{"id":54696,"date":"2019-12-22T21:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-12-22T15:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54696"},"modified":"2020-02-27T12:16:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T06:46:14","slug":"9-pm-current-affairs-brief-december-22nd-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/9-pm-current-affairs-brief-december-22nd-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 December 22nd, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/nsa-ajit-doval-chinese-foreign-minister-wang-yi-hold-boundary-talks\/article30366682.ece\"><strong>India, China to\nintensify boundary settlement<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>India and China have agreed to intensify efforts to find a mutually\nacceptable solution to their border dispute and work on more Confidence\nBuilding measures(CBMs) to maintain peace and tranquillity along the frontier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nIndia-China Border:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The border between India and China\nis not clearly demarcated throughout.Along certain stretches of its 3,488-km\nlength,there is no mutually agreed Line of Actual Control (LAC).<\/li><li>India after the Independence had\nbelieved that it had inherited firm boundaries from the British but this was\ncontrary to China\u2019s view. However,China felt the British had left behind a\ndisputed legacy on the boundary between the two newly formed republics.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>India-China\nBorder Dispute:<\/strong>The India-China border is divided into\nthree sectors namely Western (Ladakh, Kashmir), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal)\nand eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Western\nSector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The boundary dispute in the\nWestern Sector pertains to the Johnson Line proposed by the British in the\n1860s that extended up to the Kunlun Mountains and put Aksai Chin in the then\nprincely state of Jammu and Kashmir. <\/li><li>India used the Johnson Line and\nclaimed Aksai Chin as its own.China initially did not raised objections when\nIndia said so in the early 1950\u2019s. <\/li><li>However,in the years that followed\nit reversed its position and stated that it had never acceded to the Johnson\nLine and therefore did not see why it should cede Aksai Chin to India.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Middle\nSector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>China has accepted Sikkim as a\npart of India and this region is less contested.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eastern\nSector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The disputed boundary in the\nEastern Sector of the India-China border is over the McMahon Line. It was\nformerly referred to as the North East Frontier Agency and is now called\nArunachal Pradesh.<\/li><li>It is the largest disputed area\ncovering around 90000 sq. km.It was occupied by China during the 1962 war but\nlater withdrew beyond the International boundary represented by Mcmahon line.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pacts\nsigned between India and China:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The two countries are engaged in\nConfidence Building Measures (CBMs) on the border with bilateral agreements\nsigned in 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012 and 2013.<\/li><li>In 1993, India and China had\nsigned an accord to reduce tensions along their border and respect the LAC.<\/li><li>In 2012, the two sides signed a\nJoint Boundary mechanism to remove misunderstanding on a real time basis in\ncase of any transgression along the LAC.<\/li><li>In 2013, the two sides signed the\nBoundary Defence Cooperation Agreement to prevent any flare up along the\nun-demarcated border. This encompasses both military and diplomat level\ndialogue mechanism.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/other-states\/rajasthan-bags-four-prizes-for-job-guarantee-scheme\/article30369820.ece\"><strong>Rajasthan bags\nfour prizes for job guarantee scheme<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Rajasthan has bagged four prizes for its performance under the National\nRural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MGNREGA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nthe awards:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The prizes were given to the Zila\nParishad officials and panchayat representatives of Kota, Dungarpur, Bhilwara\nand Jaisalmer districts.<\/li><li>The achievements of the Panchayati\nRaj bodies in the NREGA works included construction of watershed structures,\nstrengthening of rural infrastructure and geotagging of the MGNREGA works.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nMGNREGA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural\nEmployment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an employment guarantee actIt was\nintroduced in 2005 through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005.<\/li><li>The Act aims to enhance livelihood\nsecurity in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage\nemployment in a financial year .<\/li><li>It will be provided to every rural\nhousehold whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.<\/li><li>Ministry of Rural Development\n(MRD),Government of India in association with state governments monitors the\nimplementation of the scheme.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Features\nof the Act:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>MGNREGA is implemented mainly by\nGram Panchayats(GPs).Labour intensive tasks like creating infrastructure for\nwater harvesting, drought relief and flood control are preferred.<\/li><li>The National Rural Employment\nGuarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) has also enshrined social audits in the Act. <\/li><li>A social audit is an\naccountability tool that measures, evaluates, identifies gaps in service\ndelivery and elicits promises to rectify these gaps with the direct\nparticipation of intended beneficiaries in this process.