Context of the news

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCAC) has approved the scheme on Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS).

What is Green Energy Corridor Project?

• GEC is an alternative transmission system for renewable energy (RE) power projects. The Green Energy Corridor Project aims at synchronizing electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.
• The scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of approximately 20 GW of Renewable Energy (RE) power projects in seven States namely, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
• The scheme will also contribute to long term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing carbon footprint. It will generate large direct & indirect employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled personnel in power and other related sectors. 
• The projects would be awarded through competitive bidding and open for private companies to participate.

Need for a Green Energy Corridor in India:

• The project aims at integrating large-scale renewable generation capacity addition with the main grid.
• Last year the Prime Minister pledged to increase the country’s non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500GW and meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by the end of this decade. So there is a need to integrate these energies.
• Grid stability and security are the main concerns for India presently.The country needs to prepare itself for greater penetration of renewable energy.

• Renewable Energy Management Centres centers to set up  REMCs  will be responsible for forecasting and scheduling renewable energy generation at state and regional levels, and coordinating with state load dispatch centers (SLDCs).

Benefits of a Green Energy Corridor:

• The scheme will help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed RE capacity by 2030.
• It will also contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing the carbon footprint.
• Besides, it will generate large direct and indirect employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled personnel in power and other related sectors, the statement said.
• The GEC will help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges and keep the power costs down. 
• It helps India pledged to increase the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by 2030.
• The project is expected to help India meet the climate commitments it made at the COP-26 summit in Glasgow contributing to the long term energy security of the country,
• The corridor is expected to help ensure that the huge injection of electricity into the national grid from intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind doesn’t threaten the grid.

Way forward:

• The project is important for strengthening and creating a reliable transmission infrastructure, evacuation of power from renewable energy projects and renewable rich states, and increasing the share of renewable energy generation.
• The country ranks fourth globally, in terms of wind power installed capacity, after China, USA and Germany.
• It is, therefore, high-time that India prepares itself to absorb and transmit these huge renewable energy capacities.

Reference- The Hindu Link

In news:  

DMK  Lok Sabha member has moved the Madras High Court challenging the constitutional validity of Dam Safety Act, 2021 on the grounds that it goes against federalism and is beyond the legislative competence of the Centre.

What is the Dam Safety Bill?

The Bill proposes to help all states and Union Territories adopt uniform dam safety procedures. It aims to “provide for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of the specified dam for prevention of dam failure-related disasters, and to provide for institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

Context of Dam Safety Bill

• Most of the dams in India are constructed and maintained by the states, while some of the bigger dams are managed by autonomous bodies such as Damodar Valley Corporation or Bhakra Beas Management Board of Bhakra-Nangal Project.
• The Centre has presented the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 against the backdrop of over 5,200 large dams in India and about 450 dams under construction right now. “Due to the lack of legal and institutional architecture for dam safety in India, dam safety is an issue of concern. Unsafe dams are a hazard and dam break may cause disasters, leading to huge loss of life and property.

Highlights of Dam Safety Bill, 2019

• A National Committee on Dam Safety with a three-year tenure, comprising: The chairman of the Central Water Commission, A maximum of 10 representatives of the central government in the ranks of joint secretary, A maximum of seven representatives of the state governments, and three experts, will be formed as part of the Act.
  

• A state dam safety organisation will be formed as well, which will be responsible for the dam safety. This organisation is empowered to investigate and gather data for proper review and study of the various features of the design, construction, repair and enlargement of dams, reservoirs and appurtenant structures.
  

• The National Dam Safety Authority, to be headquartered in Delhi, will be formed under the Act. It will be headed by an officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India to deal with problems relating to dam engineering and dam safety management.
  
• It lays the onus of dam safety on the dam owner and provides for penal provisions for commission and omission of certain acts.
  
• The Bill provides for the establishment of the National Dam Safety Authority as a regulatory body which shall discharge functions to implement the policy, guidelines and standards for dam safety in the country.
  
• The Bill provides for the constitution of a State Committee on Dam Safety by the State Government.

