UPSC 2017 IAS Exam: PIB Summary and Analysis - July 10

JICA ODA loan assistance proposal for ‘Dairying through Cooperatives-National 
Dairy Infrastructure Plan’’ Project

• India ranks first among the world’s milk producing Nations since 1998 and has the largest bovine population in the World.
• About 54% of the milk produced in the country is surplus for marketing in the domestic market, of which only 20.5% is procured/processed by the organised sector being equally, shared by Cooperatives and Private dairy organizations.
• Government is mandated to double milk producers’ income at farm level by providing rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milk processing sector.
• Government has therefore submitted a proposal for availing loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency for ‘Dairying through Cooperatives-National Dairy Infrastructure Plan’’ in line with the mandate of Government to double farmers income in next five years.

Exercise Malabar Commences in Bay of Bengal/ North Indian Ocean

• Naval co-operation between India, US and Japan epitomises the strong and resilient relationship between the three democracies.
• The MALABAR series of exercises, initiated in 1992 between the Indian and US Navies, have steadily grown in scope, complexity and participation into a multifaceted exercise with the participation of Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF).
• This is the 21st edition of the exercise.
• The primary aim of this exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies as well as develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.

NABARD celebrating its 36th Foundation Day dedicating to the Silver Jubilee of 
SHG Bank Linkage Programme

• Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG BLP), the pioneering initiative of Financial Inclusion by NABARD completed 25 years during this year and is well poised to deliver the savings and credit services at the doorstep of rural poor especially women through their self-managed institutions called SHGs.
• As on 31st March, 2017 these groups had savings of more than Rs 16,000 crore in banks and double of that amount in their internal lending.
• The Program had a catalytic effect in sourcing collateral free loans to the tune of Rs 61,000 crore to the poor women from the mainstream banking system at the normal rates of interest.

FM launches a new tax payer service module ‘Aaykar Setu’ 

• It compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module
• This e-initiative would not only provide better taxpayer services but would also help in reducing the direct physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities.

Ministry of Health signs MoU with Government of West Bengal to set up Centre 
of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Government of West Bengal to formalize its support to set up a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine at Kolkata.
• National Blood Transfusion Council under National AIDS Control Organization will be the implementing division of the Ministry for this project.

NDMA to conduct 2-day National Conference on Crowd Management at 
Thiruvananthapuram

• The conference aims to strengthen the ongoing capacity building measures and thus enhance the preparedness of all stakeholders to organise safe mass gathering events.
• It will help further sensitise the stakeholders to the need of implementing the salient features of the NDMA Guidelines on Crowd Management formulated in the year 2014.
• The conference will also discuss Best Practices, and the use of technology and media for Risk Reduction at such events.
• India has 17.86 per cent of the total world population and boasts of cultural, religious and traditional festivals characterised by events of mass gathering, making it highly vulnerable to crowd-related disasters.
• As it is possible to completely prevent these disasters, NDMA formulated a guideline for ‘Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering’ in 2014 for State Governments, local authorities, administrators and organizers.

Revamped NHB RESIDEX launched

• NHB RESIDEX helps buyers and sellers to check and compare prices before entering a transaction.
• They can also analyse the price trends across different cities both at composite level and product category level.
• It helps lenders in credit evaluation. It provides promoters with a standardized tool to assess the housing demand.
• Government agencies can monitor trends in macro and micro markets and predict future behavior of the housing market.

Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) wins Golden Peacock 
Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017

• Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) sets gold standards by winning Golden Peacock Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017 for introducing eco friendly and cost saving Dual Fuel 1400 HP Diesel engines on DEMU trains.

PM's interaction with Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories

• This interaction was part of the National Conference of Chief Secretaries on the theme of “States as Drivers for Transforming India.”
• Chief Secretaries spoke briefly on one best practice each, of their respective States.
• The best practices presented by the Chief Secretaries included themes such as rural development, skill development, crop insurance, health insurance, tertiary healthcare, welfare of divyang children, reducing infant mortality, tribal welfare, solid waste management, sanitation, drinking water, river conservation, water management, e-governance, pension reform, emergency services, development of mineral-rich areas, PDS reform, Direct Benefit Transfer of subsidy; solar energy, cluster development, good governance and ease of doing business.