Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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More women voted in nine States: EC data

News

• If the overall voter turnout in the four phases of the Lok Sabha elections has been higher than in 2014, there is one more reason to cheer.
• Women voters have outnumbered men in several States and Union Territories, according to phase-wise data released by the Election 

Beyond News

• More than 20.31 crore women voted as against a little above 21.5 crore men. The poll percentages in the four phases were 69.5, 69.44, 68.40 and 65.51.
• The first phase was conducted in 91 constituencies across 18 States and two Union Territories on April 11. In nine States, there was a higher women turnout. The highest of 52.13% was recorded in Meghalaya where there was a jump of almost 2.5% in the overall participation (71.32%) compared with the 2014 election.
• Arunachal Pradesh stood second with 52.05% of the polling with a slight improvement in the overall electoral participation (77.38%) in comparison with the previous elections. Higher women turnout was also noted in Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• More than 53% of the people who voted in Manipur and Puducherry during the second phase on April 18 were women, while the figure was 50.66% in Tamil Nadu. The turnout in Manipur improved by about 6% but there was a decline of 0.77% in Puducherry and 1.65% in Tamil Nadu.
• The third phase on April 23 also saw a significant jump, the highest 52.42% of polling reported from Daman & Diu, followed by 52.24% in Kerala. In Bihar, Goa and West Bengal also, the turnout was higher than that of men. While there was an increase in the overall voting, 1.12% in Bihar and 3.65% in Kerala, it came down by about 6% in Daman & Diu, 1.88% in Goa and 0.59% in West Bengal.
• On April 29, in the fourth round covering 71 parliamentary constituencies across nine States and a part of the Anantnag seat in Jammu & Kashmir, a higher women turnout was reported only in Bihar, which saw 1.73% jump in the overall voting compared to the 2014 polls.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Only 10 of 100 new sewage projects on Ganga have been completed

News

• The National Democratic Alliance government has only finished 10 of the 100 sewage infrastructure projects commissioned after 2015 under the Namami Gange mission, according to records.

Beyond News

• Commissioning of sewage treatment plants (STP) and laying sewer lines are at the heart of the mission to clean the Ganga. Nearly ₹23,000 crore has been sanctioned of the ₹28,000 crore outlay for sewage management work. River-front development, cleaning ghats and removing trash from the river the cosmetic side of the mission make up about for ₹1,200 crore of the mission outlay.
• The bulk of the projects completed were those commissioned before the Ganga mission began work in earnest under programmes such as the Ganga Action Plan-1 and Ganga Action Plan-2, which began in 1987 and 1996 respectively.
• For instance, as of March 31, 27 of the 37 completed STP projects and sewer infrastructure were those commissioned before 2015, says a report on the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) website.
• Uttar Pradesh, responsible for about three-fourths of the inadequately treated industrial waste and municipal sewage, had 18 pre-2015 STP and sewage infrastructure projects commissioned. Only 12 of these have been completed, and only 1 of the 33 projects commissioned after 2015 at the cost of ₹8,000 crore has been wrapped up, records show.
• As of March the latest figures available slightly over ₹28,000 crore has been sanctioned for various projects but only about ₹6,700 crore (about 25%) has been spent. Last March, the ratio was about 20%.
• The incomplete projects are reflected in the river quality. None of the towns through which the Ganga courses through has water fit for bathing or drinking, according to water monitoring reports by the State and Central Pollution Control Board.
• The HAM, inspired from the prevalent practice of developing highways in India, has 40% of the capital cost of the project is paid by the government during the construction phase of the project.
• The remaining capital investment on the project, the cost of operations and maintenance of STP are paid over a period of 15 years as quarterly instalments, subject to achieving performance standards.

Maharashtra agrees to Karnataka’s demand if ‘water-for-water’ agreement is met

News

• Maharashtra Chief Minister has in principle agreed to Karnataka’s demand for water to be released from its reservoirs for drinking purposes in Belagavi district with the condition that Karnataka should also release water from its reservoirs to drought-hit districts in that State.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

RBI imposes fines on PPIs for violating norms

News

• The Reserve Bank of India has slapped monetary penalty on five pre-paid payment instrument issuers including Vodafone m-pesa and Phonepe, for violating regulatory guidelines.

Beyond News

• A penalty of Rs. 3.05 crore has been imposed on Vodafone m-pesa and Rs. 1 crore each on Mobile Payments, PhonePe and G.I. Technology Private Ltd.
• Also, a penalty of Rs. 5 lakh has been imposed on Y-Cash Software Solutions.
• In a separate statement, the central bank said it had imposed a penalty of Rs. 29.67 lakh on Western Union Financial Services Inc., USA., and Rs. 10.12 lakh on MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc, USA, for non-compliance of regulatory guidelines.
• The penalties on Western Union and MoneyGram had been imposed by the central bank under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for compounding of the contravention.
• RBI also imposed a penalty of Rs. 11.25 lakh on private sector lender Yes Bank for violation of norms pertaining to issuance and operations of PPIs.
• In a statement to the exchanges, the private sector lender said: RBI has identified certain violations of RBI circular, on Issuance and Operation of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) in connection with certain product features of an open loop prepaid card (co-branded) previously issued by the bank.

Navy, IAF step up relief efforts in Odisha

News

• The Navy and the Coast Guard intensified the Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in Odisha hit by Cyclone Fani.
• With the opening of the Bhubaneswar airport, the IAF deployed aircraft and helicopters to ferry the material to the affected areas.

Beyond News

• Two maritime recce sorties were undertaken by Dornier aircraft revealing widespread destruction localised around the temple town of Puri.
• Based on the survey, the ENC is undertaking a three-pronged rescue and rehabilitation effort around Puri and its suburbs in coordination with the State government and the district administration.
• The relief package comprising food material, essential medical supplies, clothing items, disinfectants, repair material, chain saws for removing damaged trees, torches and batteries, etc. had been sent to INS Chilka in Odisha, closest to Puri, the Navy said.
• Three ships, INS Ranvijay, Kadmatt and Airavat, with three helicopters are presently operating off Puri and coordinating aerial survey and immediate response from sea.
• For coordination, the ENC has pre-positioned the liaison teams around Puri, which are directing the efforts being undertaken by the ships.
• The IAF has launched three C-130J transport aircraft to Bhubaneswar. In addition, one IAF Mi-17 helicopter from the Guwahati airbase landed in Bhubaneswar.
• The IAF said the aircraft would carry approximately 45 tonnes of relief material including emergency equipment and medicines. The aircraft were positioned at the Hindan air base outside Delhi for a short notice take off waiting for the restoration of landing facilities at the affected airfields.

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