28 June 2019: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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

June 28th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

Joint Statement on BRICS Leaders’ Informal Meeting

Context:

The Heads of the States of the BRICS namely, India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Russia met on the side lines of the G20 Summit at Osaka, Japan. They gave a joint statement, the import of which is listed below.

Key Points:

• The statements noted that although the world economic growth appeared to be stabilising, there were uncertainties of trade and geopolitical tensions, commodity price volatility, inequality and insufficient inclusive growth, and tighter financial conditions. Hence, there is a need of a favourable global economic environment for sustained growth of international trade.
• The BRICS nations have been the main drivers of global growth over the last 10 years, and at present, represent almost a third of the global output. Continued implementation of structural reforms will enhance their growth potential.
• The joint statement acknowledges the importance of open markets; stronger economic resilience; financial stability; well-designed and coordinated macroeconomic policies; structural reforms; adequate investment in human capital; reduction in poverty levels and inequality; effective competition to promote investment and innovation; open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environments; cooperation in public-private partnerships (PPP); and infrastructure financing and development.
• The statement reiterated the BRICS countries’ commitment to transparent, non-discriminatory, open, free and inclusive international trade. It also stated that they will work in cooperation with the WTO.
• It also stated that the nations will work closely with other global economic institutions such as the IMF and the New Development Bank (NDB).
• It also talked about the importance of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). This is a mechanism to forestall short-term balance of payment pressures in member countries. It also stressed that they are trying to establish the BRICS Local Currency Bond Fund.
• It condemned terrorist attacks and stressed on their commitment to fight the menace.
• It also had words against corruption, and stated the countries will work together to root it out.
• It reiterated the BRICS’ commitment to Financial Actions Task Force (FATF), the World Customs Organisation and other relevant multilateral mechanisms.
• It also talked about working towards a cleaner environment and making sustainable growth, through the UNFCCC, BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
• The statement recommended Brazil as the 2019 Chair for BRICS. The 11^th BRICS Summit will be held in Brasilia in November this year.

Mechanism to Deal with the Misleading Advertisements

Context:

Considering the emerging situation of misleading advertisements, Ministry of AYUSH signed an MoU with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for two years to undertake monitoring of AYUSH-related advertisements in the print and television media and bring the cases of contravention of legal provisions to the notice of the State Regulatory Authorities for necessary action.

Key points:

• Department of Consumers Affairs has set up an online system called GAMA (Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements) portal for registering public complaints of misleading advertisements of various commodities including AYUSH medicines and allied products.

About GAMA:

• GAMA is under the Department of Consumer Affairs (Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution).
• It is an online portal for registering public complaints of misleading advertisements of products under AYUSH.

Integration of AYUSH System with modern medicines

Context:

Ministry of AYUSH is taking various initiatives in promotion and integration of Indian AYUSH System with modern system to increase their acceptability as scientific and reliable alternative system of medicine.

Initiatives taken under this regard:

• The Ministry of AYUSH co-locates AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs) so that patients are enabled to choose between different systems of medicine.
• The Ministry is also implementing NPCDCS (National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke) for health promotion, prevention and management of Non-communicable diseases or Lifestyle related disorders through its three research organizations, which are:
  • Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS)
  • Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM)
  • Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH)
• 10% of the Sub- centres will be upgraded as Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) under Ayushman Bharat.
• CCRH has developed a public health program on ‘Homoeopathy for Healthy Child’ which has been integrated with Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
• Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) conducts special OPD for non-communicable diseases and geriatric population.
• Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY), an autonomous organization under Ministry of AYUSH has established 19 Preventive Health Care Units of Yoga in CGHS Wellness Centres in Delhi and NCR. It conducts Yoga training programmes to mainstream Yoga with the existing health care system.

MSP for Key Crops

Context:

• The government has increased MSPs for all mandated crops with a return of at least 50 percent over all India weighted average cost of production for the season 2018-19.
• Government has taken several steps, which among others, include (i) Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) in original green revolution states viz. Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh as a sub scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) to divert the area of water guzzling paddy crop to alternate crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse/nutri-cereals, cotton and agro forestry.

Read more on MSP and watch a video lecture on the same at the below link:

Minimum Support Price

Organised Farming

Context:

• The Government is promoting contract farming and formation of Farmer Producer Organization (FPOs) in order to promote farming in organized manner. However, there is no specific government scheme to promote organised farming.
• Through the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), the government promotes the formation of FPOs with technical handholding and financial support to leverage the collectivization from pre-production to post-harvest marketing.

Organised Farming:

• Contract farming helps to organise farming and make it more efficient. The advantages of contract farming for farmers are:
  • provision of inputs and production services;
  • access to credit;
  • introduction of appropriate technology;
  • skill transfer;
  • guaranteed and fixed pricing structures; and
  • access to reliable markets.

Green Revolution

Context:

Even though the Green Revolution made India self-reliant in food grain production, the country’s usage of chemical fertilisers increased leading to issues of decrease in use of organic manure and over exploitation of ground water.

Key points:

• The Government of India is laying emphasis on development of resource rich eastern region of the country for enhancing agricultural production.
• This is also aimed at reducing the over-exploitation of resources in north-western India (the traditional food bowl of India).
• Considering potentiality of increasing production and productivity of foodgrains in eastern states, “Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI)”- a sub scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is being implemented since 2010-11 in seven (7) eastern states of the country namely Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
• Other schemes in this domain come under the umbrella scheme Green Revolution– Krishonnati Yojana. They are: National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP), Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM), etc.

Development of National Investment and Manufacturing Zone at Kalinganagar in Odisha

Context:

The Government has granted final approval to National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Kalinganagar, Jajpur district, Odisha.

