Friday, February 19, 2021

Sandes- India’s new instant messaging platform

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has launched an app called Sandes. This instant messaging platform is similar to WhatsApp. It can be used for any type of communications by anyone. It requires a mobile number or an email id to get registered with the app.

Highlights

The need to launch the app was felt to ensure a secure communication between the employees because the “Work from Home” culture has gained the momentum in the backdrop of nationwide lockdown that was imposed in March 2020 amid the spread of Covid-19.
NIC released the first version of the app in August 2020.
The app can be used by central and state government officials for intra-organisational and inter-organisational communication.
This app was initially launched for Android users and mainly for government officers.
Later, the service was also extended to iOS users and it is now available for the common public as well.
This app is a part of the government strategy to push the use of India-made software.
It will help in building an ecosystem of indigenously developed software and products.

Background

The ministry of home affairs in the year 2020 had issued the advisory for the government employees to not use the platforms like Zoom for official communications because of security concerns. Before that, the Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) had also issued an advisory against Zoom with respect to the safety and privacy concerns.

Features

The interface of the application is similar to other applications that are available in the arena. This app has no option to transfer chat history between two platforms. However, the chats on the government instant messaging systems (GIMS) or the Sandes App can be backed up with a users’ email. The app requires a valid mobile number or email id to register the user. It comprises of the features like broadcast message, group making, message forwarding and emojis. It also has an additional safety feature. The platform allows the user to mark the message as confidential. Thus, it makes the recipient aware that the message should not be forwarded to other users.

Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme- Key Facts

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship recently rolled out the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme in all the districts India.

Highlights

The programme was earlier working across 69 districts.
Fellows under the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship will acquire the academic expertise and technical competency.
The expertise will help them to understand the overall skill ecosystem.
It will also help the fellows to get attached to District Skill Committees.
The ministry of skill development has also joined hands with Kerala Institute of Local Administration so as to conduct the capacity building programmes for district officials from the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
The partnership between the two will be more focused towards strengthening the overall quality of skill training.
The ministry highlighted that, this fellowship programme along with the recent launch of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 and other academic partnerships with IITs, IIMs, KILA and GIZ-IGVET under the SANKALP scheme will help in empowering the districts and ensure the demand-driven skilling.

About SANKALP Scheme

The SANKALP scheme stands for the “Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion”. This programme is assisted by the World Bank loan. The scheme was launched with the objective of strengthening the district skill administration and the District Skill Committees (DSCs).

Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme

MGNF is a two-year fellowship programme. It was launched with the objective of boosting the skill development at the district level. It has been designed under the SANKALP scheme. The scheme was launched with the aim of addressing the challenge of non-availability of personnel in order to implement the programmes at district, state and national levels. Under the programme, the fellows should be aged between 21 to 30 years to get enrolled.

Current Affairs – February 19, 2021

INDIA

PM Modi launches ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ project in Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, 2021 launched the ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ initiative in Assam. The programe is aimed at providing seamless connectivity to the eastern parts of India and includes various development activities for the people living around River Brahmaputra and River Barak. As part of ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ programe, he inaugurated the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neamati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari. He also laid the foundation stone of Inland Water Transport (IWT) Terminal at Jogighopa and various tourist jetties on River Brahmaputra.

PM Modi lays foundation stone of Dhubri Phulbari bridge over Brahmaputra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, 2021 laid the foundation stone for Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge over Brahmaputra river. The 19 km long 4-lane bridge from Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya will improve connectivity in Barak Valley and will reduce distance between Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam. The distance between Meghalaya and Assam is about 250 km by road now it will be reduced to just 19-20 km.

India hosts online workshop on ‘COVID-19 Management’, 10 nations participate

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a Workshop on ‘COVID-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward’ with nearly 10 Neighboring Countries on February 18, 2021. India hosted a Secretary-level virtual meeting on COVID-19 management with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. SAARC nations, including Pakistan, participated in the workshop. Modi called for making a regional air ambulance agreement among neighbouring countries for “medical contingencies”.

PM Modi speaks with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, 2021 spoke with Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison. Modi said both the countries reiterated their commitment to consolidate Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discussed regional issues of common interest.

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad features in TIME magazine’s list

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad has featured in TIME magazine’s annual list of 100 “emerging leaders who are shaping the future”. The 2021 TIME100 Next, released on February 17, 2021 also has five Indian-origin personalities: Twitter’s top lawyer Vijaya Gadde, U.K.’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Instacart founder & CEO Apoorva Mehta, doctor & Executive Director of nonprofit Get Us PPE Shikha Gupta and founder of nonprofit Upsolve, Rohan Pavuluri.