Significance of the bill:

• The Bill will help all the States and Union Territories of India to adopt uniform dam safety procedures which shall ensure safety of dams and safeguard benefits from such dams. 
• It addresses all issues concerning dam safety including regular inspection of dams, Emergency Action Plan, comprehensive dam safety review, adequate repair and maintenance funds for dam safety, Instrumentation and Safety Manuals.

Why is the Bill being criticised?

• Several states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha, have opposed the legislation in the last decade on the grounds that it infringes on the sovereignty of states to manage their dams, as the states are concerned about retaining control over the dams, autonomy, and ownership of the assets.
• Experts also questioned the legislation’s constitutionality, pointing out that water is a state subject. Another shortcoming cited was the failure to pay compensation to people affected by dam projects.

Conclusion

• After independence , India has invested substantially in dams, and ranks third after the US and China in the number of large dams. 
• There has been a long felt need for a uniform law and administrative structure for ensuring dam safety. Many efforts have been made by The Central Water Commission, through the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS), Central Dam Safety Organization (CDSO) and State Dam Safety Organizations (SDSO) in this direction but these organisations lack statutory powers and are only advisory in nature.
• This can be a matter of concern, especially since about 75 percent of the large dams in India are more than 25 years old and about 164 dams are more than 100 years old.
• A badly maintained, unsafe dam can be a hazard to human life, public and private assets, flora and fauna, and the environment.

Reference-The Hindu Link

What are ‘Payments Banks’

• Definition: A payments bank is like any other bank, but operating on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk. In simple words, it can carry out most banking operations but can’t advance loans or issue credit cards. 
• It can accept demand deposits (up to Rs 1 lakh), offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking and third party fund transfers.

History of Payment Banking:

•  In September 2013, the Reserve Bank of India constituted a committee headed by Dr Nachiket Mor to study ‘Comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low income households’. The objective of the committee was to propose measures for achieving financial inclusion and increased access to financial services.
• The committee submitted its report to the RBI in January 2014. One of the key suggestions of the committee was to introduce specialised banks or ‘payments banks’ to cater to the lower income groups and small businesses so that by January 1, 2016 each Indian resident can have a global bank account.

Why payments banks? 

• The main objective of payments banks is to widen the spread of payment and financial services to small business, low-income households, and the migrant labour workforce in a secured technology-driven environment.
• With payments banks, RBI seeks to increase the penetration level of financial services to the remote areas of the country.

Limitations of Payment Banks:

• They cannot issue credit cards.
• They are not allowed to give loans.
• They are only allowed to invest the money received from customers’ deposits into government securities.
• They cannot accept NRI deposits.

Scope of Payment Banking

• A payments bank account holder would be able to deposit and withdraw money through any ATM or other service providers.
• Payments licensees would be granted to mobile firms, supermarket chains and others to cater to individuals and small businesses.
• Existing prepaid payment instruments (PPI model) like Airtel Money do not pay any interest on deposits.

Benefits: Expansion of rural banking, access to diversified services of banking and financial operations, social & financial inclusion.

Challenges: Lack of customer awareness, lack of incentives for agents, lack of infrastructure, technological issues, lack of accountability in customer service.

Meaning of Scheduled Bank

• The banks in the Indian banking system are sub categorized as Scheduled Banks, Non-Scheduled Banks, Private Banks and Public Banks. Scheduled banks are those banks that are listed under Schedule II of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• The bank’s paid-up capital and raised funds must be at least Rs. 5 lakh to qualify as a scheduled bank. These banks are liable for low interest loans from the RBI.
• They also have membership in clearing houses.
• They also have numerous obligations to fulfil such as maintaining an average daily Cash Reserve Ratio with the central bank.

