05 July 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Water storage level of 91 major reservoirs of the country goes up by two percent 

• The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on July 05, 2018 was 32.847BCM which is 20% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• This percentage was at 18% for the week ending on June 28, 2018. The level of water storage in the week ending on July 05, 2018 was 100% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 96% of storage of average of last ten years.
• The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country.
• 37 Reservoirs out of these 91 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.  

REGION WISE STORAGE STATUS:-

NORTHERN REGION

• The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.
• There are six reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM.
• The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 3.00 BCM which is 17% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• The storage during corresponding period of last year was 30% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 31% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

EASTERN REGION

• The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura.
• There are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM.
• The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 3.17 BCM which is 17% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• The storage during corresponding period of last year was 17% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 18% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• Thus, storage during current year is equal to the corresponding period of last year but is less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

WESTERN REGION

• The Western region includes States of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• There are 27 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 31.26 BCM.
• The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 4.48 BCM which is 14% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• The storage during corresponding period of last year was 21% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 19%of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• Thus, storage during current yearis less than the storage of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

 CENTRAL REGION

• The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM.
• The total live storage available in these reservoirs is13 BCM which is 22% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• The storage during corresponding period of last year was 26% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 20% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year but is better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

SOUTHERN REGION

• The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• There are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM.
• The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 13.08 BCM which is 25% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• The storage during corresponding period of last year was 12% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 21% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.
• Thus, storage during current year is better than the corresponding period of last year and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

Hike in Minimum Support Price for Kharif crops will help in improving the incomes of the farmers

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has appreciated the Government’s resolve to double the farmers’ income and complimented the Government of India for the steep hike in MSP for Kharif crops.
• The Vice President stressed on the need to streamline the procurement process and the PDS network so that the farmer derives the maximum benefit apart from providing MSP at 50 percent or more over the cost of production.
• Other income enhancing measures need to be taken to mitigate agrarian distress, especially of the small and marginal farmers, he added.
• The Vice President asked the scientific community present at the gathering to have regular interaction with farmers through their scientific teams and Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
• A good synergy between the research institutes, farmers and the local administration is crucial for development of farm sector, he added.
• Creating greater awareness among farmers on crop diversification, Livestock (dairy and poultry) and horticulture (Green House cultivation, Hitech horticulture) sectors can be best bets for enhancing farmers’ income and employment opportunities, he added.
• The Vice President asked farmers and those involved in agriculture to be aware of government schemes like Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and The electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).
• The Vice President said that the decreasing man power availability and their increasing costs are making the farming less profitable and sometimes non-profitable. Secondary agriculture like processing and value addition of farm produce has immense potential to enhance the farmers’ economy, he said.

Suggestion:

• Creation of farmers groups such as Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Village Producer Organizations (VPOs) to scale up post-harvest operations and directly link them with markets would also help farmers to realize higher prices for their produce.
• Generation of considerable off farm /non-farm employment opportunities for the rural youth.

First Cyber Forensic van of Delhi Police launched

• The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that Cyber frauds can be curtailed if the citizens are more aware and responsible while making digital transactions. He was speaking at “Cyber Safety and Digital awareness programme for senior citizens” organized by Delhi Police.
• The Ministry has earmarked Rs 25,000 crore for Police modernization and to deal with increasing rate of cybercrime in the country.
• He also launched the first Cyber Forensic van of Delhi Police for on-the-spot police investigations at crime scene.  The Van has been developed keeping in mind the need for a portable/mobile system in view of increasing number of digital crimes. It will be available on call in all districts/units on 24×7 basis.
• Delhi Police Chief, Shri Amulya Patnaik while addressing at programme said that Delhi Police has established Cyber Cells in 14 districts of Delhi working under the command of a Special Cyber Unit at Headquarter level. He said that it is our priority area and we have already trained about 800 Police officers specially to deal with cybercrimes.

HEFA will fast track Research and Academic Infrastructure Development in the country

• The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar has said that the cabinet decision to approve the proposal for enlarging the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by expanding its capital base to Rs. 10,000 Cr and tasking it to mobilise Rs. 1,00,000 crore for revitalizing infrastructure and systems in education (RISE by 2022) is a very big step to boost the education sector .
• Giving more details, the Minister said that the increase of allocation for education from Rs. 65,867 Crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 1, 10,000 crore in 2018-19 (67% increase) is without any raise in fee.
• An amount of Rs. 22,000 Cr would be mobilised in the current year by HEFA depending on the actual requirement.
• State-of-the-art labs and research facilities will help in retaining the brightest young minds in India, and will attract Overseas Citizens of India back to Indian universities which will convert brain drainto brain gain.

The objectives of RISE by 2022 are:

1. Qualitatively upgrade the research and academic infrastructure in India to global best standards by 2022.
2. Make India into an education hub by making available high quality research infrastructure in Indian higher educational institutions.
3. To allow access of HEFA funding to institutions like Central Universities, AIIMS, IISERs and newly created Institutes of National Importance, without creating any additional burden to the students.
4. To bring greater accountability and speed in execution of infrastructure projects and avoid all cost/time over-runs, moving from the block-grant mode to project-mode for all infrastructure projects.
5. To cater to the requirements of the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, and medical institutions like AIIMSs in a faster time frame.

HEFA – The journey

• HEFA has been set up on 31st May 2017 by the Central Government as a non-profit, Non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central Government.
• So far, funding proposals worth Rs. 2,016 Cr have already been approved by the HEFA.

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