GS PAPER II
Drinking water supply scheme
Why in News
- The State Level Plan Approval Committee (SLSSC) of Uttar Pradesh has approved proposals worth Rs 1,882 crore submitted by the state for providing tap water connections in rural areas on November 11, 2021.
Key point
- A population of 39 lakhs in 1,262 villages of 33 districts will be benefited by these schemes.
- In this meeting of the committee, 735 schemes were approved.
- According to this approval, tap water connections are to be provided to 4.03 lakh rural families of the state.
- So far, out of 2.64 crore, 34 lakh (12.9%) rural households are getting tap water supply. The state plans to provide tap water connections to 78 lakh households in 2021-22.
- Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), there is a provision for constitution of State Level Plan Approval Committee (SLSSC) for considering and approving schemes related to tap water supply to rural households.
- SLSSC works as a state level committee to consider water supply schemes/projects.
- One person is nominated as a member of this committee by the National Water Life Mission (NJJM) of the Government of India.
- National Jal Jeevan Mission under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, to fulfill Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of providing clean tap water to every household and providing relief to women and girls from the trouble of getting water from far away from home. has already released grant-in-aid amounting to Rs 2,400 crore to Uttar Pradesh during 2021-22.
- Earlier in 2019-20, the central government had allocated Rs 1,206 crore to Uttar Pradesh for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission. This was increased to Rs 2,571 crore in 2020-21.
- The Union Minister of Jal Shakti, while approving a four-fold increase in allocation for the year 2021-22, had assured full assistance to the state for provision of tap water supply to every rural household by 2024.
Situation
- There are 2.64 crore rural households in more than 97 thousand villages of Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 34 lakh (12.87 per cent) households have been provided with tap water supply so far.
- At the time of launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 5.16 lakh (2%) households had access to tap water supply. At the same time, the state has provided tap water connections to 28.85 lakh (10.92 per cent) families in the last 26 months despite facing hurdles during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. The state aims to make 5 districts ‘Har Ghar Jal’ in the current financial year.
- National Jal Jeevan Mission has requested the State to take necessary steps to provide tap water supply to 78 lakh rural households this year to expedite the pace of implementation of JJM.
- For this the state plans to start water supply work in more than 60 thousand villages by December 2021.
- In addition, Rs 4,324 crore has been allocated to Uttar Pradesh as a conditional grant of the 15th Finance Commission for Water and Sanitation to Rural Local Bodies/Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in 2021-22.
- In February, 2019, the Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone of tap water supply schemes for villages in 7 districts of Bundelkhand region. These include Jhansi, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Banda and Chitrakoot.
- In November 2020, the foundation stone of rural drinking water supply projects for Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts of Vindhyachal region was laid.
- These are water scarce areas. About 18.88 lakh families from 6,742 villages of the region will be benefited by these projects. So far the physical progress in these projects is around 50 per cent.
Initiative
- To carry forward the motto of this mission ‘Partnership, Transform lives’, various reputed organizations have started working with the local community in the state to ensure drinking water security on a long term basis.
- The United Nations (UN) agency UNOPS has already mobilized resources on the ground and is actively working in about 140 villages of Bundelkhand, Vindhyachal, Prayagraj and Kaushambi.
- At the same time, Aga Khan Foundation is working in 40 villages of Lucknow and Sitapur.
- Similarly Tata Trust is mobilizing its resources in 200 villages of 3 districts Balrampur, Bahraich and Shravasti.
- Jal Jeevan Mission is emerging as a ‘Jan Andolan’ with this type of partnership.
GS PAPER II
Chinese tech companies banned in America
Why in News
- United States President Joe Biden has given his assent to legislation preventing Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE from obtaining network equipment licenses in the United States.
Key point
- According to ZDNet, the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 had bipartisan support before being ratified by the US President.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year identified Huawei and ZTE as national security threats to communications networks, making it more difficult for US companies to purchase their equipment.
- Under this new law, the FCC is no longer required to review or approve any authorization application for equipment with a clear risk to national security.
- FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has repeatedly requested for the legislation to be passed since March this year.
