Current Affair 1:

Forest Survey Report 2021: Tree Cover

 

 

 

 

Fore tree cover, nothing much is required.

 

Current Affair 2:

Equal Pay for Equal Work is not a fundamental right vested in any employee

 

News:

In State of Madhya Pradesh vs. RD Sharma, a writ petition was filed in the High Court by R D Sharma, who had retired from the post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) seeking revision of his pension from Rs. 37,750/- to Rs. 40,000/- as per the Indian Forests Service (Pay) Second Amendment Rules, 2008. The representation was rejected by the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare, and the Central Administrative Tribunal of Madhya Pradesh while the High Court of MP held that he was eligible for the pension of Rs. 40,000 at par with the other officers as per the 2008 Rules.

The State then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and Bela M. Trivedi observed that the High Court had misdirected itself by applying the principle of “equal pay for equal work”.

“The Bench added that the equation of post and determination of pay scales is the primary function of the executive and not the judiciary. The task of job evaluation is generally left to the expert bodies like the Pay Commissions which takes into consideration various factors such as the relevant data and scales for evaluating performances of different groups of employees”.

Quashing the High Court’s decision, the Supreme Court reiterated that “equal pay for equal work” is not a fundamental right vested in any employee, though it is a constitutional goal to be achieved by the Government.

Current Affair 3:

How green is Union Budget 2022-23?

 

Climate action was highlighted as one of the pillars underpinning the Budget, along with the Prime Minister Gati Shakti infrastructure masterplan, inclusive development and energy transition.

The Centre’s electric vehicle policy ‘Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle in India’ saw a big boost from Rs 800 crore last year to Rs 2,908.28 crore.

The estimated expenditure for the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, responsible for overseeing India’s ambitious renewable energy targets, has decreased marginally from Rs 7,681.80 crore to Rs 6,900.68 crore — the highest allocation is for grid-based solar power of around Rs 3,300 crore.

The budget estimate for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program, a scheme with great potential for climate resilience and carbon sequestration, has been revised downwards from Rs 98,000 crore last year to Rs 73,000 crore.

Some other climate-relevant announcements made during the Budget presentation include:

1. An additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for production-linked incentives (PLI) for manufacturing of high-efficiency solar modules
2. A proposal to co-fire 5-7 per cent biomass pellets in thermal power plants, resulting in estimated carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction of 38 million tonnes annually; this will ideally provide an income to farmers and reduce stubble burning
3. Energy efficiency and savings promoted for large commercial buildings through the energy service company model, via capacity-building and awareness about energy audits
4. Four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals
5. A focus on agroforestry and private forestry; support to farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes who want to take up agroforestry
6. Sovereign green bonds to be issued in public sector projects to reduce carbon intensity of the economy
7. Blended finance (with the government’s share limited to 20 per cent) to be promoted for climate action, agriculture and other clean technology; this will be managed by private fund managers
8. Inclusion of energy storage in the harmonized list of infrastructure
9. Promoting transit-oriented development for cities
10. A battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated for the electric vehicles sector
11. Additionally, the Budget Session expects to discuss a new bill — The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 — which aims “to provide regulatory framework for:

• Carbon Trading in India,
• Encouraging penetration of renewable in energy mix,
• Effective implementation and enforcement of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.”

Current Affair 4:

Current Status of Tigers in India

 

Current Affair 5:

Who prepares Economic Survey?

 

Economic Survey is prepared by Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) but this year's Economic Survey has been prepared by Principal Economic Advisor (Sanjeev Sanyal), as the previous CEA term got completed in early Dec 2021 and the new CEA (V Nageswaran) joined 3/4 days back.

CEA heads the 'Economic Division' under Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. And under CEA, there are various economic advisors and one of them is Principal Economic Advisor. Among the various functions of 'Economic Division', one of them is "Preparation of Annual Economic Survey".

For the functions of 'Economic Division' you can see this

link https://dea.gov.in/divisionbranch/economic-division

 

<< Previous Next >>