Types of Scheduled Banks in India

• The banks listed in Schedule II are further classified as –
• Scheduled Commercial Public Sector Banks
• SBI and its associates
• Scheduled Commercial Private Sector Banks
• Old Private Banks
• New Private Sector Banks
• Scheduled Foreign Banks in India

Main functions of Scheduled Banks

• Acceptance of deposits from the public 
• Provide demand withdrawal facility 
• Lending facility 
• Transfer of funds
• Issue of drafts 
• Provide customers with locker facilities
• Dealing with foreign exchange

Differences between a Scheduled Bank and Non-Scheduled Bank

Scheduled Bank

• They are listed in the second schedule of the RBI Act.
• These have a paid up capital of Rs. 5 lakhs or more and comply with all the requirements of the RBI.
• They maintain a cash reserve ratio with RBI.
• They are authorized to borrow funds from the Reserve Bank of India.
• They are comparatively more financially stable.

Non-Scheduled Bank

• They are not listed in the second schedule of the RBI Act.
• There is no such condition that needs to be fulfilled for it to be considered a non-scheduled bank.
• They maintain the CRR amount with themselves.
• They are not allowed to borrow funds from the RBI.
• These banks are riskier.

Reference- The Hindu Link

What is AFSPA?

• AFSPA gives armed forces special powers to control “disturbed areas”, which are designated by the government when it is of the opinion that a region is in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary.
  
• Under its provisions, the armed forces have been empowered to open fire, enter and search without warrant, and arrest any person who has committed a cognisable offence, all while having immunity from being prosecuted.
• The Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee was set up in 2005 to review Afspa and make recommendations. It recommended that Afspa should be repealed and the Unlawful Activities Protection Act should be strengthened to fight militancy. 

Where is AFSPA in effect now?

• AFSPA can be implemented in an area after it has been declared as “disturbed”.
  
• The power to declare a territory “disturbed” initially lay with the states, but passed to the Centre in 1972.
  
• Section 3 of AFSPA (in J&K) says that an area can be declared disturbed if it is the “opinion of the Governor of the state or the central government” which “makes the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power necessary”.
  
• Currently, AFSPA is in effect in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding seven assembly constituencies of Imphal) and parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
  
• The law has been repealed where insurgencies have subsided, and when governments have gained confidence of managing the region using the police force. Thus, AFSPA was repealed in Tripura in 2015, and in 2018 the Centre also removed Meghalaya from the list, while also restricting its use in Arunachal Pradesh.

When was AFSPA enacted?

• The law is based on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Ordinance of 1942, which was issued during the Quit India movement.
  
• Enacted by Parliament on September 11, 1958, AFSPA was first implemented in the Northeast, and then in Punjab.
  
• On August 18, 1958, the Bill on measures to battle the Naga insurgency in the then state of Assam was introduced in Lok Sabha, and debated for two hours.
  
• Discussions followed in Rajya Sabha on the 25th, 27th and 28th of the same month. Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant called the proposed law “a very simple measure” to control the “misguided Nagas indulging in mischievous activities”.
  
• The law was needed, Govind Ballabh Pant argued, as it was not feasible, “over such a vast area to depute civil magistrates to accompany the armed forces wherever there may be trouble, because (it) happens unexpectedly”. The Bill was passed without an amendment amid fierce opposition in the Lok Sabha.
  

Criticism

• It provides absolute powers to the security personnel without being accounted for and the impunity that security personnel enjoy for their actions taken under the law. This leads to various atrocities and human rights violations by security agencies.
  
• Critics of the act calls it the undemocratic act which failed to contain terrorism and restore normalcy in disturbed areas, as the number of armed groups has gone up after the act was established.
  
• It has been a controversial one, with human rights groups opposing it as being aggressive. 
  
• Terming the AFSPA as a “draconian law”, renowned human rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila of Manipur had fought for 16 long years till mid-2016, demanding its repeal.

Way Forward

• AFSPA is required to counter insurgencies and lack of development in the Northeast region is also a major reason for the insurgency therefore the Government should take urgent steps to create new opportunities for growth and development of regions and necessary steps for skill development of the youth.
  
• AFSPA should be made more comprehensive, with elaborate rules with respect to the method of investigations of alleged human rights violations to reduce the possibility of misusing it.

