Western Zonal Council Meeting held in Mumbai

The 22nd meeting of the Western Zonal Council was recently held at Mumbai, Maharashtra under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The Western Zonal Council consist of the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli

 Key facts 

The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers and ministers of these States and Union Territories administrators as well as senior officers of Union and State Governments. The Council reviewed issues related to internal security, coastal security, issuance of bio-metric identity cards to fishermen and card readers, modernization of police force, formulation of plans for countering terrorism etc. It also reviewed other important issues such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Urban) Mission, providing shelters to the urban homeless, and surplus lands of Union Government for ‘Housing for All: 2022’. Issues related to checking pollution in Daman Ganga River and Kolak River due to discharge of untreated effluents from Vapi industrial area was also discused. 

What are Zonal Councils?

 Zonal Councils were set up under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 (so it is not constitutional body) to foster Inter-State co-operation and co-ordination among the States. Currently, there are total five zonal councils viz. Northern, Western, Eastern, Central and Southern. The Zonal Councils are mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in field of social and economic planning, linguistic minorities, border disputes or inter-State transport etc. Thus, Zonal Councils are regional fora of cooperative endeavor for States linked with each other economically, culturally and politically. They are specially meant for looking after the interests of respective Zones and focus attention on specific issues taking into account regional factors, while keeping national perspective in view. 

Note 

The north eastern states are not included in these five zonal Councils. Their special problems are looked after by North Eastern Council, set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972. It is also headed by Union Home Minister. The North Eastern Council includes Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Sikkim was included in the North Eastern Council in 2002 and excluded from the eastern council.

TRAI recommends Rs 3,050 crore penalty on Airtel, Vodafone & Idea

Telecom Regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended Department of Telecom (DoT) to impose combined penalty of 3,050 crore rupees on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea cellular. It had mentioned that the penalty should be imposed on these telecom companies for allegedly denying interconnectivity to newcomer Reliance Jio. 

What is the issue? 

The Reliance Jio had alleged that due to inadequate interconnection points its subscribers were unable to make calls to other networks. TRAI has found that these three companies have violated licence norms by denying adequate interconnection points to Reliance Jio Infocomm. Their combined actions have stifled the competition and are seen as anti-consumer and against public interest. Now the DoT will decide on next course of action. If DoT finds violations of norms in all circles as mentioned by TRAI, these three telcos will be imposed combined penalty of Rs 3,050 crore.

 About Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) 

The TRAI is an independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India. It came into existence by the Act of the Parliament in 1997. It was established in wake of entry of private sector in telecom industries after Government had constituted the National Telecom Policy (NTP) to attract domestic and FDI investment in the telecommunication sector. Its main purpose is to deliver a fair and transparent environment for fair competition in telecom market. TRAI also fixes or revises the tariffs for telecom services in India.

ITBP celebrates its 55th raising day

The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) celebrated its 55th raising day on 24 October. The force was raised on 24th October in 1962. ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 kilometer of India-China Border. It is manning Border Outposts on altitudes raging from 9000 feet to 18700 feet in the Western, Middle and Eastern Sector of the India-China Border.

 About Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 

ITBP is one of the eight statutory Central Armed Police Forces of India. It was established on 24 October 1962, under the CRPF Act, in the wake of India- China War of 1962. Later Parliament enacted the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992 to provide full autonomy to ITBP. It operates under the aegis of Union Ministry of Home Affairs At present ITBP has strong force of about 50,000 personnel to secure the 3,488 km border with China along Tibet Autonomous Region. ITBP force is also engage in a variety of internal security tasks including civil Medical Camp, disaster management, nuclear, biological and chemical disasters and UN peacekeeping missions around the world.

Union Government planning to fast-track irrigation projects in Indus basin

The Union Government is planning to fast-track four projects in Indus river basin to increase irrigation area in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by nearly 2.05 lakh acres. This decision was taken after India had decided to exploit to the maximum the water of Pakistan-controlled rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab as per Indus Water Treaty (IWT).

