7.69 T-Nov 2017 Flashcards
POLITY & GOVERNANCE
A. GOVT. PROGRAMS/SCHEMES
1. North East Rural Livelihood Project
• It is a central sector externally aided multi-state project which was launched in
2012 with World Bank assistance
• It is implemented by the Ministry of DoNER
• Implemented in each 2 districts of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim
• The project has four major components namely – Social empowerment, Economic
empowerment, Partnership development and management and Project
Management
• It focuses on women SHGs, Youth Groups and Community Development Groups.
- Project Saksham
• Railway launched “comprehensive training programme” for all employees of
Indian Railways to boost productivity & efficiency. It is being launched under the
name “Project Saksham”. The week-long training in skills and domain knowledge
will be imparted to all the employees of Indian Railways. The focus of all such
training is to ‘make a difference’ to the job performance.
• The exercise will start in January 2018.
- Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM)
• It is a National program for educating and popularizing science among school
students of VI to XI standards.
• It is an initiation of VijnanaBharati (VIBHA), in collaboration with NCERT
• VIBHA is one of the largest science movement in the country led by eminent
scientists and to inculcate and generate scientific temper, foster excellence in
students and nurture and mentor them for their careers in pure sciences
- National Power Portal
• It is a Centralized Platform for Collation and Dissemination of Indian power
sector information.
• Developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Launched by Ministry of
Power
• Nodal agency for implementation and operational control of NPP - Central
Electricity Authority (CEA)
• NPP Dashboard would also act as the single point interface for all Power Sector
Apps launched previously like TARANG, UJALA, VIDYUT PRAVAH, GARV, URJA
and MERIT
- Saubhagya Scheme
• Pradhan MantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana or Saubhagya scheme aims to provide
electricity connections to over 40 million families in rural and urban areas by
December 2018.
• Nodal Agency:Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC)
Progress of Power to All programs till now:
In 2015, PM had announced to electrify the remaining 18,452
unelectrified villages by May 1, 2018. Now less than 3,000 villages
remain unelectrified and all villages will be electrified by the end of this
year, much ahead of the schedule.
• Identification of beneficiaries: The government will use Socio Economic and
Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data to identify the beneficiaries
• Un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be
provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs 500 which
will be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
• Remote hamlets will be powered with solar panels along with five LED lamps, a
DC fan, and a plug point along with repair and maintenance for five years
• There will be no subsidy component for monthly electricity consumption and the
Gram Panchayat and public institutions in the rural areas will be authorised to
carry out billing and collection tasks which have been pain points for the
discoms.
• States have also been provided with an incentive of 50% of their loan being
converted to grants, if the electrification targets are met by 31 December 2018
• Saubhagya’ Web Portal – To disseminate information on household electrification
status (state, district, village-wise), and household progress on live basis
- RKVY-RAFTAAR
• The cabinet (CCEA) has approved continuation of RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana
(RKVY) as RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana- Remunerative Approaches for
Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for three years i.e.
2017-18 to 2019-20
• Objective: making farming as a remunerative economic activity through
strengthening the farmer’s effort, risk mitigation and promoting agribusiness
entrepreneurship.
• Funds would be provided to the States as 60:40 grants between Centre and
States (90:10 for North Eastern States and Himalayan States).
• The scheme will incentivize states in enhancing more allocation to agriculture
and allied sectors.
• It also envisages creation of agriculture infrastructure that help in supply of
quality inputs, market facilities etc.
• The cabinet (CCEA) has approved continuation of RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana
(RKVY) as RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana- Remunerative Approaches for
Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for three years i.e.
2017-18 to 2019-20
• Objective: making farming as a remunerative economic activity through
strengthening the farmer’s effort, risk mitigation and promoting agribusiness
entrepreneurship.
• Funds would be provided to the States as 60:40 grants between Centre and
States (90:10 for North Eastern States and Himalayan States).
• The scheme will incentivize states in enhancing more allocation to agriculture
and allied sectors.
• It also envisages creation of agriculture infrastructure that help in supply of
quality inputs, market facilities etc.
