Open Defecation Free, ODF, Swachh Bharat Mission, SBM - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: 6

Explanation:
‘Swachhat Hi Sewa’ campaign at Bhikaji Cama Place in South Delhi was marked by sweeping and collecting the litter. Also inaugurated were modern litter pickers imported by South MCD.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been piloting Swachh Bharat Mission has resulted in an unprecedented ‘individual connect’ with sanitation across the country.

This has led to construction of about five crore toilets across the country including over 38 lakh in urban areas in a short span of three years.

People have a better connect with immediate neighborhood, and so the Ministry unveiled ‘My Home-My Neighborhood’ (Ghar Bi Saaf-Pados Bhi Saaf) campaign with the following six components:

1. Segregation of waste at source
2. Compost making from wet waste within the premisesneighborhood/area
3. Recycling of dry waste
4. Freeing the neighborhood from open defecation and open urination
5. Motivating the residents of neighborhood against throwing garbage in open spaces; and
6. Adopting a near by park or open place for collection and waste segregation.

Neighborhood action plan leads to substantial reduction in the quantum of solid waste sent to landfill besides enabling better performance of Waste-to - Compost and Waste-to-Energy plants. Neighborhood could be a residential housing society, a colony,mohalla, market area etc.

Neighborhood action plan will be launched in all the cities and towns across the country on the occasion of the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission on the second of next month.

ANSWER: Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra

Explanation:
“Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra” will be set up by “Swachh Bharat Mission” Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), Rajghat by “Swachh Bharat Mission” Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

This is as per the vision of Prime Minister during the centenary year of Champaran Satyagraha and the Ministry of Culture is considering to provide space for the purpose.

This was announced at “Swachhata Pakhwada” of Ministry of Culture.

A total of 275 effort hours for cleanliness and awareness during Swachhata Pakhwada and A total of 82 activities/events were organised by the Ministry and its organizations during the Swachhata Pakhwada aimed to create awareness on “Swachhata”.

Ministry of Culture has developed “e-guide (Audio-Visual) App e3.eguide.net.in” to create awareness for the tourists visiting National Museum.

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is not only the top priority of the Government but it has become a national mission for the people of India and positive results are pouring in from every nook and corner of the country.

Since its launch on 2nd October, 2014, till date more than 4 crore individual household latrines have been built and one lakh, 94,000 villages and 135 districts have become Open Defecation Free, ODF.

Apart from Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh which are ODF Sates, 6 to 7 more States will soon declare them ODF as the work is going on a rapid scale.

Budget for Swachh Bharat Mission is now INR 19,300 crore with a Central share of INR 14,000 crore and INR 5,300 crore is the budgetary provision declared by all government departments as they had been asked to make a special mention of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in their budget proposals, besides finalising their ‘Swachhta Action Plan’.

Swachhata Pakhwada

On completion of 3rd year of Swachhata Abhiyan, Ministry of Culture and Tourism organised “Swachhata Pakhwada” from 16th – 30th April, 2017.

During the period, they initiated various Swachhata activities namely;

(i) creating permanent mechanism of cleanliness for all organisations under Ministry of Culture and Tourism ;

(ii) to spread awareness through various cultural activities by involving all their organisations: and

(iii) spread of swachhata awareness through Music, Dance and Drama by its Academies and maintaining cleanliness at all ASI Protected Monuments etc.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• The Minister launched free to use ‘Smart Toilets’ set up by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) under PPP model at National Gallery of Art on Shershah Road, opposite Haryana Bhawan on Copernicus Marg and near Tolstoy Marg Metro Station.
• Each such complex has one WC toilet seat and four urinals for gents, one WC each for women and differently abled, Water ATM, Bank ATM and Digital Health Centres.
• Other facilities are- Mobile Charging and four other Public Toilet Utilities.
• The NDMC will set-up 101 Smart Public Toilets in different areas of the capital out of which five have been constructed and another twelve are likely to be set-up by end of January, 2017. The rest of the Smart Toilets will be completed by June, 2017.

