Current affairs- March 24,2016
Government to build 2.95 crore houses for rural poor
The
government recently approved the “House for
All” scheme to construct 2.95 crore houses in rural areas, setting a
2022 deadline. The Centre has already rolled out the urban component of the
scheme with a target of two crore houses.
Key
facts:
§ The
“House for All” scheme will be implemented across the country except Delhi and
Chandigarh, and its beneficiaries will be identified through the socio-economic
caste census.
§ This
scheme will be implemented in two phases. The estimated expenditure for
implementing the housing project from 2016-19 is Rs 81,975 crore. It is
proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for
construction of pucca house from 2016 to 2019.
§ Of
the total expenditure estimated in housing for all, Rs 68,000 crore would be
provided through budgetary provisions and the rest of Rs 21,975 crore will come
from borrowing through Nabard.
§ Importantly,
the new scheme has enhanced the unit assistance to Rs 1,20,000 in plain areas
and to Rs 1,30,000 in hilly states/difficult areas.
§ The
scheme also envisages setting up a National Technical Support Agency at the
national level to provide support in achieving the target set under the
project.
India-UAE agreement for
$75 billion investment in NIIF gets clearance
The
Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to mobilise
up to $75 billion long-term investment in the National Investment and
Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
§ The
MoU was signed in February during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE.
Details:
§ The
MoU will help establish a transparent and high-level framework and
collaboration platform under which both countries intend to explore ways to
facilitate and expand the participation of UAE’s investment institutions in
appropriate infrastructure projects and institutions in India including NIIF.
§ A
joint working group comprising of the concerned representatives of both parties
would take forward cooperation under this MoU and to discuss and agree the
terms, principles and criteria jointly.
About
NIIF:
§ The
Union Cabinet, in July 2015, had approved creation of National Infrastructure
and Investment Fund (NIIF) as a trust that will have a corpus of Rs 20,000
crore.
§ The
Fund aims to attract investment from both domestic and international sources.
§ The
government’s contribution would be limited to 49% of the subscribed capital.
§ The
government will seek participation from strategic investors such as sovereign
fund, quasi sovereign funds and multilateral or bilateral investors, which can
help leverage this fund to many times.
§ Cash-rich
PSUs, pension funds, provident funds, National Small Saving Fund will be able
to pick up stake in the fund.
§ The
government has budgeted to contribute Rs.20,000 crore to the fund in the
current fiscal year while another Rs.20,000 crore is expected to be raised
through sovereign wealth funds.
§ The
objective of NIIF is to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure
development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield,
including stalled projects, NIIF would solicit equity participation from
strategic anchor partners.
Cabinet approves
procurement of launch services for GSAT-11
The
union cabinet has given its approval for the procurement of launch services and
realisation of ground segment for GSAT-11 spacecraft at a cost of Rs.1,117
crore. GSAT-11 will be ready for launch by the end of 2016.
§ The
ground segment is being realised to address the rural communication
requirements.
§ The
ground segment of GSAT-11 will also enable the utilisation of a small portion
of the bandwidth for societal services apart from providing in-orbit testing
support.
§ It
will also provide a high throughput capacity of about 10 Gbps to render
broadband connectivity, especially in rural areas.
About
GSAT-11:
§ In
2009, Government of India had approved the development of GSAT-11, which is
touted to be one of the largest Indian communication satellite. GSAT-11 has a
mission life of about 15 years.
§ GSAT-11
is a four-tonne geostationary communications satellite, which has a mission
life of about 15 years.
§ The
GSAT-11 will not only link all the towns and villages in this country with
quality high-speed Wi-Fi service, it will also integrate internet and
television services.
§ The
satellite is currently under development at Department of Space and ISRO
facilities.
MoU between India and UAE
The
Union Cabinet has given its ex-post-facto approval to the Letter of Intent
signed in February 2016 between the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of the
United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).
§ The
Letter of Intent will strengthen relations between the two countries and pave
the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on skill
development and recognition of qualifications.
§ Following
this, the Cabinet has also given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) between the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship of India and the National Qualifications Authority of the
U.A.E. for cooperation in skill development and recognition of qualifications.
§ The
MoU will pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries on
skill development and recognition of qualifications. Also the MoU will
facilitate workforce mobility, skill development and placement of youth in
overseas jobs in UAE.
Extension of time period
of the Scheme “Special Industry Initiative for J&K” Udaan
The
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for extension of
time period of the Scheme “Special Industry Initiative
for J&K” (SII J&K)
Udaan till 2019-20. Initially the time period of Udaan was upto 2015-16.
