1. JUSTICE CLOCK
Supreme Court e-Committee chairperson and SC judge Justice DY Chandrachud inaugurated two digital services for Gujarat High court — a ‘Justice Clock’, and electronic payment of court fee.
What is the ‘Justice Clock’ ?
- An LED display of 7 feet by 10 feet, placed at a height of 17 feet from the ground, has been erected at a busy crossroad near the Gujarat High Court premises.
- This ‘Justice Clock’ will exhibit vital statistics of the justice delivery system in Gujarat, to “maximise outreach and visibility” of the work done by the state judiciary.
- The interface has been designed and developed in-house and will display data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) in real-time.
- A similar format of Gujarat judiciary-related statistics will also be available on the Gujarat HC website under a tab of ‘Virtual Justice Clock’, accessible to all.
What is e-court fee and how will it help?
- While the online e-Courts fee system was already available for the Gujarat High Court, which was tested on a pilot basis allowing advocate and parties to procure judicial stamps online through electronic payment and upon submission of a PDF receipt, this platform now stands expanded to all district and taluka courts.
- The payment platform is of StockHolding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) as empanelled by the Gujarat government.
- A PDF receipt of the fee paid will be generated and submitted to the court registry concerned.
- It will then be verified from within the digital case information system and locked as ‘consumed’, wherein the receipt will be defaced, so as to avoid its reuse or misuse.
Source: Indian Express
2. E-VEHICLE CHARGING STATION
TCIL, a Mini Ratna Category-1 Status Company under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, with support of SDMC launched first e-vehicle charging station in the South Delhi area at South Extn. Part I on 20.01.2022.
About:
- This e-vehicle charging station is first one in series of 65 e-charging stations to be setup by TCIL in progressive manner in next four months in South Delhi area within easy reach of citizens of Delhi. Each charging station can charge 6 Two/Three/ Four wheeler vehicle at a time.
- The charging stations are equipped with CCTV surveillance & Wi-fi facility for use by common public. It is also powered by a 6 kW solar panel.
- The e-vehicle charging station will help in popularizing use of e-vehicle and in reducing pollution in the metro city of Delhi.
Source: PIB
2. BRENT CRUDE
Oil prices are at their highest levels since 2014 — Brent crude hit $88.3 per barrel, up 27% since December 1, when it was trading at $69.5.
Why is crude rising?
- The spike has been driven primarily by fears of supply side disruptions.
- The attack by Yemen’s Houthis on fuel trucks in Abu Dhabi, in which three people including two Indians were killed, and the tensions between Russia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, and Ukraine have raised concerns.
- The outage on an Iraq-Turkey pipeline heightened worries.
- There is also concern over the growing imbalance between demand and supply — the former did not see the moderation that was initially expected as the Omicron wave began.
- Further, the key oil-producing countries have kept a supply on a gradually increasing schedule in spite of the sharp increase in global crude prices.
Brent Crude
- Brent Crude may refer to any or all of the components of the Brent Complex, a physically and financially traded oil market based around the North Sea of Northwest Europe.
- Colloquially, Brent Crude usually refers to the price of the ICE Brent Crude Oil futures contract or the contract itself.
Source: Indian Express
3. RURAL AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION (RADPFI) GUIDELINES
Union Minister Shri Giriraj Singh releases revised Rural Area Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (RADPFI) Guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
This new Guideline (2021) is focused on:
- Typology of villages to prepare the spatial development plan (population, agro-climatic zones, Hill areas, disaster occurrence, urban-peri-urban areas and villages, Near to NH/SH, and Resilience strategies as suggested by BIS). One shoe does not fit all.
- Dealing with different development Land Use standards for different areas, with varied characteristics. To facilitate the planned spatial development of rural areas.
- Village Town Planning Scheme (VPS) – through community-based on Collaborative Planning.
- Planning for environmental benefit and disaster preparedness.
- Linking to 15th CFC and respective SFCs.
- Improving the E-Governance through Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI).
- Integrating/Consolidation of GP Development with RURBAN CLUSTERS/Block/District Plan, as per the 73rd and 74th CAA and GPDP.
- Most importantly using the SVAMITVA (and other digital tools) for the Abadi area (linking to land records).
Source: PIB
4. INDIA – SRI LANKA
India and Sri Lanka extended the existing S&T cooperation for 3 more years, with focus on new areas like waste-water technologies, biotech, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, robotics, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence, as well as industrial collaborations.
