GoI, Sagarmala - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: GM

Explanation:
No genetically modified (GM) crop should be introduced in India unless the biosafety and socio-economic desirability is evaluated.

The committee has also recommended that the environment ministry should examine the impact of GM crops on environment thoroughly.

The remarks come after India’s GM crop regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recently recommended the commercial use of genetically modified mustard.

This was in a submission to the environment ministry.

The department-related parliamentary standing committee on science and technology and environment and forest made its recommendations in its 301st report on ‘GM crop and its impact on environment’

It said GM mustard being a herbicide-tolerant GM organism (GMO), there is clear evidence on the adverse impacts of such GMOs elsewhere in the world.

The report of the committee, chaired by Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury was presented to the Rajya Sabha chairman.

The committee noted that the GEAC has given its approval for commercialisation of GM mustard “inspite of the fact that the matter is pending for decision in the Supreme Court”.

The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), Delhi University, had submitted an application to the GEAC for the environmental release of GM mustard (Brassica juncea) hybrid DMH - 11.

It also focused on the use of parental events (varuna bn 3.6 and EH2 mod bs 2.99) for the development of a new generation of hybrids.

ANSWER: Sagarmala Development Company

Explanation:
The Ministry of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Shri. Nitin Gadkari said projects worth INR 1 lakh crore under Sagarmala programme at various stages of implementation and development will now be overseen by the Sagarmala Development Company.

This company has been incorporated under the Companies Act 2013 with an initial authorized share capital of INR 1000 crore and a subscribed share capital of INR 90 crore.

Main objective of the company is identification of port led development projects under the Sagarmala programme and provide equity support for the SPVs set up by Ports/State/Central Ministries and funding window or implement only those residual projects which cannot be funded by any other means/mode.

Cabinet has approved the formation of SDC under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping in July 2016.

Company would work towards structuring activities, bidding out projects for private sector participation, identifying risk management measures for strategic projects across multiple regions and states and obtaining the approvals and clearances.

Implementation of the identified project will be taken up by Port/State/Central Govt or Maritime Board through private or PPP mode.

Company will act as a nodal agency for the coordination and monitoring of currently identified projects under Sagarmala as well as other projects from the master plans or other sources.

A detailed master plan will also be prepared for CEZs as part of the National Perspective Plan. SDC will raise funds as debt/equity (long term capital) as per project requirements by leveraging resources provided by government of India and from multilateral and bilateral funding agencies.

About the Sagarmala Programme

Aims to harness:

• 7500 km long coastline
• 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways
• Strategic location on key international maritime trade routes
• Approved in March 2015 by the Union Cabinet.

ANSWER: Coastal Economic Zone

Explanation:
Under the Sagarmala Programme of Ministry of Shipping, five reports have been prepared to provide implementation of roadmap for holistic port-led development in the country and to engage with various stakeholders

• The reports have been posted on the Ministry of Shipping website. The Ministry is reaching out to relevant stakeholders to apprise them of the findings / recommendations in these reports and to obtain relevant feedback on the same.
• The reports include the cargo traffic projections in the ports and related logistics bottlenecks, plans for port capacity enhancement, perspective plans for the Coastal Economic Zones proposed under Sagarmala and the policy level recommendations to make port-led development successful in India.
• The programme will change the way logistics evaluation is carried out in the country and will require active participation of stakeholders including central and state government, industry bodies and agencies

ANSWER: It is a mix of different modes of transport

Explanation:

• Multimodal Mix is using two or more different modes of transport for carrying cargo.
• One of the key objectives of the Sagarmala programme is to reduce the cost of transporting cargo by optimizing the modal mix.
• It has been estimated that the cost per tonne kilometre of moving cargo by sea or inland waterway routes can be 60 to 80 percent lower than road or rail.
• However, the modal share of coastal shipping and inland waterways remains low. Several production and demand centres in India lie close to the coastline and rivers, yet the waterways are under-utilized.
• The National Perspective Plan of Sagarmala envisions projects which have potential for moving raw materials and finished products between these centres using coastal shipping and inland waterways instead of rail or road. The change in modal mix could lead to large amount of savings in logistic costs.

ANSWER: Sagarmala

Explanation:
To provide a boost to the Make in India initiative and promote port led industrialisation, Ministry of Shipping organised a workshop on Coastal Economic Zones or CEZs under the Sagarmala programme in New Delhi.

• Workshop focused on 14 coastal economic zones identified under the National Perspective Plan of the Sagarmala.
• Workshop apprised participants that CEZs will be aligned to relevant ports in the maritime states and will house Coastal Economic Units for setting up manufacturing facilities.
• The CEZs have been conceptualised as spatial economic regions extending 300-500 km of coastline and 200-300 km inland from the coast.
• CEZ will be an agglomeration of coastal districts within the State.

ANSWER: 15

Explanation:
GoI has made it easier to get electricity connection with an electricity connection within 15 days of application as part of the steps taken in the previous two years to ease the process of getting connections.

• Ministry of Power has undertaken several reform measures to ease the process of Getting Electricity over a period of the previous two years.
• Measure taken will benefit industry and citizens alike.
• DERC has taken the necessary changes to permit low tension connection up to 150 KVA and rationalise the tariff for the same in 2015.

ANSWER: Dr. Shankar Acharya

Explanation:
Committee headed by Dr. Shankar Acharya (former Chief Economic Adviser) has the following members:

• Dr Rajiv Kumar (Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research)
• Shri PV Rajaraman (former Finance Secretary TN).
• Shri KM Chandrasekhar (former Cabinet secretary)

ANSWER: 2, 3, 4

Explanation:

• As part of the National Perspective Plan, prepared under the Sagarmala Programme of the Ministry of Shipping, 7 Multi-Modal Logistic Parks (MMLPs) were proposed in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
• The potential sites were identified based on comprehensive study of the container cargo movement across the country and are located in the proximity of important industrial clusters.
• This will be advantageous for the transportation of containerized cargo.

ANSWER: CNG

Explanation:
Union Government on 23rd June 2016 launched India’s first pilot program to run two wheelers on CNG in New Delhi.

• This program was launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Environment, Forests & Climate Change
• Programme is implemented by GAIL and IGL
• It is implemented under the Hawa Badlo movement supported by GAIL

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Projects have been identified across the areas of Port Modernization & New Port Development, Port Connectivity Enhancement, Port-led Industrial Development and Coastal Community Development.
• To modernize India’s port infrastructure, 5 to 6 new ports have been proposed to be built. There will be modernization of existing ports too.
• The second focus area is port connectivity, where over 80 projects are being planned. These include connectivity infrastructure projects like a heavy-haul rail corridor to evacuate large volumes of coal in Odisha, freight-friendly expressways to enable efficient movement of containers on key routes, and the development of strategic inland waterways.
• The third set of projects aims to tap into the potential of port-led industrialization to boost industrial and export growth along the coastline. This will be realized through 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) along the coastline, each of which will house a number of industrial clusters.
• Finally, the potential of coastal communities will be harnessed by focused skill-development to support port-led industrialization. The set of initiatives under this head also includes developing opportunities for fishermen and other coastal communities as well as development of the numerous islands along India’s coastline.