Context

According to official records, it has been found that around 65% of India’s cook cum helpers engaged under mid day meal scheme are less than rupees 2,000 per month

About 

• The scheme has now been renamed to PM-Poshan, the scheme originally started in TamilNadu in 1960s as national programme of nutritional support to Pre education and was later expanded in 1980s
• The scheme was appreciated by the World Bank and hence adopted at the national level
• The central government launched mid day meal scheme as a centrally sponsored scheme in 1995 by then Ministry of human resources and development

Context

The multilateral nuclear talks have began again after the Iranian presidential elections with the new Iranian negotiating team.

According to a report by non partition organisations, Iran started exceeding JCPOA limits on both its allowed stockpile and level of enrichment in 2018 and began re imposing the Economic sanctions

Iran vs. US

• Both the countries want the other party to back down and make concessions, Iran insists on all sanctions being lifted while America is asking Iran to reduce the enrichment of Uranium and accept full International atomic energy agency (IAEA) inspections
• According to experts Iran is playing the North Korean card while moving towards leaving the economics affair of the United States and Europe and joining China and Russia
• Also there are apprehensions about the US not having a clear direction for Iran’s future especially after the the refusal of commitment by US  President to lift sanctions on Iran during remaining years of his presidency.

Context

• India hosted the third India-Central Asia dialogue which saw participation of the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Important takeaways

• India and Central Asian nations share a “broad regional consensus” on Afghanistan, said a regional conference of Foreign Ministers in Delhi on Sunday that proposed the use of the India-run terminal at the Chabahar port in Iran as a route for trade.
• A joint statement issued at the end of deliberations said it was important to provide immediate humanitarian aid for Afghans.
• The Central Asia dialogue comes a month after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval hosted five counterparts from the region for a security dialogue focusing on Afghanistan.
• Ministers noted that there is a broad regional consensus on the issues related to Afghanistan, which includes formation of a truly representative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, central role of the UN, providing immediate humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people and preserving the rights of women, children and other national ethnic groups.

Context

• India’s defence exports have increased from ₹1,521 crore in 2016-17 to ₹8,434.84 crore in 2020-21. The figure stood at ₹10,745 crore in 2018-19.
• The Government has set an ambitious target to achieve exports of about ₹35,000 crore ($5 billion) in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.

Emerging defence scenario

• According to the latest report of the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), three Indian companies figure among the top 100 defence companies in the 2020 rankings — Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Ordnance Factory Board and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). “Their aggregated arms sales of $6.5 billion were 1.7% higher in 2020 than in 2019 and accounted for 1.2% of the top 100 total.
• There was an overall drop in India’s arms imports between 2011-15 and 2016-20, according to another SIPRI report of 2020 and while India remained among the top importers, it was also included in the Top 25 defence exporters.
• Changing geopolitical reality meant that many smaller nations were now worried about security and would look towards India as it had the strength of low-cost, high-quality production.

Context

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cold wave in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh over the next few days.

• According to IMD, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Saurashtra and Kutch could witness a cold wave or a severe cold wave in December. A cold wave is likely over north Rajasthan , west Uttar and Gujarat.
• Dense morning fog is likely over isolated parts of Punjab and Haryana.
• Ground frost is also on the forecast for parts of Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat over the next few

Cause of this cold wave

• A western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, according to an IMD bulletin on Thursday.
• Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring winter rainfall to northwest India.

Recent context

Many plans under the SCM, which is funded partly by the Centre, remain incomplete due to the COVID-19 pandemic that stalled activities for most of 2020. In response, the Smart Cities Mission has extended the implementation date and given cities until June 2023 to complete the work.

Background

The Centre used a competitive process to select 100 cities for upgradation with significant investments through the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) launched on June 25, 2015. These cities were identified through a “challenge” to which State governments and local bodies responded with plans that covered showpiece projects for a specific area, as well citywide plans. These included

• integrated data,
• use of technology platforms for service delivery to citizens, and
• mainstreaming of urban development concepts to encourage other cities to adopt best practice.

In September 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) expanded the emphasis on climate-friendly infrastructure in smart cities through the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0 and a “Streets for People” plan that would put pedestrians and non-motorised road users at the centre of urban planning.

Context:

The union government has approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri krishi sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) till 2026, which would help in funding the irrigation projects to increase the water supply in the country.

PMKSY

• The scheme was launched in 2015, it is an amalgamation of existing components with an output-driven approach as an umbrella programme with various components envisioning increased irrigation potential.
• It has been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation ‘Har Khet ko pani’ and improving water use efficiency ‘More crop per drop’ in a focused manner with end to end solution on source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities.

Context:

• The Prime Minister is set to promote the ZBNF’s benefits and provide more details on the strategies to implement it at a national conclave in Anand, Gujarat.

About ZBNF

• In the recent past, there has been a global demand to shift to sustainable farming systems, such as Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF).
• India, too, introduced ZBNF in its Union Budget 2019-20.
• ZBNF is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices. 
• It was originally promoted by Maharashtrian agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar, who developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides and intensive irrigation.
• Without the need to spend money on these inputs or take loans to buy them,  the cost of production could be reduced and farming made into a “zero budget” exercise, breaking the debt cycle for many small farmers.
• ZBNF is also against vermicomposting, which is the mainstay of typical organic farming.

Context:

Chief justice of India ruled the quite low representation women at all levels in legal field and promise to take up the demand for higher representation beyond 50% on the bench.

More on the news

• Women on an average constituted only around 30% of the judges in lower judiciary
• In high court’s the percentage of women judges is nearly 11.5%, while in the supreme court there are four sitting women judges out of 33 Indore office
• Out of 1.7 million registered advocates, only 15% of women.
• In 70 years of its existence the Supreme Court has seen only 8 women judges and no woman has been appointed chief justice so far
• The ratio of women to men judges is 81:1078 in the 25 High courts of the country

Context:

The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) envisages an aggregate monetisation potential of ₹ 6-lakh crore through the leasing of core assets of the Central government in sectors such as roads, railways, power, oil and gas pipelines, telecom, civil aviation, ports and waterways, mining, food and public distribution, coal, housing and urban affairs etc over a four-year period (FY2022 to FY2025).

Unlocking the value

• The Eight core industrial sectors that support infrastructure such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity have a total weight of nearly 40% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• According to NITI Aayog, the strategic objective of the asset monetisation program is to unlock the value of investment in public sector assets by tapping private sector capital as well as efficiency
• According to the  annual report (2020-2021) of the Department of Public Enterprises, Government of India, there are 256 operationally-run central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), employing about one million people.Out of these, 96 have been conferred the Ratna status (72, 14, and 10 are Miniratnas, Navaratnas, and Maharatna companies, respectively).
• According to the Economic Survey 2019-20, public enterprises should be in focus as India needs to invest about $1.5 trillion on infrastructure development in order to aspire to become $5 trillion economy by the year 2024-25