PIB Summary- 13th August, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Fit India Freedom Run 2.0

Details

• The run is being organized at 75 iconic locations across the country, who will further take it to 75 villages in nearly 750 districts of the nation and promote the Fitness ki Doze, Aadha Ghunta Roz campaign.
• The aim of the campaign is to encourage people to take up fitness activities such as running and sports in their daily life.
• The key activities of Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 include pledge, rendering of National Anthem, Freedom Run, cultural functions at venues, awareness among Youth Volunteers to participate and also organize similar Freedom Runs in their villages.

Vehicle Scrappage Policy

The vehicle scrappage policy was initially announced by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2021-22. The policy will cover Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) and medium and heavy commercial vehicles. 

Policy Objectives

• The aim of the policy is to create an ecosystem for flushing out from our roads old and unfit vehicles that cause pollution in order to reduce pollution. It also aims at improving road and vehicular safety in the country.
• It is also expected to give a fillip to the automobile industry, which was already down even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In the long run, the policy is expected to enhance the fuel efficiency of vehicles, augment the availability of low-cost raw materials for automotive, electronics and steel industries and increase the government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues. The scheme also seeks to formalise the currently informal vehicle scrapping industry.

Vehicle Scrappage Policy Features

• The policy has provisions to scrap private vehicles that are over 20 years old and commercial vehicles that are more than 15 years old.
• The policy will start with commercial vehicles first and then be expanded to private vehicles later.
• Old vehicles will have to pass a fitness test before re-registration.
• Old vehicles will be tested at the Automated Fitness Centres and the fitness test of the vehicles will be done in conformity with international standards.
  • The vehicles will undergo emission testing, safety components’ testing, braking system tests, etc.
  • The criteria for a vehicle to be scrapped is chiefly based on the fitness of vehicles through Automated Fitness Centres in case of commercial vehicles and Non-Renewal of Registration in case of private vehicles.
  • The criteria have been adapted from international best practices after a comparative study of standards from various countries like Germany, the UK, the USA and Japan.
  • Automated fitness centres will be set up under PPP mode.
• To incentivize the scrapping of old vehicles, the policy proposes a lesser GST of 5% or a complete waiver on replaced commercial vehicles instead of 28% levied currently on commercial vehicles and on those carrying 10 or more persons. 
• All government vehicles and those owned by PSUs will be de-registered after 15 years.
• Those opting for the scheme will get scrap value of the old vehicle at the scrappage centre, which is about 4-6 percent of the ex-showroom price of new vehicles and will get a road tax rebate of up to 25 percent on personal vehicles and up to 15 percent on commercial vehicles.  
• They can also avail of a 5 per cent manufacturer discount against the scrapping certificate and also a waiver in the registration fee while buying new vehicles.
• The government (Dept. of Heavy Industries) will open vehicle scrapping centres to create an ecosystem for the policy to take off. 
  • Clusters would be developed for this purpose close to the ports under the Sagarmala initiative. 
  • It is expected that the clusters will cater to the global scrapping demands as well.
• The policy will kick in for government vehicles from April 1, 2022.
• Mandatory fitness testing for heavy commercial vehicles will start on April 1, 2023.
• For all other categories of vehicles, including personal vehicles, it will start in phases from June 1, 2024.

Vehicle Scrappage Policy Need

• Older vehicles cause more pollution and this policy is expected to cut down vehicular air pollution by 25-30%.
• The fuel efficiency of older vehicles is less.
• Older vehicles are short on the latest safety features, thus having them removed from the roads will increase road safety.

Vehicle Scrappage Policy Benefits

1. The policy is expected to increase the tax collection from the automobile industry to the tune of Rs.10000 crores.
2. It will give a big boost to the automotive industry in the country with the increasing demand for new vehicles and also reduced costs due to the availability of scrap and other raw materials.
3. Old vehicles do not conform to the Bharat Stage Emissions norms VI and flushing them out of the roads will lead to reduced air pollution.
4. The policy has benefits for the steel industry also, apart from generating fresh demand for steel, it will also reduce the import of steel. Also read: National Steel Policy.
5. The scrapping of old vehicles can reduce the consumption of oil to the extent of 3.2 billion litres per year. This will help save nearly Rs 7,000 crore in oil import.
6. It will lead to the establishment of more scrap yards in the country and lead to effective recovery of waste from old vehicles.
7. In the new fitness centres, 35 thousand people will get employment and see an investment of Rs 10,000 crores.
8. The scheme in the long run will lead to reduced automobile prices.
9. The policy will give a boost to new technologies with better mileage of vehicles besides promoting green fuel and electricity.

Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021

Details

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, which prohibits identified single use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.

Background

• Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries.
• India is committed to taking action for mitigation of pollution caused by littered Single Use Plastics.
• In the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India had piloted a resolution on addressing single-use plastic products pollution, recognizing the urgent need for the global community to focus on this very important issue.
• The adoption of this resolution at UNEA 4 was a significant step.

What the notified Rules entail?

