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Civilsdaily

Type: PIB

  • [pib] ABHYAS Air Vehicle

    Successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) was today conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.

    Try this PYQ:

    What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news?

    (a) An Israeli radar system

    (b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme

    (c) An American anti-missile system

    (d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea

    ABHYAS Air Vehicle

    • ABHYAS is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), DRDO.
    • The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung booster.
    • It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has a MEMS-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control.
    • The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of air vehicle is done using laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS).
    • During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 km flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, the endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved.

    Its uses

    • Abhyas’s radar cross-section (RCS), as well as its visual and infrared signatures, can be augmented to simulate a variety of aircraft for air-defence weapon practices.
    • It can also function as a jammer platform and decoy.
    • The HEAT system is utilized to do away with the post-launch recovery mode, which is time-consuming and difficult in a scenario as the sea.

  • [pib] Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) Scheme

    The Ministry of Minority Affairs has provided information about the progress of MANF Scheme in the Parliament.

    Note: As the name suggests, the scheme particularly aims to target the Minority community. Here, six major groups are considered a minority. Statement based questions often create bluffs on such conditions.

    MANF Scheme

    • The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements MANF Scheme for educational empowerment of students belonging to six notified minority communities i.e. Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian (Parsi).
    • The Scheme is implemented through the University Grants Commission (UGC) and no waiting list is prepared under the Scheme by UGC.
    • Candidates belonging to the Six centrally notified minority are considered for award of fellowship under the MANF Scheme.
    • The selection of candidates is done through JRF-NET (Junior Research Fellow- National Eligibility Test) examination conducted by the National Testing Agency.
    • Prior to 2019-20, the merit list was prepared on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in their Post Graduate examination.
    • However, in 2018-19, only the candidates who had qualified CBSE-UGC-NET/JRF or CSIR-NET/JRF were eligible to apply.

  • [pib] YuWaah Platform

    Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) are set to establish YuWaah, Generation Unlimited (GenU), a global multi-stakeholder platform in India.

     YuWaah Platform

    As per the Statement of Intent, the objectives of this project are:

    • Support young people by providing entrepreneurship classes (online and offline) with successful entrepreneurs and experts, towards establishing an entrepreneurial mindset among young people.
    • Upskilling of young people on 21st-century skills, life skills, digital skills through online and offline channels and support them through self-learning, for their productive lives and the future of work.
    • Create linkages with aspirational economic opportunities to connect young people with employment opportunities, including building pathways to connect them with jobs or self-employment.
    • Providing career guidance support to young people through career portal as well as through job-readiness and self-exploration sessions to make young people career-ready.

  • Ocean Services, Modelling, Applications, Resources and Technology (O-SMART) SCHEME

    The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has informed about the progress of O-SMART Scheme.

    Do you know?

    India’s ambitious Deep Ocean Mission is an umbrella scheme under O-SMART initiative. Bottom of Form

    O-SMART Scheme

    • The services rendered under the O-SMART will provide economic benefits to a number of user communities in the coastal and ocean sectors, namely, fisheries, offshore industry, coastal states, Defence, Shipping, Ports etc.
    • It seeks to address issues relating to SDG-14, which aims to conserve the use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development.
    • It also provides the necessary scientific and technological background required for the implementation of various aspects of Blue Economy.
    • The State of Art Early Warning Systems established Scheme will help in effectively dealing with ocean disasters like Tsunami, storm surges.
    • The technologies being developed will help in harnessing the vast ocean resources of both living and non-living resources from the seas around India.
    • A fleet of research vessels viz., Technology Demonstration vessel SagarNidhi, Oceanographic Research Vessel SagarKanya, Fisheries and Oceanographic Research Vessel SagarSampada and Coastal Research Vessel SagarPurvi have been acquired to provide required research support.

