Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 4th October 2021

Pani Samitis:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Gram Panchayats and Pani Samitis/ Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) on Jal Jeevan Mission on 2nd October, 2021.

• Prime Minister will launch the Jal Jeevan Mission App for improving awareness among stakeholders and for greater transparency and accountability of schemes under the Mission.
• Prime Minister will also launch Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh, where any individual, institution, corporate, or philanthropist, be it in India or abroad, can contribute to help provide tap water connection in every rural household, school, anganwadi centre, ashramshala, and other public institutions.
• Pani Samitis play a key role in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of village water supply systems, thereby providing clean tap water to every household on a regular and long-term basis.
• Out of over 6 lakh villages, Pani Samitis/ VWSCs have been constituted in around 3.5 lakh villages. More than 7.1 lakh women have been trained to test the quality of water by using Field Test Kits.

About Jal Jeevan Mission:

• On 15th August, 2019, Prime Minister announced the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide clean tap water to every household. At the time of launch of the mission, only 3.23 Crore (17%) rural households had tap water supply.
• As of October 2, 2021, about 8.26 Crore (43%) rural households have tap water supply in their homes. Every rural household in 78 districts, 58 thousand Gram Panchayats and 1.16 lakh villages are getting tap water supply. Till now, tap water supply has been provided in 7.72 lakh (76%) schools and 7.48 lakh (67.5%) anganwadi centres.
• Following ‘bottom up’ approach, Jal Jeevan Mission is implemented in partnership with States with a budget of Rs. 3.60 lakh Crores.
• Further, Rs. 1.42 lakh Crore has been allocated to PRIs as a tied grant under 15th Finance Commission for water and sanitation in villages for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Special Campaign On Disposal Of Pendency In Government Of India:

Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions launched a dedicated Portal for Special Campaign on disposal of pendency in Government of India during the period 2nd October to 31st October, 2021.

• The Special Campaign is aimed at ensuring timely and effective disposal of Public Grievances, References from Members of Parliament, State Governments, Inter-Ministerial Consultations and Parliamentary Assurances by each Ministry/Department and its attached/subordinate offices during the campaign period.
• During this special campaign, files of temporary nature may be identified and weeded out as per the extant instructions and redundant scrap material and obsolete items may be discarded to improve cleanliness at work places.
• Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) will be the nodal Ministry to monitor the implementation to this campaign.
• Over 2 lakh cases of pending Public Grievances and 4.5 lac physical files for weeding have been identified for disposal in the campaign. The cleanliness campaign will be undertaken in 2179 campaign sites and 301 rules/ processes have been identified for simplification.

Type 1 Diabetes:

Good control of not only blood sugar but also blood pressure and cholesterol is essential for survival and a good quality of life among Type 1 diabetics (T1D), according to a pan-India study of long-term survivors with the condition.

• A first-of-its kind report of long-term survivors of T1D from India, a multi-centric study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics.
• Comparing survivors for over 40 years with people who did not survive up to 40 years, the researchers found that “survivors had better glycemic and blood pressure control, more favourable lipid profiles and lower prevalence of complications compared to non-survivors”.
• Individuals with T1D have increased morbidity and excess premature mortality compared to those without diabetes and their life expectancy is reduced by an estimated 15-20 years, even with the life-saving insulin to their assistance. However, long-term survival with T1D is possible
• India is home to more than 95,000 children with T1D, reported to be the highest in the world, according to the 9th International Diabetes Federation Atlas.

The Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) Summit Between India And The United States:

The Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) summit between India and the United States was held between September 27 to October 01, 2021 at New Delhi.

• The summit was organised to develop protocol for the exchange of classified information between the defence industries of both the nations.
• The ISA was signed in December 2019 to facilitate the exchange of classified information between the defence industries of both the countries. It was held to create a roadmap for the implementation of the ISA.
• During the summit, both the sides agreed in-principle to establish the Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group.
• This group will meet periodically to align the policies and procedures expeditiously that will allow the defence industries to collaborate on cutting edge defence technologies.

Hanuthang-Handanbroke-Zungpal-Turroad:

Construction on 05 major road infrastructure development projects was launched by Governor of Ladakh from Turtuk, the northernmost village of India.

• Following the MoU, signed on 03 Sep 2021, between the Ladakh Administration and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), projects involving construction/improvement of roads and tunnels were assigned to BRO for development of connectivity in the hilly region.
• Construction of road Hanuthang-Handanbroke-Zungpal-Turtuk, the 26.6 Km long greenfield road is planned to provide inter valley connectivity between Hanuthang-Handanbroke (Indus Valley) and Zungpal-Turtuk (Shyok Valley) across the Stakpuchan Range.
• This will also reduce the travel time to Three and Half Hours from existing Nine Hours to Turtuk via Leh without crossing the treacherous Khardungla pass.
• Upgradation of 4 major single lane roads has also commenced.
• These roads are, 78 Km road Khalse to Batallik, 50 Km road Kargil to Dumgil which will also include construction of a tunnel at Hambotingla to ensure seamless connectivity from Kargil to Batallik,70 km road Khalsar to Shyokvia Agham and 31 Km Tangtse to Lukung.
• All these roads are used extensively by travellers to reach sought after tourist destinations such as Hundar (Nubra Valley), Turtuk village, Shyok, Pangon-Tso lake and Aryan villages of Dah, Garkone Darchik etc.

