Daily Current Affairs for 23th Nov 2021

 

GS PAPER II NEWS

Jhelum and Tawi Flood Restoration Project (JTFRP)

Why in News

• • Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today inaugurated works worth about Rs 130.49 crore related to health, education, urban infrastructure and disaster management.

Key point

• • Layed the foundation stone of Union Territory (UT) level Emergency Operation Center and SCADA Control Building at Budgam, Kashmir at a cost of Rs 34.88 crore under Jhelum and Tawi Flood Restoration Project (JTFRP) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jhelum and Tawi Flood Restoration Project (JTFRP)

• • The sub-projects are part of the Jhelum and Tawi Flood Restoration Project (JTFRP), assisted by a US$250 million loan from the World Bank.
  • The project was started in Jammu and Kashmir after the devastating floods of September 2014, which severely affected low-lying areas of Anantnag, Srinagar and adjoining districts.
  • The flood caused heavy damage to housing, livelihood and roads and bridges. It is being implemented by the Government of J&K as part of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) for J&K with effect from 19.04.2016.
  • The project aims to improve design standards and practices for restoring essential services disrupted by floods and for early recovery.

Other important points

• • The heightened social impact of the JTFRP was realized by the Government of J&K during the COVID-19 pandemic by activating the Contingency Emergency Relief Component (CERC) under the project, with US$ 50 million for COVID-19 relief and assistance. was allocated and utilized.
  • Medical equipment at a total cost of Rs 290 crore and 30 oxygen generation plants at a cost of Rs 75 crore were procured to boost health infrastructure to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic.
  • In an important step towards self-reliance of the artisans of Jammu and Kashmir, several artisan clusters were developed under this project with the aim of reviving traditional crafts and providing gainful employment opportunities to the youth.
  • A major recent achievement of the project is the inclusion of the city of Srinagar in UNESCO’s list of World Creative Cities Network.
  • Srinagar became one of 49 cities across the world to be included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the Crafts and Folk Arts category, a proud moment for all Indians.

GS PAPER II

All India Survey on Domestic Workers

Why in News

• • The Union Ministry of Labor and Employment today launched the first All India Survey on Domestic Workers being conducted by Labor Bureau, Chandigarh.

Key point

• • Domestic workers (DWs) constitute a significant portion of total employment in the informal sector. However, there is a paucity of data on the number of domestic workers and their current employment conditions.
  • Therefore with a view to have time-series data on domestic workers, the Government of India has entrusted the Labor Bureau to conduct an all India survey on DW.
  • Objective of All India Survey on Domestic Workers Number and proportion of domestic workers, live-in/live-out, formal/informal employment, migrant/non-migrant, their wages and other socio-economic characteristics at the national and state level. To estimate the percentage distribution of domestic workers in
  • The survey will also provide household estimates of live-in/live-out domestic workers and the average number of domestic workers working in different types of households.
    

Its main objectives are:

• • Estimating the number/ratio of domestic workers (DWs) at the national and state levels.
  • Domestic Estimates of live-in/live-out DW.
  • Average number of domestic workers employed in different types of households.
  • The Domestic Workers Survey will collect information on the following broad parameters:
  • Characteristics of households such as HH size, religion, social group, general monthly consumption expenditure, nature of the dwelling unit.
  • Demographic characteristics such as name, age, relationship to head of household, marital status, general education level, general principal activity status, auxiliary activity status, and status of domestic workers.
  • In addition, the survey included the working age of domestic workers, social group, migration status, vocational training/education, number of HHs served by DWs, work performed by them, and number of days worked. collects information such as This includes working hours, type of remuneration and its frequency, type of contract, distance covered for work, domestic workers hired before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on wages and jobs, living conditions. You will also get information about level of income and social security benefits.
  • Employer HH will also collect information such as their preferences for domestic workers based on gender and marital status, mode of payment of wages, number of days worked, mode of hiring, during the COVID-19 pandemic Whether the services of domestic worker were received, medical assistance given to DW etc.

