PIB Analysis : 11th February

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

1. Swach Shakti
2. National Productivity Council
3. Cultural Heritage Youth Leadership Programme 
4. Light House Projects challenge
5. Indian Council of Historical Research composition
6. E-office
7. National gas grid
8. Constitutional and Legislative Measures to Protect and Safeguard Land Rights of Scheduled Tribes 
9. Shahi Snan

1 . Swachh Shakti

Context : Prime Minister will participate in Swachh Shakti 2019, a convention of Women Sarpanches and distribute the Swachh Shakti-2019 awards

About Swachh Shakti 2019

• Swachh Shakti-2019 is a national event which aims to bring in to focus the leadership role played by rural women in Swachh Bharat Mission. Women Sarpanches and Panches from all over the country will be attending the event.
• The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with the Govt. of Haryana is organizing the Swachh Shakti-2019
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Shakti program first in 2017 at Gandhinagar
• The second Swachh Shakti event, Swachh Shakti-2018 was held at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
• Now the third edition is being inaugurated from Kurukshetra.
• Swachh Shakti is an example of how at the grass root level, rural women champions are acting as a change agent to mobilize the community and lead from the front women taking initiatives for a Swachh Bharat.
• The movement is a part of ongoing activities under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission

2 . National Productivity Council

Context : National Productivity Council is celebrating its 61st Foundation Day on 12^th February with the theme Circular Economy for Productivity & Sustainability

About National Productivity Council

• NPC is a national level organization to promote productivity culture in India.
• Established by the Ministry of Industry, Government of India in 1958, it is an autonomous, multipartite, non-profit organization with equal representation from employers’ & workers’ organizations and Government, apart from technical & professional institutions and other interests.
• Currently National Productivity Council (NPC) is an autonomous registered society under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• NPC is a constituent of the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an Inter Governmental Body, of which the Government of India is a founder member.
  

Functions

• NPC teams up with its clients to work out solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing profits, augmenting safety and reliability and ensuring better quality.
• It provides reliable database for decision-making, improved systems and procedures, work culture as well as customer satisfaction both internal & external. The solutions can be all-encompassing or specific depending on the nature of the problem.
• The council also helps monitor, review and implement the identified strategies. Promotional and catalytic in nature, NPC’s services have bearings on economic growth and quality of life.
• The Council promotes a comprehensive view of productivity focused on improving triple bottom line – economic, environmental and social and adds value for all the stakeholders through generation & application of advanced knowledge for inclusive Growth.

Productivity Day

• NPC observes foundation day as Productivity Day and the National Productivity Week from February 12-18, 2019.  
• NPC is celebrating its 61st Foundation Day on 12^th February with the theme “Circular Economy for Productivity & Sustainability

About Circular Economy

• A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.
• The circular economy follows the principle of preservation and enhancement of natural capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows
• The other principles suggest optimizing of resource yields by circulating products, components, and materials at their highest utility at all times, in both technical and biological cycles.
• Circular economy has the potential to increase productivity and create jobs, whilst reducing carbon emissions and preserving valuable raw materials. It provides for a way of creating value. It works by extending product life span through improved design and servicing and relocating waste from the end of the supply chain to the beginning – in effect, using resources more efficiently by using them over and over. The challenge lies in building circular economy knowledge and capacity.
• To integrate circular economy principle in strategy and process, NPC has been in forefront enhancing of such efforts in enhancing productivity. Through observation of this week, it aims at collaboration with business and policy makers so as Circular Economy opportunities can be highlighted.

3 . Cultural Heritage Youth Leadership Programme 

About Cultural Heritage Youth Leadership Programme 

• The scheme for Cultural Heritage Youth Leadership Programme (CHYLP)  envisaged enriching awareness of Indian culture and heritage amongst the youth in order to promote, understand and develop fondness for India’s rich cultural heritage, with a view to develop appropriate leadership qualities amongst youth.
• The focus of the programme was to be on less privileged children residing in backward areas by interacting with them in vernacular languages for their better understanding.
• Intermittently programme was given to Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), an autonomous organization working under the purview of Ministry of Culture. CCRT organized workshops for the scheme

4 . Light House Projects challenge

About Light House Project Challenge

• Six sites across the nation will have 1,000 houses built with innovative technologies that are low-cost, sustainable and disaster-resistant under a pilot project called Lighthouse Project.
• In order to select the states that will house the projects, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has instituted a challenge — Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC) — for all the states and Union Territories.
• The six winning states/UTs will be awarded the projects and receive central assistance to construct these projects as per the prescribed guidelines. In addition, the government has set a provision of Technology Innovation Grant (TIG) for the states/UTs to offset the impact of any additional cost implication due to the use of new technology and to absorb the issues related to economies of scale and other related factors.
• The selected sites for lighthouse projects will be used as an ‘open laboratory’ for live demonstration and will receive due attention from academia (Civil Engineering, Planning, Architecture), practitioners (Public/ Private), policy makers (Central/ State).

