Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules  04th March 2019

Infrastructure Development
Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project (Nepal portion)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the hydro project and Arun river) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development + GS II bilateral relations)

What's the NEWS
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, has approved investment for Transmission Component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project(Nepal portion)

• The current approval is for Investment approval of 400 kV D/C Diding (In Nepal) - Bathnaha (International Border) via Dhalkebar (In Nepal) Transmission Line of approximately 217 KM falling within the territory of Nepal to evacuate power from Arun-3 HEP in Nepal.

Benefits
• Employment generation of around 400 persons is envisaged in construction of transmission component of the project.

• The project will provide surplus power to India strengthening economic linkages with Nepal. The power from the project shall be exported from Dhalkebar in Nepal to Muzaffarpur in India.
Know! more about the project
• The Arun-3 Hydro Electric project (900 MW) is located on Arun River in Sankhuwasabha District of Eastern Nepal.

• The Arun River is a trans-boundary river and is part of the Kosi or Sapt Koshi river system in Nepal. It originates in Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China where it is called the Phung Chu or Bum-chu.

• The Run-of-River scheme envisages about 70 mtr. High concrete gravity dam and Head Race Tunnel (HRT) of 11.74 Km. with underground Power House containing four generating units of 225 MW each on Left Bank.

• Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) limited bagged the project through International Competitive Bidding. An MoU was signed between Government of Nepal and SJVN Limited for the project in March, 2008 for execution on Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis for a period of 30 years including five years of construction period.
Know! about SJVN
• SJVN Limited, a Mini Ratna, Category-I and Schedule -‘A' CPSE under administrative control of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, was incorporated on May 24, 1988 as a joint venture of the Government of India (GOI) and the Government of Himachal Pradesh (GOHP).

• SJVN is now a listed Company having shareholders pattern of 62.44 % with Govt. of India,26.85% with Govt. of Himachal Pradesh and rest of 10.71 % with Public.

• Beginning with a single Project and single State operation (i.e. India's largest 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station in Himachal Pradesh) the Company has commissioned four projects totalling 2003.2 MW of installed capacity.

• SJVN is presently implementing Power Projects in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat in India besides neighbouring countries viz. Nepal and Bhutan totalling 4018 MW.

Defence
Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the IPR Dialogue) + Mains ( GS II international organisations )

What's the NEWS
• The second edition of Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) - 2019 will be held on 05 and 06 March 2019 at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.

Know! more about the dialogue
• This dialogue will build upon the foundation laid by the inaugural edition and will examine five fresh themes:
(i) Practical solutions for achieving cohesion in the region through maritime connectivity;

(ii) Measures to attain and maintain a free-and-open Indo-Pacific;

(iii) A regional approach to the region's transition from a ‘Brown' to a ‘Blue' economy;

(iv) Opportunities and challenges arising from the maritime impact of ‘Industry 4.0'; and

(v) How the twin conceptualisations of ‘SAGAR' and ‘SAGARMALA' might best be made mutually-reinforcing on a regional level.

• These themes would be addressed in five sessions spread over two days, with three of the sessions being steered as panel-discussions, which would encourage a freer flow of ideas and views and ensure greater audience-interaction.

• IPRD-2019 is likely to witness active participation of globally-renowned domain experts and policy-makers from thirteen countries of the Indo-Pacific - Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

• Through this annual dialogue, the Indian Navy and the National Maritime Foundation, aim to provide a platform for substantive and insightful discussions pertaining to the geopolitical developments affecting the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific, and provide policy-relevant inputs to the policy-makers and the public at large.

Know! more about Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD)
• The idea of an Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) was first conceptualised and conducted in 2018, as the apex level conference of the Indian Navy, organised by the National Maritime Foundation as the Navy's Knowledge Partner.

• The permanent theme of this annual dialogue is a review of India's opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

• The aim is to focus attention on the Indo-Pacific, as a maritime geographical-entity, while deliberating aspects of great relevance to regional geopolitics.

• The 2018 edition of the IPRD sought to highlight the opportunities that lay before India's maritime policy-shapers, policy-makers, and, the practitioners of the country's maritime policies.

