Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC):

• Ministry of Railways is executing the work of construction of two dedicated freight corridors namely Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (EDFC & WDFC) to augment the rail transport capacity along above routes to meet the growing need of the economy and facilitate faster evacuation of freight traffic.

What is Dedicated Freight Corridor?

• It is a high speed and high capacity railway corridor that is exclusively meant for the transportation of freight, or in other words, goods and commodities.
• DFC involves the seamless integration of better infrastructure and state of the art technology.

The salient features of DFC are as under:

1. Maximum permissible Speed - 100Kmph
2. Long haul and Higher Trailing load - upto 13000 tonnes per train
3. Double stack trains on WDFC
4. Efficient handling and value added services at freight terminals of DFC.
5. Enhanced axle load of 25 tonnes
6. Higher maximum moving dimension of Wagons
7. Automatic Signalling with Mobile Train Radio communication
8. Overall enhanced throughput

DFC consists of two arms:

1. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC)
2. Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC)

Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC):

• It starts at Sahnewal (Ludhiana) in Punjab and ends at Dankuni in West Bengal.
• The EDFC route has coal mines, thermal power plants and industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being made for these.
• The EDFC route covers Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
• The World Bank is funding a majority of the EDFC.
• The 351-km-long ‘New Bhaupur-New Khurja section’ will decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi main line and double the speed of freight trains from 25 kmph to 75 kmph.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC):

• The other arm is the around 1,500-km WDFC from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai, touching all major ports along the way.
• The WDFC covers Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
• It is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
• Connecting Link for Eastern and Western Arm: It is under construction between Dadri and Khurja.
• The industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata are also being developed around both these DFCs.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd.

• DFCCIL under the Ministry of Railways is a special purpose vehicle tasked with planning and completion of 3,306 kms of DFCs.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).
• It engages in the planning and development, deployment of monetary resources, building, upkeep, and the operation of the DFCs.

Benefits of Dedicated Freight Corridors:

• Dedicated Freight Corridors will offer higher transport output with faster transit of freight trains. Running of planned double stack container trains and heavy haul will also add to the carrying capacity.
• The unit cost of freight transport will substantially be reduced and there will be significant savings in the Logistics cost as well.
• This would improve the supply chain for the industries/logistics players etc. in DFC’s catchment areas leading to additional freight volumes and growth of EXIM traffic as well.
• The above advantages of DFC will promote Industrial activities in the region by levaraging the Industrial corridors/townships being implemented along the DFC route.
• Development of New Freight terminals, Multimodal Logistics parks and Inland Container Depots along both Eastern and Western DFC are in different stages of implementation.

Recent News: New Freight Corridor

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the New Rewari-New Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and flagged off the world’s first 1.5-km-long electrified double stack long haul container train.
• Mr. Modi said the project was part of the mission to modernise the country’s infrastructure and was being seen as a game changer for the India of 21st century.
• The section, which became operational after a hard work of five to six years, would be beneficial to farmers, industrialists and businessmen in the National Capital Region, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Significance

• The corridor would lead to the development of growth centres and points in several cities, creation of job opportunities and conditions attracting more investments.
• It would give a new fillip to the local industries and manufacturing units by providing them faster and cheaper access to the national and international markets.
• They would get easy access to the ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• In all, 133 railway stations in nine States would be impacted by the Dedicated Freight Corridor.
• New multi-model logistic parks, freight terminals, container depots/terminals and parcel hubs would be developed at these places.
• It would not only benefit villages, farmers, the poor and the small businesses, but also attract big manufacturers, he said.
• With the launch of the double stack long haul container train between New Ateli in Haryana and New Kishanganj in Rajasthan, India had also entered the club of nations with such high capabilities.

Northeast link

• Given the rapid infrastructural expansion, all the Northeast State capitals would soon be linked to the national rail network. The work of indigenously developing high-speed tracks was also under way.
• Earlier, Mr. Modi listed several initiatives, including a digital payment of Rs.18,000 crore to farmers under the direct benefit transfer scheme, taken by the government in the past couple of weeks, to highlight the speed with which important projects were being implemented despite the COVID-19 induced crisis.

Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana

• The scheme Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana was introduced by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on pilot basis for a period of 2 years w.e.f. 01.07.2018 for providing relief to the Insured Persons (IPs) who have become unemployed.
• Under this scheme relief in the form of cash compensation to the extent of 25 per cent of the average per day earning was paid upto a maximum of 90 days of unemployment subject to conditions that the employee should have completed two years of Insurable employment and has contributed not less than Seventy-Eight (78) days in each of the four consecutive contribution periods immediately preceding to the claim of the relief.
• Since its inception till 18.03.2021, a total of 43299 beneficiaries have availed relief under the scheme and an amount of Rs.57.18 crore has been disbursed.

