PIB Summary- 11th August, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) Scheme

About the Scheme

• Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) is a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) to provide affordable rental housing to urban migrants/poor, close to their workplace.
• It aims to create a conducive ecosystem for Public/Private Entities to leverage investment in rental housing.
• The beneficiaries of ARHCs will be varied groups of urban migrants/poor from EWS/LIG categories including industrial & construction workers, migrants working with market/trade associations, educational/health institutions, hospitality sector, long-term tourists/visitors, students, etc.
• It is under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Need for the Scheme

• Large scale reverse migration of urban migrants/poor due to COVID-19.
• Urban migrants stay in slums/informal settlements/unauthorised colonies/peri-urban areas to save cost on housing.
• Non-availability of housing close to workplace adversely impacts productivity.
• Requirement of affordable rental housing rather than ownership.

Objectives of the Scheme

• To address the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ significantly by creating a sustainable ecosystem of affordable rental housing solutions for urban migrants/poor.
• To achieve overall objective of “Housing for All” encompassing the need of affordable rental housing for urban migrants/poor. ARHCs will provide them dignified living with necessary civic amenities near their place of work.
• To create a conducive environment by incentivizing Public/Private Entities to leverage investment for creating affordable rental housing stock to take care of their own requirements for workforce and also cater to neighbouring areas, if they have available vacant land.

PLI Scheme

Details

• In May 2021, the government of India approved the Production Linked Scheme (PLI) for the manufacturing of Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country with an outlay of Rs.18,100 crore for five years.
• The scheme envisages establishing a competitive ACC battery manufacturing set up in the country (50 Giga Watt hour-GWh).
• The scheme also covers 5 GWh of niche ACC technologies.
• The scheme proposes a production linked subsidy based on applicable subsidy per KWh and percentage of value addition achieved on actual sales made by the manufacturers who set up production units.
• The PLI scheme is expected to facilitate the reduction of import dependence for ACC battery.

Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA)

Context: The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has launched Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) in 272 identified vulnerable districts with an aim to create awareness about the ill-effects of substance abuse among the youth.

Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21)

Details

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction, which coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention (which includes the assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information and public awareness).
• The Plan for 2020-21 would focus on 272 most affected districts.
• It would be a three-pronged attack combining efforts of:
  • Narcotics Bureau,
  • Outreach/Awareness by Social Justice and
  • Treatment through the Health Dept.

The Action Plan has the following components

• Awareness generation programmes;
• Focus on Higher Educational institutions, University Campuses and Schools;
• Community outreach and identification of dependent population;
• Focus on treatment facilities in hospital settings;
• Capacity Building Programmes for Service Provider.

International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking

• International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed on the 26th of June every year since 1989.
• The day is also meant to commemorate Lin Zexu’s efforts towards the strategic dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong in China right before the First Opium War on the Chinese Mainland.
• The theme of World Drug Day 2020 is Better Knowledge for Better Care.
• The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit trafficking is used as a day to stimulate a sense of responsibility among people around the world, especially youngsters and teenagers.
• The UN with the aid of its anti-drug abuse arm, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) spreads awareness, urges governments to avoid stimulating the Narco economy and deal with the Illicit trafficking of drugs in the disguise of legal pharmaceutical businesses.

Note

• According to the World Drug Report 2017, released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), about a quarter of a billion people used drugs at least once in 2015.
• Drug abuse, does not only include consumption of drugs such as cocaine, hallucinogens, cannabis, opiates among others, but also includes prescription medications such as painkillers and sleeping pills.

Quality of Life for Elderly Index

Details

• The Quality of Life for Elderly Index has been created by the Institute for Competitiveness at the request of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).
• The report identifies the regional patterns of ageing across Indian States and assesses the overall ageing situation in India.
• The report presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.
• The Index framework includes four pillars: Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security, and eight sub-pillars: Economic Empowerment, Educational Attainment & Employment, Social Status, Physical Security, Basic Health, Psychological Wellbeing, Social Security and Enabling Environment.
• The index highlights that the best way to improve the lives of the current and future generations of older people is by investing in health, education and employment for young people today.
• It goes far beyond the adequacy of pensions and other forms of income support.

Findings

• The Health System pillar observes the highest national average, 66.97 at an all-India level, followed by 62.34 in Social Well-being. Financial Well-being observes a score of 44.7.
• States have performed particularly worse in the Income Security pillar because over half of the States have a score below the national average, i.e., 33.03 in Income Security, which is the lowest across all pillars.
• Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are top-scoring regions in Aged and Relatively Aged States, respectively.
• Chandigarh and Mizoram are top-scoring regions in Union Territory and North-East States category.
• The Aged States refer to States with an elderly population of more than 5 million, whereas Relatively Aged States refer to States with an Elderly population of less than 5 million.

EOS-03

About EOS-03

• The EOS-03, formerly known as the Geo Imaging Satellite-1 or GISAT-1, is a geo imaging or Earth observation satellite.
• The EOS-3 satellite was among a new generation of earth observation satellites with capability of monitoring natural disasters such as cyclones and floods, apart from real-time monitoring of crops, forest cover and water bodies.

Why did the mission fail?

• However, India’s geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) failed to put the EOS-3 earth observation satellite into orbit due to a “technical anomaly” in the cryogenic upper stage, five minutes into the launch of the rocket.
• The cryogenic upper stage ignition did not happen, although the performance of the first and second stages were normal. Hence, the mission failed.
• The cryogenic upper stage has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine fuelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at very low temperatures.
• The cryogenic stage is supposed to be more efficient and provides greater thrust to propel heavier rockets like GSLV that are designed to carry bigger payloads into space.
• But these are also more complex than conventional liquid and solid propellants, because of the extremely low temperatures, hundreds of degree Celsius below zero, that has to be maintained.
• ISRO has had a few difficulties with the cryogenic stage earlier as well, though several launches have been completed successfully as well.
• This is the first launch failure for ISRO since 2017 after a run of 14 consecutive successful launches.

Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA)

Context

• 11th Annual Meeting of  the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA).
• The Election Commission of India is going to host the 10th annual meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) at New Delhi.

Details

• India’s Chief Election Commissioner handed over Chair FEMBoSA role to Election Commission of Bhutan for 2021-22.

About FEMBoSA

• FEMBoSA is a regional establishment to increase mutual cooperation in respect to the common interests of the SAARC’s EMBs.
• In 2010, for the first time, the Bangladesh Election Commission organized a regional meeting titled ‘Meeting on Cooperation of Election Commissions in the South Asia Region’, which was later called Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) as an institutionalized form.
• The forum’s charter was approved in 2012 when FEMBoSA was established.
• FEMBoSA was established at the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of the SAARC countries held at New Delhi in 2012.
• The annual FEMBoSA meeting is held by rotation among the members.
• The FEMBoSA represents a very large part of the democratic world and is an active regional association of the election management bodies of South Asia.
• The objectives of the Forum are:
  • To promote contact among the EMBs of the SAARC countries.
  • To share experiences with a view to learning from each other.
  • To cooperate with one another in enhancing the capabilities of the EMBs towards conducting free and fair elections.
• India is the chair of FEMBoSA for 2020.
• In the annual conference, an international conference on the theme ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity’ will also be conducted.

RS Cleared Two Bills

Context: Rajya Sabha clears National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

Details

• The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021, seeks to repeal the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and help make available the Indian system of medical professionals across the country.
• The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021, proposes to amend the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020 to provide a medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education.