Daily Current Capsules
16 June 2023
National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023 report
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) released the National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023 report.
Know! about National Time Release Study (NTRS)
- It is a performance measurement tool
- It aims to present quantitative measure of the cargo release time, defined as the time taken from arrival of the cargo at the Customs station to its out of charge for domestic clearance in case of imports and arrival of the cargo at the Customs station to the eventual departure of the carrier in case of exports.
NTRS 2023 presents port-category wise average release time for the current year, based on the sample period of January 1-7, 2023 (both days included), comparing the same to the performance during the corresponding periods of 2021 and 2022 to, inter alia,
- assess the progress made towards the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan targets;
- identify the impact of various trade facilitative initiatives, notably “Path to Promptness”; and
- identify the challenges to more expeditious reduction in release time.
- The ports included in the study represent seaports, air cargo complexes (ACCs), inland container depot (ICDs) and integrated check posts (ICPs) which account for approximately 80 percent of bills of entry and 70 percent of shipping bills filed in the country.
Improvement in import release point
- The average import release time has continued to improve, achieving 20 percent reduction in release time for ICDs; 11 percent reduction for ACCs; and 9 percent reduction for seaports in 2023 over 2022.
- In absolute terms, the import release time for seaports, ICDs, ACC and ICPs is 85:42 hrs, 71:46 hrs, 44:16 hrs and 31:47 hrs, respectively.
Julley Ladakh
- Indian Navy is conducting “Julley Ladakh” (Hello Ladakh), an outreach programme to Ladakh to increase awareness about the service in the pristine state and to engage with youth and civil society there.
- Towards this a 5000km Motorcycle Expedition was flagged off by the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, from the National War Memorial on 15 Jun 23.
- The Indian Navy had also undertaken the Sam No Varunah car expedition to engage with citizens in all the coastal states.
The main objectives of the current initiative in the Northern Territory include: –
- Celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Indian Independence).
- Conduct Awareness drives at Schools/ Colleges in Ladakh region about the career opportunities Indian Navy offers including the Agnipath Scheme.
- Motivate Youth to join the Indian Navy.
- Showcase Nari Shakti, an initiative of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, by including Women Officers and spouses.
- Interact with naval veterans and Veer Naris in the region.
Raja Parba
- Raja Parba, also known as Mithun Sankranti, is a three-day long festival celebrated with great enthusiasm and grandeur in Odisha.
- It starts on June 14 and ends on June 16, 2023
- It is primarily a celebration of womanhood, fertility, and the onset of the monsoon season.
- The festival holds historical and mythological significance in Odia culture.
- Mithuna Sankranti is a three-day-long festival. The first day is known as Raja Sankranti, the second day is called Mithuna Sankranti and the third day is celebrated as Bhudaha or Basi Raja.
- It usually falls in Sukhla Pakhshya in mid-June i.e. end of Odia month Jyeshta and the arrival of Ashadha month.
Memorial Wall for fallen Peacekeepers, piloted by India
- The Prime Minister has expressed happiness as UN General Assembly adopted Resolution to establish a new Memorial Wall for fallen Peacekeepers piloted by India.
UN Peacekeeping Force
- Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the UN’s Department of Peace Operations as an “instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace”.
- Peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
- UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel.
- Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security.
India’s Contribution towards UN Peacekeeping
- India has been one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping operations. Since its first commitment in Korea in 1950, Indian troops have supervised complex, unmanageable peace operations, earning universal admiration for their professional excellence.
- Indian peacekeepers have taken part in 49 of the 72 missions, providing over 253,000 personnel all over the world.
- The Indian Army has contributed outstanding force commanders, elite military contingents, impartial military observers and committed staff officers.
- Currently, there are around 8,500 troops, police and civilian personnel from India who are deployed in 10 UN peacekeeping missions
- India has taken part in UN peacekeeping operations in four continents; its most significant contribution has been to peace and stability in Asia and Africa.
- The Indian Army’s action in the Congo, in the 1960s, became the ‘first peace enforcement operation’ in the history of the UN.
- India also has a long tradition of sending women on UN peacekeeping missions.
- In April 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all- woman contingent to a UN mission in Liberia.
Global Wind Day
- The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India joined the worldwide celebrations of 15th June as Global Wind Day
- The event had the central theme of “Pawan – Urja: Powering the Future of India”.
- The celebration featured in-depth discussions on Wind Energy Progress in India, Offshore Wind development, Strengthening of wind energy manufacturing ecosystem and Green Finance for Wind Energy.
- The Ministry stated that India is fully committed to achieve the target of 500 GW renewable energy capacity by the year 2030.
- The Ministry congratulated the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for their achievements during the financial year 2022-‘23.
- Rajasthan was felicitated for achieving the highest wind capacity addition, Gujarat for achieving the highest wind capacity addition through open access and Tamil Nadu for initiating repowering of wind turbines.
- The event also witnessed the launch of Wind Atlas at 150 meter above ground level, prepared by National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE).
- The onshore wind potential of the country is now estimated at 1,164 GW at 150 meter above ground level.
- India has made great strides in the generation of wind energy over the years, and it now ranks fourth in wind power capacity in the world.
- Wind energy is crucial to India’s efforts to achieve its goal of having 50% of its electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 and to achieve Net Zero by 2070.
Global Wind Day
- It is a worldwide event that is held on June 15.
- It is organised by WindEurope and GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council).
Justice Clock
- Electronic signage systems known as Justice Clocks have been across the court complexes of High Courts.
- The initiative will inform stakeholders about court-related key parameters and bring awareness among public by providing bird eye view of court-related data,
VAIBHAV Fellowship Programme
- The Government has launched a new fellowship programme to connect the Indian STEMM diaspora with Indian academic and R&D institutions for collaborative research work leading to sharing of knowledge, wisdom, and best practices in the frontier areas of science & technology.
- The Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) fellowships programme to be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, would be awarded to outstanding scientist/technologists of Indian origin (NRI/OCI/PIO) who are engaged in research activities in their respective countries.
- The 75 selected fellows would be invited to work in 18 identified knowledge verticals including quantum technology, health, pharma, electronics, agriculture, energy, computer sciences, and material sciences amongst others.
VAIBHAV programme
- It envisages collaboration between scientists of Indian Diaspora with Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), Universities, and/ or public funded Scientific Institutions.
- The VAIBHAV Fellow would identify an Indian Institution for collaboration and may spend up to two months in a year for a maximum of 3 years.
- Fellowship would include fellowship grant (INR 4,00,000 per month), international and domestic travel, accommodation and contingencies.
- The VAIBHAV fellows are expected to collaborate with their Indian counterparts and help initiate research activities in the host institution in the cutting-edge areas of Science and Technology.
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