ANSWER: Mysuru

Explanation:

• After being crowned the cleanest city, Mysuru is now declared as first Indian city with a population of over one million to be declared open defecation free.
• Mysuru is also known as one of the Heritage Cities.
• The city was declared the cleanest cities under the Swachh Bharat mission two years ago and it retained the position for second successive year too.
• The status of India's first open defecation free city was granted after a survey of 73 cities by the Quality Council of India.
• Local residents too pitch in by keeping a watchful eye on the offenders.
• Awareness was created about the Swachh Bharat Mission. Messages displayed educating the people.

ANSWER: Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan

Explanation:

• Two commemorative stamps on Swachh Bharat Mission and a miniature sheet were released.
• The denominations of the postage stamps is Rs 25 and Rs 5

ANSWER: Only a and b

Explanation:
Sikkim and Kerala have been ranked as top performing states in the cleanliness/Swachhta survey conducted by NSSO while Chattisgarh and Jharkhand were last.

• Official report released by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on 8th September 2016 also found Dungarpur in Rajasthan and Panchmahal in Gujarat were among the low ranking districts, while Sindhudurg in Maharashtra topped the list with 99 percent of the houses having access to safe sanitation
• Nadia district in W. Bengal has been ranked second followed by Satara in Maharashtra and Midnapore East in WB.
• Among states, Sikkim recorded a 100 percent category of people using household or community toilets and 98.2 percent of the households having sanitary toilet
• Kerala has been ranked second followed by Mizoram in third place and HP in the 4th
• A survey on Swachhta status was conducted in May-June 2015 covering 73,176 households in 3788 villages
• The report called Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2016 was released with the findings.
• As per the survey, Chattisgarh has 21.2 percentage of households having sanitary toilets while Jharkhand has only 18.8 percent
• Among top performing states besides Sikkim and Kerala, other states with good results were HP, Nagaland, Haryana and Mizoram

ANSWER: Sindhudurg

Explanation:

• A survey conducted by the rural development ministry with the support of the India Quality council between May and June 2016 have revealed encouraging results.
• Among the 75 districts and 70000 families that were surveyed, Sikkim leads the table followed by Himachal Pradesh then comes Kerala followed by Haryana in the fourth position. Bihar is last on the list.
• As far as districts go, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra tops the list along with a few other districts in the North-east, while Mandi district leads in the special category states.

ANSWER: Amar Chitra Katha

Explanation:
The Urban Development Ministry has signed a Memorandum of understanding with Amar Chitra Katha Magazine for bringing a special edition on Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2.

• The special magazine aims at taking the best practices involved in the mission to the children so that they inculcate these habits in their daily lives.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry represented by the three premier industry associations i.e. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), to establish and operate national accreditation structure and promote quality through National Quality Campaign. QCI is registered as a non-profit society with its own Memorandum of Association.
• It has been tasked to provide third party evaluation of Open Defecation Free (ODF) claims of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

ANSWER: 1, 2, 4

Explanation:

• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, it has been decided to undertake a special clean-up initiative focused on 100 iconic heritages, spiritual and cultural places in the country.
• The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation will be the coordinating Ministry for this initiative, in association with the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and the concerned State governments.
• The aim of this initiative is to make these 100 places model ‘Swachh Tourist Destinations’, that will enhance the experience for visitors from India and abroad.
• Under Phase 1 of this initiative, the following iconic places have been selected for an intensive clean up:

1. Vaishno Devi: Jammu and Kashmir
2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus: Maharashtra
3. Taj Mahal: Uttar Pradesh
4. Tirupati Temple: Andhra Pradesh
5. Golden Temple: Punjab
6. Manikarnika Ghat: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
7. Ajmer Sharif Dargah: Rajasthan
8. Meenakshi Temple: Tamil Nadu
9. Kamakhya Temple: Assam
10. Jagannath Puri: Odisha