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MGNREGA\nand Constitution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Act aims to follow the\nDirective Principles of State Policy enunciated in Part IV of the Constitution\nof India.<\/li><li>Article 41 of&nbsp; the Constitution provides that the State\nshall within the limits of its economic capacity and development make effective\nprovision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance\nin cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases\nof undeserved want.<\/li><li>Article 40 mandates the State to\norganise village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as\nmay be necessary to enable them to function as units of\nself-government.Hence,conferring the primary responsibility of implementation\non Gram Panchayats,the Act adheres to this constitutional principle.<\/li><li>Also,the process of\ndecentralization initiated by 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India that\ngranted constitutional status to the Panchayats is further reinforced by the\nMahatma Gandhi NREGA that endowed these rural self-government institutions with\nauthority to implement the law.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/snapshots-of-the-insurance-sector-little-change-in-a-year\/\"><strong>Annual report\nof the insurance sector<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The annual report of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority\nof India (IRDAI) for 2018-19 has been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\nterminologies:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Insurance density is measured as\nthe ratio of premium (in US dollars) to the total population.<\/li><li>Insurance penetration is measured\nas the ratio of premium (in US$) to GDP(in US$).<\/li><li>Insurance density and insurance\npenetration indicate the level of development of the insurance sector.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Highlights\nof the report:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The insurance density of the life\ninsurance sector in 2018 was $55, unchanged from the life insurance density of\nthe previous year.<\/li><li>Life insurance penetration for\n2018 was 2.74% slightly lower than the 2.76% of 2017. <\/li><li>Life insurance penetration\nincreased from 2.15% in 2001 to 4.60% in 2009 and has thereafter showed a\ngenerally decreasing trend.<\/li><li>The insurance density of the\nnon-life insurance sector has risen from $2.4 in 2001 to $18 in 2017 and to $19\nin 2018.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nIRDAI:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Insurance Regulatory and\nDevelopment Authority of India(IRDAI) is an autonomous,statutory body created\nby IRDA Act,1999.<\/li><li>It was created based on the\nrecommendations of the Malhotra Committee.It is headquartered in Hyderabad.<\/li><li>The functions of IRDA includes\n(a)regulating the insurance industry and protects the customers (b)promotion of\ncompetition to enhance customer satisfaction and (c)lowering premiums for\nensuring the financial security of the insurance sector.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/delhi\/uday-scheme-power-discom-losses-6180263\/\"><strong>UDAY scheme\nloses power, sharp spike in discom losses<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>According to the data,Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) which was\nlaunched to revive the electricity distribution companies(discoms) has severe\nshortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\ntakeaways from the data:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The distribution companies\n(Discom) losses which had progressively reduced in the first couple of years\nsince the rollout of UDAY scheme in 2015 have rebounded in the financial year\n2019.<\/li><li>The discoms have also missed the\nyear 2019 UDAY target to bring down their Aggregate Technical and\nCommercial(AT&amp;C) losses to 15%.<\/li><li>The Book losses of discoms has\nalso reduced from Rs 51,000 crore in the financial year 2016 to Rs 15,132 crore\nin 2018.However, the losses in 2019 have increased to Rs 28,036 crore vis-a-vis\n2018. <\/li><li>This points that discoms are\nlagging behind in eliminating the ACS-ARR gap (the gap between Average Cost of\nSupply and Average Revenue Realised).<\/li><li>The primary reasons for the losses\nis (a)failure of discoms to collect the full cost that they pay for power and\n(b)delayed tariff hikes by the states.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nUDAY Scheme:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Ujwal Discom Assurance\nYojana(UDAY) was launched by the Ministry of Power in 2015 to help turn around\nthe poor financial situation of state discoms.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Objectives\nof the scheme:<\/strong>The scheme envisages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Financial Turnaround of Discoms<\/li><li>Operational improvement of Discoms<\/li><li>Reduction of cost of generation of\npower<\/li><li>Development of Renewable Energy<\/li><li>Energy efficiency &amp;\nconservation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Components\nof the scheme:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Takeover of 75% of discom debt by\nstate governments.<\/li><li>DISCOMs to issue bonds for the\nremaining 25% of their debt.<\/li><li>Reduction in Aggregate Technical\nand Commercial(AT&amp;C) losses.<\/li><li>Timely tariff revisions and\nelimination of the gap between the Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average\nRevenue Realised (ARR) by the financial year 2019.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Significance\nof the scheme:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Financially &amp; Operationally\nsound DISCOMs<\/li><li>Increased demand for power<\/li><li>Reduction in stressed assets<\/li><li>Availability of cheaper funds<\/li><li>Increased capital investment<\/li><li>Development of Renewable Energy\nsector.