PIB Analysis Date: 13/12/2018

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PIB ANALYSIS FOR UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAM

TOPICS COVERED

  1. National Mission on Government E-market Portal
  2. $60 Million Loan Agreement to reduce floods and the riverbank erosion in Assam
  3. Water Conservation Fee / Revised Guidelines
  4. Khadi Village Industries Commission
  5. Person in News / Factual
  6. Year End Review Ministry of Labour
  7. Based on the Questions asked in the Parliament 

1 . National Mission on Government E-market Portal

National Mission on Government e-Market (GeM) portal

About the Mission

  • The objective of the Mission was to accelerate the adoption and use of Procurement by Major Central Ministries, States and UTs and their agencies (including CPSUs/PSUs, Local Bodies) on the GeM platform.

Objectives of the NMG 

  • Promote inclusiveness by catapulting various categories of sellers and service providers
  • Highlight and communicate ‘value add’ by way of transparency and efficiency in public procurement, including corruption free governance.
  • Achieve cashless, contactless and paperless transaction, in line with Digital India objectives.
  • Increase overall efficiency leading to significant cost saving on government expenditure in Procurement.
  • Maximizing ease in availability of all types of products and services bought by Government buyers.

Evaluation of the Scheme

  • GeM has brought transparency, efficiency, and inclusiveness in public procurement. It has reduced the time of procurements, reduced the process and enabled ease of doing business for both buyers and vendors.
  • There is huge savings in the cost of procurement, ranging from a minimum of 10% to 45% in different categories. 

2 . $60 Million Loan Agreement to reduce floods and the riverbank erosion in Assam

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sign a $60 Million Loan Agreement to reduce floods and the riverbank erosion in Assam

  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $60 Million Loan Agreement to continue financing riverbank protection works, renovation of flood embankments, and community-based flood risk management activities in critically flood-prone areas along the Brahmaputra River in Assam
  • Program is aimed at increasing the reliability and effectiveness of flood and riverbank erosion risk management systems in flood-prone areas of Assam, strengthening the disaster preparedness of the communities, and developing institutional capacity and knowledge base for flood forecasting
  • Project 2 under the Program will fund a combination of structural and nonstructural measures along the Brahmaputra river which include 20 km of riverbank protection works and upgrading of 13 km of flood embankments.
  • The non-structural measures will cover community involvement and community-based flood risk management activities through establishing and training disaster management committees for strengthening local disaster preparedness and emergency response.
  • The Project will continue to support the institutional capacity development of the autonomous body anchored to the Assam Water Resources Department, named Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam (FREMAA), and Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), as the executing and implementing agencies for this Project.

3 . Water Conservation Fee

Revised Guidelines for Ground Water Extraction Notified, to be Effective From 1st June 2019
Water Conservation Fee Introduced for the First Time

Background

  • India is the largest user of ground water in the world, extracting ground water to the tune of 253 bcm per year, which is about 25% of the global ground water extraction.
  • Out of the total of 6584 assessment units, 1034 have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’  253 as ‘Critical’, 681 as ‘Semi-Critical’  and 4520 as ‘Safe’ 
  • The remaining 96 assessment units have been classified as ‘Saline’ due to non-availability of fresh ground water due to salinity problem.
  • Ground water extraction in India is primarily for irrigation in agricultural activities, accounting for nearly 228 BCM (Billion Cubic Meter), which amounts to 90% of the annual ground water extraction.
  • The remaining 10% of extraction (25 BCM) is for drinking & domestic as well as industrial uses. Industrial use is estimated to account for only about 5% of the annual ground water extraction in the country.
  • Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 has the mandate of regulating ground water development and management in the country.
  • CGWA has been regulating ground water development for its sustainable management in the country through measures such as issue of advisories, public notices, grant of No Objection Certificates (NOC) for ground water withdrawal.

Purpose of the Revised Guidelines

  • The revised guidelines aim to ensure a more robust ground water regulatory mechanism in the country. 

