Government Committees, Schemes & Bills - Current Affairs for October, 2016

The one-man judicial committee on One Rank One Pension submitted its report to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 26th Oct 2016.

• Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Justice L Narasimha Reddy retd Chief Justice pf Patna HC to look into the anomalies if any arising out of implementation of the OROP.
• Union Government appointed L. Narasimha Reddy to head the OROP judicial committee.
• The judicial committee has held hearings in 20 cities/towns across the country and interacted with many former servicemen and their associations.
• Committee also received 704 representations from individuals and various ex servicemen associations that held a lot of interactions with stakeholders before submitting the report.
• In simple terms, OROP implies that the uniform pension to be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of the date of retirement.
• Differential payments occur as salaries of personnel are revised on the basis of pay commissions recommendations.

Centre on 21st Oct 2016 launched the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN or Ude Desh Ke Aam Naagrik which seeks to get people to fly in smaller towns

• The scheme is expected to launch by January 2017
• The scheme UDAN envisages providing connectivity to unserved and underserved airports pf the country through the revival of airstrips and airports
• Scheme will be in operation for around 10 years
• This is a unique based market mechanism to build regional connectivity under which airlines will bid for seat subsidies
• Scheme promises affordability, connectivity, growth and development
• The scheme aims to increase ticketing volume from 80-300 million by 2022
• Under the scheme, airlines will have complete freedom to enter into code sharing with larger aviation airlines for connectivity and they will be exempted from various airport charges
• Airlines will get exclusive rights for three years to fly on a particular region route
• Airlines will get exclusive rights for three years to fly on a certain regional route
• Airfares will be capped at INR 2500 for an hour long flight on regional flights
• A financial stimulus will be given in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators
• Viability gap funding to the interested airlines to kick off operations from such airports so passenger fares are kept affordable
• Under UDAN interested airline and helicopter operators can start operations on unconnected rules by submitting proposals to Implementing Agency
• Selected airline operator will have a minimum of 9 and maximum of 40 UDAN seats
• Airport operators will not impose Land and Parking charges and Terminal Navigation Landing Charges in addition to discounts on Route Navigation Facility Charges
• A regional connectivity scheme is also in place

The National Green Tribunal has rapped UP government for wasting crores of rupees of public money on Ganga rejuvenation and restrained it from spending on any major project except maintenance work on the stretch from Haridwar to Kanpur.

• The state of Uttar Pradesh and its authorities will not carry out any major project of Sewage Treatment Plant/ Common Effluent Treatment Plant except under the directions of the NGT with the exception of the maintenance of pipelines
• The NGT passed the order after Central Pollution Control Board and state authorities including UP Jal Nigam failed to state the total number of industrial units and the quantum of industrial waste discharged by them into the Ganga
• Tribunal said authorities were spending large amounts on projects without knowing the requisite details
• On December 11, 2015 the tribunal had banned use of plastic of any kind from Gomukh to Haridwar along the river from February 1 and decide to slap a penalty of INR 5000 days for erring hotels, ashrams and dharamshalas spewing waste into the river
• NGT was established in 2010 under the NGT Act 2010 for effective disposal of causes related to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources
• It also works for the legal rights of the environment and is a specialised body for handling environmental disputes involving multidisciplinary issues

PM Narendra Modi on 18th October 2016 launched the national SC/ST hub in Ludhiana apart from launching the Zero Defect, Zero Effect scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

• Several national awards were given to MSME entrepreneurs and the PM also distributed 500 spinning wheels to women of weaker sections of Punjab to enable them to earn their livelihood
• The hub was set up under PM’s Employment Generation scheme to provide support to entrepreneurs from SC and ST communities
• It was started with the objective of providing professional support to entrepreneurs from SC/ST sections
• It aims at promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ ST population
• The hub with an initial outlay of INR 490 crore will work towards strengthening market access linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry-best practices
• It will also enable CPSEs to fulfil the procurement target set by the government
• Some national SC/ST hubs under the MSME ministry was announced by FM Arun Jaitley in his budget speech
• ZED or Zero Defect, Zero Effect scheme was first introduced by PM Modi in his Independence Day speech
• ZED scheme denotes high quality manufacturing with a minimal negative impact on environment
• It aims at raising quality levels in unregulated MSME sector
• It will support MSMEs across the nation in all Make in India sectors through quality control cells will be constituted by government. Cells will rate then after carrying out annual assessment of their products

The Jharkhand government will introduce a pension scheme for sportspersons who brought laurels to the country, but are still working as daily wagers.

