UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 05-03-2021
iasparliament
March 05, 2021
Ease of Living Index 2020
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the final rankings of Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020. The Index categorises the cities into,
Million+ populated cities (Population of more than a million) - Bengaluru (Top), Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, etc.,
Less than Million populated cites (Population of less than a million) - Shimla (Top), Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, etc.,
All the cities under the Smart Cities Program.
EoLI is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development.
The framework for this assessment was prepared by MoHUA with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner.
It measures the Indians’ well-being in 111 cities based on Quality of Life, Economic-ability, and Sustainability - 49 indicators under 13 categories.
It incorporates the residents' view on the city administration’s services through a Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) - 30% weightage.
It seeks to accelerate India's urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Municipal Performance Index 2020
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the final rankings of the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020.
The framework for this assessment was prepared by MoHUA with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner.
The MPI has classified municipalities based on their population as-
Million+ category (Municipalities having over a million population) - Indore (Top), Surat, Bhopal.
Less than Million Population category (Municipalities with a population of less than a million) - New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) (Top), Tirupati and Gandhinagar.
It examined the sectoral performance of 111 municipalities (with Delhi assessed separately, and the three Municipal Corporations) across 5 verticals which comprise of 20 sectors and 100 indicators in totality.
Five verticals - Services, Finance, Policy, Technology and Governance.
The MPI is an effort to assess and analyse the performance of Indian municipalities based on their defined set of functions.
The EoLI measures an outcome of the indicator, while the MPI focuses on the factors that produce those outcomes.
Draft UGC Regulations
Draft UGC (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Joint Degree, Dual Degree and Twinning Programmes) Regulations, 2021 was put for public review.
It may effectively implement the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) aspect of National Education Policy, 2020.
Joint Degree programme - The curriculum shall be designed jointly by the collaborating Indian and foreign HEIs.
The degree shall be awarded by both the institutions with a single Certificate bearing the crests and logo of both collaborating institutions, upon completion of the programme.
Dual Degree Programme shall be conferred by the Indian and foreign HEIs, separately and simultaneously, upon completion of degree requirements of both the institutions.
Twinning Arrangement - Students enrolled with an Indian HEI shall undertake their study program partly in India, complying with relevant UGC regulations, and partly in the foreign HEI.
Moreover, credits earned by the students at a foreign HEI shall be counted towards the degree/diploma awarded by the Indian HEI.
Red Rice
In a major boost to India’s rice exports potential, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ was flagged off to the USA.
This rice variety is called ‘Bao-dhaan’ - Integral part of Assamese food.
‘Red rice’ is grown in Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer. It is rich in iron.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has promoting rice exports through the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF).
REPF has representations from rice industry, exporters, officials from APEDA, Ministry of Commerce.
It has directors of Agriculture from major rice producing states - West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
CSIR Floriculture Mission
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Floriculture Mission will be implemented in 21 States and Union Territories of India.
CSIR labs across the country to develop the land available at each lab to be set up as a model under the “CSIR Floriculture Mission”.
Efforts are being made to take the agro-technologies, new varieties and value addition technologies with the CSIR institutions to the farmers and entrepreneurs.
It is being implemented in collaboration with Directorate of Floriculture (ICAR); KVIC; APEDA; TRIFED; Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), and Universities.
The convergence of Floriculture with Apiculture has been envisaged.
Mission’s focus - Commercial floral crops, seasonal/annual crops, wild ornaments and cultivation of flower crops for honey bee rearing.
The CSIR’s Societal Portal and an android app have been developed by CSIR Team with the help of MyGov Team.
It is to facilitate the public to submit the societal problems that can be resolved using S&T interventions.
EPFO Act to Jammu & Kashmir
The 228th meeting of Central Board of Trustees, EPF was held in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir.
Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 was implemented in the J&K and Ladakh UTs w.e.f. 31st October, 2019.
EPFO has set up Regional Offices at Srinagar, Jammu and facilitation Center, Leh.
EPFO has extended its provident fund, pension and insurance benefits to all employees of existing establishments under the erstwhile J&K PF Act as well as the employees of newly covered establishments.
Now, employers can avail EPFO services online viz. submission of e-Challan-cum-Return (ECR), payments through internet banking, Online Registration of Establishments (OLRE), etc.
Under EPFO, the EDLI benefit has been enhanced upto Rs. 6.00 lakh for family members of the deceased employees (Earlier, it was Rs. 70,000).
Further, the subscribers of these UTs will also get the additional social security cover in the form of pension by EPFO.
For speedy redressal of grievances, EPFO’s in-house online grievance redressal portal EPFiGMS has been extended to J&K and Ladakh.
Benefits of the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY), Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojna (ABRY), etc., have been extended to the stakeholder of these UTs.
