Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS/Civil Services

Table of Contents

President’s Secretariat

A Parliamentary Delegation from the Republic of Chile led by Mr Fidel Espinoza, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, called on President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
Welcoming the delegation, the President said that India and Chile are vibrant democracies. We have been having regular interactions between our parliamentarians. These have played an important role in strengthening our bilateral ties.
The President was happy to note that Chile has signed the agreement to join the International Solar Alliance. He stated that over the past decade or so, Chile has taken the lead to push for the global sustainability agenda. Joining of the Alliance by Chile will strengthen our collective effort towards addressing climate change.
The President said that economic ties between India and Chile are doing well but we can do much more together. We are hopeful that the Expanded India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement will give a boost to our bilateral trade.
The Indian growth story and Chilean expertise must benefit from each other. We can work together in areas such as mining, renewable energy and services. Cooperation in science and technology and space and defence sectors also hold immense potential.
The President said that India and Chile share common views on various global issues. India appreciates Chile’s support and solidarity in the fight against terrorism. India also appreciates Chile’s support for its aspiration to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Election Commission –

A delegation of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations from eleven countries, namely, Cabo Verde, St. Vincent & Grenada, Togo, Moldova, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Tonga, Samoa, Micronesia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu visited the Election Commission of India.
Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr. O.P.Rawat, in his address, mentioned that strong participatory and inclusive democracies are necessary to ensure good governance and empowerment of all its citizens.
He gave an overview of the election process in India and briefed the visiting delegates about the innovations and initiatives introduced by the ECI in managing the elections.
Election Commission –
Referring to the ECI’s initiative ‘No Voter to Be Left Behind’ with a view to optimize the enrolment of voters, he briefed the delegates about this year’s theme ‘Accessible Elections’ and the International Conference on ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Election Process’ hosted by the ECI on 24 Jan 2018.
Mr. Sunil Arora, Election Commissioner referred to the far-sightedness of the members of the Constituent Assembly of India as reflected in the Preamble of the Constitution of India. He stated that that their vision was translated into reality when Election Commission of India was established under Article 324 of the Constitution of India.
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He briefed the visiting delegates about the innovations and initiatives introduced by the ECI in managing the elections including the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the introduction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) as well as other IT-enabled services in the election management.
On ECI’s active international outreach programme, he mentioned that ECI’s contacts with Election Management Bodies abroad have been expanding and ECI has been sharing best practices, experience and innovations with other countries for mutual benefit.
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Mr. Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner in his address stated that the one of the most important development of the century is the evolution of the United Nations system, which provides a platform for various nation states to share issues of common concern in the world and come to a common understanding on important issues.
Democracy has now emerged as the best means to the public for an equitable participation in the political process and it is finding its place in different countries. He mentioned that ECI has taken several steps to spread the progress of democracy in a cost-effective manner

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Shri Suresh Prabhu launched the States’ Startup Ranking 2018 at an event
organised today at the Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi.
The event was attended by Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce and
Industry, Shri C. R. Chaudhary, delegates from 19 States across the
country, many Venture Capitalists, angel investors and Startups.
The States Startup Ranking framework launched by Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion is an exercise aimed at ranking States for
establishing a robust ecosystem for supporting Startups.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry –
The framework will evaluate States on parameters such as Startup policy
and implementation, incubation support, seed funding support, angel and
venture funding support, simplified regulations, easing public
procurement, awareness and outreach.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Suresh Prabhu said, “I am confident that
the ranking framework would promote healthy competition among the
States and enable them to further learn, share and adopt best practices
across the seven identified key parameters. I am sure the exercise would
generate collaboration amongst all the stakeholders to turn the Hon’ble
Prime Minister’s vision to have Startups in every district and every block a
reality”.

Ministry of External Affairs

India today said, it is disturbed by the declaration of emergency in the
Maldives and is carefully monitoring the situation in the island nation.
In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry said, the arrest of the
Supreme Court Chief Justice and political figures are also reasons for
concern.
Yesterday, India had issued an advisory to its nationals asking them not to
undertake non-essential travel to the Maldives.
External Affairs Ministry –
Meanwhile, Maldives President Abdullah Yameen has said, that he
declared a state of emergency in the country as the Supreme Court had a
plan to overthrow his government by first making it dysfunctional through
a series of orders.
Addressing the nation this afternoon, Mr. Yameen said, the Supreme Court
Chief Justice was pushing for things like his impeachment and
reinstatement of the police chief, which were beyond his mandate.
The impasse in the Maldives began on Thursday evening when the Supreme
Court ordered the release of nine opposition leaders. Abdullah Yameen
expressed his inability to implement the decision.

NITI Ayog

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said, the newly announced mega healthcare scheme is a game changer and revenue generated from one per cent additional cess would be enough to fund the schemes.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech announced the National Health Protection Scheme to provide health insurance cover of 5 lakh rupees to over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.
In a interview to PTI, Mr Kumar said the Centre and the state governments will have to bear the insurance premium.
He said, like all central schemes, the Centre will contribute 60 percent of the funding.

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

It has come to the notice of the Union Ministryof Petroleum & Natural Gas
through the advertisement of the Government of Karnataka in Times of
India (Bengaluru Edition) wherein it has been published that Mukhya
Mantri Anila Bhagya Yojane (MMABY) is being implemented in the State of
Karnataka in collaboration with Govt. of India.
The State Government of Karnataka has earlier approached the Ministry
for approval of MMABY. This Ministry had advised State Government to
implement MMABY as a complementary Scheme of PMUY and has advised
the State Government to follow the procedure of implementing the
Scheme through OMCs only, being done in case of States Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Assam, Punjab and Haryana.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas –
Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas through number of
communications from time to time has requested the State Government to
implement the Scheme through OMCs only.
Instead of following the same, the Govt. of Karnataka is unilaterally going
ahead with implementation of MMABY directly through distributors’
network without involving OMCs. This system may lead to large scale chaos
and implementation issues in the field.
The State Government while announcing the current implementation
Modalities of MMABY has gone back on the earlier agreed commitment in
the joint meeting of Union Minister of PNG and Minister of Food & Civil
Supplies, Govt. of Karnataka. Therefore, it is clarified that current format
of MMABY not being in line with established procedure and hence is not
having concurrence of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.