- UMANG App
• Government has recently launched UMANG or Unified Mobile Application
• Developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and
National eGovernance Division (NeGD)
• It aims to build a common, unified platform and mobile app to facilitate single
point of access for government services (centre, state and utility services)
through mobile.
• It is a multi-utility app and integrates with other core government services of
Aadhaar, DigiLocker, etc.
• It supports 13 Indian languages
- National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)
• Cabinet has recently approved the continuation and restructuring of National
Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)
About NRDWP
• Launched in 2009
• Implemented by the Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation
• For ensuring provision of safe and adequate drinking water supply
through hand-pumps, piped water supply etc. to all rural areas, households and
persons.
• It is aCentrally Sponsored Scheme with 50:50 fund sharing between the centre
and the states
• This programme was launched after merging the three erstwhile programmes
on,
o Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme-ARWSP
o Swajaldhara and
o National Rural Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance
• National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) launched, in 2017, to bring the
water quality of country at par of International Standard by 2020, will be funded
under the NRDWP.
- National Testing Agency
• The Union Cabinet approved creation of National Testing Agency (NTA)
• It would be an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to
conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.
• It will be society registered under Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860
- Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra (PMMSK)
• It is an umbrella scheme under “Mission for Protection and Empowerment for
Women”
• It will be implemented by Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• It aims at empowering rural women through community participation to create
an environment in which they realise their full potential
• Under it, the government plan to reach 115 most backward districts through 920
Mahila Shakti Kendra.
• The government will establish One Stop Centers (OSCs) in 150additional districts
during this period that would be connected with women helpline and will
provide 24 hour emergency and non-emergency response to women.The scheme
approved for a period 2017-18 to 2019-20.
B. CONSTITUTIONAL BODIES
1. 15th Finance commission (Article 280)
- 15th Finance commission (Article 280)
• Appointed by the President for every 5 years or earlier
• 15th FC Chairman : N K Singh
• Recommendations of the FC are advisory in nature
• Objectives of the 15th FC
i. Efforts made by the states in expansion and deepening of the tax net under
GST
ii. Efforts and progress made in moving towards replacement rate of
population growth
iii. Improvement in ease of doing business
iv. Sanitation
v. Reign in populist measures
vi. Implementation of flagship central schemes and disaster resilient
infrastructure
vii. Progress made in increasing tax/non-tax revenues
viii. Promoting savings through adoption of direct benefit transfers
ix. Promoting a digital economy; etc.
The Finance Commission
• It defines the financial relations between the Union of India and the state
governments.
• The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1951additionally
defines the terms of qualification, appointment anddisqualification, the term,
eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission
C. SOCIAL JUSTICE
1. Sikkim
• Ministry of Home Affairs has recently proposed to increase the number of MLAs
in State Assemebly from 32 to 40.
• This is to give representation to the Limboo and Tamangs tribes
• A petition was moved in the Supreme Court that Limboo and Tamangs (notified
as STs in Sikkim) were not adequately represented in the Assembly. As per constitutional provisions, the total number of seats for STs should be in
proportion to the population
• SC in 2016 directed the Home Ministry to take necessary action, thus the
amendments in the Second Schedule to the RP Act, 1950 is proposed whereby
total seats in Sikkim Legislative Assembly will be 40 in place of existing 32.
• Now the five out of eight increased seats are reserved for Limboo and Tamang
communities
• The present delimitation of constituencies(Article 82) has been done on the
basis of 2001 census figures under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002.
• In addition, the Constitution was amended in 2002 not to have delimitation of
constituencies till the first census after 2026.
• However, Sikkim exempted from this limitation as Art 371(F) allows the
parliament provide for the number of seats in the Sikkim Assembly to protect
the rights and interests of various sections
• Sikkim has Special status via Article 371F incorporated through 36th Amendment
Act, 1975
- Women Representatives
• Program to train women representatives in PRIs
i. The Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD) has recently
launched an intensive training program for Elected Women representatives
(EWRs) of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
ii. The program aimed at capacity building of EWRs is being organized by
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) of
the MoWCD.
iii. It is the first ever initiatives which will train approximately twenty thousand
EWRs covering nearly 50 EWRs from each district (by March, 2018) who
will go out and administer the villages professionally.
