Bilateral Relations
Mitali Express

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Mitali Express) + Mains (GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• A new passenger train connecting Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri on the Indian side was inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina
• This is the third passenger train after Maitree Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) running between the two neighbouring countries.

Know! more about it

• The new inter-country passenger train was launched on the occasion of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary and golden jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence
• The train will run between Dhaka Cantonment and New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal via Chilahati, a border railway station in Bangladesh.
• The distance between Dhaka and Chilahati is 453 km and from Chilahati to New Jalpaiguri is 71 km.
• The service will start when normalcy is restored. Both countries had suspended railway services after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
• The bi-weekly train has 10 coaches -- four AC cabins, four AC chairs and two power car brake vans. It is expected to give a boost to tourism in both the countries.
• The train will run from New Jalpaiguri to Dhaka Cantonment on Sunday and Wednesday and Dhaka Cantonment to New Jalpaiguri on Monday and Thursday.
• Last year, India and Bangladesh resumed operations on the Haldibari-Chilahati route for goods trains after a gap of over 55 years.
• The four other rail links that connect the two countries are Petrapole-Benapole, Gede-Darshana, Singhabad-Rohanpur and Radhikapur-Birol.

Governance
Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN)
Relevance in - Prelims (about ULPIN + about DILRMP) + ,Mains (GS II Governance)
What's the NEWS

• The Centre plans to issue a 14-digit identification number to every plot of land in the country within a year.

Know! about ULPIN

• It will subsequently integrate its land records database with revenue court records and bank records, as well as Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis, according to a parliamentary standing committee report submitted to the Lok Sabha last week.
• The Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme has been launched in 10 States this year and will be rolled out across the country by March 2022, the Department of Land Resources told the Standing Committee on Rural Development.
• It as "the Aadhaar for land" - a number that would uniquely identify every surveyed parcel of land and prevent land fraud, especially in rural India, where land records are outdated and disputed.
• The identification will be based on the longitude and latitude of the land parcel, and is dependent on detailed surveys and geo-referenced cadastral maps

Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)

• Government of India, in 2008-09, had launched Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) - erstwhile National Land Records Modernization Programme to digitize and modernize land records and develop a transparent and Integrated Land Information Management System (ILIMS) in the country.
• It is the vision of the Department to complete computerization/digitisation of land records in entire country by the Financial Year 2023-24. some Innovative initiatives taken under the DILRMP.
• National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) - ‘One Nation One Software' for registration of documents & properties to ‘empower citizens' launched / under implementation in 10 States / Union Territories
• Its benefits are reduction in land disputes, check on fraudulent transactions, SMS and email enabled alerts related to transactions on property, external system integrations can be provided as required (i.e. e-Sign, e-KYC, Payment Gateways, PAN Verification, ROR to fetch party names for data standardization)
• It is expected to improve ranking of the country in Ease of Doing Business at world level forum and provide ease of living to the people.
• Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) - 14 digits Alpha-numeric unique ID for each land parcel based on Geo reference coordinate of vertices of international standard and compliance of Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) standard and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards.
• It will provide compatibility so that all States can adopt it easily and help develop land bank and lead towards Integrated Land Information Management System (ILIMS).
• Its benefits are to ensure uniqueness in all transactions and keep the land records always up-to-date, link of all property transactions gets established, delivery of citizen services of land records through a single window, sharing of land records data across departments, financial institutions and all stakeholders, standardization at data and application level would bring in effective integration and interoperability across departments.

Bilateral Relations
India-US Strategic Energy Partnership

Relevance IN - Prelims ( all about India-US SEP and initiatives under SEP) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations + GS III Infrastructure development - Energy )
What's the NEWS

• Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas &Steel held an introductory meeting virtually with US Secretary of Energy
• Both leaders agreed to revamp the India-US SEP to reflect the new priorities with focus on promoting clean energy with low-carbon pathways and accelerating green energy cooperation.
• They agreed to prioritise greater collaboration in cleaner energy sector- biofuels, CCUS, hydrogen production and carbon sequestration through technology exchange, joint R&D through Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R), among other initiatives.
• Both sides agreed to convene the third meeting of a revamped India-US Strategic Energy Partnership at an early date.
• They decided to intensify the efforts to take advantage of the complementarities of both the countries -advanced US technologies and rapidly growing India's energy market, for a win-win situation through a cleaner energy route with low carbon pathways.

Know! all about India-US SEP

• Established in April 2018 at the direction of President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recognizing the strategic importance of energy to the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, the SEP builds upon our longstanding energy partnership and sets the stage for meaningful engagements through robust government-to-government cooperation and industry engagement.
• The United States and India share an all-of-the-above approach to energy security and energy access.
• The SEP organizes inter-agency engagement on both sides across four primary pillars of cooperation: (1) Power and Energy Efficiency; (2) Oil and Gas; (3) Renewable Energy; and (4) Sustainable Growth.
• Through these pillars, the United States and India are working to strengthen and modernize the power grid and distribution utilities for clean, affordable, and reliable energy access; improve efficiency, flexibility, and environmental performance in the power sector; promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth through long-term energy development; enhance energy security through oil and gas trade, and infrastructure investment; advance the development, deployment, and integration of renewable energy and expand access to finance for renewable energy projects; and reduce market barriers to energy trade and investment.
• The SEP also supports USG efforts under the Asia EDGE initiative, which establishes India as a strong energy partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The two countries are also leading joint research and development (R&D) through the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy-Research (PACE-R) on smart grids and energy storage to increase resilience and reliability of the electric grid.
• Last year they announced new areas of research on transformational power generation based on supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power cycles and advanced coal technologies for power generation and hydrogen production, including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).

