WATER CRISIS DATE - 6 August 2021
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DATE - 6 August 2021
WATER CRISIS
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Context:- India’s groundwater table is declining, cities like chennai, delhi are
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on the brink, India is 56% water deficit. According to World bank data, by 2050
India will have water availability of 1140 BCM but it needs 1180 BCM. To solve
this crisis, the government is taking measures.
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● Water being a State subject conservation and efficient management
of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State
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Governments.
● The Government of India along with States is implementing Jal
Jeevan Mission-HarGharJal, which aims at providing potable water in
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adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long term
basis to every rural household through tap water connection by 2024.
● Government of India has launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and
Urban Transformation (AMRUT) on 25th June, 2015 in select 500
cities and towns across the country.
○ The water supply component includes new, augmentation
and rehabilitation of the water supply system
○ Rejuvenation of water bodies for drinking water supply and
special water supply arrangement for difficult areas, hills and
coastal cities, including those having water quality problems.
● Under HarKhetKoPani (HKKP) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Repair, Renovation and Restoration(RRR) of Water Bodies Scheme was launched which aims to revive
irrigation potential by improvement and restoration of water bodies by
enhancing the tank storage capacity, along with other multiple
objectives such as ground water recharge, increased availability of
drinking water, improvement of catchment of tank commands etc.
○ 1,549 water bodies have been reported to be completed
upto March, 2021.
● During 2016-17, ninety-nine (99) on-going major/medium irrigation
projects (and 7 phases) under PMKSY – Accelerated Irrigation
Benefits Programme (AIBP) have been prioritized in consultation with
States for completion in phases out of which AIBP works of 44
projects have been reported to be completed/almost completed.
● Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, with focus on
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community participation, demand side interventions and convergence
of ongoing schemes for sustainable groundwater management is
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being implemented from 1 April 2020 in seven States – Gujarat,
Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh.
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● The National Water Mission had started a campaign “Sahi Fasal” to
nudge farmers to favor agricultural crops which consume less water
and to use water more efficiently in agriculture, as a part of demand
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side management.
● National Water Mission, in a bid to draw attention to critical aspects of
water, and to promote dialogue and information sharing among
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participants on a variety of water related topics, has initiated a
monthly seminar series – “Water Talk” on 22nd March, 2019, the
World Water Day.
● The “Water Talk” is intended to create awareness, build capacities of
stakeholders and to encourage people to become active participants
in the conservation and saving of water.
● Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) in its report for 2021-26, has
earmarked 60 per cent for national priorities like drinking water supply
and rainwater harvesting and sanitation, out of the total grants
earmarked for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI).
○ For fifty Million – Plus cities, two-thirds of allocation of funds
under Challenge Fund of Rs. 38,196 crore is meant formeeting service level benchmarks on drinking water supply,
rainwater harvesting, water recycling, solid waste
management and sanitation.
● The FFC report also emphasises on sustainable and efficient water
use and has suggested three ways to reduce and rationalise water
use in agriculture:
○ (i) by replacing free or subsidised power supply for
agriculture with direct benefit transfers (DBT),
○ (ii) encouraging use of new technologies such as drip,
sprinkler, sensor-based irrigation to get more crop per drop,
and
○ (iii) by conserving and rainwater harvesting to increase the
availability of surface as well as groundwater.
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● FFC has recommended incentive-based grants to States that
maintain and augment groundwater stock and maintain a check on
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any fall in the water table.
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At the time of announcement of JalJeevan Mission, only 3.23 crore
households were reported to have tap water connections. Since then,
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another 4.64 crore rural households have been provided tap water
connections.
● As per Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Government of NCT of Delhi, to
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overcome water crisis and augment raw water resources in Delhi,
DJB has laid water pipelines in a large number of colonies during the
last six years leading to achieving an increase of 7,67,623 number of
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water connections.
Source:- PIB, The Hindu
Swarn SinghHigh-Tech measures for improvement
in Aviation Sector
Context:-
Indian aviation sector is under stress from both the sides i.e. from
financial stress, sustainability stress and lack of demand due to
COVID-19. So the government is taking few measures to make it robust
so that it can sustain the upcoming jerks.
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Aviation in August 2018.
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1. The policy on Digi Yatra has been released by the Ministry of Civil
1. This Policy aims to provide a contactless, seamless and
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paperless handling of passengers at airports from the entry
gate of the terminal to the boarding point.
