National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 16th January 2019

District mineral foundation

Topic: Economy

IN NEWS: The Odisha government is planning to move its district mineral foundations (DMF) to its steel and mines department from the planning and convergence department. The plan to move the DMFs aims to improve implementation and use of funds.

More on the Topic:

• DMFs were instituted under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act 2015 as non-profit trusts to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining-related operations.
• The objective of District Mineral Foundation is to work for the interest of the benefit of the persons and areas affected mining related operations in such manner as may be prescribed by the State Government.
• Jurisdiction: Its manner of operation comes under the jurisdiction of the relevant State Government.
• DMF funds are treated as extra-budgetary resources for the State Plan. Efforts are made to achieve convergence with the State and the District Plans so that the activities taken up by the DMF can supplement the development and welfare activities already being carried out.
• Further, using the funds generated by this contribution, the DMFs are expected to implement the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY), launched on 17 September 2015 for the welfare of mining areas and affected population.
• Mining related operations largely affect less developed and very remote areas of the country, and vulnerable sections of the population, especially Scheduled Tribes. Therefore, it is especially necessary that special care and attention is devoted, in an organized and structured manner so as to ensure that these areas and affected persons are benefitted by the mineral wealth in their regions and are empowered to improve their standard of living.
• It is with this objective that DMF and PMKKKY were launched by the Government.

Source:PIB

The National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (2018-2023)

Topic: Government Policies

IN NEWS: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has drafted a five-year action plan for addressing the problem of drug and substance abuse in the country, dumping a long-pending draft policy on the matter.

More on the Topic:

• The National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (2018-2023) aims to employ a multi-pronged strategy involving education, de-addiction and rehabilitation of affected individuals and their families to address the issue.
• The move comes after the ministry withdrew the draft National Drug Demand Reduction Policy from the Cabinet.
• It had been pending for more than five-and-half years and was redrafted twice during the period.
• Instead of the policy, the ministry has now prepared a national action plan.
• The plan focuses on preventive education, awareness generation, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation of drug-dependent people, besides training and capacity-building of service providers through collaborative efforts of the Centre, state and NGOs.
• The ministry, in collaboration with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) under the AIIMS, is also conducting a national survey on the extent and pattern of substance abuse.
• A steering committee would be constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary, Social Justice Ministry, and with representatives from the Ministries of Health, Human Resource Development, Women and Child Development, Home Affairs, Skill development and Entrepreneurship, among others.
• The committee will hold quarterly meetings to monitor effective implementation of the NAPDDR.
• The ministry has also asked states and union territories to prepare action plan for ensuring facility of de-addiction centres in each district or as per prevalence of addiction and also establish separate and specialised de-addiction treatment centres.
• As a part of the plan, module for re-treatment, ongoing treatment and post-treatment of addicts of different categories and age groups will be developed and database on substance use will be maintained.

Source:The Hindu

Formalin in Fish

Topic: Health

In news: Bihar’s heath department has imposed a blanket ban for 15 days on sale of fish from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal in capital Patna after samples were found to be contaminated with formalin. The ban includes storage and transportation of fish from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

More on the Topic:

• Fish is a highly perishable commodity. If it isn’t maintained at the proper temperature of 5 degree Celsius, it gets spoilt. To avoid that and increase its shelf life, the sellers now use chemicals such as formalin and ammonia.
• If the point of sale is far from the place of catch, formalin is used as a preservative. Meanwhile, ammonia is mixed with the water that is frozen to keep fish fresh.
• Formalin is derived from formaldehyde which is a known cancer-causing agent. It is used to preserve bodies in mortuaries. It can also increase shelf life of fresh food.
• While fromalin can cause nausea, coughing and burning sensation in eyes, nose and throat in the short term, it can cause cancer if consumed over a long period of time.

Source: The Hindu

Crocodile count rises

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: The population of saltwater crocodiles in Bhitarkanika has increased with the annual census, putting the head-count at 1,742.

More on the Topic:

• The authorities of Bhitarkanika National Park, home to the largest population of estuarine crocodiles, had carried out the enumeration, in the creeks, rivers and water bodies located across the four ranges in the park. The forest officials also sighted 12 albino crocodiles during the census.
• The increase in population was primarily due to the far-sighted measures of the Government. “In 1975, the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment in collaboration with the UNDP had started a crocodile breeding and rearing project in Dangamala within the park.
• Thanks to the success of the project, the crocodile population started increasing in the creeks, river and other water bodies of the park and its nearby areas.
• Nine years back, the Guinness Book of World Records had registered a 23-foot-long saltwater crocodile in Bhitarkanika as the largest crocodile in the world.

Source:Indian Express

Odisha celebrates 1st Turtle Festival in Puri

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: First Odisha Turtle Festival was held recently in Puri to create awareness and promote ideas on conservation of olive ridley turtles. It is Cox & Kings Foundation in association with Humane Society International/India and Action for Protection of Wild Animals (APOWA).

More on the Topic:

• Odisha has half of the world’s Olive Ridley turtle population and 90% of India’s turtle population lives in the state. Despite that no actions have been taken for their conservation. Therefore, the government should develop some infrastructure near the turtle nesting sites at Devi and Rusikulya rivers, the two major nesting grounds.
• The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
• The Olive ridley is the most numerous among the sea turtles found in India and is well known for its arribadas, or annual mass nestings when thousands of turtles migrate to the breeding ground to nest simultaneously.
• Recognized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list.
• To reduce accidental killing in India, the Orissa government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), a net specially designed with an exit cover which allows the turtles to escape while retaining the catch.

Source: Indian Express

Renuka dam

Topic: Infrastructure

In news: The Centre has signed an agreement with Chief Ministers of five States — Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh — to restart construction of the Renuka multipurpose dam project in the Upper Yamuna Basin.

 More on the Topic:

• The Renuka dam project has been conceived as a storage project on the Giri river (a tributary of the Yamuna) in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
• The project envisages making a 148-metre-high dam for supplying water to Delhi and other basin States. It will also generate 40 MW of power.
• Funding: Around 90% of the cost of irrigation/drinking water component of the project i.e. ₹3,892.83 crore will be provided by the Central government and the remaining ₹432.54 crore by the rest of the basin States.
• After the construction of the dam, the flow of the Giri river will increase by about 110%, which will help meet the drinking water needs of Delhi and other basin States.
• Water from the Renuka dam will be used by P., Haryana and National Capital Territory of Delhi from Hathnikund barrage, by the NCT of Delhi from Wazirabad barrage and by U.P., Haryana and Rajasthan from the Okhla barrage.

Source: The Hindu