• It will help in creating model villages, ensure their effective participation in
governance process and help preparing women as political leaders of the future
• Among MPs, Lok Sabha has 59 (11% of 543 MPs) and Rajya Sabha has 10% or 23
(10% of 233 MPs) women MPs
• States with maximum women MLAs - West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar – 34
MLAs
• States with maximum percentage of women MLAs - Bihar, Rajasthan – 14%
• Zero representation of women MLAs - Nagaland, Mizoram, Puducherry.
D. RIVER WATER DISPUTES
1. Cauvery Water Dispute
The Supreme Court rejected Tamil Nadu’s plea to direct Karnataka to release
more Cauvery water from its reservoirs
• The dispute is between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Puducherry.
Cauvery River
• The river originates in Karnataka’s Kodagudistrict,flows into Tamil Nadu and
reaches the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar
• River basin covers Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, Puducherry.
• Large area of Cauvery basin under Red soils
• The river descends from the South Karnataka Plateau to the Tamil Nadu Plains
through the Sivasamudram waterfalls (101 m high).
• Left Bank Tributaries: Harangi, Hemavati, Shimsha and Arkavathy.
• Right Bank : Lakshmantirtha, Kabini, Suvarnavati, Bhavani, Noyil and Amaravati
• Other waterfalls: Hogennekkal Falls.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
A. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
1. United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the
United Nations
Composition – Total 15 members
• 5 permanent members with Veto powers + 10 elected (by UNGA) nonpermanent members with 2 year term.
• Permanent Five (P5) countries – the USA, the UK, Russia, France, China
Powers of the UNSC -
• Establishment of peacekeeping operations.
• Establishment of international sanctions.
• The authorization of military action.
• The resolutions of the UNSC are enforceable in nature, comprising both legally
binding and legally non-binding nature.
UNSC reforms – Related terms and groups
S. No. Name Purpose
1. An Agenda
for Peace
The reform discussions of the UNSC outlined in a
report in 1992
2. The G4 Bloc An interest group of 4 countries viz., India. Brazil,
Germany, Japan.
They support each other’s bids for permanent seats on
the UNSC on the lines of P5 countries.
3. The Coffee
Club
Also known as Uniting for Consensus
It work against the G4 countries’ bid to become
Permanent members
Members - Italy, Spain, Argentina, Canada, Mexico,
South Korea and Pakistan
They favoured the expansion of the non-permanent
category of seats with members to be elected on a
regional basis.
4. The African
Group
Started to demand two permanent seats for
themselves, on the basis of historical injustices and
the fact that a large part of the Council’s agenda is
concentrated on the continent.Those two seats would be permanent African seats
that rotate between African countries chosen by the
African group
- International Court of Justice (ICJ)
• Justice DalveerBhandari (India) was re-elected as the judge of International
Court of Justice (ICJ)
• He is the fourth Indian judge to be elected to the ICJ after B.N. Rau, Nagendra
Singh and R.S. Pathak
• This is the first time in the 70-year history of the United Nations that the U.K. no
representation among the panel of judges ICJ.
• This is the first time that one of the five permanent members of the UNSC lost out
to an ordinary member in a race.
• TO get elected the candiadate must get majority in both UNGA and UNSC.
• The ICJ, established in 1945, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations
(UN).
• The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
• Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in
New York (USA).
• ICJ also stayed the Indian national KulbhushanJadav’s death sentence given by
Pakistan
- PCA
• Permanent Court of Arbitration. It is located at the Hague
• The PCA was the first permanent intergovernmental organization to provide a
forum for the resolution of international disputes through arbitration and other
peaceful means.
• Established at the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899
• Unlike the ICJ, the PCA has no sitting judges: the parties themselves select the
arbitrators.