National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ):

• A NIMZ is a self-government and autonomous body declared as Industrial Township as envisaged in Part IXA of the Constitution.
• It has been conceived as large integrated industrial townships with state of-the-art infrastructure; land use on the basis of zoning; clean and energy efficient technology; necessary social infrastructure; skill development facilities, etc., to provide a conducive environment for manufacturing industries.
• It would be managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

Delivery of Ration at Door-Step

Context:

Some of the beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) may not be able to visit the Fair Price Shops because of reasons like old age, physical disability, etc. The Food Department has in cognisance of this, issued instructions to all States/UTs for special dispensation of food grains.

Read more on PDS here.

INS Tarkash at Alexandria, Egypt

Context:

The Indian Naval Ship Tarkash arrived at Alexandria on 28 June 2019 for a three day visit, as a part of Western Fleet Overseas Deployment programme.

About INS Tarkash:

• Tarkash is a state of the art warship of the Indian Navy equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors capable of addressing threats in all the three dimensions.
• It is part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet and is under the operational Command of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, based at Mumbai.
• The geostrategic location of Egypt provides it the unique advantage of being at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe. Crucial Sea Lines of Communication pass through Red Sea into the Mediterranean through Suez Canal in Egypt.

First Resilient Kerala Program

Context:

The Government of India, the Government of Kerala and the World Bank signed here today a Loan Agreement of USD 250 million for the First Resilient Kerala Program to enhance the State’s resilience against the impacts of natural disasters and climate change.

Key features:

• The Kerala floods in 2018 affected the state adversely and there was a loss of lives, property and infrastructure.
• About 5.4 million people were affected while 1.4 million were displaced from their homes, especially the poor and vulnerable segments of the population.
• The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on strengthening the State’s institutional and financial capacity to protect the assets and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups through an inclusive and participatory approach.
• The programme is part of the Government of India’s support to Kerala’s ‘Rebuild Kerala Development Programme’ aimed at building a green and resilient Kerala.
• The World Bank has been working closely with the Government of India and Kerala since the floods struck in August 2018 in assessing the impact of the floods and assisting in recovery and reconstruction.
• The Bank support also helped identify policies, institutions and systems for resilience to disaster risks and climate change.
• This programme is the first instance of ‘State Partnership’ of the World Bank in India.
• It is also the first of two programmes to mainstream disaster and climate resilience into critical infrastructure and services.
• Aims of the programme:
  • improved river basin planning and water infrastructure operations management, water supply and sanitation services
  • resilient and sustainable agriculture, enhanced agriculture risk insurance
  • improved resilience of the core road network
  • unified and more up-to-date land records in high risk areas
  • risk-based urban planning and strengthened expenditure planning by urban local bodies
  • strengthened fiscal and public financial management capacity of the state

Computational Modeling and Nanoscale Processing Unit in Thanjavur

The Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Ramweswar Teli today inaugurated Computational Modelling and Nanoscale Processing Unit at the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

Five-year vision plan ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP)’ finalised and released by HRD Ministry

Context:

The Department of Higher Education of HRD Ministry has finalized and released a five-year vision plan named Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).

Key features:

• Ten groups were created focusing on different areas like strategies for expanding access, towards global best teaching/learning process, promoting excellence, etc.
• The groups drawn from senior academicians, administrators and industrialists, have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely.
• For each initiative, the Groups have recommended modalities for implementation, investments and timelines.

JNPT awarded ‘Best Port of the year (Containerised)’ at the 4th India Maritime Awards

• The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) won the ‘Best Port of the Year- Containerised’ award at the 4th India Maritime Award ’19.
• The category ‘Best Port of Year’ evaluates the Ports across various parameters like Volume Handled, Year on Year Growth, Expansion Plans, New Initiatives, Variety of Cargo Handled, Handling Equipment, E- Business and Customer Satisfaction, etc.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has commissioned the mapping of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) through National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which was conducted by the Childline India Foundation with help of NGO partners.

Welfare Scheme for Widows

Context:

There are a number of Schemes being implemented by various Ministries of the Government of India through States Governments/UT Administrations which address the common needs of widows.

Key schemes in this regard are listed below:

1. Home for Widows: A Home for Widows has been set up in Vrindavan, UP with a capacity of 1000 inmates to provide widows a safe and secure place of stay, health services, nutritious food, legal and counseling services.
2. SwadharGreh Scheme: This scheme envisions a supportive institutional framework for women victims of difficult circumstances so that they could lead their life with dignity and conviction.
3. The Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme: This aims to empower rural women through community participation and to create an environment in which they realize their full potential.
4. Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme: this is a pension scheme for widows and the elderly.
5. National Family Benefit Scheme: Under this, a monetary grant of Rs. 20,000 is given as lump sum assistance to the bereaved household in the event of death of the bread-winner.
6. Annapurna Scheme: Ten kg of food grain is given to those eligible aged persons who have remained uncovered under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS).
7. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana: This aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor.
8. Prime Minister Awaas Yojana: Aims at providing affordable housing for women.
9. Nari Arthik Sashaktikaran Yojana: Gives support to Scheduled Castes, Single Women/Widows to take up income generating activities.
10. Integrated Programme for Older Persons: for Older Persons to improve the quality of life of senior citizens.
11. Assistance for vocational training of widows of ex-servicemen: for vocational training of widows of ex-servicemen, treatment of serious diseases of non-pensioner ex-servicemen/widows and daughter’s marriage/widows’ remarriage.

“Cleanathon” at 8 Ghats in Yamuna under Namami Gange

• 22 kilometers of Yamuna stretch in Delhi contains more than 90 percent of pollution load.
• A Cleanathon event was held as part of the Namami Gange programme at the Kalindi Kunj Ghat near Okhla Barrage.

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June 28th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

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