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Type: PIB

  • Policy Wise: India’s Power Sector

    [pib] SAUBHAGYA Scheme completes 4 years

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: PM-SAUBHAGYA Scheme

    Mains level: Rural and Urban Electrification

    The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – SAUBHAGYA Scheme has successfully completed four years of its implementation.

    Progress till date

    • 82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA till 31st March, 2021.

    About SAUBHAGYA Scheme

    • The Saubhagya is a scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
    • It was launched in September 2017.
    • The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.

    Objective

    • To provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas
    • To achieve universal household electrification in the country

    Beneficiaries of the project

    • The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
    • However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
    • The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug.
    • It also includes Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.

    Implementation process

    • For the easy and accelerated implementation of the Scheme, modern technology shall be used for household surveys by using Mobile App.
    • Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot.
    • The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

    Expected outcomes of the scheme

    The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows:

    • Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes
    • Improvement education services
    • Better health services
    • Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.
    • Increased economic activities and jobs
    • Improved quality of life especially for women

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  • Renewable Energy – Wind, Tidal, Geothermal, etc.

    [pib] International Hydropower Association (IHA)

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: International Hydropower Association (IHA), Teesta River

    Mains level: NA

    NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA).

    Teesta-V Power Station

    • The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC.
    • The award has been conferred for its sustainability assessment undertaken by Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA.

    About IHA

    • IHA is a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries.
    • The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants.
    • The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development.
    • The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects.
    • It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria.

    Back2Basics: Teesta River

    • Teesta River is a 414 km long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.
    • It drains an area of 12,540 sq km.
    • In India, it flows through North Sikkim, East Sikkim, Pakyong District, Kalimpong district, Darjeeling District, Jalpaiguri District, Cooch Behar districts and the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and Mekhliganj.
    • It joins River Brahmaputra at Fulchhari in Bangladesh. 315 km portion of the river lies in India and rest in Bangladesh.
    • Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and the second largest river of West Bengal after Ganges.

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  • Coastal Zones Management and Regulations

    [pib] Kovalam & Eden Beaches gets Blue Fag Certification

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Blue Flag Certification

    Mains level: NA

     

    The international eco-label “Blue Flag”, has accorded the Blue Flag Certification for 2 new beaches this year –Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry beaches.

    With this India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches.

    Which are the other 8 beaches?

    1. Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)
    2. Ghoghla (Diu)
    3. Kasarkod (Karnataka) [NOT Kasargod which is in Kerala] and
    4. Padubidri (Karnataka)
    5. Kappad (Kerala)
    6. Rushikonda (AP)
    7. Golden Beach (Odisha) and
    8. Radhanagar (A&N Islands)

    Blue Flag Beaches

    • The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
    • The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.
    • It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
    • It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    [pib] PLI Scheme for White Goods

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: White Goods, PLI Scheme

    Mains level: Success of the PLI Scheme

    A total of  52 companies have filed their application with a committed investment of Rs 5,866 crore under the PLI scheme to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of components of White Goods.

    What are White Goods?

    • White goods refer to heavy consumer durables or large home appliances, which were traditionally available only in white.
    • They include appliances such as washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, etc. The white goods industry in India is highly concentrated.

    Why PLI scheme for white goods?

    • Indian appliance and consumer electronics (ACE) market reached INR 76,400 crore (~$10.93 bn) in 2019.
    • Appliances and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach INR 1.48 lakh crore (~$21.18 bn) by 2025.
    • The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.
    • Only manufacturing of components of ACs and LED Lights will be incentivized under the Scheme.

    What is PLI Scheme?

    • As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
    • PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
    • The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.

    Criteria laid for the scheme

    • Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
    • For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
    • The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
    • Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
    • On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.

    What are the incentives offered?

    • An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
    • Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
    • For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.

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  • NITI Aayog’s Assessment

    [pib] Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NITI Aayog

    Mains level: Evolving concept of urban development

    NITI Aayog has launched a report titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’ on measures to ramp up urban planning capacity in India.