Udaan:
Udaan
is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream J&K youth with
rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job
opportunity but also leads to counter – radicalization and weaning away youth
of J&K from militancy.
§ Udaan
provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of corporate India and
corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.
§ So
far, 67 leading corporates have partnered with National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC) under UDAAN with a commitment to train youth from the State
covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES,
Infrastructure, Hospitality etc.
§ It
is expected that the target of the Scheme, to train and enhance employability
of 40,000 graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders,
will be achieved by 2019-20.
Annual Target of
Electrifying 7000 Villages Achieved
The
government has achieved its annual target of electrifying 7000 villages during
this (2015-16) fiscal year under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana
(DDUGJY).
About
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Rural Electrification Scheme:
The
scheme, also known as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, was launched by
the Power Ministry after subsuming the previous Rajiv Gandhi Gramin
Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVJ) as it rural electrification component.
Aim of the Scheme:
It
aims to augment power supply to rural areas and strengthen sub transmission and
distribution lines.
Major
components of the scheme:
§ To
separate agricultural and non agricultural feeders.
§ To
strengthen and augment sub transmission and distribution infrastructure in
rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers.
Benefits:
§ It
would increase the number of hours of power supply in rural areas.
§ Reduction
in peak load.
§ Improvement
in billed energy based on metered consumption.
§ Provides
access to electricity to rural households.
Budget:
The
scheme has an outlay of 76000 crore, of which centre has committed to provide a
grant of Rs. 63000 crore.
India to accede to the
Ashgabat Agreement
The
Union Cabinet has given its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport
and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia
and the Persian Gulf.
§ India’s
intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to the
Depository State (Turkmenistan). India would become party to the Agreement upon
consent of the founding members.
Benefits
for India:
§ Accession
to the Agreement would enable India to utilise this existing transport and
transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian
region.
§ Further,
this would synchronise with our efforts to implement the International North
South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.
Background:
Ashgabat
, known as Poltoratsk between
1919 and 1927, is the capital and the
largest city of Turkmenistan in Central Asia, situated
between the Karakum Desert and
the Kopet Dag mountain range.
§ The
Ashgabat Agreement, which aims to develop a shortest trade route between
Central Asian countries and Iranian and Omani ports, was initially signed among
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and Qatar back in April 2011 and was given
additional support in 2014 when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed.
§ Whilst
Oman called for early completion of basic technical requirements so that the
corridor can be operational by 2015, Qatar withdrew from the agreement in 2013.
However, Kazakhstan promised to join instead, which will increase the project’s
significance and extend it further into Central Asia.
§ The
Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan (ITK) railway line will be the major route
according to the Ashgabat Agreement, which became operational in December 2014
and was also included as part of India-funded North-South international
transport corridor (NSITC).
World Bank to extend Rs
9,000 crore support to Swachh Bharat Mission
The
government has approved 1.5 billion dollar (about Rs 9,000 crore) World Bank
support for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas.
§ The
project basically provides for incentivising states on the basis of their
performance in the existing SBM-Gramin.
Incentivisation of states was approved by the Cabinet while approving the
SBM-Gramin in September, 2014.
§ The
current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through
World Bank credit.
§ The
states will pass on a substantial portion of more than 95% of the Performance
Incentive Grant Funds received to the appropriate implementing levels of
districts, Blocks, GPs etc.
§ The
end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the
sanitation sector.
About
SBM-Gramin:
The
Swachh Bharat Mission, launched in October 2014, consists of two sub-missions –
the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G), which will be implemented in rural
areas, and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), which will be implemented in
urban areas.
§ SBM-G
seeks to eliminate open defecation in rural areas by 2019 through improving
access to sanitation. It also seeks to generate awareness to motivate
communities to adopt sustainable sanitation practices, and encourage the use of
appropriate technologies for sanitation.
§ SBM-Gramin
mainly focuses on ensuring the use of toilets, besides their construction. The
States and their implementing agencies will be given incentives for meeting
performance standards: reducing open defecation, sustaining their open
defecation-free status and improving solid and liquid waste management in rural
areas.
Facts
Tool
to check solar plant parts
Solar
Mango, a solar energy consulting firm, has come out with a web-based tool ‘PV SAVVY’ to help people choose key components of the right quality
required for solar power plants. In the absence of a mechanism to evaluate
solar power system parts, PV SAVVY aims to provide a checklist of green
practices and assist people in selecting better quality components. PV SAVVY
analyses certifications such as IEC that are necessary for good quality solar
components.
India,
France Sign MoU for 6 Nuke Reactors
India
and France have signed an MoU for the construction of six nuclear reactors at
Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
