Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Cabinet clears ₹3,466 crore dam improvement project

News

• The government has approved a 65% hike, and extended by two years, a project to improve the stability and working of dams in 11 States.

Beyond News

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister, approved the Dam Rehabilitation Improvement Project (DRIP) project. Out of the ₹3,466 crore cleared, ₹2,628 crore would be funded by the World Bank and ₹747 crore by the States and Implementing Agencies (IAs), and the balance ₹91 crore by the Central Water Commission (CWC).
• Originally, the total cost of DRIP was ₹2,100 crore with the States expected to fund ₹1,968 crore and the Centre ₹132 crore. Initially, the six-year project commenced on April 18, 2012, with a scheduled closing on June 30, 2018.
• This has now been extended to June 2020. A dam safety Bill that sets directives on how the States and the Centre ought to have an institutional mechanism to better manage dams is still to be discussed in Parliament.
• The (DRIP) project will improve the safety and operational performance of selected existing dams and mitigate risks to ensure safety of downstream population and property. The primary beneficiaries are both urban and rural communities dependent on reservoir and downstream communities, who are prone to risk associated with dam failure or operational failure.
• There are 198 existing dams in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand (Damodar Valley Corporation) and Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited) that would benefit from the project.
• In lieu of the funds, dam managers would have to adhere to recommendations by the CWC as well as subject themselves to six monthly reviews by the World Bank and an audit by an independent French agency.
• Kerala, which saw devastating floods and questions raised on the management of its dams, will see 16 of the reservoirs managed by its Water Resources Department and 12 by that State’s Electricity Department, get funded under the DRIP programme to the tune of ₹ 514 crore.

With PM Modi, Afghan President Ghani raises issues of IS, Pakistan terrorists

News

• Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the growing presence of the IS (Da’esh) in Afghanistan, and the continuing influx of terrorists from Pakistan, during his day-long visit to Delhi, government sources said.

Beyond News

• Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced that Kabul has deported an Indian national who had travelled to Afghanistan in an attempt to join the Islamic State.
• At a reception hosted by think tank India Forum later, Afghanistan President said it was necessary to separate such external elements from the Taliban, which, must be engaged in a peace process.
• An official said New Delhi would back the Afghan government on its decision to engage the Taliban in talks that are “Afghan-owned, Afghan-led.” Afghanistan President said the talks had the support of the Afghan people, which was seen during the Id ceasefire in June this year, which the Taliban joined, a week after attacks had seen 1,000 people die.
• Peace with the Taliban was important so that security forces could concentrate on fighting other terrorist groups like the Islamic State, Afghanistan President said.
• During his meeting with Mr. Modi, Afghanistan President made a special mention of the siege of Ghazni city in August where a sizeable number of foreign fighters had fought alongside the Taliban. Afghanistan President at least 100 attackers of Ghazni came from Pakistan and they were identified as Pakistani nationals.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

CFLOWS to forecast floods in city

News

• Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority plans to use ‘CFLOWS,’ a web-based application, that will help in forecasting flooding in a particular location anywhere in the State during the forthcoming northeast monsoon.

Beyond News

• CFLOWS, which would forecast level of waterlogging and vulnerable locations five days ahead, was developed by IIT Madras, Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University and National Coastal Research Centre along with TNSDMA.
• The web-based GIS application would work as a hydrodynamic model and collate data such as water level in rivers and waterbodies and rainfall to forecast floods.
• A MoU was signed by TNSDMA and NCCR in the presence of Revenue Minister.
• The forecast would be based on Meteorological Department’s weather forecast.
• This would help in reducing flood risk and plan relief activities. CFLOWS would be integrated with TNSMART, a web-based application that would also have a mobile application.

Gang of cyber fraudsters targeted City Union Bank

News

• The cyber fraudsters, who siphoned off close to Rs. 90 crore from Cosmos Bank in Pune recently, had also looted from City Union Bank in Chennai last year.

Beyond News

• Two days ago, four of the seven arrested by the Pune police reportedly confessed that they were involved in siphoning off crores of rupees from the Chennai bank too.
• The fraudsters had used a malware and used cloned debit cards to swindle money.
• The Central Crime Branch in Chennai has begun an investigation by registering a case. The CCB officials visited ATMs from which the money was withdrawn and collected CCTV footage.
• They suspect that a weak link in the server of the bank led to the malware attack. The attack was on the software that permitted banks to settle cash dispensation requests raised at ATMs.

A first-of-its-kind deportation

News

• The deportation by Afghanistan of a 26-year-old Kerala resident who had illegally entered the country to join the Islamic State (IS) is a first.
• The accused, Nashidul Hamzafar, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the Delhi airport after he was deported by the Afghan authorities.

Beyond News

• Hamzafar, who had been working in the United Arab Emirates, had come to India in 2017. On October 3, he and his friend left for Muscat on a tourist visa.
• They then travelled to Iran, from where Hamzafar alone entered Afghanistan, through one of the unguarded border checkpoints. His friend returned from Iran after his family got to know of his plans and pressurised him to come back, the official said.
• In 2016, as a well thought-out conspiracy, 21 men, women and children from Kerala had left for Afghanistan via Iran to live in the IS-controlled territory.
• The NIA had registered two cases. Mainly comprising defectors from Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), the Wilayat Khorasan of the Islamic State in Afghanistan came into existence in 2015.
• The official said that Hamzafar was in touch with some of the accused living in Afghanistan and was radicalised by them. He was detained by Afghan security agencies last year for illegally entering the country to join proscribed terrorist organisation IS.
• The NIA said that Hamzafar participated in the conspiracy through encrypted social media platforms.
• The accused was produced before an NIA court and he will now be taken to Kochi on transit remand to be produced in the court that had issued non-bailable warrant against him.

‘Take back forest lands in occupation of individuals’

News

• The Madras High Court suggested that the State government could take stock of forest lands in occupation of private individuals as well as establishments for long and retrieve all of them in an effort to increase the much-needed green cover in the region.

Beyond News

• Justices told Advocate General that the Revenue Secretary could be asked to prepare a list of such forest lands and reclaim the properties in accordance with law. Such a measure would help in protecting the available forests for posterity, they said.
• The judge had upheld the decision of the government to retrieve 29.33 out of 40 acres given to the trust in January 1975.
• According to senior counsel, representing the appellant trust founded in 1974, the government had placed at the disposal of the trust about 40 acres of land in Nanmangalam Reserve Forest near here on payment of Rs. 100 per acre in 1975. The land was allotted only for educational purposes.
• Hence, the trust had constructed buildings on the site within two years and started a college in 1977. Since then, it had also been making repeated requests to de-reserve the area.
• However, on September 25, 2012, the Environment and Forest Secretary passed an order to resume 29.33 acres on the ground that it remained unused.
• Immediately, the trust filed a writ petition challenging the move to resume the lands and claimed that it had developed the lands over the years after obtaining necessary approvals, and hence, it could not be taken back. However, Justice dismissed the petition on August 3 this year and hence the present writ appeal.
• After hearing both the sides, the Division Bench ordered for a detailed survey of the lands by the District Forest Officer, a surveyor to be nominated by the Deputy Director of Survey and the Revenue Divisional Officer in the presence of representatives of the appellant trust as well as the counsel from both sides.

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