Daily Current Affairs 11th March 2020

Daily Current Affairs 11th March 2020 Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation 1. GENDER BUDGETING. 2. KASURI RECALLS PLAN FOR SIR CREEK PACT.

3. PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA.

4. THERMAL COAL IMPORTS FOR 2019 RISE 12.6%.

5. SHETTYHALLI: NOD FOR REDRAWING BOUNDARY.

6. VLADIMIR PUTIN BACKS AMENDMENT THAT WILL LET HIM REMAIN IN POWER.

GENDER BUDGETING Ministry: Ministry of Women and Child Development: Gender budgeting means preparing budgets or analyzing them from a gender perspective. Also referred to as gender-sensitive budgeting, this practice does not entail dividing budgets for women.

It aims at dealing with budgetary gender inequality issues, including gender hierarchies and the discrepancies between women’s and men’s salaries.

Gender Budgeting is concerned with gender sensitive formulation of legislation, programmes and schemes; allocation of resources; implementation and execution; audit and impact assessment of programmes and schemes; and follow-up corrective action to address gender disparities.

In Gender Budgeting, “Gender” means women and her empowerment.

Gender Budgeting in India: Gender Budget Statement (GBS) was first introduced in the Indian Budget in 2005-06. This GB Statement comprises two parts–

Part Areflects Women Specific Schemes,e. those which have 100% allocation for women.

Part Breflects Pro Women Schemes,e. those where at least 30% of the allocation is for women.

Gender Budgeting Cells (GBC)as an institutional mechanism have been mandated to be set up in all Ministries/Departments.

Why in News?

Despite the annual promise to improve women’s welfare, India’s gender budget remains skewed and ineffective.

According to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate for 2016, at least 80 countries practised gender budgeting.

This list includes India, where gender budgets were launched in FY06 with the hope of tackling stark gender inequality.

In FY06, 4.8% of total spending was allocated for women-related schemes. This rose to around 5.5% of total spending in FY09, but has stagnated since then.

The government estimates these figures by adding all the spending on women-related schemes.

This comprises spending on schemes that only target women (Part A), such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.

Part B schemes, which partially target women (where at least 30% of the scheme’s benefits go to women).

Between the two, Part B schemes, such as the Mid-Day Meal programme, dominates (around 80% of the gender budget in FY20).

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) was launched by the Prime Minister on 22nd January, 2015 at Panipat, Haryana.

BBBP addresses the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of women empowerment over a life-cycle continuum.

It is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Beti Bachao Beti Padao

Since the launch of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao , the multi-sectoral District Action Plans have been operationalized in almost all states.

Capacity-buiding programmes and Trainings have been imparted to Trainers to further strengthen capacities of district level officials and frontline workers.

Nine set of such trainings have been organized covering all States/UTs the Ministry of Women & Child Development from April-October, 2015.

Mansa district in Punjab has launched an initiative to inspire its girls to be educated. Under its ‘Udaan – Sapneya Di Duniya De Rubaru (Udaan- Live your Dream For One Day)’ scheme, the Mansa administration invites proposals from girls belonging to classes VI-XII. These girls have the opportunity to spend one day with a professional they aspire to be — doctor, police official, engineer, IAS and PPS officers, among others.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Mid-Day Meal Scheme:

Mid-day meal (MDM) is a wholesome freshly-cooked lunch served to children in government and government-aided schools in India.

On 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate stating, “We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared midday meal.”

The Midday Meal Scheme comes under the HRD Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy.

Launched in the year 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme, it provides that every child within the age group of six to fourteen years studying inclasses I to VIII who enrolls and attends the school, shall be provided hot cooked meal having nutritional standards of 450 calories and 12 gm of protein for primary (I- V class) and 700 calories and 20 gm protein for upper primary (VI-VIII class), free of charge every day except on school holidays.

The scheme covers all government and government aided schoolsand also Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

Tamilnadu is a pioneer in introducing Mid-Day meals in India.

Objectives of Mid-day meal

India’s gender budget has stagnated in recent years: · Overall spending includes part A programmes which are 100% women specific and Part B programmes which have at least 30% women specific expenditure.

·

Gender budget as a share of total union government spending (in %).

India's gender budget has stagnated in recent years:

Only a small proportion of the gender budget is allocated towards women-specific schemes: Only a small proportion of the gender budget is allocated towards women-specific schemes:

Within women-specific schemes, bulk of spending goes towards rural housing: · Despite 56 gender budgeting cells across ministries mandated to track spending towards women, publicly available disaggregated data on gender spending remains limited.

· According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, gender equality in India is among the worst in the world. Across measures of women’s economic participation, education, health and political empowerment, it ranked 112th out of 153 nations.

Within women-specific schemes, bulk of spending goes towards rural housing

KASURI RECALLS PLAN FOR SIR CREEK PACT · Sir Creek originally Ban Ganga,is a 96 km (60 mi) tidal estuary in uninhabited marshlands of Indus river delta on the border of India and Pakistan.

· The creek opens up into the Arabian Sea and separates the Gujarat state of India from the Sindh province of Pakistan.

·

Both Gujarat and Sindh were part of Bombay Presidency till 1936.

KASURI RECALLS PLAN FOR SIR CREEK PACT

·

Sir Creek lies just to the west of the Great Rann of Kutch area of India.

Indo-Pak border dispute: · The dispute lies in the interpretation of the maritime boundary line between Pakistan and India. · Before independence, the area was part of British India. After independence in 1947, Sindh became a part of Pakistan while Gujarat remained a part of India.

