August 30th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Onam 2. Ashura 3. It is the time to get vocal for local toys, says PM in Mann ki Baat 4. Poshan Maah 5. 17TH ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ Consultations 6. RORO Services 7. Measurement and monitoring of water supply to be done under Jal Jeevan Mission
1. Onam
- It is a harvest festival of the state of Kerala.
- It is also celebrated by Malayali diaspora around the world.
- According to legends, the festival Onam is celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.
- Onam celebrations include:
- Vallam Kali (boat races)
- Pulikali (tiger dances)
- Pookkalam (flower Rangoli)
- Onam Kali
- Tug of War
- Thumbi Thullal (women’s dance)
- Kummattikali (mask dance)
- Onathallu (martial arts)
- Onavillu (music)
- Kazhchakkula (plantain offerings)
- Atthachamayam (folk songs and dance) and other celebrations.
2. Ashura
- The day of Ashura marks the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain, who was the grandson of Prophet Mohammad.
- The army of Yazid beheaded Hussainduring the Battle of Karbala, which took place in 680 AD.
- Thus, the day is considered to be a mourning period for Muslims.
- During the month of Muharram, the first in the Islamic lunar calendar, the Day of Ashura is very significant.
- Ashura also marks the day Musa (Moses) was saved from the Pharaoh of Egypt by God.
- The Day of Ashura is also a symbol of struggle against injustice and oppression.
3. It is the time to get vocal for local toys, says PM in Mann ki Baat
What’s in News?
In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister spoke about how India could become a big hub of toy production.
- There are several skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys and some parts of India, like:
- Channapatna toys in Ramnagaram in Karnataka
- Kondaplli toys in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh
- Thanjavur dolls in Tami Nadu
- Dhubari in Assam
- eti-koppakaa toys in Andhra Pradesh
- Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is also developing as Toy cluster.
- While Global Toy Industry is worth more than 7 lakh crore rupees, India currently has a very little share in it.
4. Poshan Maah
In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister noted that the month of September will be observed as Poshan Maah – Nutrition month.
This topic has been covered in 28th August 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis.
5. 17TH ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ Consultations
What’s in News?
17th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations was held virtually. The meeting was attended by the Trade Ministers of all the 10 ASEAN countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Details:
- The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to take collective actions in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic and resolved to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability and resilient supply chain connectivity, particularly the unimpeded flow of essential goods and medicines in the region,in compliance with the WTO rules.
- The Ministers’ discussion centred on the review of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
- The ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) Report has recommended that the AITIGA be reviewed for mutual benefit.
- The Ministers from India and ASEAN countries have reiterated the need to make the Free Trade Agreement more user-friendly, simple, and trade facilitative for businesses.
- India also made suggestions to further strengthen the AIBC.
What’s in News?
The first ever RORO service of South Western Railway was inaugurated.
- Roll On Roll Off (RORO) is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons.
- RORO services are combination of best features of road and rail transports in the sense that they offer door to door service with minimal handling transported by direct rail link.
- RO-RO train services were first introduced in Indian Railways on Konkan Railways in 1999, and are running successfully since then.
Advantages of RO-RO :
- Faster movement of goods and essentials, reducing Time taken by trucks to reach destinations due to traffic congestion in between cities.
- Reduces congestion on the roads.
- Saves fuel.
- Reduces carbon footprint.
- Seamless Inter-operability between roadways and railways-Inter-modal transport on existing track.
- Ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities.
- Ro-RO will be reckoning force in “vocal for local” –
- Will boost our local MSME units by encouraging piecemeal /decentralized loading through trucks.
- RO-RO will help government initiatives like “operation green” to stabalize the prices of TOP (Tomato, Potato and Onion).
- Provides link between agriculture producing regions and agro consumption centres.
- Connects and balances the commodity deficient and surplus markets.
7. Measurement and monitoring of water supply to be done under Jal Jeevan Mission
Jal Jeevan Mission:
- Union Government’s flagship programme, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) being implmeneted in partnership with States aims at providing Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household of the country by 2024.
- The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e. supply of 55 lpcd (Litres per Capita per Day) of water of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis.
- The mission focuses on ‘service delivery’, rather only on infrastructure creation.
Details:
- Government of India has introduced different policies and initiatives to leverage the benefits of disruptive IoT technologies in multiple sectors.
- The Jal Jeevan Mission will be creating a smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas.
- In accordance to 73rdAmendment to the Constitution, Gram Panchayats at village level are to manage drinking water supply. Thus, Gram Panchayat or its sub-committee, are required to function as a ‘local public utility’ for drining water management, water service delivery, greywater treatment and reuse.
- National Jal Jeevan Mission has constituted a Technical Expert Committee to prepare a road map for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery system in rural areas.
Information and communications technology (ICT) Grand Challenge:
- National Jal Jeevan Mission and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology planning to conduct an ICT Grand Challenge.
- The purpose of the ICT grand challenge is to bring an innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ to be deployed at the village level.
- The ICT grand challenge will be inviting proposal from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies, Indian LLPs.
Read previous PIB here.
August 30th, 2020, PIB:- Download PDF Here
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