Infrastructure Development/ Governance
PM Gati Shakti

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister launched the ambitious Gati Shakti scheme or National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity plan, with the aim of coordinated planning and execution of infrastructure projects to bring down logistics costs.

Know! about the Scheme

• Gati Shakti envisions a digital portal with all existing and planned infrastructure initiatives of 16 ministries and departments for coordinated planning and execution of the projects.
• Central government departments, including Railways, Roads and Highways, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping and Aviation, will be part of it.
• 
• The plan seeks to end bureaucratic entanglements and break inter-ministerial silos that holds up infrastructure projects and drive up their costs.
• The National Master Plan will employ modern technology and the latest IT tools for coordinated planning of infrastructure.
• GatiShakti plan aims to achieve - synchronous decision making to create a world-class, seamless multi-modal transport network, on the back of which India will be transformed.

Six Pillars of PM GatiShakti

1. Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal. Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other's activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
2. Prioritization: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.
3. Optimization: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
4. Synchronization: Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos. There is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
5. Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
6. Dynamic: All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.

PM GatiShakti ( Factual Points for Prelims)

• Ensures integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure projects in the next four years
• Focus on expediting works on the ground, saving costs and creating jobs.
• It will subsume the Rs 110 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline that was launched in 2019.
• The scheme is also aimed at increasing cargo handling capacity and reducing the turnaround time at ports to boost trade.
• It also aims to have 11 industrial corridors and two new defence corridors - one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pradesh.
• Extending 4G connectivity to all villages
• Adding 17,000 kms to the gas pipeline network
• It will help mapping the existing and proposed connectivity projects.
• The scheme is in synergy with the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
• The NMP has been announced to provide a clear framework for monetisation and give potential investors a ready list of assets to generate investment interest.

Targets set by the government for 2024-25

• expanding the length of the national highway network to 2 lakh kms
• creation of more than 200 new airports, heliports and water aerodromes.

Prelims Factoids
My Parkings App

What's the NEWS

• Information and Broadcasting Minister launched My Parkings app
• Smart parking solution through app or through card is an effortless solution towards hassle-free parking.
• Booking of online parking slots will enable people to park their vehicles without inconvenience.
• Ease of parking through the app will also help reduce pollution from vehicles by minimizing the time spent searching for parking spots.

Governance
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (PAC) OF PARLIAMENT
What's the NEWS

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has invited the Chairman of Pakistan's Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, to attend the centennial celebration of the creation of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.
• The invite has not been confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs yet.

Know! about PAC

• The PAC is the oldest parliamentary committee in the Indian legislative affairs and has been crucial in upholding the principle of accountability as it exercises oversight of public expenditure.
• The Committee on Public Accounts is constituted by Parliament each year for examination of

1. accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India,
2. the annual Finance Accounts of Government of India, and
3. such other accounts laid before Parliament as the Committee may deem fit such as accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies (except those of Public Undertakings and Government Companies which come under the purview of the Committee on Public Undertakings).

• The Committee on Public Accounts is the oldest Parliamentary Committee and was first constituted in 1921.
• The Committee consists of 22 Members, 15 Members are elected by Lok Sabha and 7 Members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with it.
• The Speaker is empowered to appoint the Chairman of the Committee from amongst its Members.

Infrastructure Development
ULCC (ultra low cost carriers )
What's the NEWS

• Civil Aviation Ministry announced it has granted an NOC for the operation of prominent investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed low-cost aviation venture- Akasa Air.
• The upcoming low-cost indigenous airline is set to receive the Air Operator's Permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
• The country's upcoming low-cost air carrier is set to launch in the summer of 2022
• The airline, which is planning to operate as a low-cost carrier or an ultra low-cost carrier
• The airline is being launched by Jhunjhunwala, who will hold a 40 per cent stake in the company.

Know! about the ULCC model

• In the ULCC (ultra low cost carriers ) airline business model, the company focuses on keeping operating costs even lower than typical budget airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet.
• In the low-cost model, airlines unbundle certain amenities that are usually associated with the full-service airline experience - like seat selection, food and beverages, etc.
• Under the ULCC (ultra-low-cost carriers) business model, the airline scraps amenities that are usually associated with a full-service airline such as, seat selection, food and beverages, etc.
• In a ULCC model, there is scrapping off services like checked-in baggage, cabin baggage, etc.
• Unlike LCCs, the ULCC airlines focus on minimal costs to ensure profitability.

