Daily Current Capsules 20^th May 2022
Location in NEWS
SELA TUNNEL
What's the NEWS

• The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion.
• The Sela Tunnel above 13,000-ft will boost all-weather connectivity to the Line of Actual Control with China.

Know! about the Sela Tunnel project

• The project, being executed by the Border Roads Organisation, includes two tunnels and a link road.
• While Tunnel 1 will be 980 metres long single-tube, Tunnel 2 will be 1,555 metres with one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies running alongside.
• The link road between the two tunnels will be 1,200 metres.
• Tunnel 2 will be one of the longest tunnels to have been constructed above an altitude of over 13,000 feet.
• The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.
• It is located in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, the tunnel project will provide an alternate axis to the Sela pass, which is at 13,700 feet.
• It will be on the BCT Road - the Balipara, Charduar and Tawang axis, which is more than 300 km long.

Governance
Integrating e-Shram portal with One Nation One Ration Card scheme

What's the NEWS

• Recently, the Union Minister for Labour & Employment said that the e-Shram portal is being integrated with the One Nation One Ration Card scheme.

Know! about e-Shram portal

• In August 2021, the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment launched a national database to register unorganised workers, called the e-Shram portal.
• The portal came into being after the Supreme Court directed the Government to complete the registration process of unorganised workers.
• The government aims to register 38 crore unorganised workers, such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors and domestic workers, among others.
• The target group for the registration process is those aged between 16 and 59.
• A worker can register on the portal using his/her Aadhaar card number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary details like date of birth, home town, mobile number and social category.
• The registrations can be done through Common Service Centres (CSC), Self, or through State Seva Kendras.
• Each registered worker will be issued an identity card, which can be used across the country to avail any benefits announced by the Government.
• The data on the portal will be used for optimum realization of the workers' employability and extend the benefits of the social security schemes to them.
• The Union Government has already announced linking accidental insurance with registration on the e-Shram portal.
• If a registered worker meets with an accident, he/she will be eligible for Rs 2 lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh on partial disability.
• The benefits include those offered during natural calamities.

Know! about One Nation, One Ration Card scheme

• The Union Government had launched the 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme on a pilot basis in four states in 2019.
• As of Feb 2022, it has become operational in 35 states and union territories. It is now covering 96.8% of the population included in the National Food Security Act.
• ensure all beneficiaries, especially migrants get ration (wheat, rice and other food grains) across the nation from any Public Distribution System (PDS) shop of their own choice.
• It was also launched with the purpose that no poor person should be deprived of getting subsidised food grains under the food security scheme when they shift from one place to another.
• It aims to reduce instances of corruption by middlemen and fraudulence in ration cards to avail benefits from different states.
• Implementing Agency: Department for the nation-wide portability of ration cards under National Food Security Act (NFSA)
• Eligibility :Any citizen, who is declared under Below Poverty Line (BPL) category is eligible to get the benefit of this scheme across the country.

Science and Technology
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
What's the NEWS

• Considering the high-level security review of the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra, the government has decided to track all pilgrims using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

Know! about RFID tags

• RFID tags are Radio Frequency Identifications.
• These are wireless tracking systems that consist of readers and tags, which use radio waves to communicate information and identity of people or objects that can be hand-held or built into fixed positions like buildings or poles that can carry short descriptions, encrypted information and serial numbers.
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a wireless tracking system that consists of tags and readers.
• Radio waves are used to communicate information/identity of objects or people to nearby readers - devices that can be hand-held or built into fixed positions like poles or buildings.
• The tags can carry encrypted information, serial numbers and short descriptions. There are also high-memory tags like the ones designed for use in the aviation industry.

Types of RFID tags

• Active RFIDs use their own power source, mostly batteries.
• Passive RFIDs, on the other hand, are activated through the reader using the electromagnetic energy it transmits.
• Active tags have a longer read range, around 300 ft, compared to passive tags.

National
MULTI-AGENCY CENTRE (MAC)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned ₹138.48 crore to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a technical upgrade.

Know! about MAC

• The funds are meant to upgrade the multi-agency centre (MAC), a common counter-terrorism grid under the IB conceptualised in 2001 after the Kargil war.
• The idea behind the MAC was to create an institutional memory on terrorism and act as a platform to analyse the information on terror-related activities.
• The MAC had the main server in Delhi which is linked to the subsidiary multi-agency centre (SMAC) under the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIBs) in all States, which further disseminates information to the intelligence branch or wing of the respective State police forces.
• Plans are now afoot to link it to the district office of the Superintendent of Police which has been pending for more than a decade now.
• If MAC is linked to the district SP's office, relevant information on terror can be fed in the system leading to the expansion of terror database.
• As many as 28 organisations including the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), armed forces and State police are part of the platform and various security agencies share real time intelligence inputs on MAC.

Bilateral Relations
INDIAN NAVY'S P8I AIRCRAFT
What's the NEWS

• Defence Minister during his visit to Mumbai undertook a sortie on the Indian Navy P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft.

Know! about P81 aircraft

• During the mission, long range surveillance, electronic warfare, imagery intelligence, ASW missions and Search & Rescue capabilities employing the state-of-the-art mission suite and sensors were demonstrated.
• The induction of P8I aircraft commencing 2013, have significantly enhanced Indian Navy's persistent surveillance operations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• The P-8I's state-of-the-art sensors such as multi-mode radars, electronic intelligence system, sonobuoys, electro-optic, infrared camera and advanced weapons provide the Indian Navy with a very potent platform with significant capability to deter and destroy.
• These aircraft have been utilised along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control to keep an eye on adversaries' movement.

Organisations
First International Migration Review Forum

What's the. NEWS

 

• Minister of State for External Affairs will lead the Indian delegation for the First International Migration Review Forum being held under the auspices of the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York from 17th to 20th of May.

Know! about the forum

• It will serve as the primary inter-governmental global platform to review the progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
• It will consist of four interactive multi-stakeholder round tables, a policy dialogue and a plenary.
• In the General Assembly resolution A/RES/73/195, Member States agreed to review the progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels in implementing the GCM in the framework of the United Nations.

Bilateral Relations/Location in NEWS
India - France second joint patrolling

 

What's the NEWS

• The Navies of India and France concluded their second joint patrolling in the southwestern Indian Ocean
• India is continuing focus on expanding maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• During the five days from May 9 to 13, an Indian Navy P-8I aircraft was deployed from the French island of La Reunion to carry out "joint surveillance and patrolling operations" with the French Navy in the southwestern Indian Ocean.
• It is the second time that France and India have carried out "joint patrolling" out of La Reunion.

Réunion Island

• Réunion (French: La Réunion) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France.
• It is located approximately 950km east of the island of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of the island of Mauritius.

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