National
National Workshop on Dam Safety Act, 2021
⇒ Central Water Commission under the aegis of the Department of Water Resources, RD&GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt of India organized a National Workshop on Dam Safety Act, 2021 for Dam Safety Governance in India on 16 June, 2022 in New Delhi.
- The day-long workshop on Dam Safety Act was aimed at sensitizing all stakeholders about the provisions of the Dam Safety Act, 2021 and to Brainstorm on Dam Safety Governance.
Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the government flagship programmes Dam Rehabilitation Improvement Project (DRIP) has improved the safety and operational performance of large dams.
- Addressing a National Workshop on Dam Safety Act, 2021 for Dam Safety Governance in India, in New Delhi, Mr Shekhawat stressed on the need for maintenance of the dams for prevention of dam failure related disasters in the country.
Key Points:
- In India, there are 5334 existing large dams while the other 411 large dams are under various stages of construction.
- Maharashtra leads with 2394 dams while Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are at the second and third spots in terms of the number of dams.
- India’s dams annually store about 300 billion cubic meters of water.
- These dams are ageing over the years with about 80% of dams exceeding 25 years of age, and over 227 dams exceeding 100 years.
About Dam Safety Act:
- The Dam Safety Act, 2021 was enacted by the Parliament and came into force with effect from 30th December 2021.
- The Act is aimed at ensuring surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of the specified dam for prevention of dam failure-related disasters and to provide for an institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning.
- The Act comprehensively addresses the critical dam safety concerns under prevailing as well as new issues such as climate change, etc.
- Its key provisions include regular inspection of dams; hazard classification of dams; emergency action plan; comprehensive dam safety review by an independent panel; funds for timely repair and maintenance; operations and maintenance manual; record of incidents and failure; risk assessment study; dam instrumentation including hydro-meteorological and seismological network; accreditation of agencies; emergency flood warning system; and offences and penalty.
First National Conference of Chief Secretaries
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the First National Conference of Chief Secretaries at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh on 16th and 17th June, 2022.
- It was a significant step towards further strengthening the partnership between the Centre and the State Governments. The National Conference of Chief Secretaries was held from 15th to 17th June 2022.
Three themes were identified for detailed deliberations in the Conference:
- Implementation of the National Education Policy
- Urban governance
- Crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds, pulses and other agri-commodities
» There was a session on Aspirational Districts Programme which deliberated upon the achievements made so far, with successful case studies including on data-based governance, presented by the young Collectors in specific districts.
» There was a special session on ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: Roadmap to 2047’ and four additional thematic sessions:
- Reducing Compliance Burden & Decriminalization of Minor Offences for Ease of Doing Business;
- Centre – State Coordination for achieving saturation coverage of schemes and ensuring last mile delivery;
- Transforming India’s infrastructure through PM Gati Shakti; and
- Capacity building: Implementation of iGOT – Mission Karmayogi.
Key Points:
- More than 200 people participated in the conference, representing the Central Government, all States/ UTs and domain experts. Several officials—including young district collectors and magistrates—from the states and union territories as well as the Union ministries attended the conference.
- Spread over three days, it focused on the rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States.
- Working as Team India, the Conference laid the ground for collaborative action for higher growth with sustainability, creation of jobs, education, ease of living and aatmanirbharta in agriculture.
- The Conference emphasized on evolution and implementation of a common development agenda and blueprint for cohesive action to achieve the aspirations of the people.
- On the third day, sessions on improving access to and quality of higher education and enhancing urban governance through urban planning and municipal finance were held.
- Discussions were also held on the need for greater Centre-state coordination for ensuring the saturation of government schemes and last-mile delivery and capacity building of civil servants through Mission Karamayogi.
NCMRWF signed MoU with Indian Navy
⇒ National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Ministry of Earth Sciences, signed Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Navy, Ministry of Defence for ‘Cooperation on Numerical Model Based Applications in Meteorology and Oceanology’ during the ceremony held at NCMRWF, Noida.
Aim:
- The purpose of this collaboration would be to share the expertise with the aim of keeping both organisations in step with rapid development in the field of weather/ ocean modelling, coupled modelling, data assimilation, ensemble forecasting and satellite data use.
- In addition, this would also facilitate meaningful interactions that is drawn on the professional strengths of two organisations.
» NCMRWF with highly skilled scientists and state of the Art infrastructure would provide support to two of the premier establishments of Indian Navy located at Kochi, i.e., Naval Operations Data Processing and Analysis Centre and Indian Naval Meteorological Analysis Centre.
International
India-Japan hold Finance Dialogue
⇒ Mr Masato Kanda, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan, and Mr Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, held the first India-Japan Finance Dialogue on 16 June 2022 in New Delhi.
Participation:
The Japanese delegation included the representatives from Ministry of Finance, Financial Services Agency, and financial institutions.
From Indian side, the representatives from Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, and financial institutions participated in the discussion.
Discussion:
- The participants exchanged their views on the macroeconomic situation, financial system, financial digitalization and investment environment in both countries, and confirmed that both sides will continue to work closely together as they hold presidency of G20 and G7 next year.
- The participants including private financial institutions also discussed various financial regulation issues towards further expansion of investment in India.
- Both sides agreed to continue discussions for further promoting financial cooperation and strengthening bilateral relations, and agreed to explore holding the next round of the Dialogue in Tokyo.
Important Day
International Coastal Cleanup Day 2022
⇒ International Coastal Cleanup Day, which is held every year on the third Saturday of September. International Coastal Cleanup Day 2022 was observed on 17 September.
- The day aims to raise public awareness about the accumulation and negative effects of litter on oceans, beaches and coastlines.
» On the occasion of International Coastal Cleanup Day 2022, coastal cleanup drive is being carried out at 75 sea beaches across the country for 75 days from 3rd July to 17th September, 2022.
- It is the first-of-its-kind and longest running coastal cleanup campaign with highest number of people participating in it.
» The first International Coastal Cleanup Day was celebrated in 1986.