About:
- This was announced at the India-Sri Lanka 5th Joint Committee on S&T Cooperation held on January 20, 2022.
- There are lot of opportunities available for bilateral cooperation.
- India offers fellowships like India S&T fellowship, e-ITEC and both countries can work through a number of multilateral platforms like BIMSTEC, which they are part of.
Source: PIB
5. AGRI NUTRI GARDENS
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) has observed ‘Agri Nutri Garden Week’ from 10th to 17th January 2022 through an awareness campaign and encouraging the establishment of ‘Agri Nutri Gardens’ in the rural households.
About:
- It is the Mission’s agenda to support every rural poor household to have Agri Nutri Garden to fulfill the need of the family’s nutrition and any excess production can also be sold for income generation.
- In line with Prime Minister’s vision of enhancing strength of Rural Economy and his clarion call of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Rural India is showing the way with establishment of over 78 lakh Agri Nutri Gardens towards ensuring Food and Nutritional Security in Rural India.
- A total of 76,664 ‘Agri Nuti Gardens’ were established in this week against the target of 7500.
- The initiative is also helping in promoting nutritional awareness, education and behavioral change in rural areas involving farm women and school children, harnessing traditional knowledge through the local recipe to overcome malnutrition and implementing nutrition-sensitive agriculture through homestead agriculture and Nutri-garden.
Source: PIB
6. I-LAB
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launches a Mobile COVID testing facility for the Northeast, beginning with Mizoram.
About:
- The first of its kind Mobile Diagnostic Laboratory (I-LAB) is capable of performing both RT-PCR and ELISA.
- The Lab developed with the support from the Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India, is meant to provide COVID testing access to rural and remote parts of North Eastern Region of India.
- The unit has bio-safety facility and is capable of performing both RT-PCR and ELISA tests and this facility can also be utilised for testing of other infectious diseases like TB, HIV, and therefore will remain relevant even in post-COVID times.
- Dr Jitendra Singh acknowledged the efforts made by AMTZ (Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone) team for building this unique, innovative facility through tireless, dedicated and committed efforts.
Source: PIB
7. BrahMos
BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, with enhanced capability, successfully test-fired off Odisha coast.
About:
- BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, with increased indigenous content and improved performance, was successfully test-fired from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on January 20, 2022.
- The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with the teams of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- The missile was equipped with advanced indigenous technologies and followed a modified optimal trajectory for enhanced efficiency and improved performance. The missile with the modified control system has been fine-tuned to achieve an enhanced capability.
- BrahMos Aerospace, the joint venture between DRDO and NPOM, Russia, has been continuously upgrading the powerful, highly versatile BrahMos to increase its effectiveness and lethality against sea and land targets. BrahMos is the potent missile weapon system already inducted into the Armed Forces.
Source: PIB
8. IAS OFFICERS & CENTRAL POSTING
The Centre has proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules in order to exercise greater control in the central deputation of IAS officials, which has often been at the centre of tussles between the Centre and the states.
What is current rule on deputation?
- Central deputation in the Indian Administrative Service is covered under Rule-6 (1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules-1954, inserted in May 1969.
- It states: “A cadre officer may, with the concurrence of the State Governments concerned and the Central Government, be deputed for service under the Central Government or another State Government or under a company, association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, which is wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Central Government or by another State Government.
- Provided that in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government or State Governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government.”
- As of January 1, 2021, out of around 5,200 IAS officers in the country, 458 were on central deputation.
Source: Indian Express
9. SOMNATH TEMPLE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Circuit House at Somnath on 21st January, 2022.
About:
- Somnath Temple is visited by lakhs of devotees from India and abroad every year. The need for the new Circuit House was felt as the existing government facility was located far off from the temple.
- The new Circuit House has been built at a cost of over Rs 30 crore and is located near the Somnath Temple. It is equipped with top class facilities including suites, VIP and deluxe rooms, conference room, auditorium hall etc.
Do you know?
- The Somnath temple, also called Somanātha temple or Deo Patan, is located in Prabhas Patan, Veraval in Gujarat, India.
- One of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for the Hindus, they believe it to be the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.
- it was reconstructed several times in the past after repeated destruction by several Muslim invaders and rulers.
- After India's independence, those ruins were demolished and the present Somnath temple was reconstructed in the Māru-Gurjara style of Hindu temple architecture.
- The contemporary Somnath temple's reconstruction was started under the orders of the first Home Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel and completed in May 1951 after his death.
- Presently the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is the chairman of Shree Somnath Mandir trust.
Source: PIB