Jal Jeevan Mission: It is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India. It is based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission. Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Jal Shakti Mantralaya.
This Mission focuses on integrated demand and supply side management of water at the local level, including creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse in agriculture. The Mission will converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across the country.
Funding Pattern: 50:50 between Centre and States,90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States, in case of UTs, 100% funding is provided by the Central government.
Sagar Samriddhi: The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways recently launched an online dredging monitoring system called “Sagar Samriddhi”. It is an online dredging monitoring system. The new system aims to tighten the monitoring regime for dredging contracts and also focus on monetizing dredged material. It is part of the government’s efforts to expedite the ‘Waste to Wealth’ initiative. This system has been developed by National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) the technological arm of MoPSW. The new technology brings marked improvement against the old system of the Draft and Loading Monitor (DLM) system. All future monitoring at the major ports in the country will be done through the Sagar Samriddhi monitoring system, which will help in project implementation and cut costs. The system will aid in daily and monthly progress visualization, monitor dredger performance and downtime monitoring, and keep track of location data.
Agni Prime Missile: Recently, New Generation Ballistic Missile ‘Agni Prime’ was successfully flight-tested by DRDO from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island. It is a short-range ballistic missile that will have a range of 1000 km to 1500 km. It is a surface to a surface missile that can carry a payload of around 1,000 Kg or a nuclear warhead. It incorporates new propulsion systems and composite rocket motor-casings as well as advanced navigation and guidance systems.
Ballistic Missiles are launched directly into the upper layers of the earth’s atmosphere.
They travel outside the atmosphere, where the warhead detaches from the missile and falls towards a predetermined target. They are rocket-propelled self-guided weapons systems which can carry conventional or nuclear munitions. They can be launched from aircraft, ships and submarines, and land.
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC): It is a statutory committee constituted under the “Rules for the Manufacture, Use/Import/Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro Organisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells (Rules, 1989)” framed under the EPA 1986.GEAC functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). As per Rules, 1989, it is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle. GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