• Another difference is that sessions of the PCA are held in private and are
confidential
• The Court provides arbitration in disputes between international organisations
and between states and international organisations
- International Criminal Court (ICC)
• The ICC is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal located
in the Hague, Netherlands.
• It is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes
against humanity.
• The Rome Statute is the founding treaty which entered into force on July 1, 2002.
• While not a United Nations organization, the Court has a cooperation agreement
with the United Nations.
• When a situation is not within the Court’s jurisdiction, the United Nations
Security Council can refer the situation to the ICC granting it Jurisdiction.
B. MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS
1. ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
• It is a political and economic organisation of ten Southeast Asian countries
• Economic, Political, Security, Educational and Socio-cultural integration amongst
its members and Asian states
• It was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
• Later the membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmarand Vietnam
• “ASEAN Plus Three” includes China, Japan, and South Korea
• Delhi Dialogue is an annual forum of ASEAN and India
• ADMM Plus ( Asian Defence Ministers Meet Plus), comprises 10 ASEAN states
along with Australia, China, India, Japan, Newzealand, Russia, South Korea and
USA
• Upcoming ASEAN summit Singapore, 2018.
- EAS
• East Asian Summit with 18 members
• India is a member of the forum
• The aim is Strategic dialogue and cooperation on key challenges facing the East
Asian region
• The membership of EAS consists of ten ASEAN Member States, Australia, China,
India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the USA
• EAS is an initiative of ASEAN
- ARF - ASEAN Regional Forum
• It is a dialogue platform between the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and its full
dialogue partners
• The objective is to provide diplomatic solutions to regional problems
• India is a member
- APEC
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
• It is a forum for facilitating growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the
Asia Pacific region
• APEC is comprising of 21 member countries. They are Australia, Brunei
Darussalam, Canada, China, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and United States
• Bogor goals: members are committed to achieve free and open trade and
investment
• India is observer of APEC since 2011 and has applied for membership
• HQ : Singapore
o The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Da
Nang, Vietnam.
o The theme of summit was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a
SharedFuture’.
o Next summit : Papua New Guinea (2018)
- 7th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER7)
• It is a biennial event bringing together Energy Ministers and experts from Asian
countries.
• Promoted by International Energy Forum (IEF)
o Host: Thailand.
- RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership)
• It is a proposed regional trade block among ASEAN plus Six countries
• ASEAN, China, Japan, S Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India
Objective
• To reduce/eliminate tariffs on most goods,
• Liberalise investment norms and trade in services,
• Boost economic and technical co-operation,
• Strengthen intellectual property, besides
• Including provisions on dispute settlement and competition and covering issues
such as e-commerce, public procurement
Summit
After years of several rounds of negotiations, first RCEP summit held in Manila,
Philippines in Nov, 2017
- QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)
• It is an informal strategic grouping of 4 countries viz., India, the USA, Japan,
Australia
• Initially conceived in 2007 but revived recently as response to increased Chinese
economic and military assertiveness through BRI and South China Sea policy.
• Japan chaired the first dialogue which held on the sidelines of the 12th East Asia
Summit in Philippines
- Shangari-La Dialogue
• It is a Track One inter-governmental security forum held annually in Singapore.
• It is Asia’s largest security forum, also called as the IISS Asia Security Summit
• It is attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military
chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific states.
• Itwas launched in 2002 by the Singaporean government and London based
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
• The forum gets its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where it has been
held since 2002.
• The 2017 summit for the first time it discussed the cyber security amid the events
of cyber threats on financial systems.
- India-UN Development Partnership Fund
• The fund was set up as partnership between India and the United Nations Office for
South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) on 9 June 2017 i.e. on occasion of the World
Oceans Day.
• It is managed by UNOSSC.
• It aims to support Southern-owned and led, demand-driven and transformational
sustainable development projects across developing world.
• UN agencies will implement Fund’s projects in close collaboration with partnering
governments.
• It prioritises sustainable development projects reducing poverty and hunger,
improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean water,
energy and livelihoods, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small
Island Developing States.
• India to contribute $100 million to the fund in addition to earlier $10.58 million
contribution
