PIB Summary- 1st October, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Integrated Defence Staff

Context: IDS celebrates 21st Raising Day.

About the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS)

• The HQ IDS was raised on October 01, 2001 as a Tri-Service entity with the overarching motto of ‘Victory through Jointness’.
• Tasked to promote jointness among the Defence Services and ensure better coordination with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and other Departments & Ministries, the HQ IDS has over the past two decades, led the efforts of the Defence Services in promoting key national endeavours like consolidating Defence Intelligence, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), Military Diplomacy, construction of National War Memorial, operationalisation of Defence Space Agency, Defence Cyber Agency and Armed Forces Special Operations Division as Joint Organisations, to name a few.

Military Nursing Service Raising Day

Context: MNS celebrates 96th Raising Day.

Details

• On this day, nursing officers will rededicate themselves to render high quality, selfless nursing care to their patients by reading the Florence Nightingale Pledge on the occasion.
• The occasion is celebrated at the Army Hospital (Referral & Research), New Delhi.

About the Military Nursing Service (MNS)

• The MNS is the only all-women corps in the Armed Forces in India. It is a part of the Armed Forces Medical Services.
• It came into being on March 28, 1888, with the arrival of the first batch of 10 qualified British nurses in Bombay, to organize nursing in military hospitals in India.
• In 1893 it was designated as the Indian Army Nursing Service (IANS) and in 1902 as Queen Alexandra Military Nursing Service (QAMNS).
• In 1914 for the first time, nurses were enrolled in India and were attached to QAMNS.
• On October 1, 1926, a permanent nursing service for Indian troops was formed and was designated as the Indian Military Nursing Service (IMNS).
• On September 15, 1943, the IMNS officers became a part of the Indian Army and the members of the service became Commissioned Officers.
• After independence, the government constituted the MNS and the IMNS was subsumed in the MNS in 1950.
• The organization is headed at the Army Headquarters by the Additional Director General, MNS (ADGMNS) in the Rank of Major General and at command level by Brigadier MNS in the rank of Brigadier.
• The current ADGMNS is Major General Joyce Gladys Roach.

5th East Asia Summit Education Ministers’ Meeting

Context: Union Education Minister addresses 5th East Asia Summit Education Ministers’ Meeting.

Details

• The Minister shared the objectives of India’s National Education Policy, including universalisation of education, ensuring equity, quality, affordability & flexibility, technology-based learning and several others which uphold the principles of the Manila Action Plan on Education.
• He also mentioned other govt schemes such as PM-eVidya, Swayam, Diksha, etc.

History of the East Asia Summit

1. The idea behind the East Asia Summit was first mooted by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad.
2. During the ASEAN Plus Three Summit held during 2004, there a consensus among the leaders, to hold the East Asian Summit (EAS).
3. Since its establishment, ASEAN has held the central role and leadership in the forum. EAS meetings are held after the annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings and plays an important role in the regional architecture of Asia-Pacific. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.

Members of East Asia Summit

The following are the members of East Asia Summit

What is the need for the East Asia Summit?

The EAS is expected to provide a political impetus and commitment to a process that is already on, i.e., the East Asian countries are feverishly interacting economically with each other like never before. The intra-East Asian trade has reached over 55 per cent from about 40 per cent a decade back, and much of regional direct investments are increasingly inward bound.
This is happening despite the absence of a region-wide, overarching organisation and is entirely driven by market conditions. Theoretically, strong political support through an institutionalized structure will boost this process and may even result in regional integration. Such integration is expected to address two issues. One, greater interdependence will be a disincentive for countries to become militarily aggressive, and two, many of the existing security problems are unlikely to flare up into conflicts because of certain common, critical stakes.

Commission for Air Quality and Management

Context: Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) mandates the introduction of a robust online mechanism for monitoring dust mitigation measures in the National Capital Region.

Details

• An Ordinance establishing a similar Commission was promulgated in October 2020.
• It lapsed in March 2021 and was repromulgated in April 2021.
• The Bill repeals the 2021 Ordinance.