Features

Water Conservation Fee

  • The Water Conservation Fee (WCF) payable varies with the category of the area, type of industry and the quantum of ground water extraction and is designed to progressively increase from safe to over-exploited areas and from low to high water consuming industries as well as with increasing quantum of ground water extraction.
  • Through this design, the high rates of WCF are expected to discourage setting up of new industries in over-exploited and critical areas as well as act as a deterrent to large scale ground water extraction by industries, especially in over-exploited and critical areas.
  • The WCF would also compel industries to adopt measures relating to water use efficiency and discourage the growth of packaged drinking water units, particularly in over-exploited and critical areas.

Other Features

  • Encouraging use of recycled and treated sewage water by industries
  • Provision of action against polluting industries
  • Mandatory requirement of digital flow meters, piezometers and digital water level recorders
  • Mandatory water audit by industries abstracting ground water 500 m3/day or more in safe and semi-critical and 200 m3/day or more in critical and over-exploited assessment units
  • Mandatory roof top rain water harvesting except for specified industries and measures to be adopted to ensure prevention of ground water contamination in premises of polluting industries/ projects.

Exemptions

  • Exemption from requirement of NOC has been given to agricultural users
  • Users employing non-energised means to extract water
  • Individual households (using less than 1 inch diameter delivery pipe) and Armed Forces Establishments during operational deployment or during mobilization in forward locations.
  • Other exemptions (with certain requirements) have been granted to strategic and operational infrastructure projects for Armed Forces, Defence and Paramilitary Forces Establishments and Government water supply agencies.

4 . Khadi Village Industries Commission

Multi-disciplinary training centre of KVIC at Gandhi Darshan

About the Release

  • Samadhan is an industrial training institute set up on PPP mode with the MSME Ministry, to provide comprehensive industry and business related guidance and quality knowledge to entrepreneurs, industries, corporate and institutions.

About Khadi Village Industries Commission

  • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament 

Objectives

  • The social objective of providing employment.
  • The economic objective of producing saleable articles.
  • The wider objective of creating self-reliance amongst the poor and building up of a strong rural community spirit.

Functions

  • The KVIC is charged with the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of programs for the development of Khadi and other village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.
  • Building up of a reserve of raw materials and implements for supply to producers
  • Creation of common service facilities for processing of raw materials as semi-finished goods and provisions of facilities for marketing of KVI products apart from organisation of training of artisans engaged in these industries and encouragement of co-operative efforts amongst them
  • To promote the sale and marketing of khadi and/or products of village industries or handicrafts
  • The KVIC is also charged with the responsibility of encouraging and promoting research in the production techniques and equipment employed in the Khadi and Village Industries sector and providing facilities for the study of the problems relating to it, including the use of non-conventional energy and electric power with a view to increasing productivity, eliminating drudgery and otherwise enhancing their competitive capacity and arranging for dissemination of salient results obtained from such research.
  • KVIC is entrusted with the task of providing financial assistance to institutions and individuals for development and operation of Khadi and village industries and guiding them through supply of designs, prototypes and other technical information.
  • In implementing KVI activities, the KVIC may take such steps as to ensure genuineness of the products and to set standards of quality and ensure that the products of Khadi and village industries do conform to the standards.
  • The KVIC may also undertake directly or through other agencies studies concerning the problems of Khadi and/or village industries besides research or establishing pilot projects for the development of Khadi and village industries. 
  • The KVIC is authorized to establish and maintain separate organisations for the purpose of carrying out any or all of the above matters besides carrying out any other matters incidental to its activities.

5 . Person in News / Factual 

  • BP Singh to be the new President of FTII Society and Chairman of Governing Council
  • Bilateral Annual Haj 2019 Agreement between India and Saudi Arabia Signed at Jeddah

6 . Year End Review

  • Ministry of Labour (Read from the PIB site)

7 . Based on the questions in Parliament

Women Participation Under MGNREGA

  • The women participation rate in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been 55% in FY 2015-16, 56% in FY 2016-17, 53% in FY 2017-18 and 53% in 2018-19 (as on 07.12.2018) which has been above the statutory requirement of 1/3rd women participation under MGNREGS, as per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

  • The National Rurban Mission (NRuM) follows the vision of “Development of a cluster of villages that preserve and nurture the essence of rural community life with focus on equity and inclusiveness without compromising with the facilities perceived to be essentially urban in nature, thus creating a cluster of “Rurban Villages”.
  • The objective of the National Rurban Mission (NRuM) is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.

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