• The strategically located Advance Landing Ground (ALG) at Vijaynagar has been re-dedicated to the nation and the people of Arunachal Pradesh thereby connecting it by air with the rest of the country.
• Vijaynagar ALG was non-operational for fixed-wing operations since 2016.
• The commanders of the Eastern sector of the Air Force and the Army jointly presided over the ceremony. They jointly inaugurated the resurfaced runway at Vijaynagar ALG thereby re-establishing military transport aircraft connectivity at this Eastern most hamlet of India.

• The operations started with the landing of AN-32 transport aircraft of Air Force which carried the senior Air Force and Army officers.
• Repair of the runway at Vijaynagar, which was coordinated by Air Force Station Jorhat, was a challenging task because there exists no road connectivity and all the load had to be airlifted by helicopters.
• With the opening of the ALG, the movement of larger transport aircraft to and from this airfield will start and will act as a catalyst for the development of the area and facilitate movement of the locals.
• The airfield is important not only for the local administration in extending their reach to the residents of this remote area but also crucial from a strategic point of view.
• The ALG will assist in the effective management of our borders with Myanmar and with China as well due to its location and proximity to both the borders.
• India shares 3488 km of the border with China and 1643 km of border with Myanmar. State of Arunachal Pradesh share 1126 km length of the India China border called the Line of Actual Control. Border of Arunachal Pradesh with Myanmar is 526 km long.

INTERNAL SECURITY
Emergency Response Support System (ERSS- Dial 112), ‘E-Beat Book' System and ‘E-Saathi' App launched by Home Minister
Relevance IN - Prelims (about ERSS + E-beat book system + E-Saathi App) + Mains (GS III internal security - police reforms)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah launched three citizen centric services of the Chandigarh Police.
• The services include the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS - Dial 112), ‘E-Beat Book' System and the ‘E-Saathi App'.

Know! about ERSS

• ERSS is one of the key projects of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under Nirbhaya Fund.
• It has been designed to play a pivotal role in mitigation or preventing escalation of crime, especially against women and children.
• ERSS provides a single emergency number (112), computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress. Citizens can send their emergency information through call, sms, email and through the 112 India mobile app.
• The ‘Dial 112' emergency response service is an initiative to strengthen proactive community policing that would end confusion amongst distress callers
• In future, the Emergency Number for Road Accidents (1073),Women Helpline (1091, 181), Child Help Line (1098), including other Helpline services would be added under the 112 unified emergency response number.

Know! about E-Beat Book

• The ‘E-Beat Book' is a web and mobile based application which will ease the collection, updation and analysis of the information related to crime and criminals in a real time.
• The E-Beat Book would be linked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), which would help in a real time updation of crime/criminal data.
• The citizen can directly approach the‘Atal Sehbhagita Kendra' for redressal of their grievances and can render their suggestions too.

Know! about The ‘E-Saathi' App

• The ‘E-Saathi' App would help the general public, including senior citizens, to remain in touch with the police and also give suggestions to facilitate participative community policing(‘Your Police at Your Doorstep' initiative).
• The beat officer would be able to provide services like passport verification, tenant verification, servant verification, character certification etc. at a click of a button through the app, without the people needing to visit the police station.

SOCIAL JUSTICE
Management Information System Portal launched
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the Management Information System) + Mains (GS II Social Justice-Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What's the NEWS

• The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has developed a Management Information System, MIS for stakeholders of Accessible India Campaign.
• Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot launched the MIS portal

Know! about the MIS Portal

• The MIS portal will bring all the nodal ministries and States and Union Territories on a single platform for monitoring the progress being made against each target of Accessible India Campaign.
• The portal will be useful in maintaining all the function on digital platform and capture data on a real-time basis.
• The monitoring of the places being made accessible will become more effective as there is provision of uploading images of such features. The portal is made fully accessible for Divyangjans.

Know! about Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

• It is a program which was launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
• The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
• The flagship program has been launched by the Prime Minister on 3 December 2015, the International Day of people with Disabilities.
• The initiative also in line with the Article 9 of UNCRPD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to which India is a signatory since 2007.
• The scheme also comes under Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 under section 44, 45, 46 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities

CABINET DECISIONS
Cabinet approves Payment of PLB to railway employees for the FY 2018-19

Relevance IN - Prelims (about PLB) + Mains (GS III economic development - steps taken by the government to boost economy)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved the payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days wages to over 11.52 Lakh eligible non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) for the Financial Year (FY) 2018-19, for maintaining industrial peace and motivation of railwaymen.

Know! the benefits

• Payment of PLB equivalent to 78 days wages to eligible railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) for the FY 2018-19 would result in motivating a large number of railway employees to improve the performance of the Railways and enhance the productivity levels further, besides maintaining industrial peace.
• PLB to all non-gazetted railway employees is an acknowledgement of their contribution to the efficient running of the Railways.
• There being large number of railwaymen and their families, this acknowledgement will enhance the sense of inclusiveness and equity among them.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
DSCI, MeitY and Google India join hands for 'Digital Payment Abhiyan'
Relevance IN - Prelims (about digital India Abhiyaan) + Mains (GS III economic development - financial inclusion + digital literacy)
What's the NEWS

• Nasscom's Data Security Council of India (DSCI) has collaborated with the electronics and IT ministry (MeitY) and Google India to launch a nationwide awareness campaign 'Digital Payment Abhiyan'.

Know! more about the campaign

• Communications and Electronics & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the campaign that will educate end-users on the benefits of making digital payments and urge them to adopt security and safety best practices.
• The campaign was launched at the Google for India event.
• To drive the campaign objectives and amplify outreach to users across all states, DSCI has onboarded various digital payments ecosystem partners. These partners include representation from banking, card networks as well as fin-tech segment.
• The pan-India campaign has crafted in seven languages -- Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi -- and will engage with users and make them aware of the dos and don'ts for different payment channels including UPI, wallets, cards as well as net banking and mobile banking.
  
  

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