ART AND CULTURE                                                                         

1. Annual SahityaAkademi Awards                                                        

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                        

1. Why Pranab Mukherjee wants 1,000 MPs — and why Lok Sabha has only 543 today                                                                                 

2. Land records in 90% of Indian villages have been computerised         

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                   

1. Delegation from Bangladesh fails to arrive in Delhi for river panel meeting                                                                                           

ECONOMY                                                                                          

1. Phase 3 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) launched  

2. Govt approves ₹436 crore for digital upskilling of IT workforce           

3. Tripura gets its first SEZ                                                                 

4. Year End Review -2019 of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas        

ART AND CULTURE

Annual SahityaAkademi Awards

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE - Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context :

• Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages.

More in the news :

• seven books of poetry, four novels, six short stories, three non-fiction books and three essays have won the award this year.

• MP Shashi Tharoor is among the awardees this year. He won the prize for his English non-fiction “An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India”.           

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Why Pranab Mukherjee wants 1,000 MPs — and why Lok Sabha has only 543 today

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Context :

• Recently,former President has said that the number of seats in Lok Sabha should be increased to 1,000 from the present 543 as every MP represents an average 16-18 lakh Indians which is too large a number to be kept in touch.

The strength of Lok Sabha :

• Article 81 of the Constitution defines the composition of the House of the People or Lok Sabha.

• It states that the House shall not consist of more than 550 elected members of whom not more than 20 will represent Union Territories.

• At present,the strength of the Lok Sabha is 543 of which 530 have been allocated to the states, and the rest to the Union Territories.

  • the composition of the Lower House has remained more or less the same for four decades.

Allocation of Loksabha Seats :

•   Article 81 also mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state would be such that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is as far as possible the same for all states.

• This is to ensure that every state is equally represented.However, this logic does not apply to small states whose population is not more than 60 lakh.

• So,at least one seat is allocated to every state even if it means that its population-to-seat-ratio is not enough to qualify it for that seat.

• As per Article 81(3),population for the purpose of allocation of seats, means the population as ascertained at the last published Census.

Revision of Lok Sabha Strength :

• The strength of Lok Sabha hasn’t always been 543 seats. Originally, Article 81 provided that the Lok Sabha shall not have more than 500 members.The first House constituted in 1952 had 497 members.

• The last time the strength of the Lok Sabha was revised to 543 was based on the 1971 census.

• A temporary freeze was imposed in 1976 on ‘delimitation’ until 2001. Delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in the population.

• However,the freeze on the number of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies should have been lifted after the Census of 2001,another amendment postponed this until 2026.

Why temporary freeze on strength of Lok Sabha?

• As per Article 81, the composition of the Lok Sabha should represent changes in population. But it has remained more or less the same since the delimitation carried out based on the 1971 Census.

• This means that states that took little interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament.

• The southern states that promoted family planning faced the possibility of having their seats reduced.Hence,to allay these fears the temporary freeze has been imposed.

                                                                                                                   Source :- Indian Express

Land records in 90% of Indian villages have been computerised

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential

Context :

• According to the Ministry of Rural development,around 90% of the land of Indian villages have been computerised under Digital india Land Records Modernisation Programme(DILRMP).

More in the news :

• About 53 per cent of cadastral maps showing the boundaries and ownership of land parcels have been digitised

• Along with some States in the North East, Kerala (43.24 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (9.32 per cent) are lagging behind in the computerisation of land records.

• Karnataka was the first State to computerise land records under the ‘Bhoomi Project’, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.           

                                                                                                                                          Source :- Hindu Business Line

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Delegation from Bangladesh fails to arrive in Delhi for river panel meeting

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

Context :

• Bangladesh has not sent a delegation for the Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting with India that was scheduled to be held in New Delhi.This has also delayed the agreement on sharing of the waters of Feni river.

More in the news :

• This has cast a shadow over the agreement to share the waters of the Feni river, that was taken up during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India.

• A joint statement issued after Ms. Hasina’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid down the agenda of the JRC, declaring that the technical-level committee of the JRC was to firm up the draft framework agreement of the interim sharing of the Feni river’s waters with Tripura.

• Bangladesh had agreed to let India withdraw 1.82 cusecs from the river to supply the border town of Sabroom in the northeastern State.

• That apart, the meeting cancellation is expected to delay the preparation of the draft framework for the Interim Sharing Agreements regarding the Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomati, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers that were also mentioned in the Joint Statement.

• It is believed that the cancellations indicate Dhaka’s displeasure over repeated reference by India’s political leadership to the alleged persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh.           

                                                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

ECONOMY

Phase 3 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) launched

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

Context :

• The Union Minister for Rural Development inaugurated the third phase of the PMGSY.           

Phase-3 of PMGSY :

• It will be implemented from 2019-20 to 2024-25. The phase-3 proposes to consolidate roads measuring 1.25 lakh km in length

• It will also strengthen through routes and major rural links which connect habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), higher secondary schools and hospitals.

•  Construction of bridges of up to 150m in plain areas and 200 m in Himalayan and northeastern states

• The funding pattern will be 90:10 between Centre and NE and Himalayan States and 60:40 between Centre and other States.

                                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

Govt approves  436 crore for digital upskilling of IT workforce

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

Context :

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has approved Rs 436 crore over a period of three years for Future Skills PRIME, a joint venture between the government and National Association of Software and Services Companies.

Future Skills PRIME programme :

•  FutureSkills Programme was launched in 2018 jointly by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and industry body NASSCOM.

• The programme aims to reskill 2 million professionals and potential employees & students in the industry in eight emerging technologies over a period of 5 years.