The Indian Express Link

About Classification and definition of MSMES:

Importance of MSME in Indian Economy

• The MSMEs contribute around 30 per cent to India’s GDP.
• It employs  about 11 crore people.
• MSMEs constitute nearly 40 per cent of total exports, and more than half of them are located in rural India.
• The MSME sector can immensely  boost the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
• By providing employment and income, SMEs can raise income, living standards and consumer spending.
• With global manufacturing moving out of China, Indian SMEs can play a key role in sustaining the manufacturing that is shifted to India.

Factors which led to the growth of MSME:

• Increasing internet penetration, customer’s customisation  with digital payments fuelled by B2C (business-to-consumer) ecommerce players facilitate MSME sector growth.
• Small industries and retail businesses in tier-II and tier-III cities create opportunities for people to use banking services and products.
• Campaigns like Digital India, Skill India, Startup India  and Make in India aim to provide MSME players a definitive push towards enhanced productivity.
• Younger generation with the spirit of entrepreneurship and the changing trend targeting fields other than agriculture activities  is creating job prospects for others. 

Opportunity areas for MSMEs in India

(1.) Telecommunications

• Domestic manufacturing of low-cost mobile phones, handsets, and devices.
• Manufacturing of telecom networking equipment, including routers and switches.
• Mobile customer data analytics – services oriented toward analytical solutions and development of value-added services.

(2.)  Healthcare

• Manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and face masks.
• Manufacturing of low-cost medical devices and medical accessories.
• Telemedicine and diagnostic labs.

(3.) Electronics

• Domestic manufacturing of low-cost consumer electronics, consumer durables
• Electronic Systems Design and manufacturing including semiconductor design, electronic components.
• Strategic electronics, as the government is keen on encouraging the domestic manufacturing of products needed by the security forces.

Issues faced by MSMEs in India

• Regulatory limits on their assets discourage MSMEs from further expanding their  operations.
• Only after a gap of 14 years (2006 to 2020) the government revised the definition of MSMEs by factoring in inflation and depreciation. This made the MSMEs to operate at a low scale by creating subsidiaries/sister concerns with a view to receiving incentives from the government.
• Inadequate and untimely credit – 9/10 MSMEs depend on informal sources for their working capital and term loans.
• Non-registration of firms, technological obsolescence, negligible market linkages, information asymmetry.

Areas to improve in MSME sector:

• Better access to efficient factors of production.
• Friendly labour reforms.
• Sustainable acquisition policy.
• Vibrant entrepreneurship culture.
• Enabling infrastructure.
• Simplified tax policy.
• Easy credit access and better return payment mechanisms.
• Redressal system on recovery of payments (such as PSUs).
• Scaling up the state support in establishing and marketing of SMEs.

Way forward:

• The Indian MSME sector is the mainstay of the country’s economic structure and acts as a bulwark for the Indian economy, providing resilience to ward off global economic shocks and adversities.
• The issues faced by MSMEs  must be addressed on an urgent basis to revive the economy thumped by the pandemic.
• Apart from the fiscal stimulus, the sector requires a political-economy approach that prioritizes MSME interests.
• India needs to ease the regulatory burden of small units and aid their survival through fiscal support. Above all, they need a level-playing field vis-à-vis big businesses.

Reference : The Hindu Link

Context:
Telangana stood first in the country in the list of highest number of open defecation free (ODF Plus) villages under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II programme till December 31, 2021.

Factors considered in the Household Survey for ODF declaration:

1. Access to toilet facility
2. 100 per cent usage
3. Fly-proofing of toilet
4. Safe septage disposal
5. Hand-washing before meals
6. Hand-washing with soap after defecation
7. Availability of soap and water in or near the toilet

Factors considered in the Village Survey for ODF declaration:

8. No visible faeces found in the environment/village
9. Proper usage of school toilet
10. Safe confinement of excreta in school toilet
11. Proper usage of anganwadi toilet
12. Safe confinement of excreta in anganwadi toilet

About Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM):

• The Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U), launched on 2nd October 2014 aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country. 