• Chief Secretary R Verma directed the state government to prepare sportsperson pension scheme for players
• He also called for preparing a list of such sports persons from Jharkhand who participated or won in Olympics/Asian/National Games so that they could be recruited as coaches.
• Schools gave priority to sports so that children could be encouraged and directed to set up a diet food fund for sports persons selected for national events
• Jharkhand, an eastern India state is known for its waterfalls, Jain temples in Parasnath Hills and elephants and tigers of Betla National Park
• State capital Ranchi has the 17th century Jagannath Temple, a Hindu shrine and Jharkhand War memorial
• It also has Tagore Hill honouring Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore

To resolve inter-state conflicts over water sharing of rivers, Union Government of India in Oct 2016 came up with the draft National Water Framework Bill 2016.

• The bill seeks to establish a mechanism to develop and manage river basin in an integrated manner
• Mechanism will help states to get equitable share of the river’s water without violating other’s rights
• The Bill calls for the establishment for River basin authority for each inter-state basin to ensure optimal use and sustainable development of rivers and valleys
• It also proposes the establishment of institutional arrangements at all levels to solve disputes through negotiations, conciliation or mediation before they become acute
• It also devises an integrated approach for managing and conserving groundwater
• It holds that all states are equal in rights and there is no hierarchy of rights, which means that states will get an equitable share in the river waters
• States also need to recognise that rivers are not owned by the basins states but are public trustees
• The bill is not binding on the states as water is a state subject under Schedule V11 of the Constitution.

For the first time, a national seismic programme has been launched to trace hydrocarbon resources such as oil and natural gas in Mahanadi basin.

• This programme was launched in Taranga village under Soro block in Balasore, Odisha
• The programme aims to undertake a fresh appraisal in the sedimentary basins across India to have better understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the nation
• Under the programme, ONGC and OIL will conduct a survey across India
• The survey of around 40,835 Line KM will be conducted on the land part of 26 sedimentary basins in 18 states and UTs of India
• This includes Odisha’s Mahanadi basin
• OIL will carry out a survey of 7408 LKM in states of Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland
• Survey project will be completed by March 2019
• Mahanadi basin has been chosen as the first location for the roll-out of the national level programme
• The seismic survey of the unappraised area in Mahanadi basin will establish the potential of hydrocarbon resources in the state
• Close to 2189 LKM of Bhadrak-Jaipur region and 341 LKM of Chilika area of Mahanadi basin have been identified for the survey
• This will cover Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jaipur, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Kurdha and Ganjam districts
• Outcome of the project will contribute better to understanding the sub surface with the petroleum systems across wider geological ages to explore hydrocarbon reserves in the state
• Once hydrocarbon potential of Odisha is established through these initiatives, it will lead to exploration and production activities and attract significant investment to the sector in generating employment and economic growth.
• Cutting-edge modern technology is being used for the survey including 2D seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation in the Mahanadi basin area
• The acquisition stage is in Oct-June 2018

Union Cabinet, GoI approved the amendment to the HIV-AIDS prevention and control Bill on Oct 5, 2016. HIV and AIDS Bill was drafted to safeguard the rights of people living and affected by the disease

• It seeks to end discrimination and strengthen existing programmes by bringing in legal accountability and establishing formal mechanisms for redressing complaints
• The amendment also provides for informed consent and confidentiality with regard to treatment and protection of the rights of those with HIV-AIDS
• Listing various grounds of discrimination, the amendment also enhances access to health care by ensuring informed consent and confidentiality for HIV related testing, clinical research and treatment
• It prevents people from publishing information or inciting hate against HIV-AIDS patients and their families
• It also seeks to ensure no person should be compelled to disclose the disease unless by his/her own consent or court order
• Guardianship of minors and Central and State government measures to contain the disease and provide anti-retroviral therapy are also stressed
• Appointment of an ombudsman to moderate any complaint regarding violation of the act.
• There is no financial implication of this bill