Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports Department of Youth affairs
National Young Leaders Program · National Young Leaders Program was launched in December, 2014, to develop leadership qualities among the youth, with 5 following components and is implemented through Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan.
i. Neighborhood Youth Parliament ii. Youth for Development Program iii. National Young Leaders Award iv. National Youth Advisory council v. National Youth Development Fund.
Budget allocation for the year 2017-18 is Rs. 14.14 Crores (as per RE 2017-18). · Neighborhood Youth Parliament Programs are being organized by involving NYKS-affiliated Youth Clubs with the objective of developing leadership qualities of the youth by involving them in debate/ discussions on contemporary issues.
· During the current year, 5,216 Block level Programs have been organized, with participation of 4.47 lakh youth. In addition, 37,435 village-level neighborhood youth parliament programs involving 4.95 lakh youth.
· Under the Youth for Development Program component of the scheme, during the year 300 IEC-Media and Publicity events with the participation of 68,241 youth, have been organized in 296 districts to create awareness/motivation about Shramdaan.
· In order to encourage the participation of youth clubs in Shramdaan activities, during the year 655 youth clubs have been awarded for their outstanding work.
Revamped Khelo India Program: The Union Cabinet has approved the revamped Khelo India program with an estimated financial outlay of Rs.1, 756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.
This marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the Program aims to encourage sports all over the country thus allowing the population to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence and to use sports as a means of holistic development of children & youth, community development, social integration, gender equality, healthy lifestyle, national pride and economic opportunities related to sports development.
The revamped Khelo India Program would impact the entire sports ecosystem in the country through its twelve verticals which includes playfield development; community coaching development; promotion of community sports; establishment of a strong sports competition structure at both school and university level as also for rural / indigenous sports, sports for persons with disability and women sports; filling up of critical gaps in sports infrastructure, including creation of hubs of sports excellence in select universities; talent identification and development; support to sports academies; implementation of a national physical fitness drive for school children; and sports for peace and development.
National Sports University Announcement for setting up National Sports University, Manipur was made by the Government in budget speech 2014-15. Govt. of Manipur has provided land for setting up university in west Imphal. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India laid the foundation stone for NSU on 16th March, 2018.
National Sports University will be first of its kind to promote sports education in the areas of Sports Science, Sports Technology, Sports Management, Sports Coaching and will also function as National training centre for selected training centres.
Pending finalization of National Sports University Bill, National Sports University Society established under the Manipur Societies Registration Act, 1989, has started functioning from the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex at Imphal. The Academic Session of 2017-18 commenced w.e.f. 15 th January 2018 with two courses namely BPES and B.Sc (Sports Coaching).
Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games An Olympic Task Force (OTF) was set up in January, 2017 to prepare a comprehensive Action Plan for effective preparation of Indian sportspersons in the next three Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo, 2024 & 2028. The Task Force was entrusted with the preparation of an overall strategy for sports facility, training selection procedure and other related matters. The OTF has submitted its report in August, 2017.
As per recommendation of the Task Force of OTF, the Government of India (GoI) should set up an Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) as the single point entity with the responsibility to ensure proper preparation for the 2020 Olympics which are to be held in Tokyo (Japan). A Notification has already been issued with main Terms of Reference.
Athletes identified for Olympics are being provided financial assistance for customized training within the country and abroad under Target Olympic Podium Scheme of MYAS (Stipend of Rs 50,000 per month to the elite athletes).
On the recommendation of the Olympic Task Force, the Ministry has on 15.9.2017 decided to give stipend of Rs 50,000 per month to all the athletes selected under Target Olympic Podium Scheme to meet pocket expenses during their preparation for participation in international sports events. As on March 2018, 220 sportspersons are being provided with Out of Pocket allowance @ Rs.50,000/- pm.
Training Center for Para Athletes: Sports Minister laid the Foundation Stone at Gandhinagar, Gujarat for the first ever training center dedicated for Para Athletes on 5th February, 2017. The center is proposed at an estimated cost of over Rs. 50 crores.
It will have the World Class facilities where Para athletes will be trained for various International Competitions including Asian Games, Common Wealth Games and Olympic Games. The center will have the following facilities for Para athletes:
i.Indoor Hall (64m x 42m) fully AC ii.Elite Hostel (100 bedded) fully AC iii.VIP Accommodation for Foreign Guest (20 nos) AC. iv.Open land for warm-up.
International Boxing Academy: A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving International Boxing Association (AIBA), Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) was signed on 1st March 2017 in New Delhi to set up boxing academy at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, Rohtak. A detailed proposal is awaited from Boxing Federation of India(BFI).
Successful conduct of 22nd Asian Athletic Championship, 2017: India conducted successfully 22nd Asian Athletic Championship, 2017from 06 – 09 July, 2017 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. India topped in the medal tally by winning 29 medals (12 Gold, 5 Silver, 12 Bronze).