The scheme has been extended for the period from 01.07.2020 to 30.06.2021.

• The rate of relief has been doubled from 25 per cent to 50 per cent average per day earning of employee.
• The Insured Person should have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of two years immediately before his/ her unemployment and should have contributed for not less than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding the unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the remaining three contribution periods in two years prior to unemployment. Earlier this condition was a minimum contribution of 78 days in four contribution periods prior to unemployment with minimum two years insurable employment.
• Claim shall become due 30 days after date of unemployment. Earlier this period was 90 days.
• The claim of the IP need not be forwarded by the employer. The claim may be submitted by an IP in the prescribed claim form duly completed online or directly to the branch office.

Increasing House Sparrow Population in India

House Sparrow population was on the decline in cities, for decades. But now citizen-led movements across various states are facilitating the increase of the House Sparrow population.

About House Sparrow:

• House Sparrow(Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world.

Characteristics of House Sparrow:

• The male and female House Sparrow are easily distinguishable not in size but in colouration. The male is dark brown with a black bib, grey chest, and white cheeks. Whereas the female is light brown throughout its body, with no black bib, crown, or white cheeks.
• The bird stays close to human habitations. So it is among the most commonly found bird species in urban cities.

Habitat of House Sparrow:

• The house sparrow is widespread across the world, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica, and countries like China and Japan.
• It is native to Eurasia and North Africa.
• In India, House Sparrow is found throughout the country. It is found up to the Assam valley and lower parts of the Assam hills. In the eastern Himalayas, the house sparrow species is replaced by the Eurasian tree sparrow.

Protection:

• State Bird: House Sparrow is the State bird of Bihar and Delhi.
• World Sparrow Day: It is celebrated every year on March 20 to raise awareness about the bird.
• IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Causes of Decline:

• The unfriendly architecture of our homes.
• The use of chemical fertilizers in crops.
• Noise pollution.
• Exhaust fumes from vehicles.

Conservation Initiatives:

• In Odisha, the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee started a campaign in 2007. They distributed earthen pot bird nests to homes in Odisha. This has led to an increase in the sparrow population.
• In Visakhapatnam, a filmmaker in association with city-based NGO Green Climate has made a film on sparrow conservation. In that, they mentioned the need to save the house sparrow species.

Indo-French Space Collaborations

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French space agency Centre National dEtudes Spatiales (CNES) are working on their 3rd joint satellite mission.
• ISRO and CNES have completed the feasibility study to realise the earth observation satellite mission with TRISHNA, a thermal infrared imager.
• TRISHNA will monitor the water cycle to help in properly utilizing it.
• ARGOS of CNES will be integrated into ISRO’s OCEANSAT-3 satellite.
• ARGOS is the data collection and location system of its kind dedicated to studying and preserving the environment.
• ISRO-CNES Human Space Programme (HSP) Working Group had discussed the medical aspects of human spaceflight and is finalising an arrangement to formalise cooperation in the field of space medicine.
• There are discussions on establishing ‘NavIC’ reference station in France and CNES ‘Scintillation’ receivers in India.

Previous Joint Satellite Missions

• MEGHA-TROPIQUES (2011) - This Indo-French joint satellite mission was launched to study the tropical atmosphere and climate-related to aspects such as monsoons, cyclones, etc.
• SARAL (2013) - This mission was launched to study the ocean from space using altimetry.

Asteroid 2001 FO32

• Asteroid 2001 FO32 is the largest asteroid that passed by Earth in 2021.
• It was discovered 20 years ago by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program in Socorro, New Mexico in 2001.
• When it is at its closest to Earth, it is at a distance of 2 million km (Equal to 5¼ times the distance between Earth & moon). So, it has been designated as a “potentially hazardous asteroid”.
• The reason for the asteroid’s close approach is its highly eccentric orbit around the Sun, an orbit that is tilted 39° to Earth’s orbital plane.
• This orbit takes the asteroid closer to the Sun than Mercury, and twice as far from the Sun as Mars.

National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill

The Bill seeks to regulate and standardise the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals.

Key features of the Bill include:

• Allied health professional:
  1. The Bill defines ‘allied health professional’ as an associate, technician, or technologist trained to support the diagnosis and treatment of any illness, disease, injury, or impairment.
  2. Such a professional should have obtained a diploma or degree under this Bill. The duration of the degree /diploma should be at least 2,000 hours (over a period of two to four years).

