August 26th Current Affairs

1. Cabinet clears Rs. 15,000 cr. NMP-linked FDI proposal.

IN NEWS:

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared a foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal entailing an investment of up to Rs. 15,000 crore in Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holding (AIIH) Ltd.

KEY POINTS:

• It is a company incorporated to invest in the infrastructure and construction development sectors.
• The government said the investment would prove to be a “significant boost to the recently announced National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)” as AIIH had proposed downstream investments in some of the sectors covered under the NMP.

What is National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)?

• The government aims to raise $81 billion by leasing out state-owned infrastructure assets over the next four years (from FY22 to FY25) through National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
• Key features of the National Monetisation Plan:
• The NMP’s roadmap has been formulated by NITI Aayog in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, under the ‘Asset Monetisation’ mandate of the Union Budget 2021-22.
• NITI Aayog has a Public Private Partnership Cell and has engaged transaction advisors to handhold any ministry for any support it needs in pursuing the monetisation roadmap.
• The sectors in which assets are being identified to monetise include roads, ports, airports, railways, power generation and transmission, telecom, warehousing, gas & product pipeline, mining, stadium, hospitality and housing.
• For now, the government has only included the assets of infrastructure line ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) working in the infrastructure sectors.
• Monetisation through disinvestment and monetisation of non-core assets have not been included in the NMP.

SOURCE: TH

2.100 days ‘SUJALAM’ Campaign begins.

IN NEWS:

The Ministry of Jal Shakti began ‘SUJALAM’, a ‘100 days campaign’ as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.

KEY POINTS:

About the initiative

• Objective: To create more and more ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus villages by undertaking waste water management at village level particularly through creation of 1 million Soak-pits and also other Grey water management activities.
• Waste water from baths, sinks, washing machines, and other kitchen appliances is known as grey water.
• The effort of the campaign would be directed towards achieving the ODF plus status for villages across the country in an accelerated manner in a short time.
• ODF: At any point of the day, not even a single person is found defecating in the open.
• ODF+: At any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open, and all community and public toilets are functional and well maintained.
• ODF++: If the area is already ODF+ and the faecal sludge/septage and sewage are safely managed and treated
• The campaign will also aid in sustainable management of water bodies.
• Significance and benefits: The disposal of waste water and clogging of waterbodies in the villages or on the outskirts of the villages remain one of the major problems.
• The Campaign would help in management of the wastewater and in turn would help to revive the water bodies.
• Furthermore, the campaign would boost the momentum of SBMG (Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin) phase II activities through community participation and it will increase awareness about ODF-plus activities. Hence ensuring long term maintenance and sustainability of built infrastructure.
• The key activities that will be organised in the villages under this campaign include:
• Organizing Community consultations, Khuli Baithaks and Gram Sabha meetings to analyze the current situation
• Pass resolution to maintain ODF sustainability and achieve needed number of soak pits to manage the grey water
• Develop a 100 days’ plan to undertake sustainability and soak pit construction related activities
• Construct requisite number of soak pits
• Retrofit toilets where needed through IEC and community mobilization and
• Ensure all newly emerging Households in the village have access to toilets.

SOURCE:IE

3.Indo-Kazakhstan joint training exercise to commence on 30 august 2021

IN NEWS:

• As part of military diplomacy and to strengthen the growing strategic relation with Kazakhstan, the 5th edition of Indo- Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise, “KAZIND-21” will be conducted at Training Node, Aisha Bibi, Kazakhstan, from 30 August to 11 September 2021.
• The exercise is a joint training between both the Armies, which will boost the bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan.

KEY POINTS:

About “KAZIND-21”

• The KAZIND-21 exercise is a joint training between both the Armies, which will boost the bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan.
• In this exercise, the Indian Army contingent is represented by a battalion of the Bihar Regiment (consisting of a total of 90 personnel) led by a Contingent Commander and the Kazakhstan Army will be represented by a company group.
• The Exercise will provide an opportunity to the Armed Forces of India & Kazakhstan to train for Counter Insurgency/ Counter-Terrorism operations in the mountainous, rural scenarios under UN mandate.
• Its scope includes professional exchange, planning & execution of the operation in Counterterrorism environment at sub-unit level and sharing expertise on skills at arms, combat shooting, and experiences in Counter Insurgency/ Counter-Terrorism operations.
• The exercise will culminate after a 48 hours long validation exercise which will involve a scenario of neutralization of terrorists in a semi-rural hideout. It will strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and enable sharing of best practices between the Armed Forces of India and Kazakhstan.

SOURCE: PIB

4.AICTE and BPR&D to launch MANTHAN-2021 tomorrow.

IN NEWS:

Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will be launching MANTHAN 2021 on 26th August 2021 at National Media Centre.

KEY POINTS:

About MANTHAN 2021

• Hackathon “MANTHAN 2021” is a unique national initiative (36-hour online hackathon with Prize money worth Rs. 40 Lakh and with two phases) to identify innovative concepts and technology solutions for addressing the security challenges of the 21st century faced by our intelligence agencies.
• During this hackathon, selected youths from education institutions across the country and registered start-ups will participate to offer strong, safe and effective technology solutions using their technical expertise and innovative skills.
• Participants are expected to develop digital solutions under 6 themes for 20 different challenge statements released today using new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Augmented reality, Machine Learning, etc. for ever-changing security related challenges, which include photo/video analysis, Fake Content Identification along with the information of creator, predictive Cyber Crime data analytics, etc.

SOURCE: PIB