BRICS, Surat Smart City, ‘Northeast India for the immersive traveller’, Jal Jeevan Mission
1. Reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs
- Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan said at the time of COVID-19 pandemic the main focus of the Ministry is to provide food grains and pulses to all PDS and Non-PDS card holders, migrant labourers and those who are not covered under anyfood grain scheme of the Central or the State Governments.
- He informed that sufficient quantity of food grains is available in buffer stock.
- He said the distribution of food grains by States and UTs under PMGKAY, Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package, NFSA and other schemes is satisfactory barring few States.
- He further added that the Ministry is aiming to achieve 100% seeding of ration cards with Aadhar under One Nation One Ration Card scheme by January 2021.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana
- Foodgrain (Rice/Wheat)
- Pulses
Atma Nirbhar Bharat
- One Nation One Ration Card
- Boosting Ethanol production to tackle COVID19 spread
Informing about Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under Public Distribution System, Shri Paswan said thatMaharashtra & Gujarat have started distributing of fortified rice under the Pilot Scheme from February, 2020.
allocation of foodgrain at BPL rates can be done to meet the requirement of Government owned and aided/sponsored welfare institutions such as beggar homes, nariniketans and other similar welfare institutions and of all the students of the Government owned aided/sponsored hostels having 2/3rd residents belonging to SC/ST/OBC category.
2. United Nations Award to Indian Army Officer Major Suman Gawani
- Major Suman Gawani, an Indian Army officer who served as a women peacekeeper with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in 2019 is being awarded the prestigious “United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the year Award” on 29 May 2020.
- She will receive the award from the UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres during an online ceremony being organised at the UN Headquarters, New York on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
- The officer also commanded the UN Peacekeepers Day Parade organised at UNMISS, where she commanded twelve contingents of UNPOL, Military and Civilians.
3. '2 MW' Solar Power Plant inaugurated at INS Kalinga
- In keeping with the initiative of Govt of India to promote Solar Power and objective to achieve 100 GW of solar power by 2022 as part of the National Solar Mission, a 2 MW Solar Photovoltaic Plant was commissioned at INS Kalinga, Visakhapatnam.
- The plant, which is the largest in the ENC and has an estimated life of 25 years.
- INS Kalinga, currently headed by Cmde Rajesh Debnath, has taken significant strides in Green Initiatives since it’s setting up in the early 1980s, including afforestation, numerous plantation drives, coastal cleanup drives and protection of the Geo-Heritage site “Erra Matti Dibbalu”.
4. Meeting of BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities
- Meeting of the Heads of Tax Authorities of the BRICS countries, namely the Federal Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa was held on May 29, 2020.
- The meeting was hosted by the Federal Tax Service of Russia, which currently holds the BRICS Presidency, to discuss the response of BRICS Tax Authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore potential areas of cooperation in tax matters.
- The meeting was scheduled to be held in Moscow, but was held through video conference in view of COVID-19.
- The Finance Secretary shared with other BRICS nations, various measures taken by India to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the taxpayers including deferment of compliance requirements, reduced rate of interest on delayed payments and reduction in withholding tax rates.
- The Finance Secretary, while extending India’s support to the ongoing work in OECD/G-20 project on addressing tax challenges posed by digitalisation, underlined the need to ensure that the new tax rules are fair and simple. It should also be flexible enough to cover new/emerging business models.
- Highlighted the need for adopting a “Whole of Government Approach” in dealing with cross-border financial crimes as they have ramifications in respect of various statutes, not only taxation.
- Therefore, urged the BRICS countries to agree for wider sharing of information exchanged under tax treaties for countering corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.
- The tax heads of other BRICS nations shared the measures taken by their respective tax administrations and their thoughts on other agenda items like tax challenges posed by digitalisation and exchange of information.
5. Surat Smart City takes key IT initiatives in COVID -19 management and containment
- Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has taken various IT initiatives to fight COVID-19.
- SMC has developed SMC COVID-19 Tracker System which includes a web portal and Mobile application named “SMC COVID-19 Tracker” to track people who have abroad or interstate travel history and persons who have come in direct contact with positive COVID-19 individuals.
- The SMC COVID-19 Tracking System along with Android and iOS App are developed in very short time of 5 days.
