Daily Current Affairs : 02 September 2020

1. GIS-enabled National Land Bank Portal

Recently, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry has launched the GIS-enabled National Land Bank Portal.

About GIS-enabled National Land Bank Portal

• It is a first-of-its kind portal which will help investors in getting real-time information about the availability of industrial land and resources.

• It will provide access to the investors regarding details of logistics, land, rail & air connectivity, tax incentives, drainage system, power supply and raw material availability on various industrial belts.

• It has been developed by the Integration of Industrial Information System (IIS) with state GIS (Geographic Information System).

Source:  Indian Express

2. Pangong Tso Lake South Bank

Recently, the Indian Army has thwarted an attempt by China to change the status quo near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by deploying its troops to a previously un-deployed area on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh.

About Pangong Tso Lake

• It is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas located in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

• It extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.

• It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin.

• The name reflects the mixed heritage of the lake i.e. Pangong in Ladakhi means extensive concavity and the word Tso is Tibetan for lake.

• The Karakoram Mountain range, which crosses Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and India, ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso.

• The southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake has high broken mountains sloping towards Spangur Lake in the south.

Control of Pangong Tso Lake

• The two-third area of the lake is controlled by China whereas around 45 km is under Indian control.

• According to India, at the lake’s north bank, the international boundary is close to Khurnak Fort, a 19th-century ruin.

Importance of South Bank of Pangong Tso

• The south bank has traditionally had a stronger presence of Indian forces because it is just north of the Chushul approach.

• The area, known as the Chushul approach, is one of the few sectors that can be used as launchpads for an offensive approach, because of the plains.

Source: The Indian Express

3. Special Frontier Force

Recently, there have been reports that the Special Frontier Force or Vikas Battalion has been instrumental in occupying some key heights on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Ladakh to thwart any occupation by the Chinese troops.

About Special Frontier Force or Vikas Battalion

• The aftermath of Sino-India War of 1962 has led India to raise Special Frontier Force (SFF) or Vikas Battalion.

• It was a covert outfit which recruited Tibetans (now it has a mixture of Tibetans and Gorkhas) and initially went by the name of Establishment 22.

  • It was named as Establishment 22 because it was raised by Major General Sujan Singh Uban, an Artillery officer who had commanded 22 Mountain Regiment.

• The group was renamed as Special Frontier Force and it falls under the purview of the Cabinet Secretariat where it is headed by an Inspector General who is an Army officer of the rank of Major General.

• The SFF units are not part of the Army but they function under operational control of the Army.

  • The units have their own rank structures which have equivalent status with Army ranks.

Major Operations of Special Frontier Force or Vikas Battalion

• It took part in operations in the 1971 war, Operation Blue Star in Golden Temple Amritsar, Kargil conflict and in counter-insurgency operations in the country.

• In 1971, the SFF operated in the Chittagong hill tracts in East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) to neutralise Pakistan Army positions and help the Indian Army advance ahead.

  • The operation was code-named ‘Operation Eagle’.

• They also played a vital role in preventing the escape of Pakistan Army personnel from Bangladesh into Burma (now Myanmar).

Source: Indian Express

4. UN Security Council Resolution on Women Peacekeepers

Recently, India has co-sponsored a United Nations Security Council Resolution on Women Peacekeepers.

About UN Security Council Resolution on Women Peacekeepers

• The resolution has called for full, effective and meaningful participation of women personnel in peacekeeping operations.

• The idea of women peacekeepers was put forth by Indonesia during its presidential term of the UN Security council in 2019.

India's Role in UN Peacekeeping Missions

• India has a long tradition of being associated with the UN Peacekeeping Mission since its inception.

• India is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations and several Indian troops have made the supreme sacrifice in the course of various operations.

  • India is the fifth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the UN Peacekeeping Forces.

• India made history in 2007 when she deployed the first all-Women formed Police Unit in the United Nations mission in Liberia.

• The mission said India has set for itself during its tenure in the Security Council beginning 2021 that India will continue to push for greater involvement of women in all areas.

Source: All India Radio

5. MEDBOT: Indian Railways

Recently, the Indian Railways has launched 'MEDBOT' for COVID-19 Patients.

About MEDBOT

• It is a remote-controlled medical trolley to deliver food, medicines to COVID-19 patients.

• It is providing service in the Central Hospital of the Diesel Rail Engine Factory of Indian Railways.

Source: All India Radio

6. World’s Largest Solar Tree

Recently, the Ministry of Science & Technology has unveiled the World’s Largest Solar Tree.

About World’s Largest Solar Tree

• It is developed by CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) at CSIR-CMERI Residential Colony, Durgapur (West Bengal).

• The installed capacity of the Solar Tree is above 11.5 kWp.

• It has the annual capacity to generate 12,000-14,000 units of Clean and Green Power.

Source: PIB

7. Supply Chain Resilience

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and growing trade tensions between China and the United States, Japan has mooted the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI).

What is Supply Chain Resilience?

• It is an approach that helps a country to ensure that it has diversified its supply risk across a clutch of supplying nations instead of being dependent on just one or a few.

