1. Government directs Automobile Industry to produce flex-fuel vehicles in India
Tags: National News
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has asked automobile manufacturers to manufacture flex-fuel vehicles(FFV) and flex-fuel strong hybrid electric vehicles (FFV-SHEV) complying with BS-6 norms within six months.
- This is part of the government effort to reduce its dependencies on fossil fuel like petrol, diesel,CNG in vehicles.
- This will reduce greenhouse gas emission from the vehicle and help India in achieving its commitment to reduce the total projected carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030.
- It will also reduce import of petroleum as a fuel.
Flex Fuel Vehicle
- FFVs are vehicles that are capable of running on more than one fuel variant.
- Flex fuel vehicles are capable of running on a combination of 100% petrol or 100% bioethanol and their blends.
- Hybrid Electric Vehicles have both the conventional internal combustion engine (which uses petrol or diesel as fuel )and an electric motor which is stored in a battery.
2. UAE has lifted ban on import of Poultry products from India
Tags: International News
- The United Arab Emirates has lifted the ban on the import of eggs and other poultry products from India .
- The ban was lifted after India assured UAE that it will follow bio safety norms set by the World Health Organisations for Animal Health to prevent infection from Bird flu.
- UAE banned import of poultry products five years back on the concern over bird flu.
- UAE is the third largest trade partner of India after China and the United States with a bilateral trade of around USD60 billion last year.
- It is the third largest export market for India after the U.S and China
3. FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity not renewed by the Government of India
Tags: National News
- According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs the license of the Mother Teresa founded Non-Governmental Oragnisation (NGO) Missionaries of Charity license has not been under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010, renewed due to certain adverse input received by the ministry against the NGO.
- A First Information Report (FIR) was filed on 12 December 2021 against one of its children’s homes in Vadodara following allegations of religious conversions made by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
- The license of the NGO is set to lapse on 31 December 2021.
- The NGO has clarified that its bank account has not been frozen.
- Under the FCRA NGO, in India has to open account in the New Delhi Main Branch (NDMB) of the State Bank of India (SBI).
What is FCRA
- The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 regulates the receipts of foreign contribution foreign contribution received by certain Individuals, companies, Political Parties, association or NGO resident in India .
- The government can ban receipt of foreign contributions if it feels that it harms the national interest.
- It can also cancel the license of the Associations, NGO if they do not follow the procedure mentioned in the law.
- The law is administered by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mother Teresa
Mother Mary Teresa born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje now in North Macedonia. She was a Roman Catholic nun who came to India and founded Missionaries of Charity in 1950 in Kolkata.
The Missionaries of Charity was formed to serve the poor and destitute.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
4. Covaxin likely to be only COVID-19 vaccine for children between 15-18 years
Tags: National News
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi,while addressing the nation on 25th December 2021, announced that vaccination against Covid-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, 2022.
- Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is the only Covid-19 vaccine which will be administered, for now, to children in the age group of 15-18 years.
- The children will be able to register on the CoWIN app from January 1 using their student ID Card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards.
- The estimated population to be covered in this category is seven to eight crores.
5. India hand over relief material to Mozambique under Mission Sagar
Tags: International News
- Naval ship INS Kesari entered the Port of Maputo in Mozambique to deliver 500 tonnes of food aid as well as defence equipment, under the eight edition of Mission Sagar by the Navy to assist friendly foreign countries in the region.
- India handed over two Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) and other self-defence equipment to Mozambique to assist in its capacity building as the Central African nation battles growing terror threats of Islmaic state also called as Daesh.
Mission SAGAR
- Mission SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) was launched by the Government on May 10, 2020 to provide assistance to the countries in the Indian Ocean Region.
- It is being conducted in close coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, and other agencies of the Government agencies
Mozambique
It is a Southern African country along the Indian Ocean coast.
Capital: Maputo
Currency: Mozambican metical
President: Filipe Nyusi
6. Government of India to set up a panel on AFSPA
Tags: National News
- Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has set up a high-level committee chaired by a Secretary-level officer to examine the possibility of withdrawing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland.
- Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Vivek Joshi will head the five-member committee and Additional Secretary in the Union Home Ministry Piyush Goel will be its Member-Secretary. The Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Nagaland and the DGP of Assam Rifles will be the other members of the committee.
- The committee will submit its report within 45 days.
- For detail and background of the issue see 6 December 2021 post.
7. Overdraft facility for women SHG members launched
Tags: National News
- The scheme was launched in the present name in November 2015 by the Union Rural Development Ministry.
- It was earlier called as Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
- The Mission aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms for the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services through the Self Help Group.
Overdraft facility:
- Overdraft Facility is a type of short term loan where the customer can withdraw money from their savings or current account, even if their account balance is zero. This feature is provided by almost every financial institution, including banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
- The interest rates are fixed by the banks
8. Lado Panchayat
Tags: National News
- A unique panchayat was held in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh known as lado panchayat.
- A “Lado Panchayat” of girls in Meerut decided that women would not vote for candidates in the coming Assembly election who are opposed to the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
- It was organised by Sunil Jaglan, social activist and founder of Lado Panchayat.
- Mr. Jaglan, who is known for advocating the “Selfie with daughter” initiative, has been holding such panchayats in Haryana and Rajasthan, and said it was the resolutions passed in these meetings that pushed the government to increase the legal age of marriage for women to 21.
9. Telangana tops in Rurban Mission
Tags: National News
- Telangana stood first in the implementation of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) launched by the government of India in 2016.
- Tamil Nadu and Gujarat took the second and third positions respectively.
- Sangareddy and Kamareddy districts stood in the first two positions among the 300 clusters across the country where the programme was being implemented.
- The objective of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.
- Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) comes under the ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.
10. Gujarat tops the Good Governance Index 2021
Tags: National News
- Gujarat has topped the Good Governance Index 2021 followed by Maharstra and Goa.
- The Good Governance Index 2021 was released by the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Mr. Amit Shah on 25 December on the occasion of Good Governance Day.
- The Index is prepared by the Department of Administrative Reform and Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Union ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
- The first Good Governance Index was released in 2019.
- The index is released after every two years.
- Good Governance Index, GGI 2021 Framework covers ten sectors and 58 indicators. The sectors of GGI 2020-21 are 1) Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2) Commerce & Industries, 3) Human Resource Development, 4) Public Health, 5.) Public Infrastructure & Utilities, 6) Economic Governance, 7) Social Welfare & Development, 8) Judicial & Public Security, 9) Environment, and 10) Citizen-Centric Governance.
- The GGI 2020-21 categorises States and UTs into four categories, i.e., (i) Other States – Group A; (ii) Other States – Group B; (iii) North-East and Hill States; and (iv) Union Territories.