2. Work has been awarded for implementation of Biometric
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Boarding System (BBS) by using facial recognition
technology at six airports namely – Bengaluru, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi and Vijayawada. The project is at
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the trial stage. Upon successful completion, the same will be
implemented across other airports in the country in a
phased manner.;
2. Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to invest around Rs. 25,000
crores in next 4-5 years for expansion/ development of existing and
new terminals, using modern technology.
3. Modernisation of air navigation infrastructure has been taken up.
4. Route rationalization in the Indian airspace is being carried out in
coordination with Indian Air Force, using modern air traffic flow
management techniques to develop shorter flight routes and lower
fuel consumption by airlines.5. Greater use of digital technology is being encouraged at air cargo
terminals to enhance efficiency and to reduce dwell times.
6. E-Governance is being enabled at Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for
most of their stakeholder interactions and internal processes.;;
7. Online ‘examination on demand’ is being planned by DGCA for flying
cadets to enhance the number of licenced pilots in the country.
8. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will permit new flights on international
and national routes to transport agricultural cargo.
9. UDAAN scheme & National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) to boost
regional air connectivity there by increasing the foot print in aviation.
10. Faster approval to the Greenfield airports in the North East areas
⇒ 2016
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11. FDI policy is relaxed for the Aviation sector.
Source:- PIB, The Hindu.
GS PAPER-3
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Swarn Singh
Ple-RUPI, the new digital payment
instrument
(GS PAPER-3, INFRASTRUCTURE
SOURCE- Pib
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Context-
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Prime Minister of India on August 2nd launched the digital payment solution
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e-RUPI which is a cashless and contactless instrument for digital payment
services. The Prime Minister has stated that the e RUPI voucher is going to
play a great role in making Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) more effective in
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digital transactions in India, and will give a new way to digital governance.
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What is e-RUPI and how does it work?
e-RUPI is basically a digital voucher which a beneficiary gets on his phone in
the form of an SMS or QR code. It is a pre-paid voucher, which he/she can go
and redeem at any center that accepts it.For example, if the Government wants to cover a particular treatment of an
employee in a specified hospital, it can issue an e-RUPI voucher for the
determined amount through a partner bank. The employee will receive an
SMS or a QR Code on his feature phone/smartphone. He/she can go to the
specified hospital, avail of the services, and pay through thee-RUPI voucher
received on his phone.
Thus e-RUPI is a one-time contactless, cashless voucher-based mode of
payment that helps users redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments
app, or internet banking access.
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e-RUPI should not be confused with, Digital Currency which the Reserve
Bank of India is contemplating. Instead, e-RUPI is a person-specific, even
purpose-specific digital voucher.
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How is e-RUPI advantageous to the
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Consumer?
e-RUPI does not require the beneficiary to have a bank account, a major
distinguishing feature as compared to other digital payment forms. It ensures
an easy, contactless two-step redemption process that does not require
sharing of personal details either.Another advantage is that e-RUPI is operable on basic phones also, and
hence it can be used by persons who do not own smartphones or in places
that lack an internet connection.
What are the benefits of e-RUPI for the
sponsors?
e-RUPI is expected to play a major role in strengthening Direct-Benefit
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Transfer and making it more transparent. Since there is no need for the
physical issuance of vouchers, it will also lead to some cost savings as well.
What benefits accrue to the Service
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Providers.
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Being a prepaid voucher, e-RUPI would assure real-time payments to the
service provider.
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Who has developed the e-RUPI?
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees the
digital payments ecosystem in India, has launched e-RUPI, a voucher-based
payments system to promote cashless transactions.It has been developed in collaboration with the Department of Financial
Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and National Health Authority.
Which Banks issue e-RUPI ?
NPCI has partnered with 11 banks for e-RUPI transactions. They are Axis
Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank,
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IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of
India, and Union Bank of India.
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The acquiring Apps are Bharat Pe, BHIM Baroda Merchant Pay, Pine Labs,
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PNB Merchant Pay and YoNo SBI Merchant Pay.
More banks and acquiring Apps are expected to join the e-RUPI initiative
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soon.
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Where can e-RUPI be used now?
To begin with, NPCI has tied up with more than 1,600 hospitals where e-RUPI
can be redeemed.
Experts say, in the days to come the user base of e-RUPI is expected to
widen, with even the private sector using it to deliver employee benefits and
MSMEs adopting it for Business To Business (B2B) transactions.Khyati Khare
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