Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 26th August 2021

What is in news : Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP),has proposed for a decentralised system for solid waste management through a act

What is proposed:

• Set up a separate company for solid waste management
• Primary responsibility of waste management will continue to remain with the BBMP
• A decentralised system with zonal/divisional/ward-level coordinators
• A Shuchi Mitra at the block level and volunteers at the lane level will be put in place to maintain cleanliness across the city
• Junior health inspectors and marshals were working actively and urged citizens to join hands with civic officials to keep the city clean
• Under the Citizen Participation Programme, the zonal/constituency/ward level coordinators will track block performance on segregation, complaints received from citizens, penalties levied, and monitor the performance of SWM units in the ward. They will also identify gaps and conduct training sessions as ‘Master Trainers’.
• At the block level, the Shuchi Mitras will take inputs from lane volunteers and work with autorickshaw drivers, supervisors, link workers and marshals, report on the door-to-door collection, conduct awareness sessions on segregation at source, and track the black spots in the block.

What is in news : In order to make Karnataka the first State to double farmers’ income by 2023–24, the State government has  set up a farmer-centric committee to prepare a report and implement farm policies

Details:

• Ashok Dalwai, CEO of the National Rainfed Area Authority is the chairman of the comittee
• Committee would comprise farmers from the State, who would be in regular touch with Central government officials to prepare a comprehensive Karnataka-specific report on farmers’ income

ABOUT DOUBLING FARMERS INCOME

• The Union Government had constituted an inter-ministerial committee headed by Ashok Dalwai to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
• It noted that policy should focus on creating a favourable investment climate for increasing investment 'in agriculture'.

Key Recommendations

• Placing agricultural marketing in the Concurrent list
• Greater private sector participation in agri-marketing and logistics.
• While GST is a step in the right direction, a lot more needs to be done at the State level.
• Farmer producer and village producer organisations (FPO/VPO) could play a critical role in integrating small and marginal farmers into the agricultural market system.
• Union Agriculture Ministry to roll out the Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (APLM) Rules
• Market reforms and investment in infrastructure for cold-chain integration to reduce wastages
• The committee strongly recommends stepping up of institutional credit on a large scale.
• Key aspect of doubling farmers’ income is to focus on export. The aim should be to raise agricultural export by a minimum of three times by 2022-23.
• It suggests a permanent inter-ministerial committee, including commerce, consumer affairs and agriculture. This would monitor domestic and global prices, recommending on needed changes.

SOCIAL ISSUES

What is in news : The labour ministry is set to launch a National Database for Unorganised Workers (NDUW) or e-Sharm portal

Details :

• Single-point reference that will help authorities to reach out to and track workers across informal sector. It will also offer welfare in times of crisis.
• Comprises of migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, domestic workers, street vendors, agriculture workers, migrant workers and other such sub-groups of unorganised workers.
• Using the platform, workers can self-enrol using their Aadhaar and mobile number.
• Besides, the common service centres and selected post offices will also help in registration process, where workers can visit and register themselves at no cost.

Informal Sector in India : As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), 90% of the workers in India are in informal sector. It amounts to 419 million of out of 465 million workers.

ECONOMY

What is in news : The Union government has increased the minimum price that sugar mills must pay to sugar cane farmers by ₹5 a quintal, setting the fair and remunerative price (FRP) at ₹290 a quintal for the 2021-22 sugar season, which runs from October to September.

FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE

• Price of sugarcane is fixed by the centre/State
• Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is to be purchased by sugar mills from farmers.
• Fixed by Union government on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• Determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
• Methodology: Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost of production, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop price parity etc.
• Assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profit or not.
• This will be uniformly applicable all over the country.
• Besides FRP, some states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, which is generally higher than the FRP.

