UPSC 2017-18: PIB Summary and Analysis Aug 24

India to create infrastructure and establish social institutions in Nepal: Vice President

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India is partnering to create physical infrastructure and establish social institutions in Nepal.

Areas of cooperation

Enhanced connectivity between the two countries will boost economic growth and renewed focus should be given to projects like Terai Roads, Rail links, integrated check posts, as well as Raxaual-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline.

There was immense potential for bilateral cooperation in hydro-power sector and both countries should work for expeditious implementation of Pancheshwar project signed in 1996.

There is a need to expand our cooperation in water resources sector for the benefit of people of our two nations.

Nepal is engaged in the important task of implementing the Constitution and establishing progressive and inclusive political agenda and it is important to establish a political system that accommodates the aspirations of every section of Nepal’s society.

The open border between our two nations lend uniqueness to our relationship and brings enormous benefits to people of both the nations.

We must be vigilant against misuse of the open border by the miscreants. India has been rendering help to Nepal in strengthening Nepal Police and the Armed Force Police by way of providing equipment, vehicles and training.

PM's interaction with Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries

During the interaction, officers shared their experiences on subjects such as a digital and smart governance, administrative procedures and accountability, transparency, doubling of farmers’ income, skill development, Swachh Bharat, consumer rights, environment protection, and building of New India by 2022.

PM’s Excerpts:

The combination of development and good governance is essential for the welfare and satisfaction of citizens.

Good governance should be a priority for the officers.

There is a need for all wings of Government to work in harmony, and synchronisation, to achieve the best possible results.

All officers must keep the poor and the ordinary citizens in their minds while taking decisions.

The world is looking to India with positive expectations. The entire world feels that a successful India is vital for a global balance.

There is also a strong undercurrent for excellence from the common citizens of India. Youth from humble backgrounds, with very limited resources are achieving best positions in competitive exams and sports.

Youth from humble backgrounds, with very limited resources are achieving best positions in competitive exams and sports.

He asked the officers to work to promote this spontaneous upsurge of talent, recalling the spirit and energy that they themselves would have possessed in the first three years of their service.

National Museum takes a New initiative on “Small Temporary Exhibitions” 
from Its Reserve Collection

The National Museum took a new initiative on “Small Temporary Exhibitions” from its reserve collection.

The exhibitions will be based on several themes, so that it will attract large number of visitors to view new artifacts every fortnight.

Through such programme National Museum is trying to draw visitor’s attention and allows them to experience the collection on many significant art pieces of reserve storage, which generally remains out of focus.

Festival of india being Organised in Brazil from 31 August to 9 September 2017

A Festival of India is being organized in Brazil from 31 August-9 September 2017.  The Festival will showcase diverse Indian culture, i.e. classical dances, literature, cuisine and Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi.   The following events will be held in the cities of Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro:

• Bharatnatyam Dance
• Kathak Dance by
• Indian Food Festival
• Literary Festival
• Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi

Country Statement of India at the 9th meeting of Heads of Governments of SCO 
dealing with the prevention and elimination of emergency situation

• Over the period 1996 to 2015, the SCO countries have lost 300,000 lives to natural disasters.
• The economic losses from disasters are also extremely high and cascading.
• Natural events like earthquakes, floods, storms, landslides, epidemics etc are the major killers.
• The frequency and intensity of hydro-meteorological hazards is likely to rise in view of the climate change. If we do not make our communities, our capital assets, our economic activities resilient, disaster losses will continue to rise.
• For us in SCO nations, mitigating these risks is central to ensuring that our economic growth, our human development is sustainable.
• In an interconnected world, risk reduction is no longer merely a local activity.
• Actions in one part of the world affect risks in other parts of the world. Even when there is no obvious link between disasters in two distant geographies, underlying challenges in preventing disasters are common across the world.
• Therefore, we must continually learn from each other, innovate, and push the envelope so that we can build a safer world for ourselves and for the generations to come.
• Nearly 40% of the humanity lives in our countries. We represent some of the fastest growing economies.
• None of the global targets on reducing disasters losses – whether they are enshrined in the Sendai Framework or Sustainable Development Goals – can be met by 2030, unless they are achieved by the SCO countries. International cooperation in this area is therefore important for all of us.