Veteran Congress leader Captain Satish Sharma passes away at 73

Captain Satish Sharma, Congress leader and former Union Petroleum Minister (1993-1996) in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government, passed away on February 17, 2021 at the age of 73. Capt. Sharma, a former airline pilot, had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in 1991 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

L&T delivers 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer to Army

Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane on February 18, 2021 flagged off the 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its armoured system complex at Hazira in Gujarat. With this, L&T had completed the delivery of all the howitzers under the contract awarded in May 2017 ahead of schedule. The 155mm, 52 calibre K9 Vajra is built by L&T with technology transfer from South Korean defence major Hanwha Defense, and is based on its K9 Thunder.

S. Jaishankar participates in virtual ministerial meeting of Quad

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar participated in a virtual ministerial meeting of the Quad along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Foreign Ministers Marise Payne of Australia and Toshimitsu Motegi Japan on February 18, 2021.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on February 17, 2021 met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Moscow and held political consultations on a wide range of issues pertaining to the bilateral ties, including the schedule of the upcoming political contacts.

Economy & Corporate

Labour bureau to conduct five nationwide surveys to check job data inaccuracies

The lack of data on workers, which was evident during the COVID-19-induced lockdown in 2020, would be addressed by the five all-India labour surveys being conducted by the Labour Bureau, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said on February 18, 2021. The surveys will be conducted in five regional languages (Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Malayalam) along with English and Hindi. The minister released instruction manuals with questionnaires for the five pan-India surveys being conducted by the Labour Bureau. The five all India surveys being undertaken by Labour Bureau are: 1) All India Survey on Migrant workers, 2) All India Survey on Domestic Workers (DW), 3) All India Survey on Employment Generated by Professionals, 4) All India Survey on Employment Generated in Transport Sector, 5) All-India Quarterly Establishment- based Employment Survey.

Pralhad Joshi inaugurates production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha

Union Minister for Mines, Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik on February 18, 2021, jointly inaugurated the production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha namely Jiling-Langlota Iron ore Block and Guali Iron ore Block. Both the mines have production capacity of 15 lakh tonnes per month and they possess approx. 275 million tonnes of consolidated iron ore reserves.

RBI approves DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance

The Reserve Bank of India has cleared the acquisition of Diwan Housing Finance Corporation by Piramal Capital And Housing Finance. DHFL was sent to bankruptcy court in December 2019 after the company defaulted to its lenders on debt worth Rs 90,000 crore. The promoters of the company are currently in jail and are facing money laundering charges. Piramal’s plan is to recover Rs 37,250 crore over the next five years for DHFL’s lenders.

World

Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting held on the Legal aspects of COVID-19

Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, on behalf of Union Minister for Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, represented India in the Commonwealth High Level Law Ministers Meeting on the Legal aspects of COVID-19. The meeting, chaired by the Law Minister of Sri Lanka, was organised in virtual mode by Commonwealth Secretariat on February 18, 2021. The event provided an opportunity to the Law Ministers to share views and experiences on solutions to key legal challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian appointed Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP

India’s Usha Rao-Monari, a leading investment professional, has been appointed by UN chief Antonio Guterres as Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UNDP.

US: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh dies at 70

Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who was one of the most powerful voices on the American right, influencing the rightward push of conservatism and the rise of Donald Trump, died on February 18, 2021 at the age of 70.

U.S. will pay over $200 million in WHO contributions, says Antony Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that his country would pay the World Health Organization (WHO) $200 million by the end of February 2021. The announcement is significant as former U.S. President Donald Trump had begun the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO.

Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform

Facebook announced on February 18, 2021 that it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism. Australian publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announces his resignation

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation on February 18, 2021, following a court ruling that ordered the arrest of a man who leads the ex-Soviet nation’s top opposition party. Gakharia said he was stepping down because of disagreements within his own team over the decision to arrest Nika Melia, chairman of the United National Movement opposition party.

Sports

Seiko Hashimoto (56) named President of Tokyo Olympic organising committee

Former Olympian Seiko Hashimoto (56) was named as president of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee after a meeting of its executive board. She replaces 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister who was forced to resign recently after making sexist comments about women.

Here are Today’s News Headlines by GK Today for February 19, 2021

INDIA

PM Modi launches ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ project in Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, 2021 launched the ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ initiative in Assam. The programme is aimed at providing seamless connectivity to the eastern parts of India and includes various development activities for the people living around River Brahmaputra and River Barak. As part of ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ programme, he inaugurated the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neamati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari. He also laid the foundation stone of Inland Water Transport (IWT) Terminal at Jogighopa and various tourist jetties on River Brahmaputra.