Governance/Environment
CLIMATE RESILIENCE INFORMATION SYSTEM AND PLANNING (CRISP-M) TOOL

What's the NEWS

• Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister launched Climate Resilience Information System and Planning CRISP-M tool for integration of climate information in Geographic Information System, GIS-based watershed planning under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA

Know! about the CRISP-M tool

• The CRISP-M tool will help embed climate information in the GIS-based planning and implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
• The Minister appreciated efforts of British Government and all the stakeholders who supported Rural Development Ministry in developing the tool
• The implementation of CRISP-M will open up new possibilities for the rural communities to deal with the issues of climate change.
• This tool will be used in seven states where in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Government of UK and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India are jointly working towards climate resilience.
• The states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

India's commitment to advancing climate initiative through Mahatma Gandhi NREGS programme.

• It is helping poor and vulnerable people to cope with climate change and protecting them from weather-related disasters.

Centre- State Relations/Internal Security
Centre Enhances Power of Border Security Force (BSF)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Home Ministry has expanded the powers of the Border Security Force (BSF)
• The amendment "establishes uniformity in defining the area within which the BSF can operate" and also to improve its operational effectiveness in curbing trans-border crimes.
• The operational writ of the BSF was different in different border States and the fresh notification ends this anomaly.

Know! about the enhanced power of BSF

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through a notification in the Gazette of India on October 11, enhanced the "arrest, search and seize" powers of the Border Security Force (BSF) up to 50 km from the international boundary within Assam, West Bengal and Punjab.
• In Gujarat, the limit was reduced from the existing 80 km to 50 km. In Rajasthan, the 50-km limit remains unchanged.
• The notification replaces a 2014 order under the BSF Act, 1968, which also empowers the force to conduct counter-insurgency operation in Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
• Though Jammu and Kashmir was not mentioned in the 2014 order, references to it exist in a previous such amendments in 1973.
• The October 11 order specifically mentions the two newly created Union Territories-J&K and Ladakh.
• The violations for which the BSF carries out search and seizure include smuggling of narcotics, other prohibited items, illegal entry of foreigners and offences punishable under any other Central Act among others.
• The MHA has given powers to the BSF personnel in border areas under the Customs Act, the Passport Act, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Subsances Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.

• The amendment "establishes uniformity in defining the area within which the BSF can operate" as per its charter of duties, adding that this would enable improved operational effectiveness in curbing trans-border crimes.
• After a suspect has been detained or a consignment seized within the specified area, the BSF can only conduct "preliminary questioning" and has to hand over the suspect to the local police within 24 hours. The BSF does not have the powers to prosecute crime suspects.

Know! about BSF

• The BSF is a central armed police force (CAPF) that functions under the Union government. It was raised in 1965 in the aftermath of the India-Pakistan war.
• The BSF Act was passed by Parliament in 1968 and the rules governing the Act were framed in 1969.
• The MHA issues all orders pertaining to the BSF and other CAPFs such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles.
• India is a Union of States and under One Border One Force policy, the BSF is deployed along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.
• It is also deployed in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and is routinely deployed for election and other law and order duties on the request of State governments.

Under Rule 15 of the BSF Rules, 1969, the BSF has been assigned three primary tasks while deployed along the borders:

• promote a sense of security among the people living in the border area,
• prevent trans-border crimes/unauthorised entry into or exit from the territory of India and
• prevent smuggling and any other illegal activity.

Prelims Factoids
Global Peace Photo Award
What's the NEWS

• Aadhyaa Aravind Shankar, a seven-year-old hailing from Karnataka's Bangalore has scripted history by becoming the first-ever Indian to win the Children's Peace Image of the Year-Global Peace Photo Award.
• In Partnership with UNESCO and the Austrian Parliament, the Global Peace Photo Award is awarded annually by Lammerhuber Editions.
• The award honours and acknowledges photographers from around the world whose pictures reflect human efforts towards a peaceful world.

Health
Country's first ‘One Health' consortium launched

What's the NEWS

• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, GoI, supported a mega consortium on ‘One Health' and launched the First ‘One Health' project of DBT.

Know! about the programme

• This programme envisages carrying out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as well as transboundary pathogens in India, including the North-eastern part of the country.
• Use of existing diagnostic tests and the development of additional methodologies when required are mandated for the surveillance and for understanding the spread of emerging diseases.
• This Consortium, consisting of 27 organisations led by DBT-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, is one of the biggest one health programs launched by Govt of India in post-COVID times.
• The One health consortium consists of AIIMS, Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur, IVRI, Bareily, GADVASU, Ludhiana, TANUVAS, Chennai, MAFSU, Nagpur, Assam agricultural and veterinary university and many more ICAR, ICMR centres and wild life agencies.

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