The objectives of the mission are mentioned below: 

• Elimination of open defecation
• Eradication of Manual Scavenging
• Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management
• To effect behavioural change regarding healthy sanitation practices
• Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health
• Capacity Augmentation for ULB’s
• To create an enabling environment for private sector participation in Capex (capital expenditure) and Opex (operation and maintenance)

The Mission has the following components:

• Household toilets, including conversion of insanitary latrines into pour-flush latrines;
• Community toilets
• Public toilets
• Solid waste management
• IEC & Public Awareness
• Capacity building and Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE)

Phase 1 of the Swachh Bharat mission lasted till October 2019.

• The objectives of the first phase of the mission also included eradication of manual scavenging, generating awareness and bringing about a behaviour change regarding sanitation practices, and augmentation of capacity at the local level.

 Phase 2 will be implemented between 2020–21 and 2024-25.

• The second phase will be implemented on a mission mode between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
• The second phase will focus on Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus), which includes ODF sustainability and solid and liquid waste management (SLWM).
• The ODF Plus programme will converge with MGNREGA, especially for grey water management, and will complement the newly launched Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The programme will also work towards ensuring that no one is left behind and everyone uses a toilet.
• The fund sharing pattern between the Centre and States will be 90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States and UT of J&K; 60:40 for other States; and 100:0 for other Union Territories, for all the components.

Objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban:

• Eradication of open defecation in all statutory towns
• 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in all statutory towns
• Effecting behaviour change through Jan Andolan

Key Components under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0

The following will be the key components for implementation under SBM-U 2.0:

 Sustainable Sanitation:

• The Mission will focus on ensuring complete access to sanitation facilities to serve additional population migrating from rural to urban areas in search of employment and better opportunities over the next 5 years. 
• Complete liquid waste management in cities in less than 1 lakh population. 

Sustainable Solid Waste Management:

• 100 percent source segregation of waste along with functional Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in every city,  with a focus on phasing out single use plastic.
• Setting up of construction & demolition (C&D) waste processing facilities and deployment of mechanical sweepers in National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) cities and in cities with more than 5 lakh population
• Remediation of all legacy dumpsites, so that 14,000 acres of locked up land lying under 15 crore tonnes of legacy waste are freed up.

Challenges for SBM

• The massive task is to include people who still lack toilets, overcome partial toilet use, and retrofit toilets which are not yet sustainably safe.
• The quality of toilets constructed left much to be desired, and local level malpractice.
• Rural and small town faecal sludge management as tanks and single pits fill up and are difficult to empty.
• Overemphasis on toilet construction rather than focussing on all parameters.
• The ODF status has been mainly awarded to the village, district or state only based on the number of toilets built without mention of termination of fecal-oral transmission and absence of visible feces in the environment as major parameters in the SBM guidelines.
• Waste Treatment: Despite considerable progress in the door to door waste collection, only one-third of the waste being generated is being processed.
• Manual Scavenging

Need of the hour

• Creating demand for toilets: higher proportion of funds should be directed towards educating people about hygiene and the social marketing of toilets.
• Ground-level verification: To resolve the issue of over/under reporting of government set targets, verification of facts on the ground with the help of  local and village governments.
• Disposal of feces: proper facilities for the disposal of excreta should be established which goes untreated and harms the environment.
• Sewage Treatment and solid waste management: Different cost-effective technologies must be adopted for sewage treatments and proper disposal of waste from toilets.
• Manual scavenging: Use of technology in eradicating the practice of manual scavenging. Educating and empowering the lower castes through laws by encouraging them to pursue alternative jobs and possibly providing them with subsidies to build latrine facilities can also be a step in this direction.

Context

• Govt planning to blend 15 per cent green hydrogen with piped natural gas. 

• The government is planning to blend 15 per cent green hydrogen with piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic, commercial and industrial consumption. The move is in line with India’s ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and becoming carbon neutral by 2070.

What is Green Hydrogen?

• Green hydrogen is defined as hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity.
• This method uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. If the electricity needed for electrolysis is generated from renewable sources such as solar or wind, the production of hydrogen in this way emits no greenhouse gasses.

