Daily Current Affairs for 9th Dec 2021

GS PAPER II NEWS

‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural’

Why in News

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development to continue the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)’ beyond March 2021, under which the remaining 155.75 million houses under the target of 2.95 crore houses. Financial assistance will be provided for construction of lakh houses.

Details of Cabinet Approval

• Continuation of PMAY-G beyond March 2021 till March 2024 as per extant norms for completion of remaining houses under total target of 2.95 crore houses.
• To achieve the overall target of 2.95 crore houses in rural areas under PMAY-G, the total financial burden for construction of the remaining 155.75 lakh houses is Rs 2,17,257 crore (Central share Rs 1,25,106 crore and State share Rs 73,475 crore) ) Is. Additional requirement of Rs 18,676 crore to NABARD to pay interest.
• The decision regarding phase-out of ‘EBR’ and arranging funding for the entire scheme through Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) will be taken in consultation with the Finance Ministry.
• Central share of administrative corpus (0.3% out of total administrative corpus of 2%) to each of the smaller states viz. Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, North Eastern States and all Union Territories except Jammu and Kashmir) to release an additional administrative corpus of Rs.45 lakh annually, which would be in addition to the administrative corpus of 1.70 per cent released to the said States/UTs.
• Continuation of Program Management Unit (PMU) and National Technical Support Agency (NTSA) till FY 2023-24.
• the gain:
• Continuation of this scheme till March 2024 will ensure that the remaining 155.75 lakh families under the overall target of 2.95 crore houses under ‘PMAY-G’ are provided financial assistance for construction of ‘Pucca Houses’ with basic amenities to achieve the objective of ‘Housing for All’ in rural areas.
• Out of the total target of 2.95 crore houses, 1.65 crore houses have been constructed under PMAY-G till 29 November 2021.
• It is estimated that 2.02 crore houses, which is roughly equivalent to the permanent waiting list based on the SECC 2011 database, will be completed by the August 15, 2022 deadline.
• Therefore the scheme needs to be continued till March 2024 to achieve the overall target of 2.95 crore houses.

GS PAPER II

Ken-Betwa Link Project

Why in News

• • The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, has approved the financing and implementation of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project.

Key point

• • The total cost of Ken-Betwa link project has been estimated at Rs 44,605 ​​crore, based on 2020-21 prices.
  • The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 39,317 crore as central support, Rs 36,290 crore as grant-in-aid and Rs 3,027 crore as loan for the project.

About the project

• • This project will also pave the way for other river interlinking projects in India and will also show our wisdom and vision to the world.
  • Under this project, the water of Ken will be sent to the Betwa River. This will be accomplished through construction of Daudham dam and canal linking both rivers, Lower Ur project, Kotha barrage and Bina complex project.
  • The project will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares, provide drinking water to a population of about 62 lakh and generate 103 MW of hydroelectricity and 27 MW of solar power.
  • The project is proposed to be implemented in eight years with state-of-the-art technology.
  • This project is very beneficial for the Bundelkhand region facing water scarcity. This entire area is spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
  • Panna, Tikamgarh, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh will be greatly benefited by this project.
  • The project is expected to accelerate the socio-economic prosperity of the backward region of Bundelkhand by increasing agricultural activities and generating employment.
  • It will also help in preventing displacement due to crisis in the region.
  • Environmental management and protection will be possible in a holistic manner through this project. A comprehensive landscape management plan for this purpose is being finalized by the Wildlife Institute of India.

Background:

• • On March 22, 2021, a historic agreement was signed between the Union Minister of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the first major central project of interlinking of rivers in the country.
  • This agreement is the beginning of inter-state cooperation to implement the vision of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, under which the idea is to connect rivers to move water from one place to another, where drought often occurs. And areas where there is acute shortage of water.

GS PAPER II

Water quality in river Ganga worrying: Study

Why in News

• • The water quality in the lower reaches of river Ganga has been found to be in critical condition by a team of scientists who developed the required baseline of the Water Quality Index (WQI) of the site. The team of scientists reported a steady decline in water quality.