2. Healthcare professional:
   1. A ‘healthcare professional’ includes a scientist, therapist, or any other professional who studies, advises, researches, supervises, or provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or promotional health services.
   2. Such a professional should have obtained a degree under this Bill. The duration of the degree should be at least 3,600 hours (over a period of three to six years).
3. Allied and healthcare professions:
   1. The Bill specifies certain categories of allied and healthcare professions as recognised categories.
   2. These are mentioned in the Schedule to the Bill and include life science professionals, trauma and burn care professionals, surgical and anaesthesia related technology professionals, physiotherapists, and nutrition science professionals.
   3. The central government may amend this Schedule after consultation with the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Profession.
4. National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions:
   1. The Bill sets up the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions.
   2. The Commission will consist of: (i) the Chairperson, (ii) Vice-Chairperson, (iii) five members (at the level of Joint Secretary) representing various Departments/ Ministries of the central government, (iv) one representative from the Directorate General of Health Services, (v) three Deputy Directors or Medical Superintendents appointed on a rotational basis from amongst medical institutions including the AIIMS, Delhi and AIIPMR, Mumbai, and (vi) 12 part-time members representing State Councils, among others.
5. Functions of the Commission: The Commission will perform the following functions with regard to Allied and Healthcare professionals:
   1. 1. framing policies and standards for regulating education and practice,
      2. creating and maintaining an online Central Register of all registered professionals,
      3. providing basic standards of education, courses, curriculum, staff qualifications, examination, training, maximum fee payable for various categories, and
      4. providing for a uniform entrance and exit examination, among others.
6. Professional Councils:
   1. The Commission will constitute a Professional Council for every recognised category of allied and healthcare professions.
   2. The Professional Council will consist of a president and four to 24 members, representing each profession in the recognised category.
   3. The Commission may delegate any of its functions to this Council.
7. State Councils:
   1. Within six months from the passage of the Bill, state governments will constitute State Allied and Healthcare Councils.
   2. The State Councils will consist of: (i) the Chairperson (at least 25 years of experience in the field of allied and healthcare science), (ii) one member representing medical sciences in the state government, (iii) two members representing state medical colleges, (iv) two members representing charitable institutions, and (v) two members from each of the recognised categories of allied and healthcare professions, nominated by the state government, among others.
   3. The State Councils will: (i) enforce professional conduct and code of ethics to be observed by allied healthcare professionals, (ii) maintain respective State Registers, (iii) inspect allied and healthcare institutions, and (iv) ensure uniform entry and exit examinations.
8. Establishment of institutions:
   1. Prior permission of the State Council will be required to: (i) establish a new institution, or (ii) open new courses, increase the admission capacity, or admit a new batch of students to existing institutions.
   2. If such permission is not sought, then any qualification granted to a student from such an institution will not be recognised under the Bill.
9. Offences and penalties:
   1. No person is allowed to practice as a qualified allied and healthcare practitioner other than those enrolled in a State Register or the National Register.
   2. Any person who contravenes this provision will be punished with a fine of Rs 50,000.

Bacteria found on International Space Station named after Indian scientist

4 species of bacteria have been discovered onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

About the Discovery:

• One of the bacteria has been named after Indian biodiversity scientist Seyed Ajmal Khan (Methylobacterium ajmaline).
• Four strains of bacteria belong to this family
• These bacteria aid in plant growth.
• While one strain was identified as Methylorubrum rhodesianum bacteria, the other three strains were previously undiscovered.

International Space Station (ISS)

• It is a modular space station or a habitable artificial satellite.
• It has been installed in low Earth orbit.
• It is a multinational collaborative project that involves the participation of five space agencies namely, NASA from the United States, Roscosmos from Russia, JAXA from Japan, ESA from Europe, and CSA from Canada.
• The station is divided into two parts. The first part is the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) which is operated by Russia and the second part of United States Orbital Segment (USOS) which is run by the United States in association with other nations.

RBI Committee to Study Applications for Universal Banks & Small Finance Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the creation of a Standing External Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Shyamala Gopinath for evaluating applications for Universal Banks and Small Finance Banks.

This is part of the central bank’s earlier announced plan to give banking permits on a continuous basis to candidates, a process that is commonly known as ‘on-tap’ licensing.

About On tap licensing:

• It means the RBI window for granting banking licences will be open throughout the year.

What is Universal banking?

• It is a system of banking where banks undertake a blanket of financial services like investment banking, commercial banking, development banking, insurance and other financial services including functions of merchant banking, mutual funds, factoring, housing finance, insurance etc.

RBI universal bank licensing guidelines:

• Individuals/professionals who are ‘residents’ and have minimum of 10 years of experience in banking and finance at a senior level.
• The initial minimum paid-up voting equity capital for a bank shall be Rs. 5000 Cr.
• The bank shall get its shares listed on the stock exchanges within 6 years of the commencement of business by the bank.
• The bank is precluded from having any exposure to its promoters, major shareholders who have a shareholding of 10 per cent or more of paid-up equity shares in the bank, the relatives of the promoters as also the entities in which they have significant influence or control.
• The bank has to open at least 25 per cent of its branches in unbanked rural centres. (PT)
• The bank shall comply with the priority sector lending targets and sub-targets as applicable to the existing domestic scheduled commercial banks.
• The board of the bank should have a majority of independent directors.

