12 Oct 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan
2. PM GatiShakti
3. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
4. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) [SBM U]
5. Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS)

1. G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan

Context:

PM participated in G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan.

Details:

• The Meeting was convened by Italy, which currently holds the G20
• Issues under consideration at the meeting related to the humanitarian situation; concerns relating to terrorism; and human rights in Afghanistan.
• The PM in his remarks talked about India’s contribution to promoting socio-economic development and capacity building of youth and women in Afghanistan.
• He recalled that over 500 development projects have been implemented by India in Afghanistan.
• He emphasized the need for the international community to ensure that Afghanistan has immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance.
• The Prime Minister also underlined the need to ensure that Afghan territory does not become a source of radicalization and terrorism, regionally or globally.
• He stressed the need to fight jointly against the nexus of radicalization, terrorism and the smuggling of drugs and arms in the region.

Also read: India – Afghanistan relations

2. PM GatiShakti

Context:

PM GatiShakti to be launched.

PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity:

• PM GatiShakti will address the past issues through institutionalizing holistic planning for stakeholders for major infrastructure projects.
• Instead of planning & designing separately in silos, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision.
• It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN, etc.
• Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, agri zones will be covered to improve connectivity & make Indian businesses more competitive.
• It will also leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools with ISRO imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics).
• PM GatiShakti will provide the public and business community information regarding the upcoming connectivity projects, other business hubs, industrial areas and surrounding environment.

PM GatiShakti is based on six pillars:

• Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal. Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning & executing of projects in a comprehensive manner.
• Prioritization: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.
• Optimization: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after the identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
• Synchronization: Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos with no coordination in the planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
• Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS-based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
• Dynamic: All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and the progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.

Background:

• Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades from multiple issues.
• There was lack of coordination between different Departments, for example, once a road was constructed, other agencies dug up the constructed road again for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines, etc.
• This not only caused great inconvenience but was also a wasteful expenditure.

3. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

Context:

28^th Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Know more about the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the linked article.

4. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) [SBM U]

Context:

Cabinet approves the continuation of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) [SBM U] till 2025-26 for sustainable outcomes.

Details:

• A financial outlay of ₹1,41,600 crores has been finalized for SBM-U 2.0.
• The key components of the mission would be sustainable sanitation and sustainable solid waste management.

Expected outcomes under SBM-U 2.0:

• Sanitation:
  • All statutory towns to become at least ODF+
  • All cities with <1 lakh population to be made ODF++
  • Putting in place systems and processes so that all wastewater is safely treated and optimally reused and no untreated wastewater pollutes water bodies
• Solid Waste Management:
  • All cities to achieve at least 3-star Garbage Free certification

Also read: Swachh Bharat Mission

5. Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS)

Context:

The Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for Phosphatic & Potassic (P&K) Fertilisers for the year 2021-22 have been approved.

Details:

• The Department of Fertilisers had proposed the NBS rates for the year and they have been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
• The CCEA also approved the inclusion of Potash derived from Molasses (0:0:14.5:0) under the NBS Scheme.

Benefits:

• This will enable smooth availability of all P&K fertilizers to the farmers during Rabi Season 2021-22 at the subsidized/affordable prices and support the agricultural sector by continuing the present subsidy levels and giving special packages of additional subsidy for Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and three mostly consumed NPK grades.

Background:

• The Government is making available fertilizers, namely Urea and 24 grades of P&K fertilizers to farmers at subsidized prices through fertilizer manufacturers/importers.
• The subsidy on P&K fertilizers is being governed by NBS Scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2010.

Read previous PIB here.

October 12th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here