    Reforms in Urban Planning

    • The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with concerned ministries and eminent experts in the domain of urban and regional planning.
    • It underscores urban challenges, including town planning and emphasizes need greater policy attention in our country.

    Why such report?

    • India is home to 11% of the total global urban population.
    • By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world.
    • Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
    • The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.

    Highlights of the report

    The report makes several recommendations that can unblock bottlenecks in the value chain of urban planning capacity in India.  Some of them are:

    Programmatic Intervention for Planning of Healthy Cities:

    • Every city must aspire to become a ‘Healthy City for All’ by 2030.
    • The report recommends a Central Sector Scheme ‘500 Healthy Cities Programme’, for a period of 5 years, wherein priority cities and towns would be selected jointly by the states and local bodies.

    Programmatic Intervention for Optimum Utilization of Urban Land:

    • All the cities and towns under the proposed ‘Healthy Cities Programme’ should strengthen development control regulations based on scientific evidence to maximize the efficiency of urban land (or planning area).
    • The report recommends a sub-scheme ‘Preparation/Revision of Development Control Regulations’ for this purpose.

    Ramping Up of Human Resources:

    • To combat the shortage of urban planners in the public sector, the report recommends that the states/UTs may need to a) expedite the filling up of vacant positions of town planners.
    • It asks to additionally sanction 8268 town planners’ posts as lateral entry positions.

    Ensuring Qualified Professionals for Undertaking Urban Planning:

    • State town and country planning departments face an acute shortage of town planners.
    • This is compounded by the fact that in several states, ironically, a qualification in town planning is not even an essential criterion for such jobs.
    • States may need to undertake requisite amendments in their recruitment rules to ensure the entry of qualified candidates into town-planning positions.

    Re-engineering of Urban Governance:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a high-powered committee to re-engineer the present urban-planning governance structure.
    • The key aspects that would need to be addressed in this effort are:
    1. clear division of the roles and responsibilities of various authorities, appropriate revision of rules and regulations, etc.,
    2. creation of a more dynamic organizational structure, standardisation of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts, and
    3. extensive adoption of technology for enabling public participation and inter-agency coordination.

    Revision of Town and Country Planning Acts:

    • Most States have enacted the Town and Country Planning Acts, that enable them to prepare and notify master plans for implementation.
    • However, many need to be reviewed and upgraded.
    • Therefore, the formation of an apex committee at the state level is recommended to undertake a regular review of planning legislations (including town and country planning or urban and regional development acts or other relevant acts).

    Demystifying Planning and Involving Citizens:

    • While it is important to maintain the master plans’ technical rigour, it is equally important to demystify them for enabling citizens’ participation at relevant stages.
    • Therefore, the committee strongly recommends a ‘Citizen Outreach Campaign’ for demystifying urban planning.

    Steps for Enhancing the Role of Private Sector:

    • The report recommends that concerted measures must be taken at multiple levels to strengthen the role of the private sector to improve the overall planning capacity in the country.
    • These include the adoption of fair processes for procuring technical consultancy services, strengthening project structuring and management skills in the public sector, and empanelment of private sector consultancies.

    Steps for Strengthening Urban Planning Education System:

    • The Central universities and technical institutions in all the other States/UTs are encouraged to offer PG degree programmes (MTech Planning) to cater to the requirement of planners in the country.
    • The committee also recommends that all such institutions may synergize with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and respective state rural development departments.

    Measures for Strengthening Human Resource and Match Demand–Supply:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a ‘National Council of Town and Country Planners’ as a statutory body.
    • Also, a ‘National Digital Platform of Town and Country Planners’ is suggested to be created within the National Urban Innovation Stack of MoHUA.
    • This portal will enable self-registration of all planners and evolve as a marketplace for potential employers and urban planners.

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  • Trade Sector Updates – Falling Exports, TIES, MEIS, Foreign Trade Policy, etc.

    [pib] Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Transport and Marketing Assistance Scheme

    Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India

    The Centre has revised “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products’.

