NEWS TODAY

VISIONIAS

18th MAY, 2021

India is the 3rd largest consumer of energy and also the 3rd largest importer of crude oil in the world.

The nodal body for it is the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL)

It will help India to move towards 90 days mandated storage by International Energy Agency for member countries and mitigate supply side disruptions.

Under Phase-I, Strategic PetroleumReserves facilities of crude oil at 3 locations- Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur have been established. 

Under Phase-II, Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka will have two additional SPR facilities.

It is a Special Purpose Vehicle created in 2004, wholly-owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

To leverage private sector resources, a privatefirm or consortium will run two new underground crude oil storage facilities under Phase II of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program (ISPRP).

This was made possible by number of ongoing initiatives/schemes for development and employment in rural India likeDeendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin

In the proposed framework of the market regulator SEBI, the yellow metal will be traded in the form of electronic gold receipts (EGRs) in denominations of 1 kilogram, 100 gram, 50 gram. The objectives are

Despite being second only to China in consumption of gold, India has remained only as a price-taker in global markets. EGRs aim to change this position.India’s earlier efforts to mobilize gold:

About ISPRP

About ISPRL

GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES PPP MODE IN STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE

AMIDST THE PANDEMIC, INDIA ACHIEVED NEW MILESTONES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (SEBI) PRO-POSES FRAMEWORK FOR GOLD EXCHANGE

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and National Oil Company from UAE joined Phase-I to store its oil in Mangalore

Basis of Comparison

Legislative Council Legislative Assembly

Meaning Upper house of Indian States, whose members are partly elected and partly nominated.

Maximum one third of the total members of the assembly and the minimum 40

It cannot introduce/amend/reject it

Can discuss but cannot vote on the demands for grants Vote on demands is the exclusive privilege of the assembly

Elected members of the assembly of the states and Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry can participate

It can introduce/amend/reject it

Maximum 500 and minimum 60

Lower house of the State legislature, whose members are directly elected by the people.

Once the Council is set up, West Bengal will become the seventh Indian state to have a bicameral system of legislature after Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Difference between Legislative Council and Assembly:

Under Article 169 of the Constitution, Parliament may by law create or abolish the legislative council in a state if the Legislative Assembly of that state passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority.

Launched in 2015 (revamped from Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission) to increase rural household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements.It helped in capacity building and social development through training of Community Resource Person and women SHG members.

It offered work to 2.95 crore persons, generating 34.56 crore person-days as compared to 1.22 crore persons in 2019.

Launched in 2000 with an objective to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages.It achieved the highest Cumulative Physical Progress (1795.9 km) over the last three years.

Launched in 2016 (revamped from Indira Awas Yojana) to achieve Housing for All by 2022 in rural India.

It will help in having a transparent domestic spot price discovery mechanism.To attract more players, EGRs with smaller denominations such as 10 grams and 5 grams also be allowed for trading purposes.To establish an Indian good delivery standard, akin to London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) accredited gold bars. The gold bars have to be BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) or LBMA accredited.

Gold monetisation scheme (GMS) to mobilize the unused gold lying idle in India’s Households and to reduce the current account deficit due to import of gold.Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme to reduce the demand for physical gold as a saving instrument by issuing government securities denominated in grams of gold.

It incurred an expenditure of Rs. 5854 Cr in this financial year as compared to Rs. 2512 Cr. in 2020-21.

CABINET APPROVES PROPOSAL FOR CREATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN WEST BENGAL

Election of President of

IndiaIt cannot participate

Presiding officer

Minimum age for Membership

Strength

Money Bill

Budget

Chairman

30 Years 25 Years

Speaker

VISIONIAS

VISIONIASALSO IN NEWS

Eklavya Model Residential Schools

NPPA

Escrow Account

Snow Leopard

Katkari Tribe

ELDERLINE

EMRS were started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas and to avail of opportunities in higher education and employment.

In India, they occupy the western and eastern Himalayas.Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN- Red Data list.Apart from the state animal of Himachal Pradesh, it is also the National Heritage Animal of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Project Snow Leopard. WWF-India selected the regions of Kargil in the Ladakh, North Sikkim and Western Arunachal Pradesh as focus areas for snow leopard conservations.

They are also known as Kathodis because of their old occupation of making Katha (Catechu) the thickened sap from wood of Khair ( Acacia catechu).

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Microsoft signed an MoU to support the digital transformation of schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools.About Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

Presently we have 190 EMRS functioning with plan to have one such school in each block with above 50% ST population or above 20, 000 tribals by 2022.

Attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals to implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 1995/2013 in accordance with the powers delegated to it.Can only control prices of devices and products that are defined as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority of India (NPPA) has fixed the price of two Covid-19 drugs, Budesonide and Dexamethasone.About NPPA:

Recently, Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) allowed National Stock Exchange (NSE) to withdraw Rs 6,085 crore deposited by it in an escrow account.

WWF in a recent report said that more than 70 per cent habitat of the snow leopard, over 12 Asian countries, remains un-researched.About Snow leopards:

Conservation programs:

About Escrow AccountIt is an account where funds or assets are held in trust by a third party whilst two or more parties complete a transaction.

It offers benefits like overcoming uncertainty on ability to meet obligations and facilitating custody of cash, securities and other collaterals based on the transaction type.

HOW LIGHTNING FLASH CAN KILL ANIMALS

Katkari tribe is one of the 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups living in areas of Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat.

Recently, some of them have engaged in collecting Minor Forest Produce like Giloy through SHGs under Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana run by TRIFED;

In order to address the problems of elders in the context of the ongoing COVID pandemic, the Ministry of Social Justice has started state wise call centres in major states under the ELDERLINE project.

Few elephants on Bamuni Hill in Assam reportedly died from lightning.Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves. Most lightning occurs within the clouds.

Lightning may injure or kill animals in a number of ways:

STEP POTENTIAL: This is the most common lightning hazard among four-legged animals.

DIRECT FLASHSIDE FLASH: When lightning strikes a tall object such as a tree, it may generate a side flash that can strike an animal standing underneath the tree.TOUCH POTENTIAL: If one part of a tall animal’s body is in contact with the ground while another part, at a higher elevation, comes in contact with a lightning-struck object, a partial current may pass through its body.

When an animal’s front and hind feet are far enough apart, a partial current may pass through the body in certain circumstances.the tree.The potential difference increases with increasing distance between the two feet. The larger the potential difference, the greater the current through the body. This makes the elephant more vulnerable.

The Union government is developing a Common Alert Protocol (CAP) system to warn people about impending thunderstorm and lightning strikes.

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) have developed an app, 'Damini', to monitor lightning activities.

The ELDERLINE is a facility operationalised with the assistance of Tata Trusts and NSE foundation.The facility is already made operational in 5 major States of UP, MP, Rajasthan, TN and Karnataka.