Governance/Government Initiatives/GSII
North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021-22

What's the NEWS

• MDONER in collaboration with NITI Aayog releases North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021-22
• With technical support from UNDP, first of its kind in the country as it focuses on the North Eastern Region.
• The index measures the performance of the District of the eight NE States. This is the first time, a District wise index is being prepared in the country.
• This SDG Index will be used as a base for planning of development and welfare activities, education, health care.

Oil Palm Mission:

• The National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) as a new centrally sponsored scheme with a special focus on NE Region and A&N islands. MoU for the Bamboo FPO Agreement on Edible Oils - Oil Palm for NE States has been signed.
• The aim of the Mission on edible oils is to increase the cultivation of oil palm from 3.5 lakh Ha. to 10 lakh Ha. across India in the next five years.
• 50% of the new cultivation is targeted for NE Region. Out of the estimated cost of the scheme of Rs. 11,040 crores, about Rs. 6,000 crores will directly benefit the farmers of NE States.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister has approved a revival package of Rs. 77.45 crore for revival of NERAMAC.
• Revival package will help NERAMAC to implement various innovative plans namely providing better farming facilities, training to farmers in cluster, organic seeds and fertilizers etc and will generate direct or indirect employment for about 33,000 persons.

• Initial stage of development of project monitoring mechanism alongwith its Geo tagging in NE region being funded by DoNER/NEC.
• This is first of its kind in the whole Country where there is an Institutionalized involvement of ISRO in mapping and sharing of data for development projects.

• The scheme envisaged construction/upgradation of a total of approximately 433.225 km long roads in 6 North Eastern States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura in two tranches

• Externally Aided Project is an important window for getting funds and technical expertise from various external agencies for development of sectors like infrastructure, health, livelihood, etc which are essential for NER.

• A positive indigenisation list of sub-systems/assemblies/sub-assemblies/components has been notified by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, as part of the efforts to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing and minimise imports by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).

• The list contains 2,500 imported items which have already been indigenised and 351 imported items which will be indigenised in next three years.
• This Aatmanirbhar initiative will save foreign exchange approximately equivalent to Rs. 3,000 cr every year.
• They will only be procured from Indian Industry after the timelines indicated in the list.
• Two positive indigenisation lists of weapons/platforms/ systems/ammunitions etc have already been notified by the Department of Military Affairs, in order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
• The positive indigenisation list is an intrinsic part of the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.
• For a product to be considered as an indigenous system, items on the positive indigenisation list must not only use technologies designed and developed by the Indian defence industry or the DRDO but also meet the specified requirement of sourcing indigenous content of 50 per cent.

Governance/GSII
Sale of Electoral Bonds
Know! about Electoral Bond

• The Government of India has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 vide Gazette Notification
• As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
• A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
• Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.
• The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
• State Bank of India (SBI), in the XIX Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches w.e.f. 01.01.2022 to 10.01.2022.
• The Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
• The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.

• Indian researchers have developed a high performance industry-standard model for Aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistors(HEMTs) with simple design procedures which can be used to make high-power Radio Frequency (RF) circuits owing to its high breakdown voltage.
• Radio Frequency circuits include amplifiers and switches, which are used in wireless transmission and are useful for space and defense applications.

• The technology is rapidly gaining popularity owing to its high performance and efficiency.
• It has two excellent properties - high mobility and high-power performance.
• These properties reduce the noise figure and complexity while designing Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) (used in wireless transmission like mobile phones, base stations) while increasing the achievable bandwidth.
• AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have become the technology of choice for high-frequency and high-power applications like 5G, radars, base stations, satellite communications, etc.
• To design wideband power amplifiers, a fully robust and accurate physics-based radio frequency (RF) GaN HEMT model is of prime importance.

• The Maharashtra Assembly passed the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Act unanimously.
• With the passage of the Bill, it became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gangrape.

• The Act has amended the existing criminal laws to include death penalty as punishment in cases of rape and gangrape "in cases which have the characteristic of offence is heinous in nature and where adequate conclusive evidence is there and the circumstances warrant exemplary punishment, with death".
• The existing law on rape had provisions for death penalty only in cases of repeated offences.
• The Act has also enhanced fines and punishment for offences of sexual violence against women and minors. Under the POCSO Act too, punishment for penetrative sexual assault in heinous cases has been enhanced to death penalty.
• The Act requires the trial in these cases to be conducted on a day-to-day basis and completed within 30 working days from the date of filing of the chargesheet.
• It also requires for the investigation to be completed within a month of the FIR which can be extended by another month by the concerned Special Inspector General of Police or Commissioner of Police only for specific reasons given in writing.
• In cases of grievous hurt caused due to acid attacks under Section 326A, the punishment has been enhanced to a minimum of 15 years which can be extended to the remainder of the natural life of the perpetrator along with fine.
• In cases of voluntarily throwing acid or attempting to throw it, punishment under section 326B has been enhanced to a minimum of seven years and a maximum of ten years.
• The fine amount in these cases will be towards medical expenses including plastic surgery and face reconstruction, the Act states.

International Organisations/GSII
Egypt becomes new member of BRICS NDB

What's the NEWS

• Egypt has now become a fourth new member to be admitted to BRICS NDB.
• India welcomed Egypt's entry as the fourth new member of the New Development Bank (NDB) that was established by the BRICS countries six years ago.
• The multilateral bank was established by the five powerful economies- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-to finance the sustainable development projects in the developing economies.

Know! more about New Development Bank expansion

• The NDB admitted Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay as its new members in September.
• Expansion of the membership by the NDB will help it position as a premier development institution for emerging economies.
• The New Development Bank aims to mobilize resources for development projects in BRICS, emerging economies, and developing countries.
• The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) set up the bank with an aim to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging economies.
• The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB is in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second regional office was established in 2019 in São Paulo, Brazil, followed by Moscow, Russia.
• The NDB has so far approved about 80 projects in all of its member countries, totalling a portfolio of USD 30 billion. Projects in areas such as transport, water and sanitation, clean energy, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban development are within the scope of the bank.

Prelims Factoids
Rythu Bandhu

What's the NEWS

• Rythu Bandhu is a scheme under which the state government extends financial support to land-owning farmers at the beginning of the crop season through direct benefit transfer.
• The total funds disbursed under this scheme is set to touch Rs 50,000 crore soon.

• Rythu Bandhu is a scheme under which the state government extends financial support to land-owning farmers at the beginning of the crop season through direct benefit transfer so that they can take care of the initial investment needs and do not fall into a debt trap.
• This in turn instills confidence in farmers, enhances productivity and income, and breaks the cycle of rural indebtedness.
• Since 2018, when the scheme was launched by the state government, the government has been crediting Rs 5000 per acre per season into bank accounts of land-owning farmers ahead of Rabi and Kharif seasons.
• Each farmer gets Rs 5,000 per acre per crop season without any ceiling on the number of acres held. So, a farmer who owns two acres of land would receive Rs 20,000 a year, whereas a farmer who owns 10 acres would receive Rs 1 lakh a year from the government.
• The grant helps them cover the expenses on input requirements such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labour.

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