The brief about the functioning of application is given below:
- SMC has published Self Declaration Form on website www.suratmunicipal.gov.in where individuals can submit their details including their abroad or interstate travel history and if they have come in contact with any positive COVID-19 individual. Upon submission of details, an SMC is sent to individuals with unique Tracker ID and are asked to download SMC COVID-19 Tracker Mobile App.
- SMC has also started a helpline number 1-800-123-800 where citizen can share details about travelers or suspects. The details are verified by SMC team including health officials. A field team visits the location and if the details provided on helpline is verified, the individual is asked to stay in home quarantine, and they are also assigned unique Tracker ID and are asked to download SMC COVID-19 Tracker Mobile.
- Individuals have to fill questionnaire twice a day (Morning 10 AM and Evening 9 AM) through SMC COVID-19 Tracker App regarding their health. Three questions are given in the questionnaire asking individuals if they have fever, cough or difficulty in breathing. With this questionnaire, individual has to also send their Selfie (Photo). If any individual mentions issue in questionnaire regarding their health, first follow up is done over the phone and if required, individuals are asked to visit nearby health facility for necessary check-up and treatment.
- After successful installation of app, individuals have to send their location every hour to confirm that they are following home quarantine on regular basis. SMC team monitors the location history of individuals if any individual is found not following the home quarantine guidelines, strict actions are taken against such individuals.
- For every individual asked to stay in home quarantine, daily house to house follow-up is also done by SMC Team. Follow up done by SMC team is also captured through the system.
- If any individual has developed symptoms during home quarantine and has been shifted to hospital, individuals who have come in contact of suspects are entered in system under contact history so that they can be linked to understand the contact tracing. If the person admitted to hospital is found positive, the contacts are asked to follow quarantine.
- Necessary MIS reports are prepared in the system and new reports are being developed as per requirements of health department.
- Necessary App Installation manuals for Android and iOS are also prepared along with YouTube videos to help citizen install the application easily.
6. Jal Jeevan Mission in Chhattisgarh during 2020-21
- Jal Jeevan Mission launched under the Ministry of Jal Shakti is aimed to provide adequate potable drinking water of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis to every rural household of the country by the 2024. A budget of whopping Rs 3.60 lakh Crore has been allocated for this scheme.
- Under this life changing Mission, Chhattisgarh State has planned to have 100% Functional Tap Water Connection (FHTC) by 2023-24.
- Govt of India has approved Rs 445 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the State in 2020-21.
- Chhattisgarh has been battling with the issue of rapid ground water depletion and chemical contamination of Arsenic, Fluoride, Iron, etc. in water since many years; thus, taking cognizance of the situation the state was advised to ensure provision of potable water in these habitations.
- Under Jal Jeevan Mission, emphasis is being given on water quality surveillance through active participation of frontline functionaries as well as involving the community.
- School and college students are being encouraged to use the Field Test Kits to test the quality of water being provided in the rural areas.
- Village Action Plans have been carried out for villages, based on which the action plan has been finalized.
- State is ensuring convergence of funds from various sources like MGNREGS, 15th Finance Commission Grants to rural local bodies, SBM, etc. for taking up works related to strengthening of water resources, aquifer recharge, grey water management, etc.
It’s the endeavour of the Government to provide tap connections in rural households on priority basis during prevailing CoVid-19 situation, so that rural people don’t have to go through the hardship of fetching water from public stand-posts and standing in long queue.
Government intends that the poor and marginalized sections of the society get water through tap connections inside their house premises and avoid going to standposts and ensuring social distancing, thereby keeping the rural communities safe from being infected.
With summers in full swing, monsoons approaching, and country grappling with COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more imperative to provide livelihood to the migrant workers who have returned to their native villages.
These migrant labourers are basically skilled and semi-skilled ones, whose services could be effectively utilized in villages by providing jobs related to water supply especially plumbing, fitting, water conservation works, etc. in every village to ensure sufficient ground water availability leading to water security, water availability for agriculture and most importantly will help in provision of drinking water to every rural household.
7. Free online "Career Skills Training" launched
- The Ministry of Labour and Employment under its National Career Service (NCS) project has now started offering free online “Career Skills Training” in partnership with TCS ION for its registered job-seekers.
