14 January 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

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January 14th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ECI organizes briefing meeting of General, Police and Expenditure Observers
2. Gold hallmarking being made mandatory
3. IMD to celebrate 145th Foundation Day
4. Indian Railways to provide Content on Demand Service (CoD)
5. MoU between SCR of Indian Railways and SBI

1. ECI organizes briefing meeting of General, Police and Expenditure Observers

Context

The Election Commission of India (ECI) organized a briefing meeting for Observers to be deployed for the forthcoming Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections.

Who are EC’s observers?

• Observers of the ECI are appointed under the powers conferred on it by Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the plenary powers available to the Commission under the Constitution of India.
• They are the appointees of the Commission working under the superintendence, control and discipline of the Commission for the period from their appointment until the process of election is completed.
• The Representation of the People Act, 1951 was amended in August 1996 to add a new Section 20B.
  • This provides statutory powers to the Observers to watch the conduct of elections and especially in respect of counting of votes.
• The appointment of an officer as an Observer and the intimation for the briefing meeting shall be communicated by the ECI through the nodal officer of the State and Central Government who shall coordinate with Election Commission for various issues including provision of the list of officers for appointment as observers.

Roles and duties:

• The General and Police Observers are expected to assist the Commission in the conduct of free and fair polls.
• They also oversee the efficient and effective management of the electoral process at the field level.
• For all purposes, they act as the eyes and ears of the Commission during the period of the election and provide direct inputs to the Commission from the field as an interface with the election machinery, the candidates, political parties, and electors to ensure that the Acts, rules, procedures, instructions and guidelines related to elections are strictly and impartially complied with by all concerned.

2. Gold hallmarking being made mandatory

Context:

The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution held a press conference regarding mandatory hallmarking of Gold jewellery & artefacts in India.

Significance of the move:

• The purpose of making hallmarking mandatory for Gold Jewelry and Artefacts is to ensure that consumers are not cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the purity as marked on the ornaments. 
• The purity of Gold will now be in only 3 caratage i.e. 14, 18 and 22 thus corruption is removed.
• This will make it compulsory for all the jewellers selling  Gold jewellery and artefacts to register with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and sell only hallmarked Gold jewellery & artefacts.

About the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):

• BIS is the National Standards Body of India established under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for related concerns.
• Through standardization, certification and testing, BIS provides safe reliable quality goods, minimises health hazards to consumers, promotes exports and imports substitutes, and controls over the proliferation of varieties, etc.
• The body was formed as the BIS (as a statutory body) in 1986. It was formerly called the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) which was set up in 1946. The 2016 Act positioned it as the National Standards Body.
• BIS Activities:

• • Standards Formulation
  • Product Certification Scheme
  • Compulsory Registration Scheme
  • Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme
  • Hall Marking Scheme
  • Laboratory Services
  • Laboratory Recognition Scheme
  • Sale of Indian Standards
  • Consumer Affairs Activities
  • Promotional Activities
  • Training Services, National & International level
  • Information Services

3. IMD to celebrate 145th Foundation Day

Context

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is celebrating its 145th Foundation Day.

About IMD:

Click Here to read about the topic

Recent Achievements:

• Significant improvement in forecast accuracy of severe weather events by 15 to 35% during the last 5 years.
• All India Severe Weather forecast (24 hrs) skill for 2019 has improved as compared to that of 2002-18. The Probability of Detection (POD) for 2019 had been 74%,92%, 85% and 85% for heavy rainfall, heatwaves, cold waves and nowcast respectively.
• Annual average track forecast errors in 2019 for 24, 48 and 72 hours have been 69, 104 and 149 km against the mean forecast errors during 2014-18 of 86, 132 and 177 respectively.
• IMD earned appreciation from the United Nations and Hon’ble President of India for accurate prediction of cyclone FANI.
• A new website of Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has been launched during 2019.

4. Indian Railways to provide Content on Demand Service (CoD)

Context:

Content on Demand (CoD) will soon be available in all Premium/Express/Mail trains and Suburban trains of Indian Railways.

Significance:

• With an aim to generate more non-fare revenue, Railway Board had entrusted RailTel, with providing the Content on Demand service to passengers in trains.
• With CoD, passengers will be able to enjoy uninterrupted free/ Subscription based entertainment service and high-Quality buffer-free streaming across personal devices during their train journey.
• The Content on Demand service will not only improve overall passenger experience but at the same time will increase the non-fare revenue through multiple monetization models. 

About the Initiative

• The project will be implemented in two years and the provision of content such as movies, shows, educational programs etc. will be made available both in paid and unpaid formats.
• The earning from the project will be majorly through three streams e.g. Advertisement based monetization, Subscription-based monetization and E-Commerce/Partnership Services.

5. MoU between SCR of Indian Railways and SBI

Context:

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between South Central Zone of Indian Railways and State Bank of India for Doorstep Banking for direct pickup of earnings covering all 585 Railway stations over South Central Railway (SCR) Zone.

Significance:

• The direct pick up of cash from all the railway stations on SCR as per the MoU dispenses with the tedious and complex activity of movement of cash earnings through “Cash Safes” by trains.
• This will enable hassle-free collection of traffic earnings by SBI and remittance into Government account avoiding delay in transmission of traffic cash earnings.

Major benefits from the MoU:

• All the railway stations will have a uniform cash remittance mechanism.
• Real-time information about the cash being deposited by different stations which will help in better supervision and accountability.
• Avoidance of unwanted accumulation of cash at railway stations.
• A smart way of remittance of station earnings.

January 14th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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