PM Modi lays foundation stone of Dhubri Phulbari bridge over Brahmaputra

India hosts online workshop on ‘COVID-19 Management’, 10 nations participate

PM Modi speaks with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad features in TIME magazine’s list

Veteran Congress leader Captain Satish Sharma passes away at 73

L&T delivers 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer to Army

S. Jaishankar participates in virtual ministerial meeting of Quad

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Economy & Corporate

Labour bureau to conduct five nationwide surveys to check job data inaccuracies

Pralhad Joshi inaugurates production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha

RBI approves DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance

World

Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting held on the Legal aspects of COVID-19

Indian appointed Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP

India’s Usha Rao-Monari, a leading investment professional, has been appointed by UN chief Antonio Guterres as Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UNDP.

US: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh dies at 70

U.S. will pay over $200 million in WHO contributions, says Antony Blinken

Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announces his resignation

Sports

Seiko Hashimoto (56) named President of Tokyo Olympic organising committee

IIT Guwahati researchers develop techniques for rapid evaporation of droplets

IIT Guwahati researchers develop advanced techniques for rapid evaporation of droplets. According to the team, the method is aimed at controlling the life-time of droplets containing suspended nanoparticles. Suspended nanoparticles are magnetically active, thereby enabling the flexibility of being under control in a magnetic forcing environment.

The research has been published in "Soft Matter", a highly reputed journal belonging to the Royal Society of Chemistry.

"The research revealed that the mixing between two droplets can be attenuated significantly under the actuation of the magnetic field. This novel method showed a significant enhancement of around 80 per cent in the overall mixing time between the droplets in comparison to the case where no external force is applied," said Pranab Kumar Mondal, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati.

"The research outcomes could be potentially beneficial in the area of biomedical diagnostics, whereby rapid and efficient mixing between fluids is of utmost importance. In addition to that, this research also revealed that the magnetic field can be successfully used in altering the lifetime of a droplet containing suspended magnetic nanoparticles," he said.According to the team, the research has shown that the evaporation rate of the droplet can be successfully controlled by varying the applied magnetic field frequency.

"The inferences drawn from this study could have far-reaching implications ranging from biomedical engineering to surface patterning.

"With the advent of miniaturization, effective transfer of mass between species has attracted significant attention of global communities because of its wide range of industrial applicability. In particular, rapid evaporation and mixing between droplets has extensive range of engineering applications such as biological sample diagnostics, ink-jet printing, surface patterning and many more," Mondal said.

Source: Hindustan Times, 18/02/21

Large hydro projects risk Himalayan communities

The Uttarakhand tragedy is a moment to review support for Himalayan dams and construction-based economy.The impact of the February 7 flash floods in Uttarakhand is still being estimated while rescue and relief operations remain challenged and the death toll rises. The tragedy has brought into sharp focus the environmental risks to the Himalayan people and to the region’s development. This is a moment for all our decision-makers in state governments, courts and Parliament to review their support for Himalayan dams.In recent years, the central government’s unconditional push on renewable energy (RE) has motivated the Himalayan states to seek RE status for the hydropower sector. In March 2019, the Cabinet granted this status to all hydropower projects, effectively removing the earlier policy distinction between projects up to 25 MW and larger ones. This decision came after the standing committee of the ministry of power observed that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of hydropower stations “is even lesser than solar projects” and that the “net effect of hydro projects has always been positive for the surrounding”.

This position signals grave risks for all Himalayan communities, as it could make this ecologically sensitive region the densest hydropower zone in the world. As the committee report shows, the reassessment of large dams as RE has been done with the sole aim of attracting energy finance for hydropower development in the Himalayan region, stated to be “abundant” in water resources.

Globally, climate policy debates now take energy transition as a given. The spatial aspects of this ongoing global energy transition, especially the participation of state governments in electricity decarbonisation, are crucial to understand. Energy transition policies and projects are creating new “clean energy” geographies and new energy politics around RE.

India’s re-engagement with large hydro is one such regional dynamic. It has drawn small, border Himalayan states into global and national climate and energy discourses. As the representative of Uttarakhand stated to the parliamentary committee, “Solar energy, wind energy or any other form of renewable energy is always going to be smaller. For us, as a state in the Himalayas, hydro is our main stake.”

