Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | 22nd Jan 19

Table of Contents

Ministry of Tourism

Five day long ‘Bharat Parv’ at Red Fort, New Delhi to showcase the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat
The Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other central Ministries is organizing the 4th edition of ‘Bharat Parv’ event showcasing the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat at Red Fort in the capital during 26th to 31stJanuary 2019. The 5 day event is a part of Republic Day Celebrations. In keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Bharat Parv is being celebrated as part of Republic Day celebrations since 2016. the prime objective to generate a patriotic fervour, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country and to ensure wider participation of the general public and to popularize the idea of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
Organized by the Ministry of Tourism the highlights of this year are the Display of Republic Day Parade Tableaux,
Performances by the Armed Forces Bands (Static as well as dynamic),
A Multi-Cuisine Food Court, Crafts Mela, and Photo Exhibition by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP).
The event will also include IRCTC promotions on special tourist trains, ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ Consumer Awareness campaign, a Gandhi Gram in which 10 painting artists will create paintings on the theme of ‘Ideology of Mahatma Gandhi’, the exhibition-cumsale of crafts items.
In addition to these, the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) will be conducting daily Cultural Performances from different regions of the country.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs Tribes

India Aadi Mahotsav’s Soar to New Heights 40,000 Tribal Artisans Benefitted
Aadi Mahotsav is an effort to scale up the livelihood and income generating opportunity for tribals by giving them the opportunity to interact and sell their goods directly to the customers. Ministry of Tribal affairs and TRIFED through Aadi Mahotsav’s provides them market access across the country. With the above objective 5 Aadi Mahotsav’s in INDORE-AHMEDABADHYDERABAD-DELHI-BHOPAL were held in the second quarter of 2018, with another 12 scheduled for the first quarter of 2019.

Election Commission

ECI Firmly Stands by Foolproof Nature of ECI EVMs It has come to the notice of Election Commission of India that an event claiming to demonstrate EVMs used by ECI can be tampered with, has been organised in London. Whereas, ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest, ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about foolproof nature of ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India. It needs to be reiterated that these EVMs are manufactured in Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) under very strict supervisory and security conditions and there are rigorous Standard Operating Procedures meticulously observed at all stages under the supervision of a Committee of eminent technical experts constituted way back in 2010.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

Nitin Gadkari to Inaugurate Bridge Over River Raavi in J&K Tomorrow
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari will dedicate to the nation a 1210-meter span-bridge over the river Raavi in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. This bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 158.84 crore to improve interstate connectivity. This project will benefit over 2,20,000 people living on the two sides – Kathua in Jammu, and Pathankot in Punjab. This will reduce the distance between the two cities from 45 kms to 8.6 kms, which will save on both time and fuel cost.
Two major road corridors are being built in J&K– Jammu–Srinagar and Srinagar–Leh. The Chenani-Nashri tunnel road under the first is the largest highway tunnel in the country. It has resulted in reducing the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by two and a half hours, while the distance between the two has come down by 30 kms.
The Zojila Tunnel for connecting Srinagar with Leh will be Asia’s longest 14.2 km long two-lane tunnel, which will prove to be a milestone all weather road in the forward region. This strategically important tunnel will drastically reduce the travel time from three and a half hours to just 15 minutes.
About 26 per cent work of Rs 6,808 crore Z-turn tunnel and approach road on NH-1 has been completed on Srinagar-Leh Corridor.

Ministry of Power

Power Minister administers oath of Office to new CERC Member Shri Indu Shekhar Jha
Shri Lalchharliana Pachuau appointed as Member Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for Manipur and Mizoram

About CERC

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) had been established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERC) Act, 1998.
CERC is the Central Commission for the purposes of the Electricity Act, 2003 which has repealed the ERC Act, 1998.
The Commission consists of a Chairperson and four other Members including Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority who is the ex-officio Member of the Commission.
Major functions of CERC under the Act, inter-alia, are –
To regulate the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the central government,
To regulate the tariff of other generating companies having a composite scheme for generation and sale of electricity in more than one state,
To regulate the inter-state transmission of electricity and to determine tariff for such transmission of electricity, etc. Under the Act, CERC shall also advise the Central Government on
Formulation of national electricity policy and tariff policy;
Promotion of competition, efficiency and economy in activities of electricity industry; ▪ Promotion of investment in electricity industry; and
Any other matter referred to the central commission by the government.
The Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA) is a statutory organisation constituted under section 3(1) of Electricity Supply Act 1948, which has been superseded by section 70(1) of the Electricity Act 2003. The CEA advises the government on policy matters and formulates plans for the development of electricity systems.

About JERC

The Central Government constituted Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram in pursuance of provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 and the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the State Governments of Manipur and Mizoram, authorizing Government of India to constitute a JERC on their behalf. It is a two-Member Commission, each Member representing the respective participating State. The Central Government appoints the Members of the Commission from Manipur and Mizoram sides under the provisions of the Act and in pursuance of MoA.

Ministry of Steel

India Steel 2019 – Exhibition and Conference begins tomorrow in Mumbai
Over 250 companies from 15 countries to participate
22nd to 24th January, 2019 India has become the second largest producer of crude steel during 2018. The country is also the largest producer of sponge iron in the world and the 3rd largest steel consumer in the world after China and USA.
The National Steel Policy 2017 announced by Ministry of Steel envisages production of 300 million tonnes by 2030-31.
The Government has also announced a policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products in government procurement.
The India Steel-2019 is part of series of initiatives to develop a globally competitive steel industry in line with NSP-2107.