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Daily Current Capsules - 24th JUNE 2019


State Specific
Kaleshwaram irrigation Project - The world's largest multi-stage, multi-purpose lift irrigation project

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Kaleshwaram irrigation project - geographical location and associated rivers) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development + different types of irrigation and irrigation systems and storage )
What's the NEWS

  • Telangana CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated the Rs. 80,190 crore Kaleshwaram irrigation project at its starting point in Medigadda (Jayshankar Bhupalapally) district.
  • It was an historic landmark for Telangana, also, L&T Construction, completed the iconic Medigadda Barrage, in just 24 months.

Know! more about the project

  • Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao laid the foundation stone for Kaleshwaram project, the State government's prestigious irrigation project across Godavari for optimum utilisation of Pranahita and Godavari river waters, at Medigadda in the district.
  • As part of redesigning the Pranahita-Chevella project, the State government had decided to construct a main barrage across Godavari at Medigadda, about 20 km downstream of Kaleshwaram temple, and named it ‘Kaleshwaram project' after Sri Kaleshwara Mukteeshwara Swamy Devasthanam.
  • The main barrage at Medigadda, to be built at a height of 100 meters, can store 16 tmc ft of water and lift 160 tmc ft for a period of 150 to 170 days.
  • As part of the project, two other barrages would also be constructed at Annaram to store 6.22 tmc ft of water in Mahadevpur mandal where river Manair meets and another at Sundilla to store 2.16 tmc ft of water in Kamanpur mandal across the Godavari river.
  • Through reverse pumping system, the water from Medigadda would be lifted to Annaram and to Sundilla project. From Sundilla, it would be lifted to Sripada Yellampalli project and later to Mid Manair Dam (MMD) in Karimnagar district and other projects elsewhere in the State.
  • The completion of the Kaleshwaram project is expected to change the agricultural scenario of the State.
  • It may be recalled that the State government had conducted Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey on the river flow of Godavari last year and finalised Medigadda for construction of the barrage following the availability of abundant water in river Godavari and Pranahita throughout the year.
  • This project is designed to sort out issues of drinking water in the state and also irrigation to the dried up areas of Telangana.
  • This project is originally called Pranahita-Chevella project, which was undertaken by the Congress-ruled erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
  • Under the projects, 3 barrages and 19 reservoirs will be constructed for the storage capacity of 141 TMC, and about 4992.47 mega watts (MW) is required for its functioning. The entire length of the water supply route will be 1,832 kilometers.

Know! more about the project details

  • One of the many exceptional qualities of this project is the biggest and vital underground pumping station at Ramadugu in Karimnagar district.
  • Irrigation officials claimed that if all the seven electrical pumps, each of 139 MW are switched on together, they can discharge 21,000 cusecs of water which is a rare feat in irrigation sector.
  • Ramadugu pumping station is located at the 330 metre depth.
  • Surge pool and additional surge pools of this pump house are also the biggest in the world.
  • It is estimated that the project would require about 7,000 MW of power once the project is fully operational.

Economic Development
35th GST Council meeting
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the 35th GST Council meet outcomes + about GST council ) + Mains ( GS III economic development
What's the NEWS

  • The 35th GST Council meeting was held in New Delhi under the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
  • Though the Council deliberated on the reduction of the tax slab on electric vehicles to 5 percent from 12 percent, it could not reach to a conclusion.
  • It was the first GST Council meeting under the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who talked about simplification of GST Rules and bringing more items under the ambit of GST rate in her opening remarks.

Know! more about the meeting outcome

  • Though the Council deliberated on the reduction of the tax slab on electric vehicles to 5 percent from 12 percent, it could not reach on the conclusion.
  • This matter of GST rate cuts for the electric vehicles was sent to the Fitment Committee for further consideration.
  • The Council also deliberated upon setting up an Appellate Tribunal for the North-Eastern States and another Tribunal one for all Union Territories (UTs).

Know! some of the key decisions taken during 35th GST Council meeting

  • E-ticketing made compulsory for multiplexes
  • Roll out of new single GST return form for all by January 2020
  • Tenure of National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) extended for 2 years
  • Penalty Provisions of NAA made more stringent
  • Use of Aadhaar approved for registration to Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)
  • GST e-way bill system to have NHAI's FASTag mechanism for tracking movement of goods

Know! all about GST Council

  • Goods & Services Tax Council is a constitutional body for making recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax.
  • The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States.
  • The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, for introduction of Goods and Services tax in the country was introduced in the Parliament and passed by Rajya Sabha on 3rd August, 2016 and by Lok Sabha on 8th August, 2016.
  • As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A.

As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States, shall consist of the following members: -

  1. Chairperson - The Union Finance Minister
  2. The Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue or Finance
  3. The Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other
  4. Minister nominated by each State Government
  • As per Article 279A (4), the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues related to GST, like the goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from GST, model GST Laws, principles that govern Place of Supply, threshold limits, GST rates including the floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities/disasters, special provisions for certain States, etc.

