POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                             

1. Youth Co:Lab                                                                                  

2. Rural houses to get 2-3 hr piped water supply daily                            

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                          

1. India - Bangladesh Business forum meet                                           

ECONOMY                                                                                             

1. Power Minister approves amendments in Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Guidelines and Specifications                                             

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                       

1. Killer Japanese fungus found in Australia                                           

2. India’s First e-Waste Clinic to be set up in Bhopal                              

SECURITY                                                                                             

1. Goa Maritime Conclave– 2019 Inaugurated                                      

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Youth Co:Lab

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Context :

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and UNDP India jointly launched Youth Co:Lab to accelerate youth-led social entrepreneurship and innovation in India.

Youth Co:Lab  :

• Through Youth Co:Lab, young entrepreneurs and innovators will get a chance to connect with governments, mentors, incubators and investors, who will help equip them with entrepreneurial skills.

• The first phase of Youth Co:Lab will focus on six SDGs:

  • SDG 5 (Gender Equality)

  • SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)

  • SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)

  • SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

  • SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)

  • SDG 13 (Climate Action)

                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- PIB

Rural houses to get 2-3 hr piped water supply daily

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Rural households will get two to three hours of piped water supply and 14.6 crore such households will be provided piped water connection in the next five years as part of the Union government’s Jal Jeevan Mission

Jal Jeevan Mission :

• Aim: It seeks to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections (HarGharJal) to all rural households by 2024.

• Implementing Agency: It will be implemented by the  Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Jal Shakti Ministry.

• Finance: The project is estimated to cost Rs 3.50 lakh crore, with the Union government and states sharing the expenses 50:50.

Features:

• It will focus on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level.

• It will implement source sustainability measures recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting.

• It will converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across India.

• It seeks to generate maximum community participation in the form of ‘jan andolan’ to achieve the target of functional household tap connection by 2024.

Need:

• According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, only 18% of India’s rural households have access to piped water.

• Thus to improve coverage of households with piped safe drinking water the mission has been initiated.

                                                                                                                                                 Source :- Indian Express

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

India - Bangladesh Business forum meet

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

Context :

• The India – Bangladesh Business Forum took place in New Delhi.

  • On this occasion, two Government to Business (G2B) MoUs were signed between Start up Bangladesh and Tech Mahindra, and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority and Adani Ports and SEZs.

India – Bangladesh Ties:

• Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia.

• Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown steadily over the last decade.

  • India’s exports to Bangladesh for the financial year 2018-19 (April-March) stood at USD 9.21 billion and imports from Bangladesh for the same period stood at USD 1.22 billion.

• India and Bangladesh are members of various regional trade agreements including the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) which govern the tariff regimes for trade.

• Under SAFTA, India has granted duty-free, quota-free access to Bangladesh on all items except alcohol and tobacco.

• Four Border Haats, two each in Tripura (Srinagar and Kamalasagar) and Meghalaya (Kalaichar and Balat), have been established for the benefit of communities living along the border areas of both countries. Ten additional Border Haats on the India-Bangladesh border are under implementation.

• Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment from India to Bangladesh has more than doubled during the period 2014 to 2018.

• Bangladesh is the biggest development partner of India today. India has extended 3 Lines of Credits (LOCs) to Bangladesh in the last 8 years amounting to USD 8 billion. India has also provided grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure projects.

                                                                                                                                                                    Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

Power Minister approves amendments in Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Guidelines and Specifications

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

Context :

• To boost Electric Vehicles in India, the Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) has approved amendments in Electric Vehicle Charging Guidelines and Specifications.

More in the news:

• The guidelines have been made more consumer-friendly.

• In order to address a range of issues of electric vehicle owners, a phase-wise installation of an appropriate network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been envisaged in the Guidelines ensuring that

  • At least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3 km X 3 km in the cities, and

  • At least one charging station every 25 km on both sides of highways/roads.

• Assuming that most of the charging of EVs would take place at homes or at offices where the decision of using Fast or Slow chargers would rest on the consumers, it has been clarified in the guidelines that private charging at residences/offices shall be permitted and DISCOMs may facilitate the same.

• Setting up Public Charging Stations (PCS) shall be a de-licensed activity and any individual/entity is free to set up public charging stations subject to the conditions as specified in the Guidelines.

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has been nominated as the Central Nodal Agency.

• The domestic charging shall be akin to domestic consumption of electricity and shall be charged as such.

• However, in the case of PCS, it has been provided that tariffs for the supply of electricity to PCS shall be determined by the appropriate commission in accordance with the Tariff policy.

                                                                                                                                Source :- PIB

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Killer Japanese fungus found in Australia

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

Context :

• One of the world’s most deadly fungi called Poison fire Coral has been identified growing in Australia for the first time.

Poison Fire Coral fungus :

• Poison fire coral which has a red appearance is a native of Japan and Korea.

• The fungus species is the only known fungus that is poisonous to touch. It produces at least eight toxic compounds that can be absorbed through the skin.

• The ingestion of the virus can prove fatal and there are several recorded deaths in Japan and Korea

• Even touching the fungus can also cause inflammation and dermatitis. Further,If eaten,the fungus can cause organ failure and brain damage.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

India’s First e-Waste Clinic to be set up in Bhopal

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

Context :

• The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have signed a MoU to set up India’s first e-waste clinic in Bhopal.

More in the news:

• The e-waste clinic would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.

• Electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly at the clinic in exchange for a fee.

• Door-to-door collection will happen in two ways. Either separate carts for the collection of e-waste will be designed, or separate bins will be attached to existing ones meant for solid and wet waste.

• It e-waste clinic in Bhopal would be a 3-month pilot project, which, if successful, will be replicated everywhere in India.

• The clinic is being conceived in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

  • These rules also focus on segregation of waste at source and charge user fees for collection, disposal, and processing from the bulk generator.           

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

SECURITY

Goa Maritime Conclave– 2019 Inaugurated

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate ; Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) – 2019 was inaugurated by the National Security Advisor, Shri Ajit Kumar Doval, at Goa.

More in the news:

• The conclave saw the participation of heads of the navies of ten nations from the Indian Ocean region – Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

• The conclave was conducted by the Naval War College, Goa.

• The theme for the conclave is “Common Maritime Priorities in IOR and need for Regional Maritime Strategy”.

• On the side-lines of the conclave, various bilateral meetings were also held, between the Chiefs of Navies, to further build on the existing bonds of friendship and also discuss issues specific to both countries.

                                                                                                                    Source :- PIB

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