Advantages of Green Hydrogen

• 100 % sustainable: green hydrogen does not emit polluting gases either during combustion or during production.
• Storable: hydrogen is easy to store, which allows it to be used subsequently for other purposes and at times other than immediately after its production.
• Versatile: green hydrogen can be transformed into electricity or synthetic gas and used for domestic, commercial, industrial or mobility purposes.
• Transportable: it can be mixed with natural gas at ratios of up to 20 % and travel through the same gas pipes and infrastructure – increasing this percentage would require changing different elements in the existing gas networks to make them compatible.

Disadvantages of Green Hydrogen

• High cost: Energy from renewable sources, which are key to generating green hydrogen through electrolysis, is more expensive to generate, which in turn makes hydrogen more expensive to obtain. According to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the cost of green hydrogen production is $5-$6 per kg. At this rate, it is not easy for industries like steel, fertilizer and long-range shipping to adopt this fuel.
• High energy consumption: The production of hydrogen in general and green hydrogen in particular requires more energy than other fuels.
• Safety issues: Hydrogen is a highly volatile and flammable element and extensive safety measures are therefore required to prevent leakage and explosions.

Green Hydrogen initiatives in India

• National Hydrogen Energy Mission
• To keep pace with global companies, the National Hydrogen Mission was announced in the Budget Speech of FY 2021-22 to produce hydrogen from green energy sources. The scheme was announced putting Green Hydrogen at the heart of India’s energy security and climate change.
• Recently, India’s largest oil and gas sector company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has announced its plans to go green. The company has recently announced its plans to become a net zero carbon firm by 2035. RIL has plans to invest INR 600 billion to build a 5000-acre green energy complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat.5 The complex will house an electrolyser plant to produce green hydrogen.

The Hindu link

Context: 

• The GST Council recently decided to temporarily roll back the increase in tax rate for the textiles sector at an emergency meeting.

About GST Council

• GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council  is a constitutional body under Article 279A. The Council makes recommendations to the Union and State Government on subjects  related to Goods and Service Taxes in the country. It  was introduced by the One Hundred and First Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016. 

• Constitution of the Council
  
  The GST council consists of the following members:
  The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson as a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance. The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.

Decision making in the GST Council

• Every decision of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be taken at a meeting by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting, in accordance with the following principles:
  (1) the vote of the Central Government shall have a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast.

(2) the votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast, in that meeting.

The Indian Express Link

Context:

• The Union Education Minister  launched a 100 days reading campaign ‘Padhe Bharat’ today.  
• The launch of 100 Days Reading Campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020  which emphasises on promotion of joyful reading culture for children by ensuring availability of age appropriate reading books for children in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal Language.

About the campaign:

• Padhe Bharat  campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.The reading campaign will be organised for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from 1st January 2022 to 10th April 2022.
• The reading campaign aims to have participation of all stakeholders at national and state level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc. 
• One activity per week per group has been designed with the focus on making reading enjoyable and building lifelong association with the joy of reading. 
• The 100 days reading campaign will also focus on Indian languages including mother tongue/local/regional languages. This will help in promoting the local language and culture of our society.

Objective of the campaign

• The 100 days Reading Campaign is envisaged to support and encourage students, along with their schools, teachers, parents, and communities, in every possible way and encourage children to read for joyful learning experience. 

Implementing agency

• The Department of School Education & Literacy invites all stakeholders to participate wholeheartedly in this campaign to build a strong foundation for our children.

The Indian Express link

Context

• Recently, NASA has announced the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) .
• Webb, the world’s premier space science observatory, will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s flagship telescope that has been in service for more than three decades now.

Features of Hubble Telescope

• NASA says Webb isnot Hubble’s replacement — rather, its successor whose science goals were motivated by the results from Hubble.
• Webb will primarily study the universe in the infrared, while Hubble looks at it mainly at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. 
• Infrared observations are important because light at this wavelength can penetrate the dust that shrouds newly formed stars and planets, and make them visible.
• Webb’s mirror is much larger than Hubble’s; it can, therefore, look farther back into time than Hubble. Also, Hubble is in a much closer orbit around Earth than Webb will be.