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/newsite\/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=196038\"><strong>Nagpur\nResolution: A Holistic approach for empowering citizens<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>The \u2018Nagpur Resolution- A holistic approach for empowering citizens\u2019\nwas adopted during the Regional Conference on \u2018Improving Public Service Delivery\n\u2013 Role of Governments\u2019, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nthe conference:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The conference was organised by\nthe Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances\n(DARPG),Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key\nHighlights from the conference:<\/strong>The Conference resolved\nthat Government of India and the State Governments shall collaborate to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>empower the citizens through\ntimely updation of citizens charters, implementation of enactments and\nbenchmarking standards for continuous improvement;<\/li><li>empower citizens by reduction in\ntimelines of grievance redressal;<\/li><li>adopt a holistic approach for\nimproved service delivery through digital platforms;<\/li><li>achieve a sense of common identity\nby exchange of expertise in the areas of Improved Service Delivery between the\npaired States under the Ek Bharat \u2013Shreshtha Bharat Program;<\/li><li>Ensure timely publication of Good\nGovernance Index to identify the quality of governance in 10 sectors especially\nthose pertaining to welfare and infrastructure at the Union, State and District\nlevels.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional\ninformation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Citizens\ncharter:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The citizen\u2019s charter is basically\na set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of service\nwhich it delivers.<\/li><li>It comprises of the Vision and\nMission Statement of the organization, stating the outcomes desired and the\nbroad strategy to achieve these goals and outcomes.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nEk Bharat Shreshtha Bharat:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was\nannounced by the Prime Minister on 31st October,2015 on the occasion of the\n140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.<\/li><li>The scheme aims to promote\nengagement amongst the people of different states\/UTs so as to enhance mutual\nunderstanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures,thereby securing\nstronger unity and integrity of India.<\/li><li>The Ministry of Human Resource\nDevelopment has been designated Nodal Ministry for coordination of the\nprogramme.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nGood Governance index(GGI):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Good Governance index is a\ncomprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance in\nall States and UTs which enables ranking of States\/Districts and present a\ncomparative picture.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Components\nof GGI:<\/strong>There are ten sectors for the GGI and it\ncomprises 51 indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"771\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Picture1-31.png?resize=750%2C771&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54710\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/carbon-dots-help-detect-herbicide-pollution\/article30367674.ece\"><strong>Carbon dots\nhelp detect herbicide pollution<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>Researchers from Assam have used the commonly found invasive plant\nwater hyacinth to produce carbon dots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nthe research:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Researchers from Assam have used\nthe invasive plant water hyacinth to produce carbon nanoparticles.<\/li><li>These extremely tiny (less than 10\nnanometres) particles can be used for detecting herbicide pollution.<\/li><li>Researchers are also exploring if\nits fibre can be used to make furniture.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Water\nHyacinth:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Water hyacinth is a free-floating\nperennial aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and subtropical\nSouth America.They are considered as Invasive alien species.<\/li><li>The one plant of water Hyacinth is\ncapable of duplicating itself every nine days.Hence,it has spread rapidly to\nother parts of the world.India has also been infested by this weed.<\/li><li>States like Assam and Kerala are\nhighly affected by the Water Hyacinth. It is also referred to as the Bengal\nterror given its effect on the local ecology and lives of the people.<\/li><li>It has an effect on irrigation,\nhydroelectric generation and navigation.It also leads to a drastic reduction in\nfish production, aquatic crops and an increase in diseases caused by\nmosquitoes.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About\nCarbon dots:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Carbon dots are carbon-based\nnanomaterials whose size is less than 10 nm or nanometre.<\/li><li>Carbon dots exhibit a wide range\nof physicochemical properties making them an ideal platform for several\nimportant environmental, biological, and energy-related applications.<\/li><li>They have been employed in\nemerging applications including antibacterial agents, self-healing materials,\nand mass spectrometry.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India, China to intensify boundary settlement News:India and China have agreed to intensify efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to their border dispute and work on more Confidence Building measures(CBMs) to maintain peace and tranquillity along the frontier. Facts: About India-China Border: The border between India and China is not clearly demarcated throughout.Along certain&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/9-pm-current-affairs-brief-december-22nd-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 December 22nd, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":48116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-brief","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/9-PM-Brief.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704892277},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}