Digital India program launched by PM

Modi officially launched Digital India where many corporates pledged to invest huge amounts to develop Digital India.

What is Digital India?: ‘Digital India’ is a programme to make India ready for a knowledge based future. it aims to create a participative, transparent and responsive government.

Aim of Digital India?

There are 3 major targets of the programme. They are:

To create digital infrastructure to every Indian citizen. This includes providing high-speed internet, mobile phone and bank account enabling participation in digital space.
It aims to take digital literacy to the next level, and will focus on finding ways to encourage people to opt for cashless financial transactions.
It aims at integration of departments and ensuring availability of services in real time from online and mobile platforms.

Some other initiatives under the Digital India are:

Digital locker system – To minimise usage of physical documents
MyGov.in – To engage citizens in governance through a “Discuss, Do and Disseminate” approach.
Swachh Bharat Mission Mobile app – To achieve the goals set by this mission.
e-Sign framework – To allow citizens to digitally sign documents online using Aadhaar.
e-Hospital system – For important healthcare services such as online registration, fee payment, fixing doctors’ appointments, online diagnostics and checking blood availability online.
National Scholarship Portal – For submission of application to verification, sanction and disbursal.
To make Post Offices multi-service centres.
To connect all schools with broadband and free wifi.

Indigenously Developed Cryogenic Rocket Engine Successfully Tested

Highlights of the test:

India’s first indigenously designed High Thrust Cryogenic rocket engine was successfully hot tested.
The engine will be used for powering the next generation GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle of ISRO.
This cryogenic engine of C25 Stage operates on Gas Generator Cycle using extremely low temperature propellants – Liquid Hydrogen & Liquid Oxygen.
The parts of the engine are all made in India & assembled by ISRO.

Cryogenic Engine:

A cryogenic rocket engine is a rocket engine that uses a cryogenic fuel. Currently, six governments have successfully developed and deployed cryogenic rocket engines: India, United States, European Space Agency, Russia, China, Japan.
Cryogenic fuels are fuels that require storage at extremely low temperatures in order to maintain them in a liquid state. These fuels are used in space because ordinary fuel cannot be used there, due to absence of an environment that supports combustion. Cryogenic fuels most often constitute liquefied gases such as liquid hydrogen.

About GSLV Mark III:

The GSLV-Mark III, is a launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
GSLV Mk III is designed to make ISRO self reliant in launching heavier communication satellites which weigh 4500 to 5000 kg. (previously cryogenic technology was supplied by Russia).
This space launch vehicle will take India to the next level of commercially launching vehicles. This is a multimillion dollar market.
The vehicle envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO, LEO, Polar and intermediate circular orbits.
GSLV-Mk III is designed to be a 3 stage vehicle.
First stage comprises two identical S200 Large Solid Booster (LSB) with 200 tonnesolid propellant
Second stage is the liquid stage
The third stage is the C25 cryo stage.
The GSLV-III features an Indian cryogenic third stage and a higher payload capacity than the current GSLV.

About Jandhan scheme

Slogan – The slogan for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan mission is Mera Khata-Bhagya Vidhaata.
Under the scheme, account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with Rupay/ debit card, in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.
Those who open accounts by January 26, 2015 over and above the Rs1 lakh accident, they will be given life insurance cover of Rs 30,000.
Six months of opening of the bank account, holders can avail Rs 5,000 loan from the bank.
With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones so far.
Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together.

Benefits of the scheme:

RuPay cardholders will have dual insurance covers, with the government roping in the Life Insurance Corporation of India a day before unveiling its financial inclusion programmePradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
The massive financial inclusion project to be launched across India will give unbanked customers RuPay debit card, launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), along with free insurance cover and new bank account.
NPCI had entered into a three-year agreement with private general insurance HDFC Ergo and a similar agreement will be signed with LIC.
LIC will provide unconditional cover to RuPay cardholders. HDFC Ergo will provide cover to the cardholders in case of death or permanent disability. As per the agreement between HDFC Ergo and NPCI, a claim will be disposed only if the card is active. A card will be considered active if the cardholder has swiped it within 45 days of making a claim. The NPCI is in talks with HDFC Ergo to improvise the scheme so that the claim can be made if the card was swiped within the preceding 90 days.

Problems being faced:

No Rupay cards issued till now.
Poor awareness on the scheme. Many do not know benefits of the scheme.
Many don’t even use the scheme for transactions.
Strict KYC norms for giving out OD.

Civil Aviation Minister Launches GAGAN System

Union Minister of Civil Aviation launched the GAGAN system (GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION).

What is GAGAN?

Gagan is an indigenous navigational guide system developed by Isro on the lines of GPS system of the US.
Gagan was jointly developed by the Isro and Airports Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assist aircraft in accurate landing.
The Gagan signal is being broadcast through two Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites – GSAT8 and GSAT10.
Other uses of GAGAN: To study the ionosphere behavior over the Indian region.
Recently govt said that GAGAN will also be used for warning at unmanned railway crossing signals.

How does GAGAN work?

The GAGAN system consists of a network of 15 Indian Navigation Reference Earth Stations (INRES) spread over the country.
The collected data from them is then sent to 2 Indian Navigation Master Control Centers (INMCC) where computer processing will be done.
INRES sites and INMCCs are connected using Optical Fiber Cable Data Communication Network as well as VSAT link.
GAGAN will provide a precision of 1.5-meter accuracy in the horizontal plane, 2.5-meter in the vertical.

Advantages of GAGAN:

It reduces fuel usage by airplanes
Increases air safety
Increases capacity of airspace. So more airplanes can fly on Indian airspace.

Paris Climate Talks (COP21) Explained

UNFCCC TIMELINE

What is happening in Paris this December?