Economic Development
EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks

Relevance IN - Prelims (about EASE reforms outcome ) + Mains ( GS III economic reforms)

What's the NEWS
• The BCG-IBA report EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks measures the performance of each PSB on 140 objective metrics across 6 themes.

Know! the findings of the report
• Punjab National Bank has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms agenda', followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India.

• The six Public sector banks which are under PCA framework of the RBI have also been ranked under the Index.

• The performance of PSBs is as shown Indian Overseas Bank (66.7), UCO Bank (64.1), United Bank of India (60.8), IDBI Bank (60.2), Central Bank of India (55.7) and Dena Bank (53.8).

Know! the genesis of EASE -Index
• The government had announced in January 2018 that the government would come out with EASE -Index for ranking of banks aimed at increasing the public accountability of PSBs as independent agencies evaluate and rank PSBs annually on reforms.

• The report has been commissioned through Indian Banks' Association and authored by BCG with Forrester Inc., Kantar IMRB and TransUnion CIBIL as knowledge partners

Infrastructure Development
Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-conference

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the conference) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development )

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared ‘April 2019-March 2020' as Construction-Technology year at the Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-conference in New Delhi.

Construction-Technology year

• Construction-Technology year emphasises the role of advanced technology to meet the increasing demand for housing in the country

• The declaration of Construction year aims to give the housing sector a new pace by using the latest technologies available in the world.

• The integration of modern technology to the housing sector would make the sector more dynamic and vibrant.

• India has even launched the Global Housing Technology Challenge to fast-track the construction of affordable housing and meet the target of constructing 1.2 crore houses by 2022.

• Government is also focussing on bringing systematic reforms to provide technical skills to the youth and making changes in engineering and technology curriculum.

• At the Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-conference, Prime Minister also launched the GHTC-India mobile application, an interactive platform for all stakeholders for the exchange of knowledge on innovation and alternative housing technologies.


Information Technology
National Policy on Software Products - 2019

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the objectives of the policy) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of IT and issues related to intellectual property rights)

What's the NEWS

• The National Policy on Software Products - 2019 has been approved by the Union Cabinet.

Know! more about the policy

• The policy is aimed at developing India as a Software Product Nation. An outlay of Rs 1500 crore divided into Software Product Development Fund and Research & Innovation fund is envisaged to implement the programmes/ schemes envisaged under this policy over a period of 7 years.

• The Policy is aimed at giving a direction for the formulation of several schemes, initiatives, projects and measures for the development of Software products sector in the country as per the roadmap envisaged therein.

Five Missions of the National Policy on Software Products - 2019
• To promote the creation of a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property (IP), leading to a ten-fold increase in India's share of the Global Software product market by 2025.

• To nurture 10,000 technology startups in the software product industry, including 1000 such technology startups in Tier-II and Tier-III towns & cities and generating direct and indirect employment for 3.5 million people by 2025.

• To create a talent pool for software product industry through (i) up-skilling of 1,000,000 IT professionals, (ii) motivating 100,000 school and college students and (iii) generating 10,000 specialized professionals that can provide leadership.

• To build a cluster-based innovation-driven ecosystem by developing 20 sectoral and strategically located software product development clusters having integrated ICT infrastructure, marketing, incubation, R&D/testbeds and mentoring support.

• In order to evolve and monitor scheme & programmes for the implementation of this policy, the National Software Products Mission will be set up with participation from Government, Academia and Industry.

• To create a robust software product ecosystem the Government has approved the National Policy on Software Products - 2019 to develop India as the global software product hub, driven by innovation, improved commercialisation, sustainable Intellectual Property (IP).

Prelims Practise Question

Consider the following statements

1. Punjab National Bank has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms agenda according to the BCG-IBA report on EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks

2. The Arun River is a trans-boundary river and is part of the Kosi or Sapt Koshi river system in Nepal which originates in Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China

3. India has even launched the Global Housing Technology Challenge to fast-track the construction of affordable housing and meet the target of constructing 1.2 crore houses by 2025.

Find the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 and 2
b. 2 and 3
c. 1 2 and 3
d. None

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