Key point

• • Rapidly increasing human pressure and anthropogenic activities result in the release of untreated municipal and industrial sewage along with other types of pollutants into the river Ganges. Close to a metropolis like Kolkata, especially, the lower reaches of the river Ganges, are heavily affected by anthropogenic factors, mainly due to intense population pressure on both sides of the river.
  • As a result, there has been a significant increase in the discharge of untreated municipal and industrial sewage into the lower reaches of the Ganges, resulting in threats to many unique and biodiversity ecosystems such as the Sundarbans mangroves and endangered charismatic species of the Ganges such as dolphins. It is done.

About the study

• • The team led by Professor Punyashlok Bhaduri from the Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group (ITMERG) at IISER Kolkata, analyzed the dynamics of key environmental variables, including forms of dissolved nitrogen, with a biological proxy to assess the health status of the Ganga. Monitored nine locations covering 59 stations along 50 km stretch of lower reaches of river Ganga over two years for understanding.
  • Scientists have come up with WQI of the site from metric, a key unit of weight, which helps in understanding the health and ecological consequences of downstream Ganga River.
  • The Department of Science and Technology (DST)-Water Technology Initiative has supported the group to carry out this major study which is recently published in the journal ‘Environment Research Communications’.
  • Their study showed that the WQI value of this stretch of river ranged from 14-52 and was continuously deteriorating despite the sampling season.
  • They have also identified the point source along with the type of pollutants, especially nitrogen with impact on biota along 50 km stretch requiring immediate intervention for effective river basin management.
  • The findings of this study will be important for the integration of sensors and automation as well as for long-term ecological health monitoring of the lower Ganga river basin.
  • Box plots showing seasonal variation of key environmental parameters in the lower reaches of river Ganga which are also known to influence WQI.

GS PAPER III

“Presidential Standard”

Why in News

• The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented the ‘President Standard’ to the 22nd Missile Vessels Squadron of the Indian Navy at a ceremonial ceremony in Mumbai today.

Key point

• The President’s Standard is the highest honor conferred by a Supreme Commander in recognition of the service rendered by a military unit to the nation.
• It is also known as the Killers Squadron of the Indian Navy.
• 
  The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron is based in Mumbai. These include Prabal, Pralay, Nashak, Nishank, Vipul, Vibhuti, Vinash and Vidyut Missile Vessels.
• It was born as the Killers Squadron when the OSA I class missile boat was inducted into the Indian Navy during the 1971 war.
• It was acquired from the erstwhile Soviet Union. It took part in Operation Trident and Python.
• These operations proved decisive in making the Indian Navy the dominant force for operations in the Arabian Sea. The attacks on Pakistani naval units and the port of Karachi during these two operations effectively ended the combat capability of the Pakistani Navy. After this these missile vessels were named ‘Killers’.
• The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war victory, as well as the 50th year of the Killers Squadron. This squadron is still deployed on the frontline for the maritime defense of India on the western seaboard.

22nd Missile Vessel Squadron

• The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron was formally established in October 1991 at Mumbai with ten ‘Veer Class’ and three ‘Prabal Class’ missile boats. However, the origin of ‘Marak’ dates back to 1969, when the OSA-1 class missile boat was inducted from the then Soviet Russia to increase the strength of the Indian Navy.
• On the night of December 04-05, 1971, the youngest warriors of the young Indian Navy shed the enemy’s first blood when they launched a devastating attack on the Pakistani Navy.
• Indian Navy’s ‘Nirghat’, ‘Nipat’ and ‘Veer’ ships fired their Styx missiles and sank Pakistani Navy ships ‘Khyber’ and ‘Muhafiz’, dealing a fatal blow to the aspirations of the Pakistani Navy. Nicknamed ‘Operation Trident’, the operation is considered one of the most successful operations in modern naval history with no Indian force casualties.
• Indian Navy launched yet another daring attack on the night of 8/9 December when INS ‘Vanash’ fired four Styx missiles with two warships sinking Pakistan Naval Fleet’s tanker ‘Dhaka’ and ‘Kemari’ oil in Karachi Significant damage was done to the storage facility.
• It was because of the gallant actions of the ships and soldiers of the squadron that this squadron earned the title of ‘Marak’.