The governments of more than 190 nations will gather in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and thus avoiding the threat of dangerous climate change.

Why now?

Current commitments on greenhouse gas emissions run out in 2020, so at Paris governments are expected to produce an agreement on what happens for the decade after that at least, and potentially beyond.

Why is this important?

Scientists have warned that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, we will pass the threshold beyond which global warming becomes catastrophic and irreversible. That threshold is estimated as a temperature rise of 2C above pre-industrial levels, and on current emissions trajectories we are heading for a rise of about 5C.

What progress have we seen on a global agreement?

In 1992, governments met in Rio de Janeiro and forged the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That agreement, still in force, bound governments to take action to avoid dangerous climate change, but did not specify what actions. Over the following five years, governments wrangled over what each should do, and what should be the role of developed countries versus poorer nations.
Those years of argument produced, in 1997, the Kyoto protocol. That pact required worldwide cuts in emissions of about 5%, compared with 1990 levels, by 2012, and each developed country was allotted a target on emissions reductions. But developing countries, including China, South Korea, Mexico and other rapidly emerging economies, were given no targets and allowed to increase their emissions at will.
Legally, the protocol could not come into force until countries representing 55% of global emissions had ratified it. With the US – then the world’s biggest emitter – on the outside, that was not going to happen.
So for most of the following decade, the Kyoto protocol remained in abeyance and global climate change negotiations ground to a near-halt. But in late 2004, Russia decided to pass the treaty and the protocol finally came into force.

So we had a global agreement?

Not quite. The US remained firmly outside Kyoto, so although the UN negotiations carried on year after year, the US negotiators were often in different rooms from the rest of the world.

What happened next?

The Copenhagen conference of 2009.

What happened at Copenhagen?

All of the world’s developed countries and the biggest developing countries agreed for the first time to limits on their greenhouse gas emissions. This was a landmark, as it meant the world’s biggest emitters were united towards a single goal.
The emissions reductions agreed on were still not enough to meet scientific advice
What didn’t happen was a fully articulated and legally binding treaty.

What is likely to be agreed in Paris?

Already few countries declared their emission cuts. (India did not)
The EU will cut its emissions by 40%, compared with 1990 levels, by 2030.
The US will cut its emissions by 26% to 28%, compared with 2005 levels, by 2025
China will agree that its emissions will peak by 2030.
But some countries, most notably India, have not yet done so.

After Paris talks: Will cover this after the talks in December 2015

India’s longest tunnel to be operational soon

The final blasting was done to open the India’s longest road tunnel between Chenani to Nashri on the Jammu – Srinagar National Highway.
The project involves construction of 9.2 Kms long main tunnel along with parallel escape tunnel. The escape tunnel will exclusively be used for pedestrians.
The tunnel will provide safe and all-weather route that & will be time saving to the commuters travelling along the National Highway between Jammu and Srinagar. The tunnel will also reduce distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 30 Kms.

Indian Women facing inequality at all stages of Life Cycle: UN Study

A study of the United Nations released on 20 October 2015 observed that Indian women are facing inequality at all stages of life cycle-from birth to old age-and in all places whether at home or in larger society.
The observation was made in the report entitled The World's Women 2015: Trends and Statistics which is an update of the statistics on the situation of women and men around the world.
While sex-selective abortions have been technically illegal since 1996, the law has had little effect so far on the sex ratio at birth.
Key findings of the report
• In absolute terms, India is home to largest surplus of men in the world with 43 million, next only to China that has 52 million surplus men.
• India has the lowest sex ratio in under-5 mortality with a ratio of 93 that is 93 boys die before age 5 for 100 girls that die by that age; India is also the only country with an under-5 mortality sex ratio under 100.
• India alone accounted for 21 per cent of all under-5 deaths in 2013.
• Higher mortality among girls can be closely related to a general preference for sons that is expressed in special treatment for boys in terms of parental investment in nutrition, vaccinations, access to health treatment and parental care in general.
• Between 1995 and 2013, women’s participation in the labour force declined from 35 to 27 per cent.
• More than 70 per cent of men working in the non-agriculture sector were employed informally who are vulnerable to unemployment.
• While female panchayat heads tend to prioritize issues surrounding the provision of drinking water, male heads tend to place more emphasis on irrigations systems.
• As per data available for 2005-06, in around 99 percent instances, sexual violence is perpetrated by an intimate partner of women.
• India accounts for one third of the global total of child marriages.
• About 47 per cent of ever-married girls and women aged 15 to 49 belonging to Scheduled Tribes reported experiences of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands, compared to 40 per cent of the total population.
• Sex of a child influences care-seeking, including delayed hospitalization that results in lower rates of hospitalization among girls than boys.
• Delays in seeking treatment are generally associated with longer travel distances to health facilities, poverty, lower levels of education and lack of a health card by the mother.
• India is the biggest contributor to global electricity access deficit where 306.2 million people are without electricity out of 1.2 billion people on the planet.
• Women are most vulnerable during disasters evident from female mortality during 2004 tsunami and 2010 heat wave in Gujarat.
• India, along with Nepal, stands as an example to showcase greater participation by women in forest governance is linked to stronger efforts to overcome fuel shortages, and improved conservation practices and resource regeneration.
• The proportion of women with an account at a formal financial institution was lower than 17 percentage points compared to women.
This report is based on eight critical areas of policy concern- population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty.
These parameters were identified by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 as crucial to achieve gender equality across all segments of life cycle.
The Beijing Declaration was adopted by the UN Fourth World Conference on Women and seeks to promote and protect the full enjoyment of all human rights and the fundamental freedoms of all women throughout their life cycle.