Relevance IN - Prelims (about Strait of Hormuz and about Maritime choke points)
What's the NEWS

• In the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in the Gulf region, post attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf of Oman in Jun 19, Indian Navy had commenced Maritime Security Operations, code named Op SANKALP, in the Gulf Region on 19 Jun 19 to ensure safe passage of Indian Flag Vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Indian Navy warships and aircraft were deployed to establish presence, provide a sense of reassurance to the Indian merchantmen, monitor the ongoing situation and respond to any emergent crises. One war ship is presently deployed for Operation SANKALP.

About the Strait of Hormuz

• The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
• It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.
• It separates Iran and Oman. It inks the Gulf countries to the Gulf of Oman and to the Arabian Sea.
• On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.
• The strait is about 90 nautical miles (167 km) long, with a width varying from about 52 nautical miles (96 km) to 21 nautical miles (39 km).

Hormuz Peace Initiative

• India recently attended the Hormuz Peace Initiative that was held in Tehran.
• The Peace Initiative was started by Iran with Oman, China, India and Afghanistan being the key attendees.
• The countries that attended the initiative reviewed the "Hormuz Peace Endeavor" (HOPE) that was proposed by Tehran. It was proposed by Iran at the UN
• The talks were important for India because 2/3 of the oil supply to India and half of the natural gas supply to India is done through this route called the Hormuz strait.

Maritime Choke Points

• Maritime choke points are naturally narrow channels of shipping having high traffic because of their strategic locations.
• Maritime chokepoints, or oil chokepoints, are congestive pathways in some of the world's famous shipping routes.
• There are many such choke points around the world, however, a few of them are extremely famous for ships and thus face high international security conflicts and cross-border terrorism threats.

Some of the famous maritime chokepoints around the world are:

• The Malaccan strait in the Indian Ocean
• The Gulf of Hormuz in the Middle-east
• The Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
• The Panama Canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean
• The Strait of Bosporus (Turkish Strait) linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea
• The three Danish Straits linking the Baltic Sea with the North Sea
• The Strait of Bab el-Mandeb forming a gateway for vessels to pass through the Suez Canal, through the east coast of Africa

Prelims Factoids
Rojgaar Sangi app.
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the Rojgaar Sagi app)
What's the NEWS

• Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Authority (CSSDA) is introducing a mobile phone app. The soft launch of ‘Rojgaar Sangi' was conducted by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel

Know! more about the app

• The app was developed with the help of National Informatics Centre to help skilled and trained candidates find jobs.
• The app will benefit 7 lakh students who were trained under the 705 courses offered by CSSDA.
• The app can also be used to register online for the unemployment index. Under any employment generation scheme, the users will be notified
• The app makes it easier for start-up companies to hire office staff.
• The app currently has no way to regulate the earning. "In the app, the customer can put the salary they can pay and registered workers can then show interest accordingly.

Infrastructure Development
World Bank and Government of India Sign $88 million loan agreement for the implementation of Assam Inland Water Transport Project
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the agreement signed and its benefits + inland waterways + Jal Marg Vikas Prog.) + Mains (GS III infrastructure development-ports)
What's the NEWS

• The Government of India, the Government of Assam and the World Bank signed a loan agreement of $88 million to help modernize Assam's passenger ferry sector that runs on its rivers including the mighty Brahmaputra.

Know! more about the agreement

• A majority of Assam's more than 361 ferry routes cross the Brahmaputra or serve its islands, providing a crucial means of transport to thousands of commuters in both the urban and rural areas of the Brahmaputra Valley.
• The Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) will help Assam improve the passenger ferry infrastructure and its services and strengthen the capacity of the institutions running the inland water transport.
• Technically better designed terminals and energy-efficient vessels (both new and retrofitted) will make the ferry services more sustainable with least disruption to nature.

Inland waterways

• India's large network of inland waterways can play a significant role in the country's economy.
• Its fuel efficiency contributes to lower operating costs and reduces environmental impact.
• Inland Water Transport is also a more sustainable mode of transport. It provides low-carbon and low-cost options when compared to the cost of constructing and maintaining flood-resilient roads and bridges across the long stretches of the Brahmaputra river.
• In Assam, the rivers are a vital transport asset for its people.
• The Assam Inland Water Transport Project will help develop a modern, efficient and safe river transport system for the large volume of passengers and cargo carried by the
• Assam has the largest network of navigable waterways in India.

