Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules 20th February 2019

Infrastructure Development Home Minister Rajnath Singh chairs fifth meeting of Island

Development Agency

Relevance IN – Prelims(about Island development agency) + Mains (GS III

infrastructure development

What’s the NEWS

The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, chaired the fifth meeting

of the Island Development Agency (IDA)

Know! more about the outcome of the meeting

The Island Development Agency reviewed the progress made towards the

program “Holistic development of islands”.

Bids for private sector participation in three tourism-based projects have

already been invited by the Andaman & Nicobar Administration.

They include eco-tourism projects in Smith Island & Long island and tent

city project in Aves island. Bids will be invited shortly for one more

project in Neil island of Andaman & Nicobar.

Three projects in Lakshadweep have been identified for issue of bids.

They include tourism projects in the islands of Kadmat, Minicoy and

Suheli Cheriyakara.

Know! about the progress made so far

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh expressed satisfaction at

the progress made since its last meeting held on June 30, 2018 when

directions were given to focus on creation of recreational facilities along-

with tourism infrastructure; implementation of renewable energy

projects; incentives for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSMEs); development of a film city in an island etc.

Key infrastructure projects such as operationalization of Diglipur

airport for civilian aircraft and construction of a new airport in

Minicoy Island have been accorded high priority by the Government.

Four islands (Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep, Hutbay and Long) in

Andaman & Nicobar and three islands (Kavaratti, Agatti and Minicoy)

in Lakshadweep have been identified for seaplane operation.

CRZ clearance has been accorded for ‘Middle Strait Bridge’ on

Andaman Trunk Road. All these measures will improve inter-island

connectivity significantly.

Digital connectivity will improve substantially in the islands with

augmentation of satellite bandwidth and laying of optical fibre cable.

In order to sustainably utilize the potential of Tuna Fish, ten deep-sea

modern fishing vessels are being procured by Lakshadweep

administration from Cochin Shipyard Limited.

Know! about Island Development Agency

IDA was set up in June 2017 following Prime Minister’s review meeting

for the holistic development of islands.

The meetings of the agency are chaired by the Union Home Minister.

Members of IDA include cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary

(environment, forests and climate change), secretary (tourism) and

secretary (tribal welfare)

Culture/History Bhopal: City to witness Indian History Congress after 18 years

79th session of IHC to be organised at Barkatullah University from

February 26

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about Indian history congress)

What’s the NEWS

After the span of 18 years, the Indian History Congress will organise

three-day convention in state. The three day convention will begin in the

city on February 26.

The IHC is the largest professional and academic body of Indian

historians with over 10,000 members. It was established in the year

1935.

The higher education department and the Barkatullah University will host

the convention.

The 79th convention was scheduled to organise in Savtribai Phule

University Pune, in December. But the university pulled its hand stating

that they are not having fund to organise the event.

Know! all about Indian History Congress

Indian History Congress is the largest professional and academic body of

Indian historians with over 10,000 members. It was established in 1935.

The name of any new applicant for membership needs to be proposed and

seconded by existing Ordinary or Life Members

The lead to establish an all-India national congress of historians was

taken by Poona historians during the period of British colonial rule.

The first session took place in Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Poona,

in 1935. Historians such as Datto Vaman Potdar, Surendra Nath Sen (who

later became the first director of National Archives of India), and Sir

Shafaat Ahmad Khan attended the first session.

Defence Aero India 2019

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

Relevance IN – Prelims(about Aero India 2019) + Mains GS III indigenization

of technology and developing new technology)

What’s the NEWS

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is

looking for potential partners to co-develop an engine for its planned

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and five other future

technologies

It is on the lookout for collaborators to realise the other military

technologies that it hopes to have in around five years — Unmanned

Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) and UAVs, materials, sensors,

avionics, and artificial intelligence

Dare to Dream’ challenge

Minor innovators and startups are also being tapped for new concepts that

the DRDO can try out.

The new time-bound ‘Dare to Dream’ challenge has received 1,000

responses from individuals and startups.