Know! the Achievements and priorities for new work under the SEP.

Enhancing Energy Security

• The sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to begin cooperation on Strategic Petroleum Reserves operation and maintenance, including exchange of information and best practices.
• They also discussed the possibility of India storing oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increase their nation's strategic oil stockpile.

Harnessing Innovation

• The sides launched a public-private Hydrogen Task Force to help scale up technologies to produce hydrogen from renewable energy and fossil fuel sources and to bring down the cost of deployment for enhanced energy security and resiliency.
• They also signed an MOU to collaborate on India's first-ever Solar Decathlon® India in 2021, establishing a collegiate competition to prepare the next generation of building professionals to design and build high efficiency buildings powered by renewables.
• The sides jointly launched collaboration between the U.S. DOE National labs and the Indian National Institutes under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy as part of the newly launched South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE), supported by USAID, for joint research on development and deployment of advanced clean technologies.

Modernizing the Power System

• The two sides have been collaborating to modernize Distribution Sector through various reform measures for achieving reliable quality 24X7 power supply through increased private participation; enhancing consumer centricity; deployment of Smart Meters across India; and, establishing Smart Grid Knowledge Centre in India as a "Global Centre of Excellence" for Smart Grids.
• USAID and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation are developing a concept to establish a new $25-million credit guarantee for the Small and Medium Enterprise sector to deploy rooftop solar.
• The sides agreed to collaborate on advanced high-efficiency coal technologies with low-to-zero emissions through carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), focusing on USDOE's Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, Transformative) initiative to develop 21st Century coal energy systems.
• In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) jointly initiated a new activity, "Retrofit of Air Conditioning to Improve Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency" (RAISE) for healthy and energy efficient buildings. The initiative will be scaled in public sector buildings

Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth

• USAID and NITI Aayog jointly launched the India Energy Modeling Forum to build a network of modeling community and its linkage with Government for analytical work and policy making exercise.

Empowering Women in the Energy Sector

• USAID launched the South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE) platform focused on the power sector and the sides are working to incorporate gender-focused activities across the technical pillars.

Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy)

• In July 2018, the Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) initiative was announced as part of the economic pillar of the U.S. Indo-Pacific vision.
• Asia EDGE furthers the U.S. vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific to ensure peace, stability, and growing prosperity in the region.
• Under Asia EDGE, USAID plays a leading role helping its Indo-Pacific partners expand energy access, promote energy diversification and trade, and strengthen energy security across the region.
• The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources leads this initiative with the support of eight other U.S. agencies

Government Schemes
Jal Jeevan Mission ( Progress so far)
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Jal Jeevan Mission - progress so far) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions)
What's the NEWS

• Announced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15^th August, 2019, with the aim to provide tap water supply to every rural home by 2024, Jal Jeevan Mission has reached a new milestone of providing over 4 Crore rural households with tap water supply.
• Now, 7.24 Crore (38%) i.e. more than 1/3^rd of rural households are getting potable water through taps.
• Goa has become the first State in the country to provide 100% tap water supply followed by Telangana and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The untiring efforts of States/ UTs have helped Jal Jeevan Mission provide assured tap water supply to every family living in 56 districts and over 86 thousand villages.
• States/ UTs are now competing with each other and focusing on the target to ensure that every household in the country gets safe drinking water , so that 'no one is left out'.
• The efforts are in line with Government of India's endeavour to provide clean tap water in rural households with focus on improving their living standards and enhancing the ‘ease of living'.

Jal Jeevan Mission (implementation process)

• Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented in partnership with the States with an aim to provide potable water in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis.
• Extensive planning exercise is undertaken by the States/ UTs following ‘bottom-up approach'.
• Accordingly, they have firmed up the Action Plan to provide tap water connection to every rural household.
• While implementing, States are giving priority to water quality-affected areas, villages in drought prone and desert areas, Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe majority villages, aspirational districts and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna villages.
• Since children are more susceptible to water-borne diseases, a campaign has been launched to provide tap water supply in schools and ashramshalas and anganwadi centres across the country so that whenever the schools reopen, children are provided with safe water for drinking.
• Tap water to be used for cooking mid-day meal, providing handwashing facility and usage in toilets.
• Potable water supply to water quality-affected habitations is a top priority under Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Efforts are made to ensure safe drinking water is provided to all quality-affected villages especially Arsenic and Fluoride affected rural habitations.
• JJM gives highest priority to potability of drinking water, which will reduce water-borne diseases and improve health of people.
• States/ UTs are upgrading water quality testing laboratories and opening them to public enabling them to get their water samples tested at nominal rates.

Jal Jeevan Mission

• It is not about only infrastructure creation; focus is on ‘service delivery' by empowering local communities to function as local water utilities.
• It is important to spread awareness on judicious use of water especially as piped water reaches every household in the village.
• It is envisioned that the Gram Panchayat and/ or its sub-committee, i.e. Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ Pani Samiti, etc. plays a key role in planning, implementation, management, operation & maintenance of in-village water supply systems.
• Building responsive and responsible leadership will ensure that the water supply systems are sustainable and last the life cycle of the design period.

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