The ambitions of the Indian Himalayan states to seize the energy transition narrative illustrates what climate scholars identify as a shift from “burden-sharing to opportunity-sharing” in climate policies. The parliamentary committee report details several attempts by state representatives to persuade national policymakers to recognise that India’s energy transition pathways necessarily include the politically delegitimised and ecologically damaging large hydro.

Governments anticipate a number of developmental benefits of energy transition such as cheaper, reliable energy for economic development, revenues from export of “green” fuel, access to international development finance, and increased local business opportunities. These are referred to as “co-benefits” in climate policy discourses. Co-benefits are crucial to justify the exemptions, concessions and incentives given upfront by states to attract private investments for large-scale RE projects. These discourses have been applied to policymaking in the “Himachal model” of private hydro-development. The state’s policies guarantee purchase of power, easy and cheap land transfers and exemptions from local consent.

The hydro sector is still dominated by public sector units due to their access to long-term finance and State guarantees.

Despite several policy changes, the share of the private sector has remained low as compared to private investments in the coal power sector. The committee report shows the Himalayan state representatives and the hydropower bureaucracy stating unambiguously that the RE status and accompanied incentives are needed to attract private investments to the sector. The RE tag is a means to create new investment opportunities in the hydro sector for financial elites and energy capital.

The social and environmental risks of large dams are well-documented. Although the committee’s report records that “geological surprises” resulting from weak Himalayan geology, “lack of technology or expertise, natural calamities like landslides, floods, and cloud bursts etc cause severe setbacks in construction schedules”, the committee didn’t see these as problems that require in-depth examination. Instead, the report dedicates its attention to reducing the financial risk to existing and potential dam-builders.

In an effort to attract investments from the private sector that is reluctant to venture into “remote” Himalayan locations, government agencies are willing to undertake construction of “enabling infrastructure” at public cost. Himalayan road construction, that has a serious impact, should be seen as an integral part of incentivising private hydro-development in this region.

The standing committee report is an excellent example of the opportunistic use of RE and how the development of private hydro-finance overtakes the assessment of social and environmental risks of dams.

Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli are with the Centre for Policy Research

Source: Hindustan Times, 19/02/21

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Quote of the Day February 18, 2021

“Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.”
Napoleon Bonaparte

“सम्पन्नता धन के संग्रह में नहीं होती, बल्कि उसके उपयोग में होती है।”
नेपोलियन बोनापार्ट

Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Achieving Sustainable Healthy Food Systems - The Need for Actual Food Consumption Data for Measuring Food Insecurity and Its Consequences

Uma Lele, Sambuddha Goswami, Mesfin Mergia Mekonnen

Followers

Friday, February 19, 2021

Highlights

Background

Features

Highlights

About SANKALP Scheme

Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme

INDIA

PM Modi launches ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ project in Assam

PM Modi lays foundation stone of Dhubri Phulbari bridge over Brahmaputra

India hosts online workshop on ‘COVID-19 Management’, 10 nations participate

PM Modi speaks with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad features in TIME magazine’s list

Veteran Congress leader Captain Satish Sharma passes away at 73

L&T delivers 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer to Army

S. Jaishankar participates in virtual ministerial meeting of Quad

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Economy & Corporate

Labour bureau to conduct five nationwide surveys to check job data inaccuracies

Pralhad Joshi inaugurates production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha

RBI approves DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance

World

Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting held on the Legal aspects of COVID-19

Indian appointed Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP

US: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh dies at 70

U.S. will pay over $200 million in WHO contributions, says Antony Blinken

Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announces his resignation

Sports

Seiko Hashimoto (56) named President of Tokyo Olympic organising committee

INDIA

PM Modi launches ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ project in Assam

PM Modi lays foundation stone of Dhubri Phulbari bridge over Brahmaputra

India hosts online workshop on ‘COVID-19 Management’, 10 nations participate

PM Modi speaks with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad features in TIME magazine’s list

Veteran Congress leader Captain Satish Sharma passes away at 73

L&T delivers 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer to Army

S. Jaishankar participates in virtual ministerial meeting of Quad

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Economy & Corporate

Labour bureau to conduct five nationwide surveys to check job data inaccuracies

Pralhad Joshi inaugurates production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha

RBI approves DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance

World

Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting held on the Legal aspects of COVID-19

Indian appointed Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP

US: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh dies at 70

U.S. will pay over $200 million in WHO contributions, says Antony Blinken

Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announces his resignation

Sports

Seiko Hashimoto (56) named President of Tokyo Olympic organising committee

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Vol. 56, Issue No. 7, 13 Feb, 2021

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