Order Issued To Hunt Tiger T23:

The Male Tiger (name T23) has been responsible for the death of four persons in villages around Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (TN). Efforts to capture the animal had been unfruitful and after locals protest, TN Chief Wildlife Warden has ordered to hunt the Tiger T23 as a last resort

Major causes of Human-Animal conflict:

• Encroachment: People are increasingly encroaching into the country’s traditional wild spaces and animal sanctuaries, where people compete with wildlife for food and other resources.
• Unsustainable development: Animal usual corridors blocked by highways, railway tracks, and factories. This results in ecological dislocation of sorts, wherein endangered wild animals like tigers either cause distress or land themselves in trouble
• Failure of government measures: ‘Human-Wildlife conflict mitigation measures are dysfunctional, haphazardly implemented, and therefore not effective
• Location of animals outside protected areas: Wildlife experts estimate that 29 percent of the tigers in India are outside the protected areas. Wildlife experts claim that territorial animals do not have enough space within reserves and their prey do not have enough fodder to thrive on.
• WWF India had developed the ‘Sonitpur Model’ during 2003-2004 by which community members were connected with the state forest department.
• They were given training on how to work with them to drive elephants away from crop fields safely. Afterward, crop losses dropped to zero for four years running.
• Human and elephant deaths also reduced significantly.

New guidelines Introduced By Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) To Simplify The Process Of Renunciation Of Citizenship For Indians:

New guidelines introduced by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to simplify the process of renunciation of citizenship for Indians who wish to do so.

• Some of the simplified provisions in the new guidelines include- Uploading of documents online and completion of the process of renunciation within 60 days
• The new form also has a provision mandating the Indian citizen to indicate the reason for renouncing the citizenship
• The uploaded documents have to be submitted to the District Magistrate in case of citizen living in India or an Indian Mission abroad. The applicant will be interviewed before issuing the final certificate
• Also, the guidelines specify that as per the Citizenship act, 1955- “every minor child of that person shall thereupon ceases to be a citizen of India”.
• Concern with the guidelines: The guidelines are not clear if minors would also lose citizenship if only one of the parents gives up her/his Indian citizenship.

2nd Phase Of The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban And Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT):

The government has launched the 2nd phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to make cities free of garbage, ensuring safe water, and not allow any untreated water discharge into any of the rivers in the country.

Achievement till now:

• 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF)
• 70% of wastes in Indian Cities are being processed (from 20% back in 2014): India is processing about one lakh tonne of waste every day.
• Behavioral Changes: Cleanliness has become a great campaign. PM cited that Children no longer throw Toffee wrappers around but keep them in the pocket to be disposed of in the dustbin later
• National Respect and Pride: The successes of the two missions have given citizens respect, dignity, pride in collective ambition, and unmatched love for the motherland.
• Enhanced finances: Allocation of the fund to the Urban Development Ministry increased from 25 lakh Crore (2007-2014) to 4 lakh Crore (2014-2021)

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U)

• To make all cities 100% ‘garbage free’ from current 70%
• Ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT
• Make all urban local bodies as ODF+ and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++
• Focus on source segregation of solid waste by utilizing the principles of 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
• Scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management

AMRUT 2.0

• 100% coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 urban local bodies by providing about 68 crore tap connections
• 100% coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities by providing around 64 crore sewers/ septage connections
• Adopt the principles of Circular Economy (Generating wealth from waste using 3Rs)
• Promote conservation and rejuvenation of surface and groundwater bodies
• Data led governance in water management
• Technology Sub-Mission to leverage latest global technologies and skills
• ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’: To promote competition among cities

CJI For Special Panels To Probe ‘Atrocities’

Chief Justice of India has mooted to form a Panel headed by High Court Chief Justice to probe any complaint received from Common man of “atrocities” committed by the bureaucracy, especially police officers

• Police have been in the spotlight for committing serious crimes:
• Gorakhpur (UP): The police officers in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been accused of causing the death of a businessman during a raid in a hotel.
• Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu): Nine policemen were involved in the custodial deaths of the father-son duo P. Jayaraj and J. Benicks for violating Covid19 Curfew in June last year.
• Agartala (Tripura): DM Shailesh Kumar Yadav was recorded on video physically manhandling citizens during the lockdown and was later suspended by the state government
• The politicization of Bureaucracy: CJI made the oral observation that Bureaucrats act with impunity with one government but have to “payback with interest” when there is a regime change
• ‘Targets of political vendetta’: Bureaucrats and especially Police officers find themselves being targeted by the new government.
• This impacts their efficiency, trust, and impartiality in the system.
• ADG of Police Gurjinder Pal Singh in Chhattisgarh had sought protection from arrest in Supreme Court in various criminal cases, including sedition, extortion, and criminal intimidation, arraigned against him by the current government.