SC bats against transfer of community resources
ENVIRONMENT
SC bats against transfer of community resources
SC said that Government has no right to transfer “invaluable” community resources like village water ponds to a few powerful people and industrialists for commercialization of property, when many areas of the country perennially face water crisis and access to drinking water is woefully inadequate.
Court Observation:
- Protection of such village commons is essential to safeguard the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 21 of our Constitution.
- These common areas are the lifeline of village communities.
- These community resources sustain various chores and provide resources necessary for life.
- State cannot divest villagers of their existing source of water.
- Adverse effects of destroying an existing water body cannot be offset by an alternative site.
- People may not prefer to travel miles to access the alternative site.
- Since time immemorial, certain common lands had been vested in village communities for collective benefit.
- Since Independence, powerful people and a corrupt system had appropriated these lands for personal aggrandizement.
Court order:
- Ordered the authorities and the industrialists to remove all obstructions and restore the water bodies within three months.
One-fifth of country’s forests prone to fires: study
Findings of the Forest Survey of India:
- About 21.40% of forest cover in India is prone to fires, with forests in the north-eastern region and central India being the most vulnerable.
- Extremely fire prone areas account for 3.89% of total forest cover.
- Very highly fire prone areas account for 6.01% and highly fire prone areas for 11.50%.
Reasons for forest fire:
- Slash-and-burn cultivation
- People leave burning bidis, cigarette stubs or other inflammable materials causing forest fires.
- Thunderstorms are the natural cause of forest fire.
Other Causes:
- In dry seasons due to friction by rolling stones in the mountainous areas can cause spark
- In bamboo areas, by the rubbing together of clumps of dry bamboos
- Volcanic eruptions
- To facilitate collection of Non-timber forest produce, collectors ignite fire, which accidently spread in the forest
- Burning farm residue may spread to forests
- Protecting crops from wild animals
- Careless throwing of bidi stubs, cigarettes etc
- Sparks from transformers or vehicles passing through forests
- Charcoal making and wine extracting in forests
- Camp fires during winter
SOCIETY
Indore, Jamshedpur are the cleanest on Swachh 2020 table
Indore and Jamshedpur have topped the cleanliness charts for two consecutive quarters among cities with over 10 lakh population and with 1 lakh to 10 lakh population respectively.
Format of ranking:
- Conducted in a league format for the first time.
- It was split into three quarters (April to June, July to September and October to December 2019).
- It was conducted by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Swachh Survekshan (Cleanliness survey)
- It is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India.
- It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aims to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2 October 2019.
- The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities (53 cities with a population of over a million, and all state capitals); by 2019 the survey had grown to cover 4237 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. The surveys are carried out by Quality Council of India
SECURITY
China welcomes decision to include Huawei in 5G trial
China has welcomed India’s decision to include telecom major Huawei in the 5G trial. China had threatened India of “reverse sanctions” if Huawei was blocked from participating in the 5G trial.
Chinese statement:
- All players got equal chance to participate in 5G trial in India.
- It will be conducive for initiatives like Digital India.
- Open, transparent businesses environment and level playing field in India for Chinese companies is win-win cooperation for both countries.
Challenges to Huawei participation:
- It had become a diplomatic issue with opposition from the U.S. and Japan.
- The Chinese major was banned by the U.S. in May, which led to an international campaign to stop other countries from including it in 5G projects.
- Huawei participation will give it access to the entire telecom network and data of the country.
- Government had commented that “Make in India” project would be considered while deciding on the 5G participation by Huawei.
- Government had also ensured to take care of economic and security interest.
- U.S. remains concerned with the choice of telecom networks in areas where U.S. information travelled.
5G
- It is the 5th generation mobile network. The other mobile network generations are 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G.
- 1G delivered analog voice.
- 2G introduced digital voice (e.g., CDMA).
- 3G brought mobile data (e.g., CDMA2000).
- 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile Internet.
- 5G will elevate the mobile network to not only interconnect people, but also interconnect and control machines, objects, and devices. It will deliver new levels of performance and efficiency that will empower new user experiences and connect new industries. 5G will deliver multi-Gbps peak rates, ultra-low latency, massive capacity, and more uniform user experience
ECONOMY
Finance Minister unveils plans for Rs. 102 lakh cr. infra projects
Union Finance Minister outlined plans to invest more than Rs. 102 lakh crores in infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, the States and the private sector sharing the capital expenditure in a 39:39:22 formulas.
Preparation of the Plan:
- A task force of senior bureaucrats had identified Rs. 102 lakh crores worth of projects in 18 States as part of a National Infrastructure Pipeline.
- Another Rs. 3 lakh crores worth of projects are likely to be added soon
- The investment is phased over a six-year period, including the current financial year.
- The funds would come from budgetary and extra-budgetary resources.
- Rs. 24.5 lakh crores expected to be invested in power, renewable energy, atomic energy, petroleum, and natural gas.
- The other major focus areas are roads (19%), railways (13%), urban (16%) and rural (8%) infrastructure and irrigation (8%).
- Social infrastructure including health and education will get 3% of the capital expenditure.
- Agriculture and food processing infrastructure will get one per cent of the planned capital expenditure.
Challenges:
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