- The Ministry is implementing the NCS Project for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job search, job matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, apprenticeship, internships etc through an on-line portal (www.ncs.gov.in).
- A Special link for Work from Home Jobs and Online Trainings has been created on NCS portal Home Page to give direct access to job-seekers to such jobs.
- NCS also offers the functionality of creation of video profiles for job-seekers in partnership with HIREMEE, a platform which provides online assessment and hiring services. Job-seekers can showcase their ability to recruiters using short video clips. All services on NCS are free.
8. 'Northeast India for the immersive traveller' under Dekho Apna Desh Series
- Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series is promoting spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat through virtual tours of different parts of the country.
- To showcase the Northeast Region of India which is a largely unexplored destination for both domestic and foreign travellers, the Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh webinar “NORTHEAST INDIA FOR THE IMMERSIVE TRAVELLER” on 28th May 2020 offered an attractive virtual tour to four north-eastern states namely Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Sikkim.DekhoApnaDeshseries is also meant to promote the spirit of Ek Bharat SreshthaBharat.
- The presenters spoke about the unexplored destinations, tribes, festivals, crafts, culture of the local people to convey the message that north east’s speciality is not only hills but there is lot more to explore and experience.
- Dzukou valley situated between Manipur and Nagaland which is the crater base of an extinct volcano and most famous Dzukoulily is found only in this region.
- The Hornbill festival annually celebrated from 1st of December to 10th of December in Kohima has become a big attraction for both domestic and foreign tourists leading to the development of tourist amenities in Nagaland.
- The largest north eastern state, Arunachal Pradesh with its 70% forest cover and home to 26 major tribes, gives an opportunity to the traveller to experience new culture, tradition and dialects after every few kilometres.
- The beauty of Tawang, Sangti valley which allows the visitors to experience fairy-tale views and Losar festival which is celebrated in February were highlighted.
- The webinar showcased Assam’s women centric textile sector and willingness of locals to openly share and show casing their art and other special interest tour options the state offers.
Sikkim’s success in adopting sustainable tourism practices and care for environmental ecology by following the pillars of Eco tourism were highlighted too:
a) Environmental Preservation
b) Sustainable Business models
c) Sensitivity to & appreciation of indigenous cultures
d) Social equity
- The Dekho Apna Desh Webinar series launched on 14th April 2020, till date has conducted 25 sessions showcasing the varied tourism products and experiences that India offers across the country.
- The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the Ministry in conducting of the DekhoApna Desh Webinars by providing technical assistance directly with a professional team thereby ensuring effective citizen engagement and communication with all stakeholders using the digital experience platform.
9. Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme
- Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced Inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items and stipulation of their Minimum Support Price (MSP) under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme titled “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and development of value chain of MFP”.
- The Central Government had introduced a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for a select list of MFP through “Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce through Minimum Support price and development of Value Chain of MFP” Scheme in 2011 to provide a social safety net to these underprivileged forest dwellers, and to aid in their empowerment.
- The Scheme has been a resounding success in offering basic support to the tribal gatherers and has helped in improving their lives.
The increase across various items of Minor Forest Produce ranged from 16% to 66%. (in some cases such as Giloe, the increase has been up to 190%).
The increase is also expected to provide an immediate and much needed momentum to procurement of Minor Tribal Produce across all States.
- 1,126 Vandhan Kendras have been set up as Tribal start-ups onboarding over 3.6 Lakhs beneficiaries.
Further following 9 items available in forest areas across India have also been included in this notification with Minimum Support Price :
- Van Tulsi seeds (Ocimumgratissimum)
- Van Jeera (Vernonia anthelmintica)
- Tamarind Seed (Tamarindusindica)
- Bamboo Brooms (Thysanolaena maxima
- Dry Anola (Phyllnthusemblica) (Dry)
- KachriBaheda (Terminalia bellerica)
- KachriHarra (Terminalia chebula)
- Seed lac (Kerria lacca)
10. Goa Statehood Day- 30th May
- Goa Statehood Day celebrates on 30th May every year.
- Goa became India’s 25th state.
- Goa Statehood was attained on 30th May 1987.
