Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | 26th Jan 19

Table of Contents

President’s Secretariat

President of India Graces National Voters’ Day Celebrations
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the 9th National Voters’ Day celebrations today (January 25, 2019) in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Indian democracy is a shining example for the world. We are both the largest and most diverse democracy. And while the contribution of all stakeholders in our election process is important, two stakeholders stand out. These are the voters and the Election Commission. In their roles, they complement each other. Election institutions of many countries have studied our electoral management system. The Election Commission of India has helped train officers and built capacities in several countries. This is a reflection of the respect for it. The President noted that the theme of Voters’ Day this year is, “No voter to be left behind.” He said that the principle behind this is very simply the principle of upholding equality of political rights and of universal franchise. A general election in a democracy is akin to a sacred ritual.

Ministry of Civil Aviation

Shri Suresh Prabhu announces UDAN 3.0 results
Hands over letters of award to successful Airlines
16 unserved airports, 17 underserved airports, 6 water aerodromes and 50 served airports for a total of 89 airports to be connected 235 routes comprising 189 RCS Routes and 46 Tourism Routes would be connected across 29 states in the country Shri Suresh Prabhu announced the results of Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) Scheme here today. Addressing the media,Shri Prabhu also handed over the letters of award to successful Airlines.

UDAN Round 3

The Minister said, following two successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the largest bidding round under the highly successful UDAN Scheme, also integrating a number of iconic tourism sites in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism. Key Features of UDAN 3 included:
Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes, and
Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN
Process of bidding
AAI invited interested bidders/airline operators to submit their Initial Proposals under the provisions of UDAN 3 on 2nd November 2018 followed by a meeting with various potential bidders on 6th November 2018.
The deadline for submitting the Initial Proposals was 18thDecember 2018.
Airports to be connected: Currently 16 unserved airports, 17 underserved airports, 6 water aerodromes and 50 served airports (for a total of 89 airports) would be connected based on the proposals identified for award.
Geographical spread: There is a good geographical spread in the proposals: 235 routes comprising 189 RCS Routes and 46 Tourism Routes would be connected across 29 states in the country.
Enhanced Connectivity: The proposals identified to be awarded would add another 69.30 lakh seats annually across the RCS Routes with more than 1 lakh annual seats through seaplanes and more than 15 lakh annual seats on tourism routes. This is in addition to the number of seats created under UDAN 1 (13 lakh) and UDAN 2 (29 lakh).

Ministry of Home Affairs

Padma Awards 2019 announced

Padma Vibhushan – 4, Padma Bhushan – 14 and Padma Shri 94.
These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards including one duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri Awards. 21 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 11 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 3 Posthumous awardees and 1 transgender person.
PADMA AWARDS Padma Awards, which were instituted in the year 1954, is announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day except for brief interruption(s) during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.
The award is given in three categories, namely,

Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service;
Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order
Padma Shri for distinguished service.

PADMA BHUSHAN(14)

Ministry of Power

Clarification regarding the number of households electrified under Saubhagya
The Government of India launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ (Saubhagya) in Sept. 2017 to achieve the goal of universal household electrification in the country by 31st March 2019.
The scheme envisages last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining households.
The Government is implementing the Scheme with the support of State Power Departments / State DISCOMs and the projects are being executed by the concerned State Power Departments / State DISCOMs.
(i) many census households were living together and availing electricity services together with single connection, and
(ii) many households have already availed connections in the process of village electrification and intensive electrification under ongoing scheme of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and States’ scheme.
All States have been requested to launch a special campaign in all parts of the State to identify any left out un-electrified households and to provide electricity connections to such households. Under the campaign, a special vehicle ‘Saubhagya Rath’, is moving around in villages/towns and any left out households may approach them to avail electricity connection under the scheme.
A dedicated toll free helpline 1800-121-5555 has also been launched for the purpose of reporting any left out households.
This is in addition to already existing helpline of 1912. Governance is all about providing the services to the citizens.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

No shortage of Polio Vaccines in the country
There have been some reports in the media regarding shortage of polio vaccine in India. This is completely incorrect. There is no shortage of Oral Polio Vaccines (OPV) and Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) in the country. As far as polio national immunization days (NID) is concerned, the required quantity of bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) has already been secured for the programme. However, to ensure availability of safe and quality vaccine to our children during NID, the testing of bOPV is made more stringent and the same will be dispatched to states for public use after the clearance from national testing laboratory for each batch and Polio NID will be held soon. Government has not postponed the NID indefinitely, as wrongly reported in the media.
Regarding Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), there is neither shortage of IPV nor any shortage of funds for its procurement for Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in the country. It is to be noted that India has eliminated polio already and as per global guidelines, introduced IPV in its Universal Immunization Program to safeguard the polio free status, as there are few countries where polio virus is still circulating and Polio is yet to be eliminated.
All Gavi eligible countries are extended support for vaccines by Gavi.
Confronted with steep hike in prices of IPV, India approached Gavi for partial support for further procurements, as India is also a Gavi eligible country and the same has been agreed to by Gavi Board.