 Key Facts 

Three projects Prakachik Khows Canal in Kargil, Tral Irrigation Project in Pulwama and restoration and modernisation of main Ravi Canal in Jammu’s Sambha and Kathua are expected to be completed by this fiscal. The fourth project of Rajpora Lift Irrigation is planned will be completed by December 2019. While the first three projects will help irrigate around 1.45 lakh acres of land, the Rajpora Lift Irrigation is expected to help irrigat around 59,305 acres of land. The funds for these projects will be raised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). 

Background 

These projects are part of the Union Government’s efforts to irrigate larger swaths across the country by completing small and medium 99 irrigation projects under ambitious Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKYS). Besides, earlier in September 2016, Union Government had decided to review the 56-year-old IWT in the aftermath of the Uri attack, asserting that “blood and water cannot flow together.” 

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKYS): It was launched by the Union Government with an aim to enhance physical access to water on farm. It also seeks to expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc through major and minor irrigation projects.

 Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP): It was launched in 1996-97 to provide central assistance to major and minor irrigation projects in the country. It main objective is to accelerate implementation of such major and minor irrigation projects. Since its inception, 143 projects have been completed under AIBP.

October 24: United Nations Day

The United Nations Day is being observed globally on October 24. The day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter (the founding document of UNO) in 1945. It entered into force on 24 October 1945 after it was ratified by the original five permanent members of the Security Council—China, France, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (now Russia), United Kingdom, and United States and majority of the other signatories.

 What is significance of UN Charter? 

With the ratification of UN Charter, the United Nations officially came into existence. It is a constituent treaty and all signatory members are bound by its articles. Furthermore, Article 103 of the UN Charter states that obligations to the United Nations prevail over all other treaty obligations. Most countries in the world have now ratified the Charter. 

2016 Celebrations 

This year’s UN Day will be used to highlight concrete actions people can take to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Besides, UN Day Concert is also organised in the United Nations General Assembly Hall with the theme “Freedom First”. 

Background 

The United Nations General Assembly had declared 24 October as the United Nations Day by adopting Resolution 2782 in 1971. The day is devoted making people aware of the aims and achievements of the United Nations Organization. This day is part of United Nations Week, which runs from 20 to 26 October.

Protein-enriched rice variety developed by IGKV Chattisgarh

Researchers from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV),Chattisgarh have developed a protein-enriched rice variety. The new developed rice variety has over 10% protein content, which is 3% more than what is found in any popular variety and has 30 PPM (parts per million) zinc content. 

Key facts 

The protein-enriched rice variety was developed by researchers from IGKV’s Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. They had worked for seven years to develop the variety of rice that is rich in protein along with high zinc content. This protein rice variety will play a crucial role in addressing issues of protein deficiencies and it will serve as a boon for malnourished population, especially children, in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh.

Zinc-enriched variety of rice 

Earlier in May 2015, scientists from Indira Gandhi Agriculture University (IGAU), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) had developed a high zinc-enriched called “Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1”. It was the first zinc biofortified rice variety developed in India. 

Why is zinc so important to the body? 

Zinc is important to the body because over 300 enzymes in our body use it as an essential component in their action. Zinc is essential in supporting our immune system, in synthesising and degrading DNA, in wound healing and several other activities. Our body requires very small amount of Zinc, but if the level falls down to below normal it may result into growth retardation, diarrhoea, eye and skin lesions and loss of appetite. 

Background

As per a survey conducted in 2015 very high rate of malnutrition was found among preschool children in tribal areas across Chhattisgarh which is considered rice bowl of the country. The survey had showed that over five lakh children in the state are underweight and stunted growth especially in the tribal districts.

SBI declares Silchar as its 5th zone in North East

The State Bank of India (SBI) has declared Silchar as its 5th zone in North East to facilitate banking issues for the customers of the region. The 5th zone will further help to cater the banking needs of the people of Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur along with the Barak Valley of North east India. SBI also opened its administrative office at Silchar, Assam. Other four zones of SBI in North East are Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh and Jorhat. Earlier, Silchar was under Guwahati zone. However, due to difficult terrain of the region it was tough on the part of the bank to address the complaints and issues of the customers in the region. Presently, SBI has 736 branches across North East together with 3,000 ATMs and 3,000 customer service points for customer facilitation.