• The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of the following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from 1st July, 2022:
  • ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration;
  • plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
• From 30 September 2021, the thickness of plastic carry bags will be increased from 50 microns to 75 microns and 120 microns, the statement said adding that this will also allow the reuse of plastic carry bags.
• The plastic packaging waste, which is not covered under the phase out of identified single use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) of the Producer, importer and Brand owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
  • For the effective implementation of the EPR, the guidelines for the same have been given legal force through the amendment Rules.

The following steps have also been taken to strengthen implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 and also to reduce the use of identified single use plastic items:

1. States/UTs have been requested to constitute a Special Task Force for the elimination of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
2. A National Level Taskforce has also been constituted by the Ministry for taking coordinated efforts to eliminate identified single use plastic items and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Brand launched for SHG Products

Details

• The ‘SonChiraiya’ brand and logo was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for marketing urban Self-Help Group (SHG) products.
• This initiative will prove as a step in the right direction towards increased visibility and global access for the products made by urban SHG women.
• The Ministry expects to link many more such SHG members, with a variety of professionally packaged, hand-crafted ethnic products, reaching the doorsteps of the customers globally.

IndiGau

About IndiGau

• IndiGau is India’s first Cattle Genomic Chip for the conservation of pure varieties of indigenous cattle breeds like Gir, Kankrej, Sahiwal, Ongole, etc.
• This indigenous chip was developed by the concerted efforts of scientists of the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NAIB), Hyderabad, an autonomous institution under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology.
• According to the statement released, IndiGau is the largest cattle chip of the world.
• It has 11,496 markers (SNPs) more than that placed on 777K Illumina chip of US & UK breeds.
• IndiGau will have practical utility in the government schemes to achieve the goal of conservation of the indigenous breeds with better characteristics.

What is an SNP chip?

• It is a small sliver of glass, about the size of a finger-nail, into which are etched a very large number of very small pits. Each of these hold a tiny amount of DNA, which has been extracted from the tissue sample of an animal or plant, and can be ‘read’ by a DNA sequence-reading machine.
• If cattle owners/breeders want to get DNA or genomic information on an animal, they simply take a hair or other tissue sample (probably using a blood card), and send it off to be read.
• The information the chip conveys can include pedigree testing, test for horn/poll status, and/or traits like growth rate or eating quality.

RoSCTL Scheme

Context

• Government notified the continuation of the scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes (RoSCTL) and levies on Export of Apparel/Garments and Made-ups.
• Government approved continuation of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) on Export of Apparel/Garments and Made-ups.

Details

• The Centre has extended the rebate of state and central taxes and levies (RoSCTL) on export of apparel and garments for another three years.
• The move critically reduces the price of Indian products in the global market because manufacturers don’t have to add the cost of state and central taxes on it.
• The Centre clarified that textile products not covered under the RoSCTL shall be eligible to avail the benefits under RoDTEP scheme.

Benefits

• The move would help the struggling textile industry by making the pricing of Indian apparels more competitive in the global market.
• This would help increase exports and create more jobs.

RoSCTL Scheme

• Under the RoSCTL scheme, exporters are issued a duty credit scrip for the value of embedded taxes and levies contained in exported products. Exporters can use this scrip to pay tax while importing equipment, machinery.
• It is a globally accepted principle that taxes and duties should not be exported, to enable a level playing field in the international market for the exporters.
• Realizing the importance of refund of embedded taxes, cesses and duties, the Ministry of Textiles first launched a scheme by the name of Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) in 2016.
  • In this scheme the exporters of apparel, garment and made-ups were refunded embedded taxes and levies through the budget of the Ministry of Textiles.
• The RoSCTL scheme was notified in 2019 under which exporters are issued a duty credit scrip for the value of the embedded taxes in the exported products.

Chemotaxis

• Chemotaxis is a phenomenon that refers to the migration of cells toward attractant chemicals or away from repellents.
• Virtually, every motile (capable of motion) organism exhibits some type of chemotaxis.
• Many organisms in nature respond to the chemical signal received from their environment by showing bodily motion or as chemotaxis.
• A sperm cell finds the ovum using chemotaxis. White blood cells that are needed for healing injuries find the site of injury or inflammation by chemotaxis. Butterflies also track flowers, and male insects reach their targets by using chemotaxis. coli in the human intestine moves towards or away from chemicals using chemotaxis.
• Understanding chemotaxis involves how it is affected by various conditions present inside the cell or in the environment.

Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary

Context: Cabinet approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary for further five years.

Details

• The scheme has been extended from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026 at a total cost of Rs.9000 crore, out of which the central share will be Rs.5357 crore including Rs.50 crore for the Gram Nyayalayas Scheme and their implementation in a Mission Mode through National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.
• This proposal will help in construction of 3800 court halls and 4000 residential units (both new and ongoing projects) for judicial officers of District and Subordinate Courts, 1450 lawyer halls, 1450 toilets complexes and 3800 digital computer rooms.
• This will help in improving the functioning and performance of the Judiciary in the country and will be a new step towards building better courts for a new India.
• This scheme has been in operation since 1993-94.
• Importance of the scheme: Several courts are still functioning in rented premises with insufficient space and some in a dilapidated condition without basic amenities. Lack of residential accommodation to all the judicial officers also adversely affects their working and performance.