IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

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Sustainable Development Goals: Kerala retains No. 1 slot, Bihar at bottom, UP is highest gainer

News

• Kerala retained the top slot while Bihar came out as the worst performer in NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2019, which assesses each state and Union Territory’s achievement regarding sustainable development goals (SDG) such as good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, reduction in hunger and poverty, among others.

Sustainable development goals

• Kerala had the top rank among states with a score of 70, while Bihar has lowest score of 50.
• In terms of progress, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the biggest gainer followed by Odisha. While UP saw an improvement in its overall score from 42 in 2018 to 55 in 2019, Odisha increased its overall score by 7 points.
• As per the SDG India Index 2019, the composite score for each state/UT is computed by aggregating their performance across the goals, and then by taking the arithmetic mean of individual goal scores. A score of 100 implies that the State/ UT has achieved targets set for 2030; a score of 0 implies that the particular State/UT is at the bottom of the table.
• Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim have shown maximum improvement, as per the report for second year released by NITI Aayog. This first such report was released in 2018.
• Himachal Pradesh took the second spot with a score of 69 while Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana shared the third spot with each state scoring 67 on the Index. Chandigarh too maintained its top spot among the UTs with a score of 70.
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh are the worst performing states in this year’s index.
• In 2018 index, only three states, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, were placed in the category of front runners with a score in the range of 65-99. In 2019, five more States joined this league Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Sikkim and Goa, taking the total tally to eight.
• India’s composite score improved from 57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019 with major success in water and sanitation, power and industry. However, nutrition and gender continue to be problem areas for India, requiring more focused approach from the government.
• With regard to poverty reduction, states which have done well include Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim. On zero hunger parameters, Goa, Mizoram, Kerala, Nagaland and Manipur were the front runners, according to the report.
• The SDG India Index, launched last year by NITI Aayog with the help of United Nations took into account 16 out of 17 goals specified by the United Nations as SDGs .
• Odisha stands second in overall improvement, with an increase of 7 points, from 51 to 58. The goal relating to industry, innovation, and infrastructure has contributed highest to the rise with a jump of 40 points.
• Sikkim is the third best state in overall improvement: from a score of 58 to that of 65, indicating an increase by 7 points.
• The year 2020 will be the fifth anniversary of the adoption of SDGs by 193 countries at the UN General Assembly. The SDGs, constituted through an unprecedented consultative process, have 17 goals and 169 related targets to be achieved by 2030. The Index has been developed by NITI Aayog in coordination with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, United Nations in India and Global Green Growth Institute.

Ban on single-use plastic in Kerala to come into effect

News

• A blanket ban on single-use plastic in Kerala, a landmark step in the state’s waste generation mechanism, will come into effect at midnight on January 1, 2020.

Landmark step

• The decision was taken by the ruling government in November, keeping in mind the disastrous health and environmental effects of single-use plastic in the state.
• Through the ban’s enforcement, the production, sale and storage of single-use plastic cups, bottles and carry-bags will come to a complete halt in the state in the new year. Those violating the government decision will be charged under strict provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
• The decision to enforce the ban is in line with the recommendations put forward by the expert technical committee formed to evaluate the usage of plastic. Citing similar bans in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the committee said the step had resulted in over 70 per cent fall in the usage of plastic.
• Items that would fall under the ban include single-use plastic carry bags, sheets, plates, cups, spoons, stirrers, straws, thermocol/styrofoam plates, bags, bowls, non-woven bags, flags, non-branded juice packets, water sachets, water bottles less than 100 ml, garbage bags and flex banners.
• Items that have been kept outside the purview of the ban include cling film used for wrapping vegetables and food items, plastic items kept for export, those used in healthcare and carry bags used for measuring pulses, meat and fish.
• The government, has been steadfast in its decision, warning that violators would be charged with heavy fines. Manufacturers, wholesalers and small-time retailers violating the ban would be fined with Rs 10,000. Second-time offenders would be fined Rs 25,000. If laws are violated again by such persons, they would be fined Rs 50,000 and their licenses cancelled.
• Secretaries of municipalities, corporations, block panchayats and village panchayats can enforce the rules, apart from officials of the pollution control board, district collectors and district magistrates.

Large units account for 78% power subsidy Punjab govt gives to industry

News

• Larger Power consumers of industry in Punjab benefit most from the power subsidy given by the state government.
• Of the Rs 1,500 crore annual subsidy given to the industry, Rs 1140.96 crore goes to 8,316 units.