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

What is in news : The Ministry of Jal Shakti began ‘SUJALAM’, a ‘100 days campaign’  to create more and more ODF Plus villages by undertaking waste water management at village level particularly through creation of 1 million Soak-pits and also other Grey water management activities

Details :

• Build desired infrastructure i.e. soak pit for management of greywater in villages
• Will aid in sustainable management of waterbodies
• Disposal of waste water and clogging of waterbodies in the villages or on the outskirts of the villages remain one of the major problems. The Campaign would help in management of the wastewater and in turn would help to revive the waterbodies.
• Boost the momentum of SBMG phase II activities through community participation and it will increase awareness about ODF-plus activities. Hence ensuring long term maintenance and sustainability of built infrastructure.
• Would use the platform of awareness and behaviour change achieved during the first phase of the SBMG and provide focus for sustaining the same along with achieving the visual cleanliness by the way of SLW Management.
• The key activities that will be organised in the villages under this campaign include:
• Organizing Community consultations, Khuli Baithaks and Gram Sabha meetings to analyze the current situation
• Pass resolution to maintain ODF sustainability and achieve needed number of soak pits to manage the grey water
• Develop a 100 days’ plan to undertake sustainability and soak pit construction related activities
• Construct requisite number of soak pits
• Retrofit toilets where needed through IEC and community mobilization and

• Ensure all newly emerging Households in the village have access to toilets.

REPORTS & INDICES

What is in news : According to a new report titled “Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2021” released by Asian Development Bank (ADB), COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an estimated 75 million to 80 million people in developing Asia into extreme poverty as compared to what would have happened without COVID-19

Details:

According to the report-

• Covid-19 pandemic is threatening progress of Asia and Pacific toward targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Pandemic has increased inequality and extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than 1.90 dollars per day.
• Progress has also stalled in areas like hunger, health and education.
• As of 2017, around 203 million people (5.2 per cent) of developing Asia’s population lived in extreme poverty
• Without COVID-19, this number would have declined to 2.6 per cent in 2020.
• Economy of Asia and Pacific has grown at a robust pace in recent years. In 2019, it has contributed about 35 per cent to global gross domestic product (GDP) in US dollars.
• Among the reporting economies of Asia and the Pacific, only about one in four posted GDP growth last year.
• This region has lost around 8 percent of work hours because of mobility restrictions which in turn affects poorer households and workers of informal economy.
• In order to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, decision makers are required to harness high-quality and timely data as guided actions in order to ensure that the recovery leaves no one behind, including the poor and vulnerable sections

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

What is in news : US Vice president has reached out to people suffering from Havana syndrome

What :

• Series of unexplained medical symptoms
• First experienced by U.S. State Department personnel who were based in Cuba in 2016
• Symptoms associated with the syndrome includes headache, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety, nausea, cognitive difficulties and memory loss of varying severity
• Comprehensive analysis by a U.S. scientific panel pointed that exposure to a type of directed energy is the main culprit

What did US do :

• State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have established an internal task force to investigate the matter.
• Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act was also passed unanimously in Congress. It will authorize additional medical and financial support to the intelligence officers and diplomats affected

What : World’s largest and tallest observation wheel

Where : Dubai

Features :

• 42.5m taller than the London Eye
• Will take visitors to the height of 250 metres in order for them to enjoy the majestic view of Dubai’s picturesque skyline.
• Located at Bluewaters Island, near Dubai Marina.
• Carry up to 1,400 passengers in its 48 capsules, providing views of Dubai Marina, Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah, and Burj Khalifa.
• Base will act as an entertainment zone.
• Comprise of an 80-metre LED screen to create an electronic platform to broadcast, advertise and other information.
• Will offer dining in the sky and other exclusive celebration packages for corporate and event offerings.
• Will be bringing more than 19 customisable experiences against the backdrop of Dubai skyline.
• Will offer experiences like one rotation of about 38 minutes and two rotations of about 76 minutes.
• Visitors will also have the access to their private cabin that will provide full exclusivity.
• It will also be providing unique celebration packages for engagements, birthdays, weddings and business functions.
• Private cabins can be customised in order to get all sorts of events like intimate celebrations and cultural festivities to treat VIP guests

• Pakistan conducted a successful test flight of Fatah-1.Fatah-1 is a Pakistan-made guided multi-launch rocket system.It is capable of delivering conventional warheads up to a range of 140 kilometres.
• Operation Devi Shakti name has been given by India to its operation of evacuating its citizens from war-torn Afghanistan.