Current Affairs 13th August 2018

Current Affairs 13th August 2018 - Important Points

• Haryana Government to launch Ayushman Bharat scheme on - Aug 15th 2018
• ‘One District one Product’ Summit inaugurated by - President Ram Nath Kovind
• Green fund worth over Rs 66000 crore to increase country's forest cover unlocked by - Government
• Committee on natural conservation zones formed by - NGT
•  Who has been appointed Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity ? - Justice Manjula Chellur
•  Proposal for setting up water aerodromes approved by - Civil Aviation Ministry

 Current Affairs 13th August 2018 - Details

Haryana Government to launch Ayushman Bharat scheme on - Aug 15th 2018

The state government of Haryana has announced the launch of the Ayushman Bharat-Haryana Health Protection Mission on August 15th, 2018. The scheme is aiming to provide cashless healthcare facilities to beneficiaries at empanelled hospitals.
The scheme would be initially implemented on a pilot basis in one government hospital in each of the 22 districts, one medical college and one ESI hospital.

The decision was taken during a meeting held under the chairmanship of the state’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh on August 9th, 2018.

Important Highlights

• Under this scheme, families identified by the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) would be granted with coverage of Rs 5 lakh each.
• Every family figuring in the defined SECC 2011 database would be entitled to claim the benefits under the scheme.
• Each beneficiary would be issued a card with a unique QR code, which they would have to produce at the hospital only.
• Other than this, all hospitals in Haryana have been directed to stock up on medicines so that patients don’t have to purchase them outside.
• A total of 15.50 lakh families, including 9, 25,014 in rural and 6, 26,761 in urban areas would be entitled to claim the benefits.
• Around 58 government and 32 private hospitals in the state will be impaneled for successful implementation of the scheme by August 15th for its pilot project.

‘One District one Product’ Summit inaugurated by - President Ram Nath Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the ‘One District One Product’ Summit in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on August 10th, 2018. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and UP Governor Ram Naik inaugurated the launch ceremony.

Key Highlights

• The summit aiming to give boost to micro, small and medium enterprises is a consequence of the UP Investors Summit held in UP in February 2018.
• With a tagline of 'Nayi Udaan, Nayi Pehchan', the President distributed loan sanction papers to some artisans during the summit.
• Loan papers amounting to Rs 1006.94 crore are to be distributed to 4085 artisans from 75 districts during the summit only.

Green fund worth over Rs 66000 crore to increase country's forest cover unlocked by - Government

The Union Government has unlocked green funds worth more than Rs 66,000 crore to boost the country’s forest cover. The fund is an accumulated amount of money, which user agencies have been depositing as compensation to divert forest land for non-forest purposes, including infrastructure and industries, since the past 10 years.

The government has finally notified the rules for utilisation of the money by states and UTs and to set up authorities to monitor its use for afforestation and conservation.

Important Highlights

• The rules were framed two years after a law to this effect was enacted. However, they were notified on August 10th, 2018 only.
• The rules also specify that 80 percent of the green fund will be utilised by the states for green activities listed under 13 permissible activities.
• The activities include plantation, forest fire prevention, assisted natural regeneration of forests, pest and disease control in forest, soil and moisture conservation works and improvement of wildlife habitat among others.
• The remaining 20 percent will be used for 11 listed works to strengthen forest and to protect wildlife related infrastructure.
• The list also includes third-party monitoring of works, development of certification standards,forest certification, and casual hiring of local people to help forest department staff.

Committee on natural conservation zones formed by - NGT

The National Green Tribunal has formed a committee to look into whether sub regional plans for protection of NCZs (Natural Conservation Zones) were consistent with the regional plan prepared by the National Capital Region Planning Board.

The NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and bench took this decision. The bench authorised the Ministry of Environment and Forests to be the nodal agency of the committee and asked the panel to hold its meeting within a month.

The committee will be having the secretaries of Ministry of Environment,Forests and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board, National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation and the secretaries of Urban Development Departments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

Important Highlights

• All the concerned states will be required to furnish a report on the matter as per the tribunal orders.
• The secretaries of Urban Development Departments of the states will be responsible to submit the sub-regional plans.
• The matter will thereafter be finalized within three months only.
• The final report of the committee will have to be sent to the green tribunal on or before December 31st by e-mail.
• The bench posted the matter to considerate the report on February 11th, 2019.

 Who has been appointed Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity ? - Justice Manjula Chellur

Former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Justice Manjula Chellur was appointed as the Chairperson of the APTEL(Appellate Tribunal for Electricity) on August 13th, 2018. She has been appointed for a period of 3 years or until further orders whichever comes earlier.

The Tribunal’s judicial member Justice KN Patil and technical members IJ Kapoor, SD Dubey and BN Talukdar were present on the occasion. Tribunal Bar Association President MG Ramachandran was also present in the occasion and he assured the bench full cooperation of the bar members in daily business.

The ACC (Appointments Committee of the Cabinet) had approved the proposal for appointment of Justice Chellur, in the pay scale, with allowances and benefits admissible  to the post. The APTEL had been without a full-time Chairperson for 8 months, since the retirement of Justice Ranjana P Desai on November 30th, 2017.

More about Justice Manjula Chellur

• Justice Manjula Chellur was born on December 5th, 1955 in Karnataka.
• She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Allum Sunmangalamma Women's College, Bellary and then law degree from Renukacharya Law College, Bangalore.
• The Supreme Court of India sponsored her on a Gender & Law fellowship to England's University of Warwick in 1977.
• Justice Chellur received an honorary doctorate from the Karnataka State Women's University in 2013.
• Manjula Chellur was the first woman Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.
• She also served as the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court and was the first female judge of the Karnataka High Court as well.
• In 2016, She was also the second woman to be appointed as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, a post she held until her retirement on 4th December, 2017.

 Proposal for setting up water aerodromes approved by - Civil Aviation Ministry

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu approved a proposal for setting up water aerodromes on 11th August, 2018 in India. In June 2018, The approval comes after the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) issued regulations, prescribing procedures and requirement for licensing of water aerodromes.

Important guidelines for development of water aerodrome

• Water aerodrome would be set up near locations of tourist and religious importance under the proposal.
• An entity seeking to set up a water aerodrome has to take approvals from various authorities which may include Environment and Forests, the Ministries of Defence, Home and Shipping.
• In the beginning, a provisional license shall be issued for a period of six months during which, the implementation of the water aerodrome operation will going to be monitored.
• The regular license would be accorded post implementation monitoring period and completing corrective action.
• A water aerodrome license will be valid for 2 years only.
• The formal application to set up a water aerodrome needs to be submitted at least 3 months before the date of intended operations.