    What is the TMA Scheme?

    • The TMA Scheme was introduced in 2019 to provide assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the disadvantage of higher freight costs faced by the Indian exporters of agriculture products.
    • All exporters, duly registered with relevant Export Promotion Council as per Foreign Trade Policy, of eligible agriculture products, shall be covered under this scheme.
    • The assistance, at notified rates, will be available for the export of eligible agriculture products to the permissible countries, as specified from time to time.
    • Assistance would be provided in cash through a direct bank transfer as part reimbursement of freight paid.

    Following major changes have been made in the revised scheme:

    • Dairy products, which were not covered under the earlier scheme, will be eligible for assistance under the revised scheme.
    • Rates of assistance have been increased, by 50% for exports by sea and by 100% for exports by air.

    List of ineligible products

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  • RBI Notifications

    [pib] Account Aggregator Network (AAN): A financial data-sharing system

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN) and its regulation

    Mains level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN)

    The Account Aggregator system in banking has been started off with eight of India’s largest banks. In this newscard, we shall learn it in a FAQ manner.

    What is an Account Aggregator?

    • An Account Aggregator (AA) is a type of RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network.
    • Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual.
    • There will be many Account Aggregators an individual can choose between.
    • Account Aggregator replaces the long terms and conditions form of ‘blank cheque’ acceptance with a granular, step by step permission and control for each use of your data.

    How would it improve an average person’s financial life?

    • India’s financial system involves many hassles for consumers today.
    • This includes sharing of physical signed and scanned copies of bank statements, stamp documents, or having to share your personal username and password to give your financial history to a third party.
    • The AAN would replace all these with a simple, mobile-based, simple, and safe digital data access & sharing process.
    • This will create opportunities for new kinds of services — eg new types of loans.
    • The individual’s bank just needs to join the Account Aggregator network.

    How is AAN different to Aadhaar eKYC data sharing?

    • Aadhaar eKYC and CKYC only allow sharing of four ‘identity’ data fields for KYC purposes (eg name, address, gender, etc).
    • Similarly, credit bureau data only shows loan history and/or a credit score.
    • The AAN allows sharing of transaction data or bank statements from savings/deposit/current accounts.

    What kind of data can be shared?

    • Today, banking transaction data is available to be shared (for example, bank statements from a current or savings account) across the banks that have gone live on the network.
    • Gradually the AA framework will make all financial data available for sharing, including tax data, pensions data, securities data (mutual funds and brokerage), and insurance data will be available to consumers.
    • It will also expand beyond the financial sector to allow healthcare and telecom data to be accessible to the individual via AA.

    Can AAs view or ‘aggregate’ personal data? Is the data sharing secure?

    • Account Aggregators cannot see the data; they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individual’s direction and consent.
    • Contrary to the name, they cannot ‘aggregate’ your data.
    • AAs are not like technology companies which aggregate your data and create detailed profiles of you.
    • The data AAs share is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient.
    • The end to end encryption and use of technology like the ‘digital signature’ makes the process much more secure than sharing paper documents.

    Can a consumer decide they don’t want to share data?

    Yes. Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers.

    • If the bank the consumer is using has joined the network, a person can choose to register on an AA, choose which accounts they want to link, and share their data.
    • A customer can reject a consent to share request at any time.
    • If a consumer has accepted to share data in a recurring manner over a period (eg during a loan period), it can also be revoked at any time later as well by the consumer.

    Duration of the data shared

    • The exact time period for which the recipient institution will have access will be shown to the consumer at the time of consent for data sharing.

    How can a customer get registered with an AA?

    • One can register with an AA through their app or website.
    • AA will provide a handle (like username) which can be used during the consent process.
    • Today, four apps are available for download (Finvu, OneMoney, CAMS Finserv, and NADL) with operational licenses to be AAs.
    • Three more have received in principle approval from RBI (PhonePe, Yodlee, and Perfios) and may be launching apps soon.
    • A customer can register with any AA to access data from any bank on the network.

    Does a customer need to pay the AA for using this facility?

