Prelim Bits 06-04-2018

UTTAM App

• UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal (uttam.coalindia.in).
• Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed the app.
• It aims to provide for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.
• It provides a platform for monitoring of sampling and coal dispatches.
• It is an example of leveraging technology to facilitate a bidirectional channel between Coal India Limited and a common citizen.
• It ensures transparency and efficiency in the coal quality monitoring process and brings coal governance closer to people.
• The salient features of UTTAM APP are:

1. Sampling Coverage
2. Subsidiary wise quality parameters
3. Complaints pertaining to quality of Coal
4. Sampled Volume
5. Imported Coal

Schemes for welfare of Women and Children

• Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) implements several schemes supporting for the welfare of the women and children including SC/ST and minority of different age groups.
• Some of the important schemes are SwadharGreh, Ujjawala, and STEP Scheme.
• Ujjawala is a comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-Integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
• One Stop