Know! all about Aero India show

Aero India Exhibition which is organised every two years has already

carved a niche for itself globally as a premier aerospace exhibition,

with eleven successful editions organised since 1996. More then 60,000

business visitors and 1,00,000 general visitors attended Aero India 2017.

Air Show of latest aircrafts of different countries are arranged at the

venue during each day of the show for the benefit of visitors.

Aero India 2019 will provide a significant platform in bolstering

business opportunities in International aviation sector.

A rapidly growing economy and opening up of defence production to

private sector, have given a major fillip to the defence industry in India.

It has also become a hub for defence businesses in Asia. 2017 All Rights

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Economic Developments

RBI to transfer ₹28,000 crore interim surplus to government

Relevance IN – Prelims( about RBI and Centre tussle) + Mains GS III economic

development)

What’s the NEWS

The board of Reserve Bank of India decided to transfer an interim

surplus (dividend) of ₹28,000 crore to the government

This is second consecutive year that the central bank has transferred

interim surplus to the government.

Know! more about the transfer

Inclusive of the ₹40,000 crore transferred by the central bank as final

dividend for 2017-18, the Centre has earned a total of ₹68,000 crore as

dividend from the RBI for the 2018-19 fiscal. The accounting year of the

RBI runs from July to June.

Based on a limited audit review and after applying the extant economic

capital framework, the board decided to transfer an interim surplus of

₹280 billion to the Central government for the half-year ended December

31, 2018. Last year, RBI had transferred ₹10,000 crore as interim surplus.

The government had been putting pressure on the central bank to transfer

more funds from the contingency reserves.

A panel, headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, had been formed

to review the economic capital framework of the bank.

Commerce Minister launches ‘SWAYATT’

Relevance IN – Prelims(about SWAYATT and GeM) + Mains GS III economic

development + GS II government policies and intervention for the development

of various sectors)

What’s the NEWS

Commerce ministry has launched SWAYATT

Know! more about SWAYATT

SWAYATT is an initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth

Advantage Through e Transactions on Government e Marketplace

(GeM).

This will bring together the key stakeholders within the Indian

entrepreneurial ecosystem to Government e-Marketplace the

national procurement portal.

Commerce Ministry also dedicated GeM Start-up Runway-an initiative

of GeM in association with Start -up India to facilitate Start-ups

registered with Start -up India to access the public procurement market

and sell innovative products and services to government buyers.

Know about GeM startup runway

GeM Start-up Runway seeks to align certified Start-ups with Government

procurement orders and contracts, to enable Start-ups in scaling

operations from ideation to growth stage in minimal time, and spur hyper-

local job-creation and wealth-generation and for achieving socially-

inclusive economic growth.

Start-up Runway will enable Start-ups to conduct market trials with

government buyers, seek time-bound feedback and gain realistic product,

price comparison and market valuation from potential buyers and

investors.

Know! about Government e Marketplace

It is an online market place for procurement of common use goods and

services by government ministries, departments and CPSEs was setup in

2016 and has 801,956 products and 5,197 services, with 199,654

registered sellers, service providers and 33,536 government

buyers. Since inception, GeM has processed 1,386,030 orders worth Rs.

19,214 crore in gross merchandise value.

Culture Prime Minister inaugurates Virtual Experiential Museum

Relevance IN – Prelims( about the Museum)

What’s the NEWS

The Prime Minister inaugurated the newly established Virtual

Experiential Museum (VEM) in a Centrally Protected Monument under

Archaeological Survey of India, Man – Mahal, situated on the bank of the

Ganges near holy Dashashwamedh Ghat at Varanasi.

Know! more about the visual museum

Virtual Experiential Museum has been established by the National

Council of Science Museum (NCSM) working under the Ministry of

Culture, Government of India.

NCSM has worked hard to show a glimpse of various cultural aspects,

tangible and intangible, of Varanasi through the use of modern and

sophisticated virtual reality technology in this museum.

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) helped in

designing and curation of this Virtual Experiential Museum and also in

preparing of script for various documentaries to be shown in this VEM.