Past experience

• Our effective handling of two major cyclones- Phailin and Hudhud in the recent past is the direct outcome of over a decade of policy initiatives, enhancement of early warning capabilities, advance preparation, training and capacity development.
• In these two disasters, loss of lives was reduced to 45 persons compared to nearly 10,000 lives in the 1999 Odisha cyclone alone. In other words, in little over a decade, we have been able to reduce the loss of lives to less than 1% in comparison to that of the past.

Importance of cooperation among SCO countries in the area of early warning systems for extreme weather events

We need cooperation in the area of early warning systems for extreme weather events. The SCO member states may have very different climate and weather systems but the underlying processes for forecasting adverse weather events, anticipating their impacts and issuing early warnings remain the same. A technical meeting of representatives of our meteorological services will be a very beneficial first step to foster collaboration in this area. The meeting can be structured around specific components of a comprehensive end-to-end severe weather early warning system. In this regard, India offers to host a meeting of the meteorological services of SCO countries in early 2019.

We have invested heavily in developing international collaborative initiatives:

• We have established the Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean Rim Countries
• We have deployed our National Disaster Response Force in other affected countries for response operations
• We have hosted joint bilateral exercises with SAARC and BIMSTEC countries
• Last year we hosted the Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction
• And in May this year we launched the South Asia Geostationary Communication Satellite that will improve communication, weather forecasting, etc. among the South Asian countries.

EPFO organizes Tiranga Yatra – Commemoration of 75th anniversary of the 
Quit India Movement in Mumbai

• “Corruption Quit India and make swacch India”, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya appeals.
• Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, is participating in the celebrations of 75thanniversary of Quit India Movement by organizing Tiranga Yatra all the stakeholders i.e. workers from different industries, employers from different sectors and staff, etc
• There are moments in the journey of nations that fundamentally alter the course of history.  One such moment was the Quit India Movement that began on 9th August 1942 which finally culminated into freedom of India. 
• Thereby the nation is observing the 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement.  The Tiranga Yatra is an opportunity to achieve ‘Sankalp’ to ‘Siddhi’ towards a ‘New India’.

Statement on behalf of The Government – on The Supreme Court Judgement 
on Right to Privacy

• The nine-judge Bench Supreme Court judgement has today pronounced in the “Privacy Case” by upholding the Right to Privacy as one protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
• The Government welcomes the view of the Supreme Court, which is consistent with all the necessary safeguards that the Government has been ensuring in its legislative proposals which had been approved by Parliament.
• “Is privacy a fundamental right or not?”
• The present Aadhar Bill pre-supposes and is based on the premise and that it is too late in date to contend that privacy is not a fundamental right.
• It is contended and broadly it is now accepted that privacy is a part of the individual liberty. So when Article 21 says, “no person shall be deprived of his Right to Life and Liberty without procedure established by law”.
• Privacy is a part of liberty and no person shall be deprived of his privacy without procedure as established by law.
• The underlying point is that privacy is not an absolute right. It is a right even in our Constitution. If it is a Fundamental Right under Article 21, which is subject to restriction that it can be restricted by a procedure established by law, that procedure established by law obviously has to be fair, just and reasonable procedure.
• The present government gave a legislative support to AADHAR and incorporated in law special safeguards with regard to privacy. It has also assured the Supreme Court that it will soon be coming out with a data protection law for which a committee headed by Justice Sri Krishna, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
• Today’s judgement of the Supreme Court is a welcome judgement in as much as it strengths the Fundamental Rights and personal liberty. The judgement reads that personal liberty is not an absolute right but liable to the restrictions provided in the Constitution which will be examined on a case to case basis.