Daily News Analysis (Prelims + Mains) – 2nd November 2018
General Study – I
Topic:
Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events,
personalities, issues.
Veer Surendra Sai Airport
- Cabinet approves renaming of Jharsuguda Airport in Odisha as Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda.
- Renaming of the Jharsuguda airport in his name will fulfill long-pending demand of the Odisha Government, which reflects the sentiments of the local public of the respective area.
- It will also be a befitting tribute to the contribution of the revered personality associated with the State.
About Veer Surendra Sai
- Veer Surendra Sai (1809-1884) was born in Sambalpur, Odisha.
- He was a well-known freedom fighter of Odisha and Tribal leader.
- He was a direct descendant from ruler Madhukar Sai and legally entitled to be crowned as king of Sambalpur after demise of king Maharaja Sai in 1827. But he was not acceptable to the British power.
- He started a fight against foreign rule even before the 1857 Revolt and continued it well after the Revolt.
- He was trained in guerrilla warfare and horsemanship, was looked upon by many as their leader. Supported by the Zamindars as well as the tribal people.
- Sambalpur was annexed by the British through Doctrine of Lapse in 1849.
- His revolution against the British commenced from 1827 lasted till when he was finally arrested in 1864 and died in Asirgarh jail in 1884.
General Study – II
Topic:
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Open Government Data (OGD) Platform
Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India is at the frontline in promoting innovation in Open Data ecosystem in India.
Government of India under the aegis of National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) initiated OGD Platform India (https://data.gov.in) to share government data with its citizens.
OGD has been set-up by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in compliance with the Open Data Policy.
Open Data Policy objective is to provide a platform for proactive access to Government-owned shareable data and these datasets are directly published on the platform by the Government Departments.
OGD recognizes the importance of making open data available to its citizens for increased levels of proactive transparency and accountability.
It promotes higher level of public participation. This has built a foundation to create an open data ecosystem in the country.
#OpenGovDataHack
- The OGD Team, NIC in association with Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) & Start-Up India had organized Hackathon – “#OpenGovDataHack”
- Its organized for Students, Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Start-ups, Developers and Community to create unique and innovative service delivery Applications & Info-Graphics to foster innovation.
- The sectors selected for the Hackathon are Water & Sanitation, Transport, Education, Crime and Health.
General Study – III
Topic:
Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Context: Air pollution is choking several cities in the northern States once again, as changes in temperature and slowing winds trap soot, dust and fine particulate matter.
Problems:
- The burning of agricultural residue in Punjab and Haryana is releasing large volumes of smoke containing, among other pollutants, highly damaging fine particulates, or PM2.5.
- The problem is aggravated by the burning of urban waste, diesel soot, vehicular exhaust, road and construction dust, and power generation
- India has nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, it has not taken consistent action on pollution Failure to take sustainable and urgent measures will inflict long-term harm on public health, affecting children even more by putting them at higher risk for diseases
- Farm stubble burning is a major contributor to the problem, and its footprint may be growing because of wider use of mechanical harvesters that is producing more waste
Reports:
- Tens of millions live with ambient air quality that is well short of even the relaxed parameters the country has set for fine particulates, compared with those of the World Health Organisation.
- The UN Environment Programme’s report titled ‘Air Pollution in Asia and the Pacific: Science-Based Solutions’ has sounded a warning, pointing out that only 8% of the population in the countries of the region get to breathe air of acceptable quality.
- One study of degradation of Delhi’s air over a 10-year period beginning 2000 estimated premature mortality to have risen by as much as 60%. With the steady growth in the population of the capital and other cities, the trauma is set to worsen.
Way forward:
- India should at least now give high importance to the WHO warning about air pollution being the new tobacco.
- The Centre and the State governments need to get into crisis mode to dramatically reduce emissions. They must address the burning of carbon, which is a direct source, and emissions with oxides of nitrogen and sulphur from vehicles that turn into fine particulates through atmospheric reactions
- An innovative approach could be to use climate change funds to turn farm residues into a resource, using technological options such as converting them into biofuels and fertilizers.
- From an urban development perspective, large cities should reorient their investments to prioritise public transport, favouring electric mobility.
- The World Bank has said it is keen to enhance its lending portfolio to tackle air pollution, opening a new avenue for this.
- Governments should make the use of personal vehicles in cities less attractive through strict road pricing mechanisms
- If governments delay action on the critical issue of pollution control, public pressure must force them to act.
Topic for Prelims
MSME Support and Outreach Programme
- The Prime Minister launches the MSME Support and Outreach Programme.
- It will run for 100 days covering 100 Districts throughout the country.
- Various Central Ministers will visit these districts in order to apprise the entrepreneurs about various facilities being extended to MSME Sector by the Government and financial institutions.
- Outreach Programme will help in boosting the MSME sector since this sector is one of the major generator of employment opportunities and making a significant contribution to the overall growth of the economy.
- In India Nearly, 90 percent of the industrial units belong to this MSME sector, it has around 40 percent of India’s workforce. MSME sector produces more than 8000 products ranging from traditional to high-tech items.
Unreserved Mobile Ticketing
- Ministry of Railways has introduced Unreserved Mobile Ticketing with a view to promote three C’s- Cashless transactions (Digital payment), Contact less ticketing (no need to physically visit the point of sale) and Customer convenience and experience.
- Booking of unreserved tickets on all non-suburban sections across all Zonal Railways has been made available now.
- The facility of booking unreserved tickets, including season tickets and also platform tickets is available through the ‘UTSONMOBILE’ app available for Android, IOS and Windows phones.
River for Habitat
The National Mission for Clean Ganga partnered with UN Habitat to organize a policy dialogue- ‘Urban Cafe: River for Habitat’ in New Delhi on the occasion of World Cities Day 2018.
Experts in the sector got together to discuss the deep association that rivers have with various aspects of human civilization – our cities, our economy and various facets of our daily lives, the challenges to maintaining healthy river ecosystems and ways to deal with the same.
World Cities Day
- The United Nations has designated every 31st of October as World Cities Day.
- The Day is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.
- The general theme of World Cities Day is Better City, Better Life, while each year a different sub-theme is selected, to either promote successes of urbanization, or address specific challenges resulting from urbanization.
- In 2014 first World Cities Day was celebrated in Shanghai, China under the theme Leading Urban Transformations.
- World Cities Day 2018 celebrated in Liverpool, United Kingdom with theme Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities.
Army Aviation Day
Army Aviation Corps celebrated its 33rd Raising Day.
Army Aviation Corps
- The Army Aviation Corps is a component of the Indian Army, formed on 1 November 1986.
- During 1984, the Indian Army’s Northern Command inducted the HAL Cheetah into the Siachen Glacier. The pilots were put to the ultimate test professionally and also in terms of human endurance.
- In 1986, the Air Observation Post units were transferred from the Indian Air Force to the Indian Army to form the Army Aviation branch.
- The aviation arm is headed by a Director General of the rank of Lt General at the Army HQ, New Delhi.
- Army Aviation Corps is the aerial manoeuvre arm of the Indian Army and has played a stellar role by providing vital air support to our soldiers safeguarding the borders in addition to providing relief to the common man during times of natural calamity.
- The Corps is undergoing a massive transformation effort and expanding its fleet to augment its combat, tactical lift and surveillance capabilities to act as a potent force multiplier.