    Some of the modified objective

    The objectives of O-SMART are:

    • To generate and regularly update information on Marine Living Resources and their relationship with the physical environment in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),
    • To periodically monitor levels of seawater pollutants for health assessment of coastal waters of India, to develop shoreline change maps for assessment of coastal erosion due to natural and anthropogenic activities,
    • To develop a wide range of state-of-the-art ocean observation systems for the acquisition of real-time data from the seas around India,
    • To generate and disseminate a suite of user-oriented ocean information, advisories, warnings, data and data products for the benefit of society,
    • To develop high-resolution models for ocean forecast and reanalysis system,
    • To develop algorithms for validation of satellite data for coastal research and to monitor changes in the coastal research,
    • Acquisition of 2 Coastal Research Vessels (CRVs) as replacement of 2 old CRVs for coastal pollution monitoring, testing of various underwater components and technology demonstration,
    • To carry out exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (MPN) from a water depth of 5500 m in the site of 75000 sq.km allotted to India by United Nations in Central Indian Ocean Basin, to carry out investigations of gas hydrates,
    • Exploration of polymetallic sulphides near Rodrigues Triple junction in 10000 sq. km of the area allotted to India in International waters by International Seabed Authority/UN and,
    • Submission of India’s claim over continental shelf extending beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone supported by scientific data, and Topographic survey of EEZ of India.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/explained-indias-deep-ocean-mission/

  • [pib] E-Gram Swaraj Portal

    A unified tool e-Gram SWARAJ portal has been developed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for effective monitoring and evaluation of works taken up in the Gram Panchayats.

    e-Gram SWARAJ

    • It unifies the planning, accounting and monitoring functions of Gram Panchayats.
    • Its combination with the Area Profiler application, Local Government Directory (LGD) and the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) renders easier reporting and tracking of Gram Panchayat’s activities.
    • It provides a single-window for capturing Panchayat information with the complete Profile of the Panchayat, details of Panchayat finances, asset details, activities taken up through Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) etc.

  • [pib] SPICe+ Portal

    The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified and deployed a web-form namely ‘SPICe+’ as a part of Govt of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The SPICe+ Portal sometimes seen in news is related to which of the following Ministry?

    (a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

    (b) Ministry of Commerce and Industry

    (c) Ministry of Corporate Affairs

    (d) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare

    SPICe+ Portal

    • It offers 10 services by three Central Government Ministries and Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance), one State Government (Maharashtra) and various Banks.
    • Thus it saves the procedure, time and cost for Starting a Business in India.
    • These 10 services are:-
    1. Name reservation
    2. Incorporation
    3. DIN allotment
    4. Mandatory issue of PAN
    5. Mandatory issue of TAN
    6. Mandatory issue of EPFO registration
    7. Mandatory issue of ESIC registration
    8. Mandatory issue of Profession Tax registration (Maharashtra)
    9. Mandatory Opening of Bank Account for the Company and
    10. Allotment of GSTIN (if so applied for)

  • Labour law Reforms

    This session of Lok Sabha has passed 3 Historic and path-breaking Labour Codes.

    UPSC may ask the major laws subsumed under these Labour Codes.

    What are the 3 bills?

    The 3 bills which were passed are

    1. Industrial Relations Code, 2020
    2. Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 &
    3. Social Security Code, 2020

    All the labour laws (29 in number) being amalgamated into 4 labour codes are :

    Name of the Code 

    Amalgamated laws
    Wage Code

     

    		 4 laws –

    1. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
    2. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
    3. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
    4. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
    IR Code

     

    		 3 laws –

    1. The Trade Unions Act, 1926
    2. The Industrial Employment (Standing orders) Act, 1946
    3. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
    OSH Code

     

    		 13 laws –

    1. The Factories Act, 1948
    2. The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
    3. The Mines Act, 1952
    4. The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955
    5. The Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958
    6. The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
    7. The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
    8. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
    9. The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976
    10. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
    11. The Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981
    12. The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
    13. The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
    Social Security Code

     

    		 9 laws –

    1. The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923
    2. The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948
    3. The Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
    4. The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
    5. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
    6. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
    7. The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981
    8. The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996
    9. The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008

     

    Here are the key features of these bills:

     (A) Social Security Code, 2020

    • The facility of ESIC would now be provided in all 740 districts. At present, this facility is being given in 566 districts only.
    • EPFO’s coverage would be applicable on all establishments having 20 workers. At present, it was applicable only on establishments included in the Schedule.
    • Provision has been made to formulate various schemes for providing comprehensive social security to workers in the unorganised sector.
    • A “Social Security Fund” will be created on the financial side in order to implement these schemes.
    • Work to bring newer forms of employment created with the changing technology like “platform worker or gig worker” into the ambit of social security has been done in the Social Security Code.
    • Provision for Gratuity has been made for Fixed Term Employee and there would not be any condition for minimum service period for this.
    • With the aim of making a national database for unorganised sector workers, registration of all these workers would be done on an online portal and this registration would be done on the basis of Self Certification through a simple procedure.

