by Rajasthan at 17% and Tamil Nadu at 11%.

• Only 13 out of 36 States have achieved Universal Salt Iodisation or have 90% of households with access to adequately iodised salt.    

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Need not pick incriminatory dying declaration, rules Supreme Court

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Context :

• In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court has said that in a case of divergent and multiple dying declarations, the court need not invariably pick the one that incriminates the accused person. Instead, it is for the court to find out which of the dying victim’s statement is true.

More in the news:

• A Bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph observed “When there are divergent dying declarations, it is not the law that the court must invariably prefer the statement which is incriminatory and must reject the statement which does not implicate the accused. The real point is to ascertain which contains the truth.”

• The bench summarized the principles to be followed in cases were dying declaration is the sole evidence available. It said:

  • Conviction of a person can be made solely on the basis of a dying declaration which inspires confidence of the court.

  • If there is nothing suspicious about the declaration, no corroboration may be necessary; No doubt, the court must be satisfied that there is no tutoring or prompting;

  • The court must also analyse and come to the conclusion that imagination of the deceased was not at play in making the declaration. In this regard, the court must look to the entirety of the language of the dying declaration.

  • Considering material before it, both in the form of oral and documentary evidence, the court must be satisfied that the version is compatible with the reality and the truth as can be gleaned from the facts established.

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Sixth round of India-China strategic economic dialogue

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

Context :

• The sixth India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) came to a conclusion with both sides agreeing that the SED has emerged as a crucial mechanism to facilitate bilateral trade and investment flows and enhance economic cooperation between the two sides.

Background :

• The SED was set up in the year 2010 between the erstwhile Planning Commission of India and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China

• The SED has since then served as an effective mechanism for enhancing bilateral practical cooperation.

• NITI Aayog after its formation has taken the Dialogue forward giving it a greater momentum.

• Under the aegis of the SED, senior representatives from both sides come together to constructively deliberate and share individual best practices and identify sector-specific opportunities for enabling ease of doing business and facilitating trade and investment.

Key Highlights :

• Policy Coordination:

  • The two sides undertook in-depth discussions reviewing trade and investment climates in order to mutually identify complementarities and harness synergies to this effect future engagement.

• Working Group on Infrastructure:

  • The two sides noted the significant progress made in the feasibility study on Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore railway upgradation project and personal training of Indian senior railway management staff in China, both of which have been completed.

  • The two sides agreed to identify new projects for cooperation as well as support enterprises to expand cooperation in the transport sector.

• Working Group on High-Tech:

  • The two sides assessed the achievements made since the 5th SED and exchanged views on regulatory procedures of ease of doing business, development of artificial intelligence, high-tech manufacturing, and next-generation mobile communications of both countries.

• Working Group on Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection:

  • The two sides discussed and reviewed the progress made in the fields of water management, waste management, construction & demolition waste and resource conservation.

• Working Group on Energy:

  • Both countries identified future areas of collaboration and resolved to work on Renewable Energy space, Clean coal technology sector, Smart Grid & Grid integration and Smart meters & E-mobility sectors.

• Working Group on Pharmaceuticals:

  • It was also decided that both sides should promote pragmatic cooperation, strengthen complementary advantages in pharmaceutical industry and explore cooperation for promoting Indian generic drugs and Chinese APIs.

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

22nd Session of UN Committee on CRPD at Geneva

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

Context :

• The UN Committee on CRPD in its 22nd Session took up India’s First Country Report for consideration.

• An Indian delegation headed by Mrs. Shakuntala D. Gamlin, Secretary, DEPwD deposed before the UN Committee during the process of consideration of the report.           

Steps taken by Government for inclusion and empowerment of PwDs :

• Enactment of the Comprehensive RPwD Act, 2016

• launch of Accessible India Campaign,

• establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) to address issues concerning psycho-social disability,

• establishment of Centre for Disability Sports, achievements in distribution of aids and assistive devices, etc.           

                                                                                                                              Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

‘ANGAN’- A three-day international Conference on Energy Efficiency in Building Sector

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

Context :

• An international conference ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) focussed on Energy Efficiency in Building Sector began in delhi.

More about the conference :

• The Conference is being organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India in collaboration with GIZ under the Indo German Technical Cooperation.

• The International Conference will provide a platform to deliberate on interdependence between organizations, systemic sustainability and feedback loops for better resource efficiency.

• Given the formidable challenge of providing adequate energy of desired quality to the consumers at reasonable costs, improving the efficiency in high energy consumption sectors like buildings have become important component of our integrated energy policy.

• Due to lack of awareness and knowledge about latest technologies, financial assistance, suppliers and purchase of energy-efficient equipment, etc. efforts on energy efficiency and conservation in this sector have been moderate and therefore require greater push.

• This event aims to provide thrust in this direction so as to address such challenges faced by the stakeholders.         

                                                                                                                              Source :- PIB 

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

India Will Restore 26 Million Hectares of Degraded Land by 2030

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

Context :

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,inaugurated the High-Level Segment Meeting of the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Key Highlights :

• Prime Minister announced “India would raise its ambition of the total area that would be restored from its land degradation status, from twenty-one million hectares to twenty-six million hectares between now and 2030

• Prime Minister announced “India would raise its ambition of the total area that would be restored from its land degradation status, from twenty-one million hectares to twenty-six million hectares between now and 2030

Global technical support institute :

• India’s proposal to setup a global technical support institute for the member countries of the UNCCD for their capacity building and support regarding the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Program.

                                                                                                                                                        Source ;- PIB 

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