• The emerging technologies include artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotic process automation, internet of things, big data analytics, 3D printing, cloud computing, social and mobile

• To do this,FutureSkills portal uses the technology of the future, to create a space where a learner can access content on all the skills of the future.

• A learner can seamlessly access free and paid content, assessments, virtual labs and get certified on the skills of their choice.

• This PRIME is the next phase of the Future Skills platform and is open to professionals from outside the IT industry as well, who want to skill themselves in ten emerging technologies.

Significance :

• This initiative from NASSCOM will help India accelerates the journey of skilling and achieve its goal of becoming the global talent hub.

• It will also facilitate the skilling by inspiring learners to explore, discover and learn.

                                                                                                                        Source :- Business Standard ; Livemint

Tripura gets its first SEZ

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

Context :

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has notified the setting up of the first ever Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tripura.

  • It will be a Sector Specific Economic Zone for Agro-Based Food Processing.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ) :

• A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a specifically delineated duty-free enclave and shall be deemed to be foreign territory for the purposes of trade operations and duties and tariffs in India.

• It is an area within a country where there are different trade and business laws from the remaining regions of the country.

• SEZs are created to attract more investment, generate employment and also to better administer these areas.

• With a view to overcome the shortcomings experienced on account of the multiplicity of controls and clearances; absence of world-class infrastructure, and an unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000.

• The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, was passed by Parliament in 2005.

• After extensive consultations, the SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ Rules, came into effect in 2006.

Objective of SEZ :

• Generation of additional economic activity

• Promotion of exports of goods and services

• Promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources

• Creation of employment opportunities

• Development of infrastructure facilities

Key features :

• Duty-free import/domestic procurement of goods for development, operation and maintenance of SEZ units.

• 100% Income tax exemption on export income for SEZ units under the Income Tax Act for first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50% of the ploughed back export profit for next 5 years. (Sunset Clause for Units will become effective from 2020).

• Exemption from Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).

• Exemption from Central Sales Tax, Exemption from Service Tax and Exemption from State sales tax. These have now subsumed into GST and supplies to SEZs are zero-rated under the IGST Act, 2017.

• Single window clearance for Central and State level approvals.

                                                                                                                                                                          Source :- PIB

Year End Review -2019 of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

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

Context :

• Several initiatives taken by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to address the priorities like Energy Access, Energy Efficiency, Energy Sustainability and Energy Security.

Key Initiatives undertaken :

•   PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY) :

  • Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in May 2016, with an initial target of 5 crore.

    • It was further revised to providing 8 crore connections to an adult woman of poor households by March, 2020

  • objective to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households, especially in rural areas ensuring universal coverage of LPG as cooking gas in the country

  • Significance: Implementation of this scheme enhanced economic productivity and quality of life of women, by removing drudgery associated with collection of wood. The free time, thus, available with them, can be utilized in multi spheres for improving their life standards.

  • Achievements :The scheme has already been achieved on 7th September, 2019 i.e. 7 months ahead of the target.

•   Pahal :

  • The Government has introduced a well-targeted system of subsidy delivery to LPG consumers through PAHAL.

  • This initiative of the Government was aimed at rationalizing subsidies, based on an approach to cut subsidy leakages, but not subsidies themselves.

  • It was launched in 2014 for providing the direct benefits transfer of LPG subsidy to the bank account of the LPG consumers.

  • PAHAL Scheme has been designed to ensure that the benefit meant for the genuine domestic customer reaches them directly and is not diverted.

  • The scheme has helped in identifying ‘ghost’ connections, multiple connections and inactive connections which in turn has resulted in curbing diversion of subsidized LPG to commercial purposes.

• Reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy :

  • The Government notified ‘Reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy’ for enhancing domestic exploration and production of oil and gas.

  • This was aimed at intensifying exploration activities, attracting foreign and domestic investment and enhancing domestic production.

  • The reforms included, among others, a cutting down on the required government approvals, speedy dispute resolution mechanism, and a single-window electronic approval mechanism.

•   Petroleum Exploration Licenses :

  • The Central Government has already granted Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PELs) for all the offshore blocks and also recommended to all the concerned State Governments to grant PELs for all on-land blocks allocated under Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) regime.

•   National Seismic Programme (NSP)

  • This was launched to trace hydrocarbon resources like oil and natural gas in the Mahanadi basin (initially – as the first roll-out of the scheme).

  • NSP aims to undertake a fresh appraisal in all sedimentary basins across India in order to have a better understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the country.

• National Data Repository (NDR)

  • The NDR was established by the Government to assimilate, preserve and upkeep the vast amount of data which could be organised and regulated for use in future exploration and development, besides use by R&D and other educational institutions.

• Auto Fuel Vision and Policy

  • BS-IV Auto Fuels have been implemented in the entire country with effect from 2017.

  • It has also been decided that the country will leapfrog directly from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards and BS-VI standards will be implemented in the entire country from April 2020.

Liberalization of Norms of Private Sector Participation in the Retail Sector

• National Gas Grid

  • The government has identified the development of an additional 15000 km of gas pipeline and various pipeline sections to complete the gas grid.

• Promotion of LNG/CNG in Vehicles

  • The Government is meeting 100% of the gas requirement of PNG (Domestic) and CNG (Transport) segment of the City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks across the country.

• Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme

  • The Government of India launched this programme in 2003 for undertaking blending of ethanol in petrol to address the environmental concerns due to fossil fuel burning, provide remuneration to farmers, subsidize crude imports and achieve forex savings.

• Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana

  • In order to encourage setting up of second-generation bio-fuels plants, the Government has launched this scheme for providing financial support to integrated bio-ethanol projects, using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock.

                                                                                                                         Source :- PIB

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