Know! all about Inland Waterways developments in India

• Inland waterways is a network in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks that can be used for transportation in place of or in addition to roads and rails.

National Waterways

• There are 111 officially notified Inland National Waterways (NWs) in India identified for the purposes of inland water transport, as per The National Waterways Act, 2016.
• Out of the 111 NWs, 106 were created in 2016. The NW network covers around 20,275.5 km. NW-1, 2, & 3 are already operational. Cargo as well as passenger / cruise vessels are plying on these waterways

Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP)

• The Government is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for the capacity augmentation of navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1 (Ganga) with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs.5,369.18 crore.
• Under this project, construction of three multimodal terminals, two intermodal terminals, one new navigational lock and works for fairway development, River Information System (RIS), vessel repair and maintenance facilities and Ro-Ro terminals are envisaged to be completed by December, 2022.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) came into existence on 27^th October 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
• The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping.
• India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which comprise of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.
• About 55 million tones of cargo is being moved annually by Inland Water Transport (IWT), a fuel - efficient and environment -friendly mode.
• Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers , the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari - Krishna rivers.

Sagarmala Programme
Vision

Components of Sagarmala Programme are:

• Port Modernization & New Port Development: De-bottlenecking and capacity expansion of existing ports and development of new greenfield ports
• Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing the connectivity of the ports to the hinterland, optimizing cost and time of cargo movement through multi-modal logistics solutions including domestic waterways (inland water transport and coastal shipping)
• Port-linked Industrialization: Developing port-proximate industrial clusters and Coastal Economic Zones to reduce logistics cost and time of EXIM and domestic cargo
• Coastal Community Development Promoting sustainable development of coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism etc.
• Coastal Shipping & Inland Waterways Transport Impetus to move cargo through the sustainable and environment-friendly coastal and inland waterways mode.

Environment Conservation
Centre eases CRZ rules for ‘Blue Flag' beaches
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the eased CRZ rules and about blue flag certification) + Mains (GS III Environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• The Environment Ministry has relaxed Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules that restrict construction near beaches to help States construct infrastructure and enable them to receive ‘Blue Flag' certification.
• Last year, the Ministry selected 13 beaches in India to vie for the certificate , one of them, Chandrabhaga beach, has already received the Blue Flag tag. Other 12 notified beaches are:
• Ghoghala beach (Diu), Shivrajpur beach (Gujarat), Bhogave beach (Maharashtra), Padubidri and Kasarkod beaches (Karnataka), Kappad beach (Kerala), Kovalam beach (Tamil Nadu), Eden beach (Puducherry), Rushikonda beach (Andhra Pradesh), Miramar beach (Goa), Golden beach (Odisha), Radhanagar beach (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and Bangaram beach (Lakshadweep).
• This is an international recognition conferred on beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and environmental propriety.

Know! more about it (restrictions eased)

• The Blue Flag certification, however, requires beaches to create certain infrastructure - portable toilet blocks, grey water treatment plants, a solar power plant, seating facilities, CCTV surveillance and the like.
• However, India's CRZ laws don't allow the construction of such infrastructure on beaches and islands.
• Via an order on January 9, the Environment Ministry eased these restrictions for the "purposes of Blue Flag certification".
• The following activities and facilities shall be permitted in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), including Islands, subject to maintaining a minimum distance of 10 meters from HTL (High Tide Line)," the gazette notification notes.

Blue Flag certification

• The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education, with 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.
• The ‘Blue Flag' beach is an ‘eco-tourism model' and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
• The Blue Flag Programme started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001, when South Africa joined.
• Japan and South Korea are the only countries in south and south eastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches. Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395 Blue Flag beaches, respectively.
• Chandrabhaga beach located on the Konark coast of Odisha is the first beach in the country to receive 'Blue Flag Certification'.

Coastal Regulation Zone

• It describes an area of coastal areas of rivers, seas, backwaters, and bays declared as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) under coastal zone regulation notification in 1991.
• It has been further classified into four different zones - ecologically sensitive areas, urban areas, rural areas, low tide line area.
  
  

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