GS PAPER II
Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021
Why in News
The Lok Sabha passes the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021.
Key Points
- The body has a fulltime chairperson and a range of members, representatives from several Ministries and independent experts.
- The Centre, facing flak earlier in 2021 from farmers protesting the farm laws, had committed to removing a clause in the Air Commission Bill that would penalise farmers for burning stubble, an important contributor to noxious air quality.
- The body first came into being in October, 2020 on the back of an ordinance — a temporary measure and the law requires that a formal Bill be presented to Parliament within six weeks of it reconvening, in this case, January 29 when the Budget Session began.
- The Centre had said the new organisation would be a ‘permanent’ body to address pollution in the National Capital Region Delhi and address sources of pollution in Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
- The all-powerful body assumed several powers to coordinate action among States, levy fines — ranging up to ₹1 crore or five years of prison to address air pollution.
Highlights of the bill
- Functions of the Commission:
- Co-ordinating actions taken under the Ordinance by concerned state governments (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh),
- Planning and executing plans to prevent and control air pollution in the NCR,
- Providing a framework for identification of air pollutants,
- Conducting research and development through networking with technical institutions,
- Training and creating a special workforce to deal with issues related to air pollution, and
- Preparing various action plans such as increasing plantation and addressing stubble burning.
- Powers of the Commission:
- Restricting activities influencing air quality,
- Investigating and conducting research related to environmental pollution impacting air quality,
- Preparing codes and guidelines to prevent and control air pollution, and
- Issuing directions on matters including inspections, or regulation which will be binding on the concerned person or authority.
- Further, the Commission may impose and collect environment compensation from farmers causing pollution by stubble burning.
- Composition: The Commission will consist of:
- Chairperson,
- Officer of the rank of a Joint Secretary as the member-secretary and Chief Coordinating Officer,
- Currently serving or former Joint Secretary from the central government as a full-time member,
- Three independent technical members with expertise related to air pollution, and
- Three members from non-government organisations.
- The Chairperson and members of the Commission will have a tenure of three years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier.
- Ex-officio members: from the central government and concerned state governments, and technical members from CPCB, Indian Space Research Organisation, and NITI Aayog.
- Sub-Committees: The Commission is required to form sub-committees on: Monitoring and Identification, Safeguarding and enforcement, and Research and development. These will be headed by a member, the Chairperson, and a technical member, respectively.
- Selection Committee: A selection committee will be constituted by the central government for recommending appointments of members of the Commission, headed by the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- Members of the Committee will include the Ministers in charge: Commerce and Industry, Road Transport and Highways, Science and Technology, and the Cabinet Secretary.
- Penalties: Contravention of provisions of the Ordinance, or orders and directions of the Commission will be punishable with imprisonment of up to five years, or fine of up to one crore rupees, or both.
GS PAPER II
Exercise INDRA-2021
Why in News
The Indo – Russia joint training Exercise INDRA 2021 recently held at Prudboy Ranges, Volgograd on 04th Aug 2021.
Key Points
This exercise will enhance interoperability between the Indian and Russian Armies.- Aim of the exercise is to facilitate joint training between Indian and Russian Armies to jointly plan and conduct counter terror operations under the United Nations mandate.
- It will be another landmark event in the history of Indo-Russian defence cooperation.
Exercise INDRA
- INDRA Navy is a joint, biennial military exercise in between India and Russia initiated in 2003.
- The exercise is tasked with boosting cooperation and interoperability between the Russian and Indian navies. The word INDRA is a portmanteau of the participants’ respective countries.
- Its first joint Tri-Services Exercise was conducted in 2017.
Significance of the exercise INDRA
- Exercise INDRA – 2021 will strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces.
- The conduct of the exercise will also entail academic discussions between expert groups of both contingents.
- The exercise will focus on unit level joint planning and conduct of anti-terrorist operations and will include cordon & search operations, intelligence gathering and sharing, perception management, humanitarian laws and hostage rescue in simulated settings.
Joint Military Exercise of India with other nations
- Garuda Shakti between India and Indonesia.
- Ekuverin between India and Maldives.
- Hand-in-Hand between India and China.
- Kurukshetra between India and Singapore.
- Mitra Shakti between India and Sri Lanka.