The Goods and Services Tax Council shall make recommendations to the Union and the States on-

  • The taxes, cesses and surcharges levied by the Union, the States and the local bodies which may be subsumed in the goods and services tax;
  • The goods and services that may be subjected to, or exempted from the goods and services tax;
  • Model Goods and Services Tax Laws, principles of levy, apportionment of Goods and Services Tax levied on supplies in the course of inter-State trade or commerce under article 269A and the principles that govern the place of supply
  • The Goods and Services Tax Council shall recommend the date on which the goods and services tax be levied on petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas and aviation turbine fuel.
  • One-half of the total number of Members of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall constitute the quorum at its meetings.

Every decision of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be taken at a meeting, by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting, in accordance with the following principles, namely: -

  • The vote of the Central Government shall have a weightage of one third of the total votes cast, and
  • The votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast, in that meeting.
  • No act or proceedings of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be invalid merely by reason of-
  1. any vacancy in, or any defect in, the constitution of the Council; or
  2. any defect in the appointment of a person as a Member of the Council; or
  3. any procedural irregularity of the Council not affecting the merits of the case.

The Goods and Services Tax Council shall establish a mechanism to adjudicate any dispute -

  • between the Government of India and one or more States; or
  • between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other States on the other side; or
  • between two or more States, arising out of the recommendations of the Council or implementation thereof.

Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
NSIC signs MoU with Common Service Centres- e Governance Services India for enhancing new offerings for the MSME sector
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the MoU and about CSC ) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors)
What's the NEWS

  • The National Small Industries Corporation signed an MoU with Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India for enhancing new offerings for the MSME sector by synergizing each others' competence.

Know! more about the MoU

  • This MoU will have special focus on providing services to village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) and would to lead to exponential growth of Village Entrepreneurs in the country.
  • The MoU will also enable CSCs to utilize plethora of NSIC offerings through the NSIC portal www.msmemart.com .
  • CSC will facilitate VLEs and MSMEs through digital empowerment in accessing NSIC integrated support services encompassing Marketing, Finance, Technology and other offerings.

Know! about Common Services Centres

  • The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale.
  • The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services.
  • A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills

In addition to the universe of G2C services, the CSC Guidelines envisage a wide variety of content and services that could be offered as listed below:

  • Agriculture Services (Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Veterinary)
  • Education & Training Services (School, College, Vocational Education, Employment, etc.)
  • Health Services (Telemedicine, Health Check-ups, Medicines)
  • Rural Banking & Insurance Services (Micro-credit, Loans, Insurance)
  • Entertainment Services (Movies, Television)
  • Utility Services (Bill Payments, Online bookings)
  • Commercial Services (DTP, Printing, Internet Browsing, Village level BPO).


Infrastructure Development
Central ATFM Complex
Relevance
IN Prelims and Mains ( GS III - infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

  • Civil Aviation ministry inaugurated the Air Traffic Flow Management - Central Command Centre at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

Know! about C-ATFM

  • The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources viz., airport, airspace and aircraft at every Indian airport where there is a capacity constraint.
  • The C-ATFM system integrates flight data from various subsystems like ATC Automation System, flight updates and flight update messages.
  • The system also displays weather information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes.
  • The system processes the demand and capacity information and provides decision-making tools to the ATFM Flow Manager for collaborative decision making and to ensure regulated flow of traffic at each airport in India.
  • The C-ATFM system is supported by 36 Flow Management Positions (FMP) at various airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad among others. Eight defense airports are also part of the ATFM network which are provided with FMPs.
  • After successfully implementing the Air Traffic Flow Management System, India has become the seventh country after the US, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Brazil.

Health Sector
AWaRe (Access, Watch and Reserve)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about AWaRe) + Mains ( GS II issues related to development and management of social services resulting to health)
What's the NEWS

  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently launched a global campaign urging governments all across the world to adopt its new online tool called AWaRe (Access, Watch and Reserve), which is aimed at guiding policy-makers and health workers of country to reduce spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse events and costs.
  • The AWaRe tool was developed by World Health Organisation's Essential Medicines List (EML) to reduce spread of antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic-related adverse events, and also to make

The WHO's latest advisory, suggested adoption of AWaRe approach which classifies antibiotics into three groups - 

  • Access- which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections
  • Watch- which ones should be available at all times in the healthcare system
  • Reserve- those that must be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort
  • The new campaign will strive towards increasing proportion of global consumption of antibiotics in Access group to minimum 60%, and towards reducing use of antibiotics most at risk of resistance from Watch and Reserve groups.
  • As Access antibiotics are narrow-spectrum antibiotics drugs (means that they target a specific microorganism rather than many), therefore, using Access antibiotics lowers the risk of resistance.
  • They are also less costly than others as they are available in generic formulation

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