    • This will depend on the AA. Some may charge a small user fee.
    • Some AAs may be free because they are charging a service fee to financial institutions.

    What new services can a customer access if their bank has joined the AA network of data sharing?

    The two key services that will be improved for an individual is access to loans and access to money management.

    • If a customer wants to get a small business or personal loan today, there are many documents that need to be shared with the lender.
    • This is a cumbersome and manual process today, which affects the time taken to procure the loan and access to a loan.
    • Similarly, money management is difficult today because data is stored in many different locations and cannot be brought together easily for analysis.
    • Through Account Aggregator, a company can access tamper-proof secure data quickly and cheaply, and fast track the loan evaluation process so that a customer can get a loan.
    • Also, a customer may be able to access a loan without physical collateral, by sharing trusted information on a future invoice or cash flow directly from a government system like GST or GeM.

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  • Roads, Highways, Cargo, Air-Cargo and Logistics infrastructure – Bharatmala, LEEP, SetuBharatam, etc.

    [pib] Bharat Series (BH-series) for Vehicles

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Bharat series (BH-series)

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has rolled out a new series for vehicles registration ‘BH’ to avoid re-registration of vehicles while moving to another state.

    Bharat series (BH-series)

    • There was a procedure of re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state.
    • A vehicle bearing BH registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
    • Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark –

    Registration Mark Format:

    1. YY BH #### XX
    2. YY – Year of first registration
    3. BH- Code for Bharat Series
    4. ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
    5. XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)

    Why such move?

    • Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees.
    • Such movements create a sense of unease in the minds of such employees with regard to transfer of registration from the parent state to another state.
    • Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.

    Who can get this BH series?

    • BH-series will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State PSUs and private sector companies/organizations.
    • The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two.
    • This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT.
    • After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.

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  • Air Pollution

    [pib] Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA) Project

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Transport Initiative for Asia

    Mains level: Not Much

    NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India, jointly launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India as part of the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA).

    Transport Initiative for Asia

    • The NDC Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA 2020-2023) is a joint programme that will engage China, India, and Vietnam in promoting a comprehensive approach to decarbonizing transport in their respective countries.
    • The project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
    • NITI Aayog is the implementing partner for the India component of the project.
    • The project aims at bringing down the peak level of GHG emissions (transport sector) in Asia (in line with a well below 2-degree pathway), resulting in problems like congestion and air pollution.

    Why need such initiative?

    • India has a massive and diverse transport sector, which is also the third most CO2 emitting sector.
    • Data suggests that within the transport sector, road transport contributes to more than 90% of the total CO2 emissions.
    • The NDC-TIA India component focuses on developing a coherent strategy of effective policies and the formation of a multi-stakeholder platform for decarbonizing transport in the country.

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  • Labour, Jobs and Employment – Harmonization of labour laws, gender gap, unemployment, etc.

    [pib] E-Shram Portal:  National Database on Unorganized Workers (NDUW)

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: E-Shram Portal

    Mains level: Welfare of the unorganized workers

    The Union Ministry of Labour & Employment will launch the e-Shram portal – National Database on Unorganized Workers (NDUW).

    What is the E-Shram Portal?

    • The government aims to register 38 crore unorganized workers, such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors and domestic workers, among others.
    • The workers will be issued an e-Shram card containing a 12-digit unique number, which, going ahead, will help in including them in social security schemes.
    • The government had earlier missed deadlines for creating the database, inviting criticism from the Supreme Court.

    How will the registration for workers happen on the portal?

    • The registration of workers on the portal will be coordinated by the Labour Ministry, state governments, trade unions and CSCs.
    • Awareness campaigns would be planned across the country to enable nationwide registration of workers.
    • Following the launch of the portal, workers from the unorganized sector can begin their registration from the same day.
    • A national toll free number — 14434 — will also be launched to assist and address the queries of workers seeking registration on the portal.
    • A worker can register on the portal using his/her Aadhaar card number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary details like date of birth, home town, mobile number and social category.

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