31 January 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam.

January 31st, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

Please Note that the Summary and Analysis of the ECONOMIC SURVEY will be holistically covered.
Watch this space for the updates. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Bharat Parv
2. Address by the President of India to the joint sitting of Two Houses of Parliament
3. Demand for Grants
4. RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik)
5. First Banana Container Train sent to JNPT for Exports
6. Index of Eight Core Industries
7. India Jumps up 79 positions in World Bank Doing Business Rankings
8. IAF’S AN-32 Lands at LEH with Indigenous Bio-Jet Fuel
9. INS Airavat Providing humantarian Assistance and Disaster Relief at Antsiranana, Madagascar
10. National Consultation on the review of Beijing +25

1. Bharat Parv

What’s in News?

The Bharat Parv was organized by the Ministry of Tourism, the Red Fort, New Delhi. 

• The objective of Bharat Parv was to encourage Indians to visit different tourism places of India and to inculcate the spirit of Dekho Apna Desh.
• The Central Theme of this years Bharat Parv is Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Address by the President of India to the joint sitting of Two Houses of Parliament

India’s Rankings:

• In the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, India has leapfrogged to the 63rd position, moving up by 79 places. 
• In the Resolving Insolvency rankings, India has moved from 108th to 52nd position.
• In the Global Innovation rankings, the country has moved from 74th to 52nd position. 
• India has improved its international ranking by 10 points in the Logistics Performance Index. 

India has moved from 52nd to 34th position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness rankings.

3. Demand for Grants

What’s in News?

• Chairman of Rajya Sabha has suggested to all the concerned to ensure submission of reports on Demands for Grants of various Ministries by the Department Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) well before the Budget is approved by the Parliament. 
• Elaborating on this, he said submission of such reports later would not give time for the Government to consider the recommendations made by DRSCs in respect of various ministries.

Demand for Grants:

Demand for Grants is the form in which estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, included in the annual financial statement and required to be voted upon in the Lok Sabha, are submitted in pursuance of Article 113 of the Constitution.

• The demand for grants includes provisions with respect to revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, grants to State and Union Territory governments together with loans and advances. 
• According to Article 113 of the Indian Constitution, estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India in the Annual Financial Statement are to be voted in the Lok Sabha. These expenditures are submitted in the lower house of Parliament in the form of Demand for Grants. 
• Each Demand gives the totals of “voted” and “charged” expenditure and also the grand total of the amount of expenditure for which the demand is presented.

4. RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik)

What’s in News?

Bhubaneswar-Varanasi Direct Daily Flight operations commencement marks the 250th route under RCS-UDAN.

UDAN Scheme:

UDAN is a regional connectivity scheme spearheaded by the Government of India (GoI). It aims to develop smaller regional airports to allow common citizens easier access to aviation services.

Read more about UDAN Scheme.

5. First Banana Container Train sent to JNPT for Exports

What’s in News?

A ‘fruit train’, said to be the first of its kind in the country, was flagged off from Tadipatri Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh.

This topic has been covered in 31st January 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis. Click here to read.

6. Index of Eight Core Industries

• The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

Read more about the Eight Core Industries and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

7. India Jumps up 79 positions in World Bank Doing Business Rankings

What’s in News?

India Jumps up 79 positions in World Bank Doing Business Rankings, Improving From 142 In 2014 To 63 in 2019.

• The number of procedures required to set up a business in India, for example, has reduced from 13 to 10 over the past ten years. 
• Today, it takes an average of 18 days to set up a business in India, down from 30 days in 2009. 
• The turnaround time of ships in India has been on a continuous decline, almost halving from 4.67 days in 2010-11 to 2.48 days in 2018-19.

Read more about Ease of Roding Business Report by the World Bank.

8. IAF’S AN-32 Lands at LEH with Indigenous Bio-Jet Fuel

• The IAF has achieved another milestone, when an AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, powered with a 10% blend of Indian bio-jet fuel took-off from Leh. 
• This is the first time that both engines of the aircraft were powered by the bio-jet indigenous fuel. 

Significance:

• Leh at an altitude of 10,682 ft above mean sea level, is amongst one of world’s highest and most difficult operational airfield, it is prone to extreme weather conditions.  
• Even during clear weather conditions, landing and taking-off an aircraft at Leh, is challenging due to reduced power output of the aircraft engines in the rarefied atmosphere, turbulent wind conditions and proximity of mountainous terrain.
•  Evaluating the performance of bio-jet fuel under these conditions is important from operational perspectives. 
• It validates the capability of the aero-engine to operate smoothly with bio-jet fuel at the extremities of the operational envelope.  

• This successful test flight also demonstrates IAF’s capabilities to absorb newer technology, while sponsoring indigenization. 

Details:

• Bio-jet fuel is produced from non-edible ‘Tree Borne Oils’, grown and procured from the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh state. 
• IAF’s efforts would assist in reducing carbon footprint and India’s dependence on crude imports.

9. INS Airavat Providing humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief at Antsiranana, Madagascar

What’s in News?

Indian Naval Ship Airavat has arrived at Port Antsiranana, Madagascar for undertaking Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief mission as part of ‘Operation Vanilla’.

• The ship whilst mission deployed in the Southern Indian Ocean was diverted as part of ‘Operation Vanilla’.
• Operation Vanilla was launched by the Indian Navy to provide assistance to the affected population of Madagascar post devastation caused by Cyclone Diane. 
• Madagascar is the world’s second-largest island country after Greenland.  
• The Indian Navy continues to monitor the situation and is prepared to render all necessary assistance to the local populace of Madagascar.
• According to government agencies, India stands in solidarity with Madagascar during a national disaster.

INS Airavat:

• INS Airavat, commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2010 is one of the biggest and heaviest naval ships of the Indian Navy. 
• It is capable of carrying 10 battle tanks, more than 500 troops, and 11 combat trucks
• INS Airavat provides a comfortable platform to Sea King and Dhruv helicopters. 
• It is also equipped with two indigenous rocket launchers to provide support in amphibious operations.

10. National Consultation on the review of Beijing +25

What’s in News?

To mark of 25 years of the adoption of Beijing Platform for Action, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD), the National Commission for Women (NCW) and UN Women organized a National Consultation on the Review of Beijing+25, to galvanize all stakeholders to implement actions that remove the most conspicuous barriers to gender equality.

Details:

• The aim of the consultation was to bring together civil society and the women and youth of India, gender equality advocates from all walks of life, in a national public conversation on the urgent actions that need to be taken for the realization of gender equality.

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action:

• The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China, 1995), is an agenda for women’s empowerment. 
• It aims at removing all the obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through ensuring women a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. 
• This means that the principle of shared power and responsibility should be established between women and men at home, in the workplace, and in the wider national and international communities.
• The Declaration and Platform for Action affirm that equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice. It is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace. 
• To this end, governments, the international community and civil society, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector, are called upon to take strategic action in the following twelve critical areas of concern for women globally:

• 1. Women and poverty
  2. Education and training of women
  3. Women and health
  4. Violence against women
  5. Women and armed conflict
  6. Women and the economy
  7. Women in power and decision-making
  8. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
  9. Human rights of women
  10. Women and the media
  11. Women and the environment
  12. The girl-child

January 31st, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

Related Links:

Read more PIB articles here.