Small Finance Banks (SFBs)

• They are niche banks that focus on and serve the needs of a certain demographic segment of the population.
• The objectives of setting up small finance banks will be to further financial inclusion by
  • (1) the provision of savings vehicles
  • (2) supply of credit to small business units; small and marginal farmers; micro and small industries; and other unorganised sector entities, through high technology-low cost operations.
• SFBs were recommended by the Nachiket Mor committee on financial inclusion.

Scope of activities of SFBs

• The small finance banks shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.
• There will be no restriction in the area of operations of small finance banks.

Criteria for setting up SFBs

• Individuals/professionals with 10 years of experience in finance, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), microfinance companies, and local area banks are eligible to set up SFBs.
• The minimum paid-up equity capital for small finance banks shall be Rs. 100 crore.
• The promoter’s minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such a small finance bank shall at least be 40 per cent and gradually brought down to 26 per cent within 12 years from the date of commencement of business of the bank.
• The small finance banks will be required to extend 75 per cent of its Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) to the sectors eligible for classification as priority sector lending (PSL) by the Reserve Bank.
• SFBs have to maintain Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) as per RBI norms.
• At least 50 per cent of its loan portfolio should constitute loans and advances of up to Rs. 25 lakh.

What can Small Finance Banks do?

• Sell forex to customers.
• Sell mutual funds, insurance and pensions.
• Can convert into a full-fledged bank.

What do Small Finance Banks can’t do?

• Extend large loans.
• Cannot float subsidiaries and deal in sophisticated products

Global Hunger Index- Criteria, Methodology & India's Ranking

The government has questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, alleging that children considered healthy were also counted to determine the ranking.

India was ranked at 94th position out of 107 countries that were studied.

About Global Hunger Index:

• The report is a peer-reviewed publication released annually by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
• It tracks hunger at global, regional and national levels.

How are Countries ranked?

• The GHI scores are based on a formula that captures three dimensions of hunger—insufficient caloric intake, child undernutrition, and child mortality—using four component indicators:
  • UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is under-nourished, reflecting insufficient caloric intake
  • CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (low weight-for-height), reflecting acute undernutrition.
  • CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (low height-for-age), reflecting chronic undernutrition.
  • CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Scoring Index:

• The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst. Values less than 10 reflect low hunger and values of 50 or more are extremely alarming.

Key findings:

• India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition.
• The report put India under the serious category with a score of 27.2.
• In the region of south, east, and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
• The child stunting rate in India was 37.4 %.
• Child wasting was at 17.3 %.
• The undernourishment rate of India was at 14% and child mortality at 3.7 %.

NV Ramanna to be the next Chief Justice of India

The current Chief Justice of India(CJI) has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as the next CJI.

About Chief Justice of India(CJI):

The Chief Justice of India is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India. He/she is also the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary.

Constitution on appointment of CJI:

• The Constitution of India does not have any specific provision for criteria and procedures for appointing the CJI.
• Article 124(1) and the 2008 amendment of the Indian Constitution states that there shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and no. of judges as prescribed by Parliament.
• Initially, the prescribed no. of judges was 7 excluding CJI. Now the no. is 34 judges including the CJI.

Convention for appointment of CJI

• When the incumbent CJI retires (all Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65), the senior-most judge in the SC becomes the CJI.
• Seniority is not defined by age but by the number of years an individual has been serving as a judge of the apex court.

What is the procedure?

• The procedure to appoint the next CJI is laid out in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) between the government and the judiciary.
• The procedure is initiated by the Law Minister. He/she shall seek the recommendation of the outgoing CJI at the ‘appropriate time’(near to the date of retirement of the incumbent CJI).
• The CJI sends his recommendation to the Law Ministry. If there are any doubts, the CJI can consult the collegium as per article 124(2), regarding the fitness of an SC judge to be elevated to the post.
• After receiving a recommendation from CJI, the law minister forwards it to the Prime Minister. The PM will then advise the same to President.
• The President administers the oath of office to the new CJI.

Does the government get a say in the appointment of CJI?

• Except for the law minister seeking the recommendation from the incumbent CJI and forwarding it to the Prime Minister, the government has no say in the appointment of the CJI.

However, the key difference between the appointment of the CJI and the other SC judges are,

• In the appointment of CJI, the government cannot send the recommendation of the CJI (or the collegium) back for reconsideration.
• But in the appointment of SC Judges, the government can do so. However, if the collegium reiterates those names then the government cannot object any further.
• This convention has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding 3 senior judges.
• Also, in 1975 Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the CJI superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.