Relevance IN - Prelims ( about A- WEB) Mains ( GS II electoral reforms + salient features of the representation of people's act)
What's the NEWS

• The Election Commission of India is scheduled to host the 4^th General Assembly of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) at Bengaluru on 3^rd September 2019.
• India will take over as A-WEB's Chair for the 2019-21 term. Over 50 countries across the globe will join the meeting at Bengaluru from 02nd to 04th September, 2019.
• An International Conference on "Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and Information Technology in Elections" will also be held on 04^th September, 2019.

• The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.
• A-WEB was established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea. The permanent secretariat of A-WEB is located at Seoul.
• A-WEB's vision is to foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative elections worldwide.
• Its activities are guided by its mission to identify latest trends, challenges and developments in democratic electoral management and electoral processes and to facilitate appropriate exchange of experience and expertise among members with the objective of strengthening electoral democracy worldwide.
• Election Commission of India has been very closely associated with the process of formation of A-WEB since 2011-12.
• ECI has been its Executive Board Member since AWEB's inception in October 2013 for two consecutive terms (2013-15 and 2015-17).
• At present A-WEB has 115 EMBs as Members & 20 Regional Associations/Organisations as Associate Members.
• ECI will continue to remain on the Executive Board of A-WEB for 2021-23 in its capacity as immediate former Chair of A-WEB. The current Executive Board of AWEB 2017-19 has 21 members . India will take over as Chair of A-WEB for 2019-2021 term.

• A-WEB was founded with the shared vision among its members of achieving sustainable democracy around the world.
• A-WEB aims at strengthening the processes of election management in member countries.
• Since, its inception A-WEB has undertaken election ICT Programmes in various countries like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Fiji, Papua Guinea and Samoa.
• A-WEB also undertakes Election Visitor and Observation Programmes in various countries to study various election management practices and share knowledge with other Member of EMBs.

• The government has commissioned a Rs.9.3 crore study to assess the microbial diversity along the entire length of the Ganga and test if stretches of the 2,500 km long river contain microbes that may promote "antibiotic resistance".

• The project, expected to last two years, is to be undertaken by scientists at the Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology, Allahabad; the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur; Sardar Patel Institute of Science & Technology, Gorakhpur, as well as start-up companies, Phixgen and Xcelris Labs.
• The latter two provide genome sequencing services, which in this case will involve mapping the genomes of the microbes sampled.

• To indicate the type of "contamination" (sewage and industrial) in the river and "threat to human health (antibiotic resistance surge)", identifying sources of Eschericia coli, a type of bacteria that lives in the gut of animals and humans.
• While largely harmless, some species have been linked to intestinal disease as well as aggravating antibiotic resistance.
• There have been several studies that have looked at microbial diversity in the Ganga but these have been isolation. No study has looked at the "entire stretch" of the river
• In 2014, researchers from Newcastle University in the U.K. and IIT-Delhi sampled water and sediments at seven sites along the Ganga in different seasons.
• They reported in the peer-reviewed Environmental Science and Technology that levels of resistance genes that lead to "superbugs" were about 60 times greater during the pilgrimage months of May and June than at other times of the year.
• A 2017 report commissioned by the Union Department of Biotechnology and the U.K. Research Council underlined that India had some of the highest antibiotic resistance rates among bacteria that commonly cause infections.

• When bacteria develop the ability to survive exposure to antibiotics designed to kill them. It is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development.
• Antibiotic resistance results in longer hospital stay, higher medical costs and increased mortality rates. Antibiotics can dissolve in the soil, water and the environment at large, giving microbes further opportunity to build up resistance.
• The United States has recently published a report, it was mentioned that the rise in antibiotic resistance could kill 10 million people by 2050 in India.

Housing & Urban Affairs
Campaign Angikaar & E-Course on Vulnerability Atlas Launched

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about angikaar and about e -course on vulnerability atlas) Mains ( GS III infrastructure development + disaster management)
What's the NEWS

• The Housing and Urban Affairs ministry launched "angikaar" a campaign for change management and e-Course on Vulnerability Atlas of India

Know! about Angikaar

• Angikaar has been launched for social behaviour change, focusing on issues such as water & energy conservation, waste management, health, tree plantation, sanitation and hygiene for beneficiaries of completed houses under PMAY (U), through community mobilisation and IEC activities.
• For this purpose, the campaign will converge with schemes and Missions of other Ministries dealing with these subjects.
• The convergence would especially focus on Ujjwala for gas connection and Ayushman Bharat for health insurance to the beneficiaries of PMAY (U).
• Under PMAY (U) about 88 lakh houses has been approved till now as against demand of 1.12 crore. The angikaar aims at reaching out all the beneficiaries of the Mission in phased manner.
• The campaign will be initiated in all target cities on 2^nd October 2019 commemorating 150^th Gandhi Jayanti after preparatory phase and culminate on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10^th December, 2019. The campaign will include door to door activities, ward and city level events.

Know! about e-course on Vulnerability Atlas

• The e-course on Vulnerability Atlas is offered by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in collaboration of School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), New Delhi and Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC).
• It is a unique course that offers awareness and understanding about natural hazards, helps identify regions with high vulnerability with respect to various hazards (earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, floods, etc.) and specifies district-wise level of damage risks to the existing housing stock.
• The e-course will be a tool for effective & efficient disaster mitigation & management in the field of Architecture, Civil Engineering, Urban & Regional Planning, Housing & Infrastructure Planning, Construction Engineering & Management and Building & Materials Research. The registration to e-Course on Vulnerability Atlas of India will be through SPA's website www.spa.ac.in.
• During the inauguration of Construction Technology India (CTI-2019), Hon'ble Prime Minister gave a mandate to enable "Ease of Living" for PMAY (U) beneficiaries and emphasized the need to incorporate hazard safety provisions in all construction works. In this direction, as a part of 100 days agenda the Ministry has launched these initiatives.

Agricultural Reforms
Govt approves Rs 6,268 crore subsidy to promote sugar exports

Relevance IN -Mains ( GS III issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidy and minimum support price)
What's the NEWS

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved sugar export policy for evacuation of surplus stocks during sugar season 2019-20.
• The CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave nod to sugar export subsidy of about Rs 6,268 crore to liquidate surplus domestic stock and help mills in clearing huge sugarcane arrears to farmers.

Know! more about the export subsidy and how it will benefit the farmers

• The export subsidy will be provided for expenses on marketing costs including handling, upgrading and other processing costs, international and internal transport costs and freight charges.
• The subsidy would be directly credited into farmers' accounts on behalf of mills against sugarcane price dues. Subsequent balance, if any, would be credited to mills' account.
• The decision will benefit millions of farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka as well as other states, Javadekar added. Maharashtra and Haryana are among the top sugar cane producing states in the country.
• Given the surplus sugar production in the last two seasons and various measures taken by the government, the ensuing sugar season 2019-20 is expected to commence with an opening stock of about 142 LMT and season-end stock is expected to be about 162 LMT.
  
  

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