Before the setting up of VEM, the centrally protected monument

observatory of Man – Mahal was conserved scientifically as this building

was constructed by Raja Man – Singh in 1600 A.D., a close associate of

Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Later, in 1734, an observatory was constructed on the roof of this

monument by Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur, which was planned by

Samarath Jagannath to calculate time, prepare lunar and solar calendar,

study movement & angles of star and planet.

Earth Science 3 Day International Conference and Exhibition On Energy and

Environment

Relevance IN – Prelims( about the conference) + Mains ( GS III environment

conservation)

What’s the NEWS

CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad is

organizing an International Conference and Exhibition on Energy and

Environment - Challenges and Opportunities (ENCO-2019), from 20th to

22nd February 2019 in New Delhi.

Know! more about the conference

The 3 day conference aims to deliberate and identify the R&D needs to

innovate new techniques, technologies and applications for clean, safe,

symbiotic sustenance of society, environment, energy and industries in

post-2020 era.

Around 1000 delegates from India and abroad will participate in the

conference representing policy makers, regulators, thought leaders,

managers, entrepreneurs, administrators, practicing engineers,

Environmentalist, geo-environmentalists, researchers, academicians and

technocrats. The startups, young researchers and students will also attend

the conference.

Women Empowerment Pan-India Emergency Number ‘112’ launched

Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) and Safe

City Implementation Monitoring Portal also launched

MHA approves Rs. 78.86 crores to strengthen DNA analysis capacities

of four State Forensic Science Laboratories

Relevance IN – Prelims( about the initiatives) + Mains GS I ( role of women

and women organisations + GS II government policies and interventions)

What’s the NEWS

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and Minister for Women

and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi jointly launched

the Women Safety initiative of Emergency Response Support System

(ERSS) in 16 States/UT.

People in these states and UTs can now call a single pan India number

112 for any emergency.

In addition, Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences

(ITSSO) and Safe City Implementation Monitoring Portal were also

launched.

People need not remember multiple helpline numbers. One can dial 112

or use Panic Button on their phones or 112 India Mobile App to connect

to a single emergency services number 112 which will combine Police,

Fire, Health and other helplines through an Emergency Response Centre

in the State.

Union Home Minister also announced approval of Rs. 78.76 crore for a

special project under the Nirbhaya Fund for strengthening DNA

analysis capacities in the State Forensic Science Laboratories of four

States of Tamil Nadu (Chennai and Madurai), Uttar Pradesh

(Lucknow and Agra), West Bengal (Kolkata) and Maharashtra (

Mumbai). This effort will help in speedy investigation of rape cases.

Safe City Implementation Monitoring Portal

Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO)

NITI Aayog NITI Aayog to organise National Workshop to Promote Healthy Diets

from Local Food Systems

Relevance IN – Mains (GS II issues relating to development and management

of social services like health

What’s the NEWS

The NITI Aayog, in collaboration with National Centre of Excellence and

Advanced Research on Diets (NCEAR-D), Lady Irwin College and

UNICEF India, is organizing a two-day national workshop to seek a

common understanding of diet diversity problems in selected districts

under POSHAN Abhiyan across India.

Know! more about the workshop

The workshop seeks to arrive at potential region-wise action plan

between State Government and Nutrition/Agriculture Colleges to

systematically work together to promote healthy diets as part of

POSHAN Abhiyaan - Jan Andolan.

The workshop will include exhibition of more than 250 best practices,

innovations and local food products developed by pan-India Agriculture

and food technology institutions.

Envisaging a convergence between the Aspirational Districts

Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan, the workshop seeks to design

institutional collaborations between academia and State Governments

across these districts.

Prelims Practise Question

Consider the following statements

1. Island Development Authority (IDA) was set up in June 2017 and chaired

by the Prime Minister for the holistic development of islands.

2. Members of IDA include cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary

(environment, forests and climate change), secretary (tourism) and

secretary (tribal welfare)

3. SWAYATT is an initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth

Advantage Through e Transactions on Government e Marketplace (GeM).

Find the correct statement from the following options given below

a. 2 and 3

b. 1 and 3

c. Only 3

d. Only 2

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