     (B) Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020

    • Free health checkup once a year by the employer for workers which are more than a certain age.
    • A legal right for getting Appointment Letter given to workers for the first time.
    • Cine Workers have been designated as Audio Visual Worker so that more and more workers get covered under the OSH code. Earlier, this security was being given to artists working in films only.

    (C)  Industrial Relations Code, 2020

    Efforts made by the Government for quickly resolving disputes of the workers include:

    • Compulsory facility for Helpline for redressal of problems of migrant workers.
    • Making a national database of migrant workers.
    • Provision for the accumulation of one day leave for every 20 days worked when work has been done for 180 days instead of 240 days.
    • Equality for women in every sphere: Women have to be permitted to work in every sector at night, but it has to be ensured that provision for their security is made by the employer and consent of women is taken before they work at night.
    • In the event of the death of a worker or injury to a worker due to an accident at his workplace, atleast 50 % share of the penalty would be given. This amount would be in addition to Employees Compensation.
    • Provision of “Social Security Fund” for 40 Crore unorganized workers alongwith GIG and platform workers and will help Universal Social Security coverage
    • Occupational Safety & Health Code to also can now over cover workers from IT and Service Sector.
    • 14 days notice for Strike so that in this period amicable solution comes out.

  • [pib] “Blue Flag” Certification

    The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has announced the first time eight beaches of India are recommended for the coveted International eco-label, the Blue flag certification.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the seawater recedes from the shoreline a few kilometers and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the seafloor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at:

    (a) Bhavnagar

    (b) Bheemunipatnam

    (c) Chandipur

    (d) Nagapattinam

    Which are the eight beaches?

    The eight beaches are Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Daman & Diu, Kasargod and Padubidri beach in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden beach of Odisha and Radhanagar beach in Andaman and Nicobar.

    About Blue Flag Certification

    • This Certification is accorded by an international agency “Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads i.e.
    1. Environmental Education and Information,
    2. Bathing Water Quality,
    3. Environment Management and Conservation and
    4. Safety and Services on the beaches.
    • 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.
    • Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches.
    • Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.

  • [pib] Kosi Rail Mahasetu

    PM has dedicated to the nation the historic Kosi Rail Mahasetu (mega-bridge).

    Kosi Rail Mahasetu

    • The Kosi Mega Bridge line project was sanctioned during 2003-04.
    • The bridge is 1.9 km long. It is of strategic importance along the India-Nepal border.
    • In 1887, a meter gauge link was built in between Nirmali and Bhaptiahi (Saraigarh).
    • During the heavy flood and severe Indo Nepal earthquake in 1934, the rail link was washed away and thereafter due to meandering nature of river Kosi no attempt was made to restore this Rail link for long period.
    • The dedication of the mega-bridge is a watershed moment in the history of Bihar and the entire region connecting to the North East.

    About Kosi River

    • The Kosi is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, Nepal and India.
    • The river crosses into northern Bihar, India where it branches into distributaries before joining the Ganges near Kursela in Katihar district.
    • Its unstable nature has been attributed course changes and the heavy silt it carries during the monsoon season, and flooding in India has extreme effects.
    • It is also known as the “Sorrow of Bihar” as the annual floods affect about 21,000 km2 of fertile agricultural lands thereby disturbing the rural economy.

  • [pib] Swamih Investment Fund

    In order to give relief to homebuyers of stalled projects, a Special Window for Completion of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH investment fund) has been created for funding stalled projects.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The SWAMIH Fund recently seen in news is related to:

    (a) Higher Education (b) MSMEs (c) Housing (d) Highways

    SWAMIH Investment Fund

    • SWAMIH investment fund is an alternative investment fund which aims to provide last-mile funding to the stressed affordable and middle-income housing projects in the country.
    • It is expected to fund the projects which are net-worth positive, including those projects that have been declared as NPAs or are pending proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal under the IBC.

    Why need such funds?

    • Several real estate projects have suffered due to a combined effect of two changes in the real estate sector.
    • On one hand, incremental launches and slow sales have increased unsold inventory in each project.
    • While the effect has then got compounded by the fact that consumer preference is now towards completed projects rather than under-construction projects.
    • This preference has developed as consumers are largely avoiding taking project completion risk and instead are more inclined to completed projects.