Survey Scope:

• • 37 States/Union Territories of India 3 and 742 districts have been included in this.
  • The units of enumeration are villages as per 2011 census and urban blocks as per the latest phase of UFS.
  • At all India level, a total of 12766 Phase I Units (FSUs) i.e. 6190 villages and 6576 UFS blocks will be covered in the survey.
  • 1, 50,000 houses i.e. Ultimate Stage Units (USU) will be covered.
  • The results of the All India Survey on Domestic Workers are expected within a period of 1 year.

GS PAPER II

Andhra Pradesh Capital: Amaravati

Why in News

• • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has made a big announcement on 22 November 2021. The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to repeal the law paving the way for three capital cities.

Key point

• • Andhra Pradesh State Advocate General Subramaniam Sriram has informed the High Court about the government’s decision to withdraw the controversial laws.
  • The ongoing dispute over the three capitals of Andhra Pradesh is going to end, because now the state will have only one capital and that will be Amaravati.
  • Along with the announcement of the Chief Minister, the State Cabinet has also decided to withdraw the Three Capitals Bill and inform the High Court of the decision.

Three capitals proposal

• • Andhra Pradesh government will hold fresh talks with the central government on the revised requirements for the capital city in view of the proposal of three capitals for the state.
  • The Reddy government had come up with a proposal for three different capitals. It provided for Amaravati to be a legislative capital, Visakhapatnam to be an executive and Kurnool as the judicial capital.

Decision to withdraw the bill

• • The state cabinet held in the Vijayawada assembly decided to withdraw its controversial laws – the Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal (APCRDA) after 600 days of protests by farmers and opposition Is.

Inclusive Development Act passed

• • The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development (Repeal) Act was passed by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in 2015 to end the right to develop Amaravati as the state capital.
  • The Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act was passed to establish executive, judicial and legislative capitals at Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Amaravati.

Background

• • The Reddy government had come up with a proposal for three different capitals. It provided for Amaravati to be a legislative capital, Visakhapatnam to be an executive and Kurnool as the judicial capital.
  • This bill of the government was challenged in the High Court. The hearing on this was going on since the year 2018.
  • The central government had informed the Andhra Pradesh High Court that the matter of deciding the state capital is under the state government, with no role for the center.

GS PAPER III

Virtual Science Lab

Why in News

• • India’s first virtual science laboratory for children launched under CSIR Jigyasa programme, which will also connect students with scientists from across the country.

Objective

• • The main objective of the Virtual Lab is to provide quality research demonstrations to school students to enhance their scientific curiosity based on artificial experiments, pedagogy based material, online interactive medium with videos, chat forums, animations, gaming, quiz, facility sharing, webinars etc. To provide innovative pedagogy.
  • Initially this content will be available in English, but later it is planned to be made available in Hindi and other regional languages.
  • Therefore the CSIR Virtual Laboratory will enable curiosity-based research concepts, encourage higher order thinking skills, promote entrepreneurship and develop an enthusiasm for science.

Importance

• • This will not only take science to students of all sections in every corner of the country, but it is also in line with the National Policy on Education (NEP), where students are allowed to choose any subject and stream. The concept has been discarded.
  • Students of Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Government Schools will be greatly benefited by this new facility and will help in retaining their youth.
  • The virtual laboratory will provide a virtual tour of the CSIR laboratories and explain the research infrastructure to the students, as it would be difficult to physically visit some of the laboratories keeping in view the safety standards.
  • The platform will also have the option of interacting with scientists and getting information from them or clearing the doubts of the students.
  • CSIR Curiosity’s Virtual Laboratory will be an inspirational science laboratory where students will read, have fun and complete experiments and materials that are presented by CSIR scientists and other stakeholders.

Curiosity program

• • Since its inception in 2017 till date “Jigyasa” has been able to connect around 3,00,000 students and more than 5,000 teachers with CSIR and have directly benefited from visiting CSIR laboratories.
  • Most of the laboratories of CSIR are participating in this program and MoUs have also been signed with Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Atal Thinking Labs of NITI Aayog.
  • Online interactions and webinars on a range of topics were conducted for school students with over 2 lakh cumulative views even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The major stakeholders of this program are the academic based community which includes MHRD, CSIR scientific faculty, PhD research students, school and junior college students, Institutions, NGOs, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghs, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, State Government schools, schools and The independent outreach faculty and institutions that have been involved in successful outreach activities for junior college students are potential stakeholders as well as beneficiary.