Rural Games: The first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsavwas organized between 28th August to 3rd September, 2017 in Nizampur village in Delhi. The Rural Games aimed at popularising the indigenous games like wrestling, athletics etc. and also had fun games like Matka Race, Tug of War for senior citizens to add the fun element in the games to convey the message that every age category needs to take up and practice sports.
Launch of Sports Talent Search Portal: Sports Talent Search Portal was launched to spot the best talent from among the young population of the country, by the Vice President of India Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu at a function at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on 28th August, 2017 in the presence of the MoS(I/C) YAS, Arjuna awardees and thousands of school children. The portal is providing a transparent platform for talented youth to upload their achievements.
Shortlisted applicants undergo selection trials and those who pass the trials will be offered admission to SAI schemes. Since its inception the portal has been accessed by 140727 individuals of which 8016 sportspersons registered with portal.
433 applications of the eligible candidates were forwarded to SAI centres of which 249 sportspersons were invited for the selection trials. Based on the performance in selection trials, the selection committee recommended 23 talented sportspersons for admission in SAI centres.
Financial assistance to Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust: Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India has granted a financial assistance of up to Indian Rupees Five Crores Only (INR 5,00,00,000/-) (“Grant”) from the National Sports Development Fund to Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust (ABFT) to purchase certain state-of-the-art sports science equipments to establish and operate, a high-performance facility for rehabilitation, fitness-training and sports science (“Facility”) at the Centre at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru and named as the “Sports Authority of India (SAI)-Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre”.
Indian athletes who are selected for training in Indian National Camps (“National Campers”) shall utilise the equipment and services at the centre free of cost. An agreement to this effect was signed between SAI and ABFT.
In addition to above, financial assistance from National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) has also been granted to Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation, Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation, Usha School of Athletics (Kerala), SAI-Gopichand National Badminton Academy (Hyderabad), etc.
Successful conclusion of FIFA U-17 World Cup The 17th edition of the FIFA Under -17 World Cup was successfully held from 6th to 28th October 2017. First time in history, India hosted such a big international football competition.
The Venues of the competition were JLN Stadium- New Delhi, PJN Stadium, Fatorda- Goa, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium- Kochi, Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium- Guwahati, Vivekanand Yuva Bharti Krirangan, Salt Lake- Kolkata, DY Patil Stadium- Navi Mumbai. Twenty Four Teams from across the world participated in the tournament.
The Final Match was played between England and Spain before a packed YubabharatiKrirangan Stadium, Salt Lake at Kolkata on 28th October, 2017 in which England were declared FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions.
Triple talaq Ordinance Background: In August last year, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a law that allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering “talaq” three times in quick succession. In a landmark 3-2 verdict, the apex court found the practice un-Islamic and “arbitrary”, and disagreed that triple talaq was an integral part of religious practice.
What are the provisions? Triple talaq remains cognizable with a maximum of three years imprisonment and a fine.
Triple talaq will be recognised as a crime only when a woman or her blood relative files a complaint with the police. A compromise can be achieved only when the woman is willing and says so to a magistrate. A magistrate can grant bail only after the wife’s consent. The custody of children from the marriage will go to the woman. The mother is entitled to maintenance determined by a magistrate. The law doesn’t affect Jammu and Kashmir.
What is instant triple talaq? Instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat is a practice that was challenged in the court. It is different from the practice of “talaq-ul-sunnat”, which is considered to be the ideal form of dissolution of marriage contract among Muslims.
Under the latter form, once the husband pronounces talaq, the wife has to observe a three-month iddat period covering three menstrual cycles during which the husband can arbitrate and re-conciliate with the wife. In case of cohabitation between the couple, during these three months, the talaq is revoked. However, when the period of iddat expires and the husband does not revoke the talaq either expressly or by consummation, the talaq is irrevocable and final.
In the practice of talaq-e-biddat, when a man pronounces talaq thrice in a sitting, or through phone, or writes in a talaqnama or a text message, the divorce is considered immediate and irrevocable, even if the man later wishes to re-conciliate.
Status in neighbouring countries: India and 22 other countries have banned triple talaq. India’s neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are among the countries that have banned the practice of instant triple talaq prevalent among Muslims for divorce.
In Pakistan and Bangladesh, the law requires the man who wishes to divorce his wife to give the ‘arbitration council’ a written notice of his having done so, and supply a copy of the same to his wife.
In Pakistan, triple talaq was abolished when it issued its Muslim Family Law Ordinance in 1961, according to Geo News. In Afghanistan, divorce through three pronouncements made in only one sitting is considered to be invalid. Sri Lanka’s Marriage and Divorce (Muslim) Act, 1951, amended up to 2006, also prohibits triple talaq.