What’s the importance of Sir Creek? · Apart from the strategic location, Sir Creek’s core importance is fishing resources. Sir Creek is considered to be among the largest fishing grounds in Asia. · Another vital reason for two countries locking horns over this creek is the possible presence of great oil and gas concentration under the sea, which are currently unexploited thanks to the impending deadlock on the issue.

War in 1965 and tribunal: · After the 1965 war, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson successfully persuaded both countries to end hostilities and set up a tribunal to resolve the dispute.

The verdict of the tribunal came in 1968 which saw Pakistan getting 10% of its claim of 9,000 km (3,500 sq. miles).

Since 1969, 12 rounds of talks have been held over the issue of Sir Creek, but both sides have denied reaching any solution.

The region fell amid tensions in 1999 after the Pakistan Navy shot down a MiG-21 fighter plane, but the last rounds of talks were held in 2012. Since then it’s been status quo.

Why in News?

Kasuri, the former foreign minister of Pakistan said that Pakistan had invited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sign an agreement on Sir Creek in 2006.

Indo-Pak border dispute

Pradhan Mantri ujjwala yojana Ministry: Ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas: Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

Under the scheme, an adult woman belonging to a poor family not having LPG connection in her household, is an eligible beneficiary under the expanded scheme.

Release of LPG connection under this Scheme shall be in the name of the women belonging to the BPL family.

Pradhan Mantri ujjwala yojana

Need: Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country. This measure will empower women and protect their health.

It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking. It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

Initially, the Government covered the following categories under the Scheme: – Beneficiaries listed in the SECC 2011 list All SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) (Gramin) Antyoday Anna Yojana (AAY) Forest dwellers Most Backward Classes (MBC) Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes People residing in Islands People residing in river islands.

Benefits to the citizens:

Under the scheme, five crore LPG connections are to be provided to BPL households.

The Scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households, interest free loan to purchase stove and refill by Oil Marketing Companies.

The administrative cost of Rs. 1600 per connection, which includes a cylinder, pressure regulator, booklet, safety hose, etc. would be borne by the Government.

Pradhan Mantri ujjwala yojana

Why in News?

Parliamentary committee has said only three States and Union Territories have become kerosene-free.

Only three states: Haryana Punjab Andhra Pradesh The Union Territories: Delhi Chandiagrh Daman and Diu Dadar & Nagar Haveli Andaman & Nicobar Islands Puducherry Thermal coal imports for 2019 rise 12.6% Coal is among the top five commodities imported by India, the world’s largest consumer, importer and producer of the fuel.

Imports of thermal coal — mainly used for power generation — jumped 12.6% to 197.84 million tonnes in 2019.

Imports of coking coal — used mainly in the manufacturing of steel — fell marginally, following two straight years of increase.

India imported 51.33 million tonnes of coking coal in 2019, down from 51.63 million tonnes in 2018.

Higher coal imports may be bad news for the Indian government, they benefit international miners such as Indonesia’s Adaro Energy, U.S. coal miner Peabody Energy Corp and global commodity merchants such as Glencore.

Indonesia top supplier: Indonesia accounted for nearly 60% of India’s thermal coal imports in the April-December period.

South Africa accounted for 22%.

Russia and Australia accounting for over 5% each.

Reasons for increase in coal imports: Lower production by Coal India Ltd., whose output fell for five consecutive months ended November due to the highest annual rainfall in 25 years.

Frequent outages including strikes by workers and locals.

Higher coal shipments to India were also due to increased imports by Indian utilities, whose imports rebounded after a three-year slide, mainly due to increased purchases by an Adani Power plant in western India.

Thermal coal imports for 2019 rise 12.6%

SHETTYHALLI: NOD FOR REDRAWING BOUNDARY Shettyhalli Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the famous wildlife sanctuaries situated in the Shimoga (Shivamogga) district of Karnataka.

This wildlife sanctuary is home to a variety of flora and fauna.

The sanctuary covers an area of 395.6 sq. km.

The sanctuary is divided into three zones, namely- core zone, buffer zone and tourism zone.

It was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 23rd November, 1974.

The Tunga Anicut Dam is situated within the sanctuary and provides shelter for otters and water birds.

The Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary is also a part of the Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary.

It is a popular bird nesting site situated on an island in the midst of Tunga River.

SHETTYHALLI: NOD FOR REDRAWING BOUNDARY

Why in News?

With the Karnataka State Wildlife Board giving its consent to redraw the boundary of Shettyhalli Wildlife Sanctuary by excluding forest areas where human intervention is high and by bringing undisturbed forest that acts as wildlife corridor into its purview, the long-standing demand for rationalisation of the sanctuary’s boundary is likely to be fulfilled shortly.

VLADIMIR PUTIN BACKS AMENDMENT THAT WILL LET HIM REMAIN IN POWER Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday backed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek re-election after his current term ends in 2024.

Putin gave his support to the amendment put forward by lawmaker Valentina Tereshkova, who as a Soviet cosmonaut in 1963 became the first woman to fly to space.

She proposed either scrapping Russian’s two-term limit for presidents or resetting the clock so Putin’s four terms wouldn’t count.

The President’s current six-year term expires in 2024.

Putin, 67, has been in power for more than 20 years, becoming Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

VLADIMIR PUTIN

WORD OF THE DAY ESTUARY: Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea.

Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater.