POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                        

1. Good Governance Index launched                                                    

ECONOMY                                                                                          

1. NITI Aayog to launch 2nd edition of SDG India Index                         

2. Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh named as Atal tunnel                

3. India in the midst of significant slowdown:IMF                                    

4. Cabinet approves transformational Organisational Restructuring of Indian Railways                                                                                

SECURITY                                                                                          

1. Cabinet grants Ex-post facto approval to amend the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations                                                                       

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Good Governance Index launched

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

Context :

• Minister of State for Public Grievances and Pensions has launched Good Governance Index on the occasion of Good Governance Day.      

Key Highlights :

• The index has divided States and UTs into three groups namely

  • Big States,

  • North-East and Hill States and

  • Union Territories.

•  Big States:

  • Tamil Nadu has topped the Good Governance Index among the Big states,

  • It was followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

•  North East and Hill States:

  • Himachal Pradesh was ranked first followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim.

  • The worst performers in this group are Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh coming last.

•  Union Territories:

  • Puducherry is the best governed Union Territory followed by Chandigarh and Delhi. Lakshadweep is the worst performing UT.

                                                                                                                                  Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

NITI Aayog to launch 2nd edition of SDG India Index

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• NITI Aayog will launch the second edition of the Sustainable Development Goals.

SDG India Index 2019:

• The SDG India Index and Dashboard 2019 tracks the progress of and ranks all States and UTs on 100 indicators drawn from MoSPI’s National Indicator Framework, comprising 306 indicators.

• It indicates where the country and its States and UTs currently are on SDG implementation, and charts the distance to be travelled to reach the SDG targets.

• The Index covers 16 out of 17 SDGs and a qualitative assessment on Goal 17. This marks an improvement over the 2018 Index, which covered only 13 goals.          

                                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh named as Atal tunnel

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

Context :

• The Union Cabinet has decided to name the Rohtang Tunnel under Rohtang Pass after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.in a tribute to him on his 95th birth anniversary.

Atal Tunnel :

which will connect Manali in Himachal Pradesh with Leh, Ladakh, and Jammu Kashmir

• It is the 8.8 km-long tunnel will be the world’s longest highway tunnel at an altitude of above 10,000 feet (3,000 metres).

• The tunnel is present on the Pir Panjal Range of Himalayas.The tunnel project is being carried out by the Border Roads Organisation(BRO).

• The tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to remote border areas of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh which otherwise remained cut off from the rest of the country for about six months during winters.           

                                                                                                                             Source :- Indian Express

India in the midst of significant slowdown:IMF

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its consultations report on India.

  • IMF has said, India is now in “the midst of a significant economic slowdown” and the government must take “urgent policy” actions to reverse the slide in the growth.

Key Highlights :

• The report has said that India’s rapid economic expansion in recent years has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

• India is still doing well in terms of other economic parameters such as Foreign exchange Reserves which have risen to a record level.

• The current account deficit has also narrowed down.

• Inflation although witnessing a temporary hike because of vegetable prices has been under control for the last few years.

• Concern :

  • However in 2019, a combination of factors led to subdued economic growth in India.

  • India is now in the midst of a significant economic slowdown.Hence,the report has urged the government to take urgent policy actions to address the current prolonged downturn.

  • The slowdown is mostly cyclical and not structural.

    • However,still concerns remain as because of the financial sector issues,the recovery will be not as quick as it is in case of cyclical slowdowns.

Key Reasons for growth slowdown:

• The current economic slowdown is attributed to abrupt reduction in non-banking financial companies’ credit expansion and weak income growth especially in rural areas which has been affecting private consumption.

• Private investment has also been hindered by financial sector difficulties (including in public sector banks) and insufficient business confidence.

• Further,the implementation issues with important structural reforms such as the nation-wide Goods and Services Tax may also have played a role.           

                                                                                                                       Source ;- The Hindu

Cabinet approves transformational Organisational Restructuring of Indian Railways

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

Context :

• The Union Cabinet has approved a transformational organisational restructuring of the Indian Railways.

  • This historic reform will go a long way in achieving Government’s vision of making Indian Railways the growth engine of India's vikas yatra.

Background :

• These measures were first recommended 25 years ago.

•  Since then, various committees, including the Prakash Tandon Committee in 1994, Rakesh Mohan Committee (2001), Sam Pitroda Committee (2012) and Bibek Debroy Committee (2015).

Reforms :

• The Union Cabinet has also approved the merger of the different cadres into a central service called the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS).

• The modalities and unification of the services will be worked out by the Ministry of Railways in consultation with the Department of Personnel and Training.

Re-organisation of Railway Board

• The Railway Board—the apex decision making body of the Indian Railways—will be headed by a chairman, who will be the chief executive officer (CEO).

• There will be four other members, in charge of infrastructure, rolling stock, finance and operations, and business development.

• The existing service of Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) to be consequently renamed as Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS)

Significance :

• These reforms are aimed at ending departmentalisation of the mammoth organization that employees nearly 1.3 million people, second only to the strength of the Armed Forces.

• The Unification of services is aimed at ending departmentalism, promote smooth working of Railways, expedite decision making, create a coherent vision for organisation and promote rational decision making.

                                                                                                                               Source :- PIB

SECURITY

Cabinet grants Ex-post facto approval to amend the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security; Security challenges and their management in border areas

Context :

• The Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval to the Adaptation of Laws (Amendment) Order, 2019 issued by the President of India under clause (2) of Article 372 of the Constitution to amend the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations (BEFR), 1873.

More in the news :

• The notification will extend BEFR to the State of Manipur to give its indigenous people protection from the provisions of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 and make necessary changes in the said Regulation.

  • The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.         

                                                                                                                                           Source :- PIB

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