- Carr said on the subject that, “Once we have determined that Huawei or other gear poses an unacceptable national security risk, it does not make sense to purchase the exact same equipment in our communications network.” unless federal dollars are involved. The presence of these unsecured devices on our network is a threat, not the source of the funding used to purchase them”.
Background
- Biden issued an executive order in June this year that increased the list of banned Chinese enterprises from 48 to 59 and extended a Trump-era ban on Chinese surveillance firms with claimed military ties.
- Since August 02, an executive order prohibits Americans from investing in additional Chinese companies.
- The FCC commissioner previously warned that DJI, a Chinese drone maker, in October was collecting “large swathes of sensitive data on Americans and US critical infrastructure, potentially acting as Huawei on Wings”. Was”.
- DJI, based in Shenzhen, controls more than half of the US drone market.
GS PAPER III
IEPFA claim settlement process
Why in News
- In a major step towards the Government of India’s mission and vision of ‘Ease of Living’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has constituted the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounts, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016 has further simplified the claim settlement process by rationalizing various requirements.
Key point
- The requirement of advance receipt for claimants has been done away with.
- Requirement of Succession Certificate / Original Will / Will is exempted up to Rs. 5,00,000 (Five Lakh) for dematerialized and demat shares, self attested in place of notarization of documents and Affidavit and Bail requirements have been made relatively easy.
- The need for companies to attach documents relating to unclaimed suspense accounts has been simplified and companies are required to submit transmission documents i.e. original articles of succession, certificates, wills etc. as per their internal approved procedures. The acceptance of the Will is exempted and the compulsion to advertise in the newspaper for loss of physical share certificate up to Rs. 5, 00,000 has been exempted.
- Through this change the focus is on making the process easier and faster for the claimants. The new regime envisages a trust-based model for faster citizen-centric services and faster turnaround time.
- It is now expected that with these changes many claimants will come forward to claim their shares and amounts from the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA).
- So far IEPFA has cleared more than 20,000 claims and refunded more than 1.29 crore shares. Shares and dividends of market value of more than Rs 1,011 crore and other amounts in excess of Rs 20 crore have been refunded.
About IEPFA
- Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) has been set up under Section 125 of the Companies Act 2013 to manage the IEPF Fund as per Section 125(3) of the Companies Act 2013.
- The main objectives of this Authority include promotion of investor education, awareness and protection, return of unclaimed shares, dividends and other amounts to the rightful claimants under sections 124 and 125 of the Companies Act 2013. IEPFA works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
GS PAPER III
Innovative Customer Focused Initiatives
Why in News
- Prime Minister launched two innovative customer centric initiatives of RBI-Retail Direct Scheme and Reserve Bank- Integrated Ombudsman Scheme through video conference.
Key point
- These schemes will develop the scope of investment in the country and access to the capital market will become easier, it will become easier, more secure for the investors.
- Retail Direct Scheme has given the small investors of the country a simple and safe medium of investment in government securities.
- Similarly, the ‘One Nation-One Lokpal’ system in the banking sector has taken shape today with the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.
- The Prime Minister emphasized the citizen centric nature of these schemes.
- He said that the biggest test of any democracy is the strength of its grievance redressal system. The Integrated Lokpal Scheme will go a long way in this direction.
- Similarly, the retail direct scheme will give strength to the inclusion of all in the economy, as it will provide direct and secure access to government securities for the small savings of the middle class, employed, small traders and senior citizens.
- There is a provision of guarantee of repayment in government securities. He said that with these small investors would be assured of safety.
- The Prime Minister said that in the last seven years, bad loans were transparently identified, and the focus was on resolution and recovery.
- He said that the public sector banks were re-capitalized, one after the other reforms were carried out in the financial system and public sector banks.
- The Prime Minister said that in order to further strengthen the banking sector, cooperative banks have also been brought under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India.
- He said that this is also improving the functioning of these banks and the trust in this system is also being strengthened among the lakhs of depositors.
- UPI has made India a leading country in the world in terms of digital transactions in a short span of time. Shri Modi emphasized that India has made a 19-fold jump in digital transactions in just seven years.