• It is aimed at addressing the impact on economic activity due to disruption in supply chains caused by unanticipated events i.e. natural calamities such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes or even a pandemic; or manmade, such as an armed conflict in a region.

About Supply Chain Resilience Initiative

• It is proposal of Japan as a trilateral approach to trade, with India and Australia as the other two partners.

• It is a direct response to the individual economies and companies who are concerned about the Chinese political behavior and disruption to the supply chain.

The two-fold objectives of the SCRI are:

• Attract foreign direct investment to turn the Indo-Pacific into an ‘economic powerhouse’; and

• Build a mutually complementary relationship between the partner countries.

Why Japan proposed the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative?

• Japan exported $135 billion worth of goods to China in 2019 while imported $169 billion worth from China but the COVID-19 pandemic has led China to shut down its market and disrupted the supply to Japan.

  • According to Bloomberg report, the Japan's import from fell by half in February 2020 when China was battling the peak of the virus impact.

• The growing trade tension between US and China has caused alarm in Japanese trade circles and if the world’s two largest economies do not resolve their differences; it could threaten globalisation as a whole and have a major impact on Japan.

Why Japan chose India as a partner of Supply Chain Resilience Initiative?

• Japan is the fourth-largest investor in India with cumulative foreign direct investments touching $33.5 billion in the 2000-2020 period accounting for 7.2% of inflows.

• The imports from Japan into India have more than doubled over 12 years to $12.8 billion in FY19 and the exports from India to the world’s third-largest economy stood at $4.9 billion in 2019-20.

• India is home to atleast 1400 Japanese companies which are operating in India which gives a clear picture of long-standing and deepening trade relations.

• India also appears to be an attractive option for potential investors both as a market and as a manufacturing base.

• India and Japan have an Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (Indo-Japan) in existence which co-operates with Japanese businesses to set up their trade in Indian markets.

Impact of Supply Chain Resilience Initiative on India

• It is significant that Japan has taken the initiative to include India and Australia, and potentially other Asian and Pacific Rim nations later, in a strategic dialogue.

• The recent border stand-off between India and China has led Japan to partner India through a dialogue on alternative supply chains and this move will certainly antagonise China.

• India should enhance its self-reliance or works with exporting nations other than China which could help in building resilience into the economy’s supply networks.

• India has been dependent on China on various products such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for medicines such as paracetamol and an internal push to suddenly cut links with China would be impractical.

  • China’s share of imports into India in 2018 (considering the top 20 items supplied by China) stood at 14.5%.

Source: The Hindu

8. Poshan Maah

Recently, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has provided in his latest Mann ki Baat that the month of September will be observed as Poshan Maah i.e. the Nutrition month.

About Poshan Maah

• In 2018, the National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges decided to celebrate the month of September as Rashtriya Poshan Maah in order to give momentum to POSHAN Abhiyan.

• Under Poshan Maah, the activities related to nutrition awareness will be carried out by all the states/UTs up to the grass root level.

• The activities in POSHAN Maah focussed on Social Behavioural Change and Communication (SBCC).

Poshan Abhiyaan

• It is India's flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes of children, adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers by leveraging technology, a targeted approach and convergence.
• It is not a programme but a Jan Andolan and Bhagidaari, meaning “People’s Movement”.
• It incorporates inclusive participation of public representatives of local bodies, government departments of the state, social organizations and the public and private sector at large.

Source: PIB

9. Functions of Lieutenant Governor (LG) of J&K

Recently, the Union government has notified rules for administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that specify the functions of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Council of Ministers.

Functions of Lieutenant Governor (LG) of J&K

• The transaction of business rules states that police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption will fall under the executive functions of the LG.

  • The Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.

  • The Chief Minister would not even have the power to transfer a constable of the Jammu & Kashmir Police.

• The proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect the peace and tranquility of the UT or the interest of any minority community i.e. the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister.

Functions of Council of Ministers of J&K

• The Council of Ministers, led by the Chief Minister will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers.

• The proposal to impose new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislations falls under Council of Minister.

Provisions for Difference of Opinion between LG and Council of Ministers

• The new rules provide that if the difference in opinion between LG and Council of Ministers is not resolved after a month then the decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers.

  • It implies that in case of a difference of opinion between the council of ministers and the lieutenant governor, the LG’s opinion will be considered binding.

• The rules state that any matter which is likely to bring the Government of the Union territory into controversy with the Central Government or with any State Government shall be brought to the notice of the LG and the Chief Minister by the secretary concerned.

• The President of India will have the final say on any matter over which differences may arise between the LG and J&K’s Council of Ministers.

• The LG of J&K has been empowered to pass directions in such situations that action taken by the Council of Ministers will be suspended for as long as it takes the President of India to decide on the cases referred to her.

New Departments for Union Territory of J&K

• The new rules provide that there will be 39 departments in the UT such as school education, agriculture, higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs and transport.

• The rules mention that all communications received from the Centre shall be submitted by the secretary to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the Chief Minister and the LG for information.

Source: The Hindu

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