Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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For India, peace is not a word; it is in our veins: Modi

News

• Highlighting India’s role in the Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of Lord Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi’s tradition of peace, a day after Indian officials joined the quadrilateral grouping that includes Australia, Japan and the United States.

Beyond News

• In a meeting with the non-resident Indian community, PM said that India has sacrificed lives for the peace of the world even as he informed U.S. President Donald Trump that India will play a role for the welfare of humanity.
• Modi indicated India’s growing ambition to emerge as a global peacekeeping and peace-enforcing power reminding that India recognizes the need for peace in the global order.

‘Indian firms in U.K. must be ready for Brexit effect’

News:

• Indian businesses based in the U.K. and looking to do business in Europe must be prepared for additional tariffs, customs duties and product specification due to the repercussions of Brexit, according to a Belgian minister.

Beyond News:

• The India-EU Free Trade Agreement finally being signed since the high-level negotiators are now meeting to hammer out the details.
• Another sensitive issue was that of investment and arbitration. India-EU could model itself on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and Europe.
• India could benefit from a technological transfer that would enable it to fully exploit its inland waterways without having to go through the expense and effort of dredging the rivers.

As Delhi withdraws review plea, NGT asks it to give “one scientific reason” to exempt two-wheelers from odd-even scheme

News:

• The Delhi government on Tuesday withdrew the review petition that it had filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) with respect to exempting two-wheelers and women drivers from the odd-even car rationing scheme.

Beyond News:

• The NGT asked the government to provide “one scientific reason” as to why two-wheelers should be exempted from the scheme considering that both the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had submitted that two-wheelers contribute a major portion of the vehicular pollution.

Dismissing the petition, the NGT has given the ‘liberty to file a fresh application’ to the Aam Aadmi Party government.

• The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the governments of Punjab, Delhi and Haryana on measures taken to counter the smog and pollution choking the national capital and surrounding areas.
• The apex court’s green signal to the NGT came on a day the tribunal pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for not complying with its order to ban construction in the National Capital Region despite PM10 level being over 900. The tribunal described the State’s attitude as making a “mockery of the system.”

NAS to spot learning gaps in Ernakulam schools

News:

• The National Achievement Survey (NAS) will identify learning gaps and quality interventions required in government and aided schools in Ernakulam district in kerala.

Beyond News:

• NAS, aims at assessing the health of education system by weighing individual student performance.
• Initiated by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the assessment was done for classes III and V in languages, mathematics, and environmental science, and in languages, mathematics, science, and social science for Class VIII.
• The findings will be used as inputs for policy, planning, and designing pedagogical interventions to improve students’ learning outcomes.
• Experts will design and implement district-level pedagogical interventions to bridge identified learning gaps.

Philippines President Duterte accepts Modi’s invite

News:

• The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India for the 2018 ASEAN-India commemorative summit, along with other leaders of the ASEAN.

Beyond News:

• The two sides sealed four agreements and agreed to cooperate on counter-terror. Both countries have been victims of terrorism for long.
• The commemorative summit is likely to be a mega event that will mark India’s intensification of the ‘Act East policy’ aimed at the Indo-Pacific region.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

24×7 power supply to farms from New Year

News

• The Telangana Government has advanced the implementation of round-the-clock power supply to agriculture sector and will launch it on January 1 instead of March-April next as planned earlier.

Beyond News

• Stating that round-the-clock supply to farm sector would require another Rs. 617 crore in addition to Rs. 4,777 crore allocated for the current year, 5,394 crore would be allocated in the next budget for the purpose. Government, however, reiterated its appeal to the farming community to remove auto-starters not only to save wastage of energy but also to make best use of precious groundwater.
• There were 23.6 lakh agriculture pump-sets in the State with an investment of about Rs. 35,000 crore by the farming community.

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