Daily Current Capsules - 16th JULY

2019

Prelims Factoids

Lunar Eclipse 2019:Partial Lunar Eclipse will be witnessed in many parts of the world including India

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about lunar eclipse)

What’s the NEWS

Lunar Eclipse 2019: July 16 and 17 will witness the partial lunar eclipse

in India and some other parts of the globe. In year 2019 this lunar eclipse

will be the last one. The partial lunar eclipse is a part of Moon comes

under the Earth's shadow.

A special coincidence after 149 years

This year’s lunar eclipse is also important because of its position. Lunar

eclipse which is also known as Chandra Grahan and is taking place with

Guru Purnima at the same day after 149 years.

The Moon should be about half-covered by the Earth’s shadow at

maximum eclipse. This is the last lunar eclipse of this year and the next

lunar eclipse will take place on May 26, 2021.

Know! about Lunar Eclipse

When Moon passes exactly behind the Earth and into its shadow a lunar

eclipse occurs. It happens when the Sun, Moon and the Earth come

exactly or very closely aligned.

It is also important to know that a lunar eclipse occurs only on the full

moon night. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's

proximity to either node of its orbit.

Types of Lunar Eclipse

When Earth casts its shadow on the Moon a lunar eclipse occurs. This

shadow has two types of shadows called umbra and penumbra.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely passes through

the umbra or when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are correctly aligned.

Partial lunar eclipse occurs on the Earth when Moon partially crosses

through the umbra and penumbra.

When the Moon doesn’t fall in the umbera but present in the penumbra,

a penumbral lunar eclipse occurs.

Government Schemes

Fourth anniversary of Skill India Mission

Skill India

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about skill India mission ) + Mains ( GS II

government interventions and schemes)

What’s the NEWS

The fourth anniversary of the Skill India Mission is being

observed. Several functions are being organised across the country

to mark the occasion.

National Skill Development Mission also known as Skill India

Mission was launched on this day in 2015. Nearly One Crore youth

are being presently imparted skills training annually under the

mission.

Know! the various steps/events taken by the ministry to boost skill

development

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship made an array of

announcements including Degree Apprenticeship Programme, new

courses in ITIs on Electric Vehicles (EVs)and IoT in Smart

Agriculture courses

Hosted Kaushal Yuva Samwaad, a nation-wide youth dialogue to

discuss issues and potential solutions from the candidates' perspective

Announced collaborations with SBI Bank and HDFC Bank for promotion

of Apprenticeship training in the financial sector; MoU with India Post

Payments Bank to certify 170,000 Grameen Dak Sewaks under PMKVY

MoU signed with private players

Kaushal Pakhwada (fortnight celebration of skills) kicked off; from 16th

to 31st July

Team India announced for WorldSkills International, Russia

Know! more about skill India mission

The Mission has been developed to create convergence across sectors and

States in terms of skill training activities.

Further, to achieve the vision of ‘Skilled India’, the National Skill

Development Mission would not only consolidate and coordinate skilling

efforts, but also expedite decision making across sectors to achieve

skilling at scale with speed and standards.

It will be implemented through a streamlined institutional mechanism

driven by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Key institutional mechanisms for achieving the objectives of the Mission

have been divided into three tiers, which will consist of a Governing

Council for policy guidance at apex level, a Steering Committee and a

Mission Directorate (along with an Executive Committee) as the

executive arm of the Mission.

Mission Directorate will be supported by three other institutions: National

Skill Development Agency (NSDA), National Skill Development

Corporation (NSDC), and Directorate General of Training (DGT) – all of

which will have horizontal linkages with Mission Directorate to facilitate

smooth functioning of the national institutional mechanism.

Seven sub-missions have been proposed initially to act as building blocks

for achieving overall objectives of the Mission.

They are:

(i) Institutional Training, (ii) Infrastructure, (iii) Convergence, (iv) Trainers, (v)

Overseas Employment, (vi) Sustainable Livelihoods, (vii) Leveraging Public

Infrastructure.

Bilateral Relations

Indian waterways to facilitate cheaper, efficient transport for Bhutan-Bangladesh trade

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about the trade between Bangladesh and Bhutan via

IWAI route) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)

What’s the NEWS

Bhutan is transporting 50 trucks worth of crushed stone aggregates to

Bangladesh through India.

The transportation that will save 30 per cent cost and eight-ten days of

time is a first of many to come as Inland Waterways Authority of India

(IWAI) will facilitate trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh via the

country's waterways.

Know! more about it

The move will facilitate Bhutan and Bangladesh trade through the

Brahmaputra as part of the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route.

It will also help India access the North-East states through Kolkata,

Haldia through the inland waterways via Bangladesh

India will provide Rs 300 crore to Bangladesh to maintain the depth of

water on this route for five years.

1,000 tonnes of cargo in a single 2,000-tonne, self-propelled vessel of

IWAI is replacing 70 trucks of 12 wheels of 50 trucks of 16 wheels. Cost

saving will be higher if the return cargo were to be taken into

consideration

The stone aggregates will set sail from the Dhubri port in Assam to

Narayanganj in Bangladesh through India's National Waterways 2 and

Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.The stone aggregates were transported

by trucks from Phuentsholing in Bhutan.

Until now, Bhutan has been exporting significant quantity of stone

aggregates to Bangladesh via land route by trucks from Phuentsholing in

Bhutan which is 160 KMs from IWAI’s Dhubri jetty in Assam.

This new route development is in line with Prime Minister Narendra

Modi’s vision of promoting cargo transportation via inland waterways.

Know! more about IWAI

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) came into existence on

27th October 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways

for shipping and navigation.

The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and

maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant

received from Ministry of Shipping.

India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which comprise of

rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.

About 55 million tones of cargo is being moved annually by Inland Water

Transport (IWT), a fuel - efficient and environment -friendly mode.

Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches in the Ganga-

Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers , the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers

in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the

deltaic regions of the Godavari - Krishna rivers.

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