Power subsidy

• As the biggest chunk of subsidy is given to large units, small power consumers burden the state exchequer with subsidy of Rs 138.4 crore and medium supply consumers get subsidy of Rs 175 crore, as per the data available with the state government.
• A total of 99,444 consumers fall in the ‘small consumer’ category while 31,499 fall in the ‘medium consumer’ category.
• While about 10,000 small consumers account for less than 10 per cent of the subsidy being given to industry, medium consumers account for about 12 per cent. Large consumers account for almost 78 per cent of the subsidy given by the state.
• The state is facing a fiscal crisis for want of delay in GST compensation by Centre as well as drop in its own tax collections. The government has recently burdened the domestic consumer with a mid-term power tariff hike, for which it has faced criticism from all quarters.
• The government already reels under fiscal stress on account of power subsidy bill of Rs 6,060 crore to farmers. The state has a pending bill of power subsidy to the tune of Ra 4,500 crore.
• The state had given subsidy to industry during the last fiscal. With the government already burdened by free power to farmers, it decided to provide the industry power at Rs 5 per unit at fixed price. The government had to shell out Rs 1500 crore for subsidy to industry.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Finance Minister unveils Rs 102 lakh crore of infra projects for next five years

News

• The Union government announced its plan to invest Rs 102 lakh crore in infrastructure projects across India.

Infrastructure projects

• Finance Minister said that the government’s plan is based on the findings of a task force constituted by the government in line with the announcement made by Prime Minister  in his Independence Day speech.
• Prime Minister had in his Independence Day speech spoken of investing Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure.
• The task force identified the infrastructure projects after conducting 70 stakeholder consultations in a short period of four months.
• In September this year, the Centre had constituted a task force to identify and prepare a pipeline of infrastructure projects that can be executed over the next five years. The task force, headed by the Economic Affairs Secretary, will draw up a ‘National Infrastructure Pipeline’ of Rs 100 lakh crore expected to come up by 2024-25.
• The minister said another Rs 3 lakh crore of projects are likely to be added to this pipeline.
• These projects are on top of Rs 51 lakh crore spent by the Centre and the states during the last six years, she said adding the new pipeline consists of 39 per cent projects each by the Centre and states and the balance by 22 per cent by private sector.
• The projects identified are in sectors such as power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health.
• The government is also set to launch a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) Coordination Mechanism, comprising the Centre, states and private sector, for detailed planning, information dissemination and monitoring implementation of the NIP framework.

Scientists have found three new super-puffs with the density of cotton candy

News

• Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have confirms the existence of three new planets in a class called, ‘super-puffs’.

Super-puffs

• All of the planets have a very low mass to volume ratio. Which means they have extremely low density and act as celestial equivalents of cotton candy.
• All of the three planets were spotted by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, orbiting Kepler 51, which is a young solar-type star. All of these planets are heavier than Earth, however, have a much larger radius, due to which their density is extremely low.
• Scientists have named these three new super-puff planets as Kepler-51b, Kepler-51c and Kepler-51d.
• Scientists mentioned that all of these super-puffs have a density lower than 0.1 grams per cubic centimetre. Due to which these are the lowest-density planets to date according to the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
• It is being said that these planets are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium covered by a thick haze of methane. Kepler-51b and Kepler 51d are exhaling gas at a rapid pace releasing billions of tons of gasses into space every second. Due to which they will shrink over time and might eventually lose their puffiness.
• The Kepler 51 star system is about 2,400 lightyears away from Earth.

Bangladesh shuts down telecom services along India border ‘for sake of security’

News

• Bangladesh’s telecom regulator has ordered operators to shut down services along the border with India citing security reasons, authorities said in a statement.

Shuts down telecom services

• Mobile network coverage has been suspended for one kilometre along the entire border with India until further notice “for the sake of the country’s security in the current circumstances”.
• One official on condition of anonymity said the decision was taken out of concern that Indian Muslims might seek to enter Bangladesh after India introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act which has triggered violent protests across India.

Capital’s green cover increased by 19 sq km in 2 years: Report

News

• Green cover in the capital increased by over 19 square kilometers between 2017 and 2019 to become 21.88% of the capital’s geographical area, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) released.

Green cover

• • Forest cover in Delhi has increased by 3.03 sq km since the previous assessment in 2017 and tree cover has increased by 16 sq km, as per the report by the Forest Survey of India.
  • Forest cover in the city has increased to 195.44 sq km, or 13.18%, from 192.41 in 2017.

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