IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB) – 7^th Jan to 13^th Jan 2017

ARCHIVES

GS-2

14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention at Bengaluru

(Topic: Indian diaspora)

About— 14^th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held at Bengaluru.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in Bombay on 9 January 1915.
• Established in 2003, it is sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region of India.
• This year theme–Redefined Engagement With Indian Diaspora
• To honour exceptional and meritorious contribution of Indian diaspora in their chosen field/profession, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award is given by the President of India.

India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians

(Topic: Indian diaspora)

About—India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI) is a not-for-profit Trust set-up by the Government of India to facilitate philanthropic contributions by Overseas Indians to social and development projects in India.

IDF-OI

• Presently, IDF-OI is promoting flagship programmes of Government of India- Swachh Bharat Mission and National Mission for Clean Ganga; and projects identified by the State Govts, for funding by Overseas Indians.
• Working with State Governments in areas such as sanitation; education; drinking water; women’s empowerment etc,
• IDF-OI is offering projects for funding by Overseas Indians.
• Overseas Indians can contribute as an individual, or a group of individuals or even through their respective Indian Associations.
• IDF-OI does not recover any administrative cost from contributions received from Overseas Indians.

GS-3

PAN card mandatory for all bank accounts

(Topic: Finance)

About– The government has directed banks to obtain the permanent account number (PAN) or Form-60 if PAN is not available, from all bank account holders by February 28, 2017. This rule will not apply to Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts (BSBDA), which includes zero balance savings accounts such as Jan Dhan.

Reason for making PAN card mandatory

• Post-demonetization, several amendments were made to track black money making its way into the banking system. In this regard, the know-your-customer (KYC) norms were made stringent.
• Most of the banned 500 and 1000 rupee notes have made their way to bank accounts several of which are “benami” created merely to launder cash.

PAN

• It is a unique, 10-character alpha-numeric identifier, issued to all judicial entities identifiable under the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961.
• It is also issued to foreign nationals (such as investors) subject to a valid visa and hence, it is not acceptable as a proof of Indian citizenship.
• The primary purpose of the PAN is to bring a universal identification to all financial transactions and to prevent tax evasion by keeping track of monetary transactions, especially those of high-net-worth individuals who can impact the economy.
• PAN is unique to each individual and is valid for the life time of the holder, throughout India.
• An important point to note would be that once issued, the PAN is not affected by a change of address.

Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP). World’s Largest Street Light Replacement Programme.

(Topic: Infrastructure–Energy)

About– World’s Largest Street Light Replacement Programme, which is being implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture under the Ministry of Power

SLNP

• A total of 15.36 lakh street lights have already been replaced in the country with LED bulbs, which is resulting in energy savings of over 20 crore kWh, avoiding capacity of nearly 51 MW and reducing 1.68 lakh tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum.
• SLNP programme is presently running in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

 (Topic: Disaster management)

About– Agenda presents a holistic approach to disaster risk management and addresses a whole range of issues, from community preparedness to use of technology and international cooperation.

10 point agenda

• All development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management.
• Work towards risk coverage for all-starting from poor households to SMEs to multi-national corporations to nation states.
• Encourage greater involvement and leadership of women in disaster risk management.
• Invest in risk mapping globally.
• Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of disaster risk management efforts.
• Develop a network of universities to work on disaster issues.
• Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies.
• Build on local capacity and initiative.
• Opportunity to learn from a disaster must not be wasted. After every disaster there are papers on lessons that are rarely applied.
• Bring about greater cohesion in international response to disasters.

Draft Notification for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2016 to Prevent Infliction of Unnecessary Pain or Suffering on Animals

(Topic: Environment and Forest)

About: The objective of the Rules is to make dog breeders and their marketers accountable and to prevent infliction of any cruelty in this process. There were also no specific rules, or guidelines for mandatory registration of breeders and establishments and requirements to be met by such breeders.

The proposed Rules provide as under—

• It will be mandatory for all dog breeders and the dog breeding establishments to register themselves with the State Animal Welfare Board of the respective State Governments.
• It defines the breeding requirements/conditions for sale.
• It defines the requirements to be met by the breeders and the establishments used for breeding, or housing dogs, such as health-related requirements, housing facilities, manner of housing dogs, conditions for sale, breeding, micro-chipping, vaccination etc.
• An inspector authorised by the State Board can inspect the establishment.
• It is mandatory for dog breeders to maintain proper records of both male and female dogs, their breed, micro-chip number, number of litters, sale, purchase, death, rehabilitation etc.
• Every dog breeder is required to submit yearly report to the State Board regarding animals sold, traded, bartered, brokered, given away, boarded or exhibited during previous year or any other information asked for by the State Board.

Violation of Rules: Non-compliance of the proposed Rules will lead to cancellation of the registration of the dog breeder.

‘24×7 Power For All (PFA)’

(Topic: Infrastructure–Energy)

About: Electricity consumption is one of the most important indices that decide the development level of a nation. The Government of India is committed to improving the quality of life of its citizens through higher electricity consumption. The aim is to provide each household access to electricity, round the clock. The ‘Power for All’ programme is a major step in this direction.

Objective

• 24×7 – Power for All (24×7 PFA) is a Joint Initiative of Government of India (GoI) and State Governments with the objective to provide 24×7 power available to all households, industry, commercial businesses, public needs, any other electricity consuming entity and adequate power to agriculture farm holdings by FY 19.
• It is important to note that UJALA has emerged as the world’s largest and most successful LED bulbs program.

Submarine ‘Khanderi’ Launched

(Topic: Defence)

About: Khanderi, the second of Indian Navy’s Scorpene’ class stealth submarine.

Khanderi

• The Kalvari class submarine includes superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.
• The stealth features are expected to give the submarine an invulnerability, unmatched by many submarines.
• INS Khanderi is designed to operate in all theatres, including the tropics.
• All means and communications are provided to ensure interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force
• The submarine is expected to be delivered to Navy by the year end.
• The first of the class submarine, Kalvari is presently undergoing sea trials and likely to be commissioned into Navy by Mid 2017. These submarines, post induction, would form the core of Navy’s conventional Submarine Arm.
• Indian Navy celebrates Golden Jubilee of the submarine arm in 2017, the induction of Project 75 submarines would mark the beginning of a new chapter in our submarine capabilities.
• The launching of Khanderi also marks a critical milestone event for the Shipyard which earlier has delivered two Shishumar class submarines in the 90’s and has now strengthened its position as a submarine building yard for Indian Navy.
• Khanderi is name of Shivaji’s fort.