5 . Indian Council of Historical Research

Context : As per Rule 3 of Rules of ICHR, New Delhi, 1972, the Government has reconstituted the Council of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi for a period of three years

About ICHR

• The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which had been established by an Administrative Order of the then Ministry of Education.
• The body, over many years, has provided financial assistance to the historians and direction to the research scholars in their multifarious topics of historical research through established historians and scholars of the country.

Composition of reconstituted council is as follows :

1. An eminent historian nominated by the Government of India who shall be Chairman of the Council;
2. Eighteen historians nominated by the Government of India;
3. A Representative of the U.G.C;
4. Director-General of Archaeology;
5. Director, National Archives;
6. Four persons to represent Government who shall be nominated by the Government of India and which shall include one representative each of the Ministry of Education, the Department of Culture and the Ministry of Finance; and Member Secretary.

6 . E-office

About E – Office

• The e-Office is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan and is being implemented by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to improve efficiency in Government Process and Service Delivery Mechanism.
• The e-Office is a Digital Workplace Solution that replaces the physical files and documents with an efficient electronic system.
• Being an electronic system, it has its inherent advantages such as data is stored digitally with audit trails for every transaction being done.
• Regular backups and Disaster Recovery Systems are in place which ensures that Government files are not damaged in case of any mishap. In addition, this being a web based application; people can access it from anywhere through VPN.

The e-Office system contains the following packages:-

• File Management System (FMS)
• Knowledge Management System (KMS)
• eFile MIS Reports
• Personnel Information Management System (PIMS)
• Employee Master Details (EMD)
• Leave Management System (LMS)
• Leave MIS Reports
• Tour Management System (TMS)
• Master Data Management

7 . National Gas Grid

Aims and Objectives of National Gas Grid

• To remove regional imbalance within the country with regard to access of natural gas and provide clean and green fuel throughout the country. 
• To connect gas sources to major demand centres and ensure availability of gas to consumers in various sectors. 
• Development of City Gas Distribution Networks in various cities for supply of CNG and PNG. 

Status of the Project

• The Government has envisaged to develop the National Gas Grid. At present about 16,788 Km natural gas pipeline is operational and about 14,239 Km gas pipelines are being developed to increase the availability of natural gas across the country

PNGRB

• Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is the authority to grant authorization to the entities for the development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in Geographical Areas (GAs) as per PNGRB Act, 2006.
• PNGRB identifies GAs for authorizing the development of CGD network in synchronization with the development of natural gas pipeline connectivity/ natural gas availability

City Gas Distribution Network

• Government of India has put thrust to promote the usage of environment friendly clean fuel i.e. natural gas as a fuel/feedstock across the country to move towards a gas based economy.
• Accordingly, development of CGD networks has been focused to increase the availability of cleaner cooking fuel (i.e. PNG) and transportation fuel (i.e. CNG) to the citizens of the country.
• The expansion of CGD network will also benefit to industrial and commercial units by ensuring the uninterrupted supply of natural gas.

Why Natural Gas

• Natural gas is a superior fuel as compared with coal and other liquid fuels being an environment friendly, safer and cheaper fuel. Natural Gas is supplied through pipelines just like one gets water from the tap. There is no need to store cylinders in the kitchen and thus saves space.
• As per WHO database released in May 2018, India has 14 out of 15 world’s most polluted cities in terms of PM 2.5 concentration. Large number of industries also consume polluting fuels like pet coke and furnace oil which emit polluting CO2. Some of the courts recently ordered for banning use of pet coke in states within their jurisdiction.
• Natural Gas (as CNG) is cheaper by 60% as compared with petrol and 45 % w.r.t. Diesel. Similarly, Natural Gas (as PNG) is cheaper by 40 % as compared with market price LPG and price of PNG almost matches with that of subsidised LPG (based on prices in Delhi). Thus, even on cost front as well, natural gas is preferable to petrol, diesel and LPG.

8 . Constitutional and Legislative Measures to Protect and Safeguard Land Rights of Scheduled Tribes 

Safeguards

• The Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006”torecognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land to forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes.
• “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013” (RFCTLARR Act, 2013 in short) safeguards against displacement of Scheduled Tribes. Special provisions have been made for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Sections 41 and 42 of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 which protect their interests. The RFCTLARR Act, 2013 also lays down procedure and manner of rehabilitation and resettlement.
• “The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996”, also provides that the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas or development projects and before resettling or rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas; the actual planning and implementation of the projects in the Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at the State Level;
• Constitutional provisions under Schedule – V also provide for safeguards against displacement of tribal population because of land acquisitions etc. The Governor of the State, having scheduled Areas, is empowered to prohibit or restrict transfer of land from tribals and regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such cases. Land being a State subject, various provisions of rehabilitation and resettlement as per the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 are implemented by the concerned State Governments.
• “The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987” provides for legal services to members of Scheduled Tribes.
• “The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989” has been introduced to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, to provide for the trial of such offences and for the relief of rehabilitation of the victims of such offences and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Wrongfully dispossessing members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes from their land or premises or interfering with the enjoyment of their rights, including forest rights, over any land or premises or water or irrigation facilities or destroying the crops or taking away the produce there from amount to atrocities and are subject to punishment under the said Act