Key Provisions of the bill

• The Bill provides for the constitution of a Commission for better coordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas.
  • Adjoining areas have been defined as areas in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, adjoining the National Capital Territory of Delhi and NCR.
• The Bill dissolves the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority established in the NCR in 1998.
• Composition
  • The Commission will consist of: (i) a Chairperson, (ii) an officer of the rank of a Joint Secretary as the member-secretary and Chief Coordinating Officer, (iii) a serving or former Joint Secretary from the central government, (iii) three independent technical members with expertise in air pollution, and (iv) three members from non-government organisations.
  • The Chairperson and members of the Commission will have a tenure of three years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier.
  • The Commission will also include ex-officio members: (i) from the central government and concerned state governments, and (ii) technical members from CPCB, ISRO and NITI Aayog.
• Functions of the Commission
  • Coordinating actions by concerned state governments
  • Planning and executing plans to prevent and control air pollution in NCR,
  • Providing a framework for identifying air pollutants,
  • Conducting research and development through networking with technical institutions,
  • Training and creating a special workforce to deal with issues related to air pollution, and
  • Preparing action plans such as increasing plantation and addressing stubble burning.
• Penalties
  • Contravention of provisions of the Bill, or orders and directions of the Commission will be punishable with imprisonment of up to five years, or fine of up to one crore rupees, or both.
  • The Bill excludes farmers from the scope of these penalties. However, the Commission may collect an environmental compensation from farmers causing pollution by stubble burning. This compensation will be prescribed by the central government.
  • Appeals against the Commission’s orders will lie with the National Green Tribunal.

National Pension System (NPS) Day

Context: NPD Diwas is observed on 1 Oct (coinciding with the International Day of Older Persons).

Why is National Pension Scheme in the news?

PFRDA has recently announced that the National Pension System (NPS) will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity, as poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translating into negative returns.
It has also announced that the retirees will be able to take out the entire Rs.5 lakh savings in the NPS against Rs. 2 lakh at present.

Who can join NPS?

Any employee from public, private and even the unorganised sectors can opt for this. Personnel from the armed forces are exempted. The scheme is open to all across industries and locations.

The other eligibility criteria for opening an NPS account:

1. Must be an Indian citizen.
2. Must be between the ages of 18 and 65.
3. Must be KYC compliant.
4. Must not have a pre-existing NPS account.

NPS Benefits

• NPS offers returns higher than traditional instruments like the PPF (Public Provident Fund).
• It offers many investment options to subscribers who also have a say in where their funds are invested.
• The NPS reduces the retirement liabilities of the government.
• If the subscriber has been investing for at least three years, he/she can withdraw up to 25% for certain purposes before retirement (age 60). This withdrawal can be done up to 3 times with a gap of at least 5 years between each withdrawal. These restrictions are only for tier I and not tier II accounts.
• The entire amount cannot be withdrawn by the account-holder on retirement [Changes to be introduced]. As of April 2021, 60% can be withdrawn which has now been made tax-free. The rest 40% has to be kept aside so that the subscriber can receive a regular pension from an insurance firm.

NPS Account Types

NPS Tier 1 Account
There are tax benefits under this account. But the withdrawals are subject to certain conditions and restrictions as explained above.

NPS Tier 2 Account
Account-holders can invest an additional amount under the tier-II account. Here, they are free to withdraw the whole corpus at any point in time. There are no tax benefits associated with this account type.

The State Nutrition Profiles

Context: NITI Aayog, in a joint effort with IFPRI, IIPS, UNICEF and IEG launch “The State Nutrition Profiles” for 19 States and Union Territories.

Details

• NITI Aayog, in a joint effort with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Indian Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), UNICEF and Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) launched ‘The State Nutrition Profiles” for 19 States and Union Territories.
• The ‘State Nutrition Profiles’ (SNPs) give insights on nutrition outcomes, immediate and underlying determinants and interventions based on NFHS-rounds 3, 4 and 5.
• The SNPs include a comprehensive compilation of crucial data that can positively affect policy decisions and facilitate research in the area.
• The trend analysis of key indicators such as wasting, stunting, anaemia, underweight and overweight and NCDs (Diabetes and High blood pressure) showcase the variability of performance across districts.
• The reports highlight the best and worst performing districts, highest burden districts and top coverage districts of the country.
• The SNPs are based on the headcount-based analyses and use of data from NFHS-5 to provide evidence that helps identify priority districts and number of districts in the state with public health concern as per WHO guidelines.
• Each SNP has incorporated key takeaways for children, women and men and identifies areas where the state has the potential to improve further.