Way ahead: India follows a secular approach with religious groups being allowed to manage their own affairs within the law, and most of these divorcees never see justice or even a chance at reconciliation with the husband. The move to criminalise instant divorce, therefore, is being touted as a step forward for the rights of Indian Muslim women.
Atomic Energy Commission About AEC: The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was first setup in August 1948 in the Department of Scientific Research.
Later on, in accordance with a Government Resolution, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in the Department of Atomic Energy. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was setup on August 3, 1954 under the direct charge of the Prime Minister through a Presidential Order.
According to the Resolution constituting the AEC, the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Atomic Energy is ex-officio Chairman of the Commission. The other Members of the AEC are appointed on the recommendation of the Chairman, AEC and after approval by the Prime Minister.
Important functions of the Atomic Energy Commission are: To organise research in atomic scientists in the country. To train, atomic scientists in the country. To promote nuclear research in commission’s own laboratories as well as in India. To undertake prospecting of atomic minerals in India and to extract such minerals for use on industrial scale.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) The Cabinet also approved allocation of funds to the State under DAY-NRLM on a need basis for implementation of the Special Package without linking it with poverty ratio.
Impact: This will help in covering all the vulnerable rural households in the State (estimated at two thirds of the total number of households) within a definite time frame. It will ensure mobilization of households under the auto inclusion category and households with at least one deprivation category listed in the Socio Economic Caste Census – 2011. It will also ensure coverage of all the blocks in Jammu & Kashmir under DAY-NRLM and ensures social inclusion, social development, promotion of livelihoods leading to poverty alleviation in the State. About Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM):
The Government is implementing DAY-NRLM across the country in all States and Union Territories (except Delhi and Chandigarh). The financial support under the programme is mainly in the form of Revolving Fund and Community Investment Funds, given as grants to the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations.
DAY-NRLM also focuses on bank linkage of the institutions. The programme has a special focus on women empowerment including a dedicated component for promoting farm and non-farm based livelihoods for women farmers in rural areas.
In addition, start-up enterprises at village levels are also supported to promote entrepreneurial activities in those areas.
Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) About DRIP: The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Government of India, with assistance from the World Bank, is implementing the DAM REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (DRIP), which would be a six-year project. The Central Dam Safety Organisation of Central Water Commission, assisted by a Consulting firm, is coordinating and supervising the Project implementation.
Goals: The project originally envisaged the rehabilitation and improvement of about 223 dams within four states namely, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu and later Karnataka, Uttarakhand (UNVNL) and Jharkhand (DVC) joined DRIP and total number of dams covered under DRIP increased to 250. The project will also promote new technologies and improve Institutional capacities for dam safety evaluation and implementation at the Central and State levels and in some identified premier academic and research institutes of the country.
The project development objectives of DRIP are: (i) to improve the safety and performance of selected existing dams and associated appurtenances in a sustainable manner, and (ii) to strengthen the dam safety institutional setup in participating states as well as at central level.
Significance of the project: The project will improve the safety and operational performance of selected existing dams and mitigate risks to ensure safety of downstream population and property.
The primary beneficiaries are both urban and rural communities dependent on reservoir and downstream communities, who are prone to risk associated with dam failure or operational failure.
Through institutional strengthening component, effectiveness of Dam Safety Organisations will be increased to take the lead to make dams safe from structural and operational point of view through capacity building of staff and officials.
Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Key facts: The project is being funded by the GEF and implemented by the government of India (agriculture and environment ministries) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Aim: The project aims to transform agricultural production to generate global environmental benefits by addressing biodiversity conservation, land degradation, climate change mitigation and sustainable forest management. The project, to be implemented in five landscapes in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, strives to bring harmony between conservation and development efforts of the country.
About GEF: The Global Environment Facility was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. It is an international partnership of 183 countries, international institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector that addresses global environmental issues.
GEF funds are available to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements. The World Bank serves as the GEF Trustee, administering the GEF Trust Fund.
It is a FINANCIAL MECHANISM for five major international environmental conventions: the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Exercise Aviaindra-18: What is it? Exercise Aviaindra is an Air Force level exercise between India and the Russian Federation. First Aviaindra was conducted in 2014 and has been planned as a bi-annual exercise.
Context: Exercise Aviaindra 18 is being conducted at Lipetsk, Russia. Significance: The aim of the exercise is focused towards anti-terrorist operations in a bi-lateral scenario. The exercise would further enhance the co-operation and understanding each other’s Concept of Operations.
India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project: Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina have jointly launched the construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project through video conferencing.
Key facts: It is first such pipeline through which refined diesel will be supplied to Bangladesh from India. The project involves construction of 130-kilometre long pipeline that will connect Siliguri in West Bengal and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh.
Of the total stretch, six-kilometre will be in Indian side and remaining 124 kilometres will in Bangladesh.