Geo Engineering,Antimicrobials,Cryogenic Fuel in Refrigeration Transport Vehicles,Mission Indradhanush,Good Governance Day

1. Ques. What is Geological Engineering which is also known by the name of Geo Engineering?

Ans. This branch of engineering deals with designing and changing construction of the earth works like mountains and also studies the development, uses, discovery and excavation of below surface earth resources.

2. Ques. What are Anti Microbials?

Ans. They are those agents that stop the growth of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. Antimicrobial resistance diseases are going to be a big danger for future health and economy of the globe. It is being said that the rise of Antimicrobial Resistance in current fashion by 2050 will lead to the death of 10 million people annually and will cause a reduction in global GDP in the range of 2% to 3.5% per year and the World has then to spend $100 trillion to deal with the problem of AMR. The report was presented by David Cameron Prime Minister of the U.K.

3. Cryogenic fuels been used in refrigeration transport vehicles – Till now we have heard that Cryogenic fuels have been used is spacecrafts because of zero carbon emission. Now it is being said that they will also be used in transportation refrigerated vehicles. It is being said that the air conditioning and refrigeration sector contribute around 8-10 percent of total greenhouse gases emitted. Now the new British technology will use liquid air to power their refrigerated vehicles. A big amount of electricity will be required in this technology and in U.K. only 1/3rd of total electricity produced is through coal. So U.K. has a big proportion of electricity being produced through renewable sources so using this technology in the U.K. will reduce the diesel consumption of cryogenic fuel liquid air fuelled refrigeration unit by 20% and will also reduce harmful nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emission.

But when we assess the viability of this technology in Indian context it is not beneficial for India as in India more than 54.09% of total electricity production is from coal based power. In India one litre of cryogenic fuel costs Rs. 25 and 30 litres of cryogenic fuel is required by the vehicle refrigeration unit for 1 hour which makes the cost of running Rs. 750 per hour whereas when we use diesel its requirement will be 3 litres i.e. Rs. 180.

4. Mission Indradhanush launched recently by Minister of Health and Family Welfare to Vaccinate all those children who are either not vaccinated or partially vaccinated by 2020 against the seven deadly preventable diseases through vaccination. These diseases are Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Diphtheria, Polio, Hepatitis B, Tuberculosis and Measles.

5. 25th December has been celebrated as Good Governance day. Several new initiatives, websites and programmes have been launched. 25th December is the birthday date of both Bharat Ratna recipient Sir Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.

6. NHAI implementation of National Highways project audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General has said that NHAI has not fulfilled the purpose of its role by providing undue benefit to private parties, providing longer concession periods and not meeting 20 km a day target for widening and upgradation of national highways during 2009-10 to 2012-13

NHAI was created by National Highway Authority of India Act 1988. In 1995 in the month of February it was made autonomous. So it is an autonomous agency of the GoI. It is entrusted with the task of management of around 70000 km of National Highways in India. Charges of corruption and bride taken and given by contractors in Highway construction have been made by the Institution Integrity Unit of World Bank in 2012. 

7. Some urgent steps India needs to take to improve its manufacturing advantage –

(a) Stop tax intimidation 

(b) Labour laws should be reformed 

(c) Infrastructure Improvement.

(d) Skill development initiatives should be carried on a mass scale.

(e) Streamlining acquisition of land and making arrangement for fast track project approvals.

Why India cannot do the same in manufacturing what China has been doing from the last 2 decades –

RBI Governor Mr. Raghuram Rajan pointed out that ways of manufacturing is changing all over the World. Low cost labour are been replaced by low cost automation and robotics and there are still apprehensions in Multinational Companies mind that investment climate in India is not sound due to reasons mentioned above.

Five priority industry sector where India needs to work are –

Defence, Electronics Hardware, Constructions, Health Care, Agro Industries. 

8. Land Acquisition Act amendments through Ordinance –

Project in the field of rural electrification, defence, industrial corridors and rural housing will not require to take approval from 80% of the people affected. Previously 80% of the affected people needed to give their approval for the project to go on.

The compensation amount has not been changed and for land taken in rural area and urban area farmers will be paid 4 times and 2 times the market rate respectively.

Under the meaning of public purpose will also be covered private educational institutions, private hospitals and private hotels and for giving them approval Social Impact Studies will not be conducted.

The 80% consent clause has been retained for private projects.

The retrospective clause which says that if the compensation is not paid and physical possession of the land not taken within 5 years then land acquisition will lapse. This 5 years has been changed to 10 years. 

13 Central Acts will also be brought in sync with the amendments in Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013. The 13 Central Acts as said by Govt. will also be made to pay compensation to the people whose land has been taken. 

These 13 Central Acts include –

The Railways Act 1989 

The National Highways Act 1956 

Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957.

These 13 central laws were previously exempted under section 105 of LARR Act, 2013.

In the 2013 LARR Act consent from 70 percent of people was needed to be taken when the land has been taken under Public Private Partnership scheme whereas the figure was 80% for private companies acquiring land.