Current Affair 1:

Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023

 

It was recently passed in Parliament.

The Bill amends the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002.

The proposed amendment in the Act will bring major reform by introducing auction as the method of allocation of operating rights in the offshore areas.

The OAMDR Act, 2002 came into force in 2010. However, no mining activity has been undertaken in the offshore areas till date. Hence, the Central Government has proposed the present Amendment Bill to bring several reforms in the offshore mining sector.

The salient features of the Amendment Bill are as under:

1. Two types of operating rights to be granted under the Act to private sector only through auction by competitive bidding, viz. production lease and composite licence.    
2. Composite licence introduced in the Act is a two-stage operating right granted for the purpose of undertaking exploration followed by production operation.
3. Operating rights to be granted to PSUs in the mineral bearing areas reserved by the Central Government.
4. Provision has been made for grant of operating rights only to PSUs in case of atomic minerals.
5. Provision for renewal of production leases has been removed and its period is fixed as 50 years on lines similar to the MMDR Act.
6. Limit has been introduced on total area one person can acquire in the offshore. Now, a person cannot acquire more than 45 minutes latitude by 45 minutes longitude in respect of any mineral or prescribed group of associated minerals under one or more operating rights (taken together).
7. To ensure availability of funds for exploration, mitigation of adverse impact of offshore mining, disaster relief, research, interest and benefit of the persons affected by exploration or production operations, etc., a provision has been made for setting up of a non-lapsable Offshore Areas Mineral Trust which will maintain a fund under the Public Account of India.
8. To promote ease of doing business, a provision has been made for easy transfer of composite licence or production lease.
9. To ensure timely start of production from the leases, the bill introduces the timelines for commencement of production and dispatch after the execution of production lease.
10. Royalty, auction premium and other revenues from the production of minerals from offshore areas shall accrue to the Government of India.

 

Current Affair 2:

Status of zoos in the country

 

There are 155 Zoos recognised by the Central Zoo Authority under section 38-H of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in the country.

About Central Zoo Authority:

Also,

The Central Zoo Authority has instituted systematic assessment of zoo through the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) for zoos to identify gaps and design strategies to improve zoo management, conservation, education and animal welfare. The MEE-Zoo is conducted every four years.

The first phase was conducted in 2021 which covered 39 zoos (16 large category zoos and 23 medium category zoos).

 

Current Affair 3:

THREE-STAR Garbage free rating in India

 

On the occasion of International Zero Waste Day 2023, MoHUA has set a target to make 1000 cities, 3-Star Garbage Free by October 2024.

 

Current Affair 4:

CITIIS 2.0

 

News:

CITIIS, or the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain, is a sub-component of the Government of India's Smart Cities Mission.

It is a joint program of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).

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