GS PAPER II
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)
Why in News
The Finance Ministry granted “barely a week” to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to release the funds ₹2,200 crore allotted for completing the ongoing MPLADS projects in 202021 simply lapsed.
Key Points
- Spending under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) had already halved before the government suspended the scheme for two years in April last year and diverted the funds for managing the COVID19 pandemic.
- After the scheme’s suspension, several MPs and parliamentary committees, including the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF), had asked the government to release MPLADS funds due from previous years for projects already sanctioned.
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)
- Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was initiated by the Government of India on 23 December 1993 to enables to recommend developmental work the members of parliaments (MP) in their constituencies with an emphasis on creating durable community assets based on locally felt needs.
- Originally, the scheme was administered by Ministry of Rural Development. In October 1994, the scheme came under the control of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
- MPs are also recommended work of up to Rs. 25 lakhs per year outside their constituency or state of election to promote national unity, harmony and fraternity.
- Each MP is granted ₹5 crore under the scheme, adding up to ₹3,950 crore a year for 790 MPs, to undertake development projects in their respective constituencies.
- Currently, funds released to district authorities under MPLADS is not lapsable, while funds not released by the government in a particular year are carried forward.
GS PAPER III
Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) 1
Why in News
The much-awaited sea trials of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), which will be reincarnated as INS Vikrant once it is commissioned in August 2022, finally kicked off.
India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC)-1
- India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) is the first aircraft carrier designed and built in India.
- An aircraft carrier is one of the most potent marine assets for a nation, which enhances a Navy’s capability to travel far from its home shores to carry out air domination operations.
- Many experts consider having an aircraft carrier as essential to be considered a ‘blue water’ navy, one that has the capacity to project a nation’s strength and power across the high seas.
- An aircraft carrier generally leads as the capital ship of a carrier strike/battle group. As the carrier is a valuable and sometimes vulnerable target, it is usually escorted in the group by destroyers, missile cruisers, frigates, submarines, and supply ships.
- The motto of the ship is “Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah”, which is taken from Rigveda and can be translated as “I defeat those who fight against me”.
INS Vikrant
- INS Vikrant was a Majestic-class 19,500-tonne warship.
- It was the name of India’s much-loved first aircraft carrier, a source of immense national pride over several decades of service before it was decommissioned in 1997.
- India acquired the Vikrant from the United Kingdom in 1961, and the carrier played a stellar role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the birth of Bangladesh.
- The Vikrant was deployed in the Bay of Bengal, and its two air squadrons of Sea Hawk fighter jets and Alize surveillance aircraft were used in strikes on ports, merchant ships, and other targets, and to prevent Pakistani forces from escaping through maritime routes.
- India gives the IAC-2 project the go-ahead now, it will be over 10 years before the warship is commissioned.
GS PAPER III
Service sector of India
Why in News
According to the HIS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, service sector of India contracted for the third straight month in July, with job losses extending to an eighth successive month.
Key Points
- The PMI stood at 45.4, marginally better than the 41.2 recorded in June.
- A score above 50 indicates an expansion. For the first time in a year, services firms were pessimistic about the outlook for the 12-month period on worries about the COVID19 pandemic, inflation and profit margins.
- Consumer services was the worst affected during July, indicating that the unlocking across States had failed to lift confidence in the resumption of contact sensitive activity, while transport and storage was the only subsector to see higher sales in the past month.
- There was a further reduction in service sector jobs during July.
- Employment contracted for the eighth consecutive month, albeit at a moderate pace that was slower than that seen in June.
- The service sector’s performance in July is in contrast to the manufacturing sector which logged its highest PMI in three months and saw a pause in job losses for the first time since the pandemic’s onset last March.
- India’s overall output, manufacturing and services combined, thus contracted for the third month in a row as the Composite PMI Output Index was 49.2 in July. June’s reading was 43.1.
- Private sector employment decreased for the seventeenth month in a row in July.
HIS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index
- Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data are compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide.
- The monthly data are derived from surveys of senior executives at private sector companies and are available only via subscription.
- It varies from number from 0 to 100: Above 50 represents an expansion when compared to the previous month; under 50 represents a contraction, and a reading at 50 indicates no change.
- If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month (as is the case mentioned above), it represents that the economy is contracting.