PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 30-MARCH-2018
Paper 2:
Topic:
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance-
applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Public Financial Management System (PFMS)
Context: A
“historic” Rs 71,633 crore was processed and routed through the PFMS portal on
a single day. This is a Historical Record Breaking Volume of Digital
Transactions achieved by PFMS.
About PFMS:
The Public
Financial Management System (PFMS) is an end-to- end solution for processing
payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting.
§ It
is administered by
the Department of Expenditure.
§ It
is implemented by
the Controller General of Accounts.
Functions:
§ It
provides scheme managers a unified platform for tracking releases and
monitoring their last mile utilisation.
§ It
provides platform for efficient management of funds through tracking of funds
and real time reporting of expenditure and receipts through treasury and bank
interface.
§ The line
ministries/departments utilise this platform to monitor the utilisation of
funds provided to the implementing agencies and state governments.
§ PFMS is
also used for DBT payments under MGNREGA and other notified schemes of the
Government of India.
Sources:
pib.
Paper 3:
Topic:
transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related
constraints.
Mega food park
Context: Greentech Mega Food Park Private Ltd, first
mega food park in Rajasthan, was
recently inaugurated at Roopangarh Village in Ajmer. The Park has been set up
at a cost of Rs 113.57 crore and will benefit around 25,000 farmers in this as
well as neighbouring districts.
About Mega Food Parks:
Ministry of Food Processing Industries is
implementing Mega Food Park Scheme in
the country.
§ The Scheme
of Mega Food Park aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production
to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to
ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastages, increasing farmers’
income and creating employment opportunities particularly in rural sector.
§ These food
parks give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and
reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with particular focus
on perishables.
§ A maximum
grant of R50 crore is given for setting up a MFP, in minimum 50 acres of
contiguous land with only 50% contribution to the total project cost.
Mode of operation:
§ The Scheme
has a cluster based
approach based on a hub and spokes model. It
includes creation of infrastructure for primary processing and storage near the
farm in the form of Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) and Collection Centres
(CCs) and common facilities and enabling infrastructure at Central Processing
Centre (CPC).
§ The PPCs
are meant for functioning as a link between the producers and processors for
supply of raw material to the Central Processing Centres.
§ CPC has
need based core processing facilities and basic enabling infrastructure to be
used by the food processing units setup at the CPC. The minimum area required
for a CPC is 50 acres.
§ The scheme
is demand-driven and would facilitate food processing units to meet
environmental, safety and social standards.
Facts for Prelims:
India’s
first mega food park ‘Srini Mega Food Park’, sprawling 147-acre space, was
opened in Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh in 2012.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: Mega Food Parks scheme.
§ For Mains:
Food security and efforts by government in this regard.
Sources:
pib.
Topic:
Awareness in space.
GSAT-6A
Context: The
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully launched
communication satellite GSAT-6A, on board its geosynchronous rocket GSLV-F08,
at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This is the 12th flight of the GSLV rocket
and the sixth with and indigenous cryogenic upper stage.
About GSAT- 6A satellite:
§ The
GSAT-6A is a high power S-band communication satellite with a mission life of
about 10 years.
§ A key
feature of the satellite is to provide mobile communication to India through
multi beam coverage facility.
§ The
satellite will also provide a platform for developing technologies such as
demonstration of 6 m S-Band Unfurlable Antenna, handheld ground terminals and
network management techniques that could be useful in satellite based mobile
communication applications.
§ The
satellite is expected to be heavily used by security forces which are stationed
in the remotest areas of the country.
About GSLV:
The GSLV
is a three stage/engine rocket. The core of first stage is fired with solid
fuel while the four strap-on motors by liquid fuel. The second stage is the
liquid fuel-propelled and the third is the cryogenic engine.
GSLV-F08,
weighing 415.6 tonnes with a height of 49.1 meters comes with notable
improvements like induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine, electromechanical
actuation system in place of electro-hydraulic actuation system.
What Is An ‘Unfurlable Antenna’? What Does It
Do?
ISRO’s
‘unfurlable antenna’ is a six-meter-wide antenna which looks somewhat like an
umbrella. This will be ‘unfurled’ once the GSAT-6A satellite has been put in
orbit. This antenna, specially designed for the mission, is three times as
broad as the antennas that are usually used by ISRO. This antenna will allow
mobile communication from anywhere via hand-held ground terminals. Apart from
communications, the GSAT-6A satellite is believed to be designated for military
use as well.
What Is S-Band? How Is It Useful?
S-band is
an electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz).
It crosses the conventional boundary between the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and
Super High Frequency (SHF) bands at 3.0 GHz. S-band is used by weather radars,
surface ship radar, and some communications satellites. S-band is very useful
because the 2.5 Ghz band is used globally for 4G services, and is worth
billions of dollars. The S-band spectrum is extremely valuable for mobile
broadband services.
What’s important?
For
Prelims: GSAT 6A, Unfurlable antenna, S band.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Awareness in space.
InSight
What is it? It
is the first-ever mission by NASA dedicated to exploring the deep interior of
Mars. It will also be the first Nasa mission since the Apollo moon landings to
place a seismometer, a device that measures quakes, on the soil of another
planet.
About the mission:
InSight
(Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport)
is a NASA Discovery Program mission that will place a single geophysical lander
on Mars to study its deep interior.
§ But
InSight is more than a Mars mission – it is a terrestrial planet explorer that
will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system
science – understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the
inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.
§ By using
sophisticated geophysical instruments, InSight will delve deep beneath the
surface of Mars, detecting the fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial
planet formation, as well as measuring the planet’s “vital signs”: Its “pulse”
(seismology), “temperature” (heat flow probe), and “reflexes” (precision
tracking).
Significance of this mission:
Mars is
the exoplanet next door—a nearby example of how gas, dust and heat combine and
arrange themselves into a planet. Looking deep into Mars will let scientists
understand how different its crust, mantle and core are from Earth.
What’s important?
For
Prelims and Mains: InSight mission.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic:
Conservation.
Chipko Movement
Context: Google
on March 26th commemorated
the 45th year of the Chipko movement.
What is Chipko movement?
Chipko,
signifying ’embrace or hug’, was the strategy of hundreds of villagers –mostly women- in Chamoli district of
Uttarakhand, to save the forest cover on the Garhwal
Himalyas.
§ Reckless
felling of trees on the hill slopes was having a devastating effect on the
livelihood of the villagers. The floods in 1970, when the Alakananda River
broke its banks, led to massive landslides that blocked the river and washed
away hundreds of hamlets downstream.
§ Widespread
protests followed in the early 70s, when villagers led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt, a
Gandhian, literally embraced the trees to save them from the woodcutters’ axe.
Background:
The
original Chipko andolan dates back to the 18th century and was started by
Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community. The incident has been etched in the annals of
history for the sacrifice of a group of villagers, who led by a lady named
Amrita Devi, laid down their lives while protecting trees from being felled on
the orders of then King of Jodhpur. After this incident, the king, in a royal
decree, banned cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages.
What’s important?
§ For
Prelims: Chipko movement.
§ For Mains:
Conservation of environment, issues, challenges and community participation.
Sources:
the hindu.
Facts for Prelims:
MP’s black chicken Kadaknath wins GI tag:
Context: Madhya
Pradesh has won the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Kadaknath, a
black-feathered chicken known for its flavourful meat. The GI tag will ensure
that no one else can use the name Kadaknath while selling any other black
chicken and will also translate into higher prices for producers.
Key facts:
§ It is
found mainly in the tribal district of Jhabua.
§ Kadaknath
is in demand not only because of its taste but also due to its low cholesterol
and high protein content.
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