Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 16th September 2022

Swachhata” Portal For The Special Campaign 2.0:

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches “Swachhata” Portal for the Special Campaign 2.0 scheduled to begin on October 2 with a focus on Swachhata and Reducing Pendency in Government.

• Developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in the Union Ministry of Personnel, the Portal- www.pgportal.govlin/scdpm22 is dedicated to Swachhata and reducing pendency of work in Government offices.
• Dr Jitendra Singh informed that during the first phase of Special Campaign in October, 2021, about 12 lakh sq. ft. of space was freed up in offices for productive use and Rs.62 Crore earned from disposal of scrap.
• The Special Campaign 2.0 will focus more on field/outstation offices in addition to the Ministries/ Departments and their attached/subordinate offices and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) will oversee implementation of the Special campaign 2.0.

Naval Exercise Kakadu:

INS Satpura and P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft have arrived in Darwin in Australia to participate in a multinational naval exercise, Kakadu, being hosted by the Royal Australian Navy.

• Exercise Kakadu is a joint-enabled, biennial exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force.
• Kakadu is the Navy’s premier maritime exercise, developing interoperability between nations in the maritime and air domains, and providing training opportunities for maritime security and surveillance.
• It started in 1993.

Exercise Kakadu -22:

• It’s a two-week-long exercise, both in harbour and sea, involving ships and maritime aircraft from 14 navies.
• Participation: Around 19 vessels, 34 aircraft and more than 3000 personnel from 25 countries are expected.
• Theme: Partnership, Leadership, Friendship.
• Significance: As Navy’s most significant international engagement activity, Exercise Kakadu is vital for building relationships between participating countries.
• The exercise provides an opportunity for regional partners to undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment.

BLO e-Patrika:

The Election Commission of India released a new digital publication ‘BLO e-Patrika’ at an interactive session held with BLOs spread across the States in India. This event was a first-of-its-kind direct interaction by the Commission with the BLOs across the country.

• BLOs are the direct link of the Commission with the people. BLOs are the primary source of information for every voter across the length and breadth of the country.
• The intent behind introducing BLO E-Patrika is to ensure a cascading information model for a better informed and motivated Booth Level Officer.
• The themes of the bimonthly e-Patrika will include subjects like EVM-VVPAT training, IT applications, Special Summary Revision, Minimum SVEEP Activities at polling booths, Postal Ballot facility, accessible elections, Electoral Literacy Clubs, unique voter awareness initiatives and National Voters’ Day.

National Engineer’s Day:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted all engineers on the occasion of Engineers Day.

• Every year India celebrates National Engineer’s day on September 15 to recognise and honour the achievements of the great engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.
• Along with India, Visvesvaraya’s great works are also celebrated in Sri Lanka and Tanzania on September 15 as Engineer’s day.
• Popularly known as Sir MV, he undertook several complex projects and delivered remarkable infrastructural results during his engineering career.
• He patented and installed an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to raise the food supply level and storage to the highest levels known as ‘block system’ in 1903.
• The irrigation system was later installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) dam, the latter of which created one of the largest reservoirs in Asia at the time.

Scheduled Tribes:

The Union Cabinet approved the inclusion of tribes of five states in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

• Among the states whose tribes have been included in the list are Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.
• The Hattee community of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district was granted the status of ST in the latest decision by the Cabinet.
• The Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the inclusion of ‘Gonds’ along with its five sub-castes in the Bhadohi (earlier Sant Ravidas Nagar) District of the State of Uttar Pradesh in the Scheduled Tribes list of Uttar Pradesh.
• It also approved the proposal of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the inclusion of ‘Narikoravan along with the Kurivikkaran’ community in respect of the State of Tamil Nadu through the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
• The Cabinet also approved the proposal for the inclusion of the ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community as a synonym of ‘Kadu Kuruba’ in respect of the State of Karnataka through the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
• As many as 12 caste communities of Chhattisgarh were included in the Scheduled Tribes.

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022:

The Union Cabinet has approved the Signing of Guarantees for hosting Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Under 17 Women’s World Cup 2022 in India.

• FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be held in India between 11th and 30th October 2022.
• The seventh edition of the biennial youth tournament will be the first-ever FIFA women’s competition to be hosted by India.
• The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is the world championship for female players under or upto the age of 17, organized by FIFA.
• The event started in 2008 and is traditionally held in even-numbered years.
• The 6th edition of the event was held in Uruguay from 13th November to 1st December, 2018. Spain is the current champion of FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
• FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 will be the 7th edition of the tournament in which 16 teams, including India, will participate.

Urban Wastewater Scenario In India:

India launches joint whitepaper on ‘Urban Wastewater Scenario in India’ with Denmark at World Water Congress and Exhibition 2022 in Copenhagen.

• India has launched a joint whitepaper on ‘Urban Wastewater Scenario in India’ with Denmark at World Water Congress and Exhibition 2022 in Copenhagen.
• India has committed investments of more than 140 Billion dollars by 2024 in the water sector.
• The minister informed, with the help of community-centric approach, at least 10 percent of the funds are contributed by community in every program ensuring community ownership and participation.
• The whitepaper aims at holistically capturing the current status of wastewater treatment in India and potential pathways for future treatment structures, co-creation, and collaborations.
• This whitepaper is a result of the Indo-Danish Bilateral Green Strategic Partnership, which is focused on green hydrogen, renewable energy, and wastewater management.

Indo-Pacific Trilateral Development Cooperation:

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said India and France have agreed to work towards the establishment of Indo-Pacific trilateral development cooperation.

• Indo-Pacific trilateral development cooperation would facilitate development projects, especially in the framework of the International Solar Alliance.
• The Indo-Pacific trilateral would also provide a platform for Indian innovations and startups to demonstrate their relevance to the requirements of other societies.
• International Solar Alliance now has formed projects in three countries which shows the impact that India and France make together in Bhutan, Papua New Guinea and Senegal.
• The Minister added that India and France are launching a scheme for the exchange of young professionals in the age group of 18 to 35 years as a follow-up to the migration and mobility partnerships.