National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 13th December 2018
Dam Safety Bill
Topic: Government Policies
IN NEWS: The government introduced the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Lok Sabha which will enable the States and Union Territories to adopt uniform procedures to ensure safety of reservoirs.
More on the Topic:
- Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR) has drafted Dam Safety Bill, 2018.
- The Dam Safety Bill, 2018 aims to provide robust legal and institutional framework under Central & State Governments for safety of dams. The Bill envisages prevention and mitigation of dam failure related disasters through proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all dams in the country.
- The Bill provides for constitution of a ‘National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS)’ to evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations. NCDS is proposed to be chaired by Chairman, CWC.
- The Bill provides for establishment of ‘National Dam Safety Authority’ (NDSA) as a regulatory body to implement the policy, guidelines and standards for dam safety in the country.
- The Bill also provides for constitution of ‘State Committee on Dam Safety’ by the State Governments to ensure proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the State and to ensure their safe functioning.
- As per Dam Safety Bill 2018, every State has to establish a State Dam Safety Organisation, manned by officers from the field of dam safety preferably from the areas of dam-designs, hydro-mechanical engineering, hydrology, geo-technical investigation, instrumentation and dam-rehabilitation.
Responsibilities of NDSA
- Maintain liaison with the State Dam Safety Organisations and the owners of dams for standardisation of dam safety related data and practices;
- Provide the technical and managerial assistance to the States and State Dam Safety Organisations;
- Maintain a national level data-base of all dams in the country and the records of major dam failures;
- Examine the cause of any major dam failure;
- Publish and update the standard guidelines and check-lists for the routine inspection and detailed investigations of dams and appurtenances;
- Accord recognition or accreditations to the organisations that can be entrusted with the works of investigation, design or construction of new dams; and
- Resolve issue between the State Dam Safety Organisation of states, or between the State Dam Safety Organisation and the owner of a dam in that State.
- In certain cases, such as where a dam is extended over two or more States or dams of one State falling under the territory of another State, the National Authority has to perform the role of State Dam Safety Organization thereby eliminating potential causes for inter-state conflicts.
Source: The Hindu
Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle
Topic: Internal Security
IN NEWS: The Indian Navy on inducted its first Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) System at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
More on the Topic:
- DSRV is used to rescue crew members stranded in submarines that get disabled. The Indian Navy joins a select group of naval forces in the world that boasts of this niche capability.
- The DSRV can be operated at a depth of 650 meters and can hold around 15 people. The Indian Navy in March 2016 had commissioned two DSRVs, the second will deployed at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
Source:The Hindu
NSG must have its own air wing
Topic: Internal Security
In news: A Parliamentary panel has recommended that the Centre urgently take steps to ensure that the National Security Guard (NSG) — the country’s premier counter-terrorist and contingency force — is equipped with its own dedicated air wing.
More on the Topic:
- The NSG’s delay in reaching Mumbai during the November 2008 terrorist attacks on the city had come under severe criticism, with the non-availability of dedicated aircraft hampering the force’s rapid reaction capabilities.
- The Committee observes that NSG has yet not tested its power to commandeer any aircraft in real-time circumstances and feels that, unless this power is used, the force would remain unaware of the response time and logistical challenges that it may face in operational situations
About NSG:
- The NSG was raised in 1986 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Operation Blue Star. The force, which is trained to operate as an elite urban anti-terrorist and anti-hijack force, doesn’t have a cadre of its own or direct recruitment and is instead dependent on personnel sent on deputation from the army and the central armed police forces (CAPF).
Source: The Hindu
The Partners’ Forum
Topic: Health related Topics
In news: Prime Minister inaugurated the Partners’ Forum, 2018.
More on the Topic:
- The Partners’ Forum is co-hosted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Partnership of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).
- The two-day event brings together more than 1200 participants from 85 countries in New Delhi, to deliberate on issues of health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.
- Partners’ Forum is a global health partnership launched in September 2005 to accelerate efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality, improve adolescent, child, newborn and maternal health.
- This partnership is an alliance of more than 1,000 plus members, across 10 constituencies in 92 countries: academic, research and teaching institutions; donors and foundations; health care professionals; multilateral agencies; non-governmental organizations; partner countries; global financing mechanisms and the private sector.
- The previous chapters were held in Johannesburg, South Africa (2014), New Delhi, India (2010) and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (2007). This is the second time India is hosting the Partners’ Forum.
Source: The Hindu
Government e-Market (GeM) portal
Topic: Government Policies
In news: The National Mission on GeM (NMG) was launched on September 2018 till 17th October 2018. 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.
More on the Topic:
Objectives Of 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.
Achievements of GEM:
- 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. The average saving based on the MRP/Listed price is about 28%.
Source: The Hindu
Arunima Sinha’s expedition to Mount Vinson, Antarctica
Topic: Achievements and Honours
In news: The Prime Minister handed over the tricolour flag to Arunima Sinha, marking the beginning of her expedition to Mount Vinson, Antarctica.
More on the Topic:
- Arunima Sinha, the first female Divyang to climb Mount Everest, has earlier conquered the highest peaks in five continents, becoming the first female Divyang to achieve the feat.
Source: The Hindu
PCS 1x System
Topic: e Governance
IN NEWS: Indian Ports Association (IPA) under the guidance of Ministry of Shipping launched the Port Community System ‘PCS1x’.
More on the Topic:
- The platform has the potential to revolutionize maritime trade in India and bring it at par with global best practices and pave the way to improve the Ease of Doing Business world ranking and Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranks.
- It has been developed indigenously and is a part of the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’
- ‘PCS 1x’ is a cloud based new generation technology, with user-friendly interface.
- It is an initiative that supports green initiatives by reducing dependency on paper.
- This system seamlessly integrates stakeholders from the maritime trade on a single platform.
- The platform offers value added services such as notification engine, workflow, mobile application, track and trace, better user interface, better security features, improved inclusion by offering dashboard for those with no IT capability.
- Another major feature is the deployment of a world class state of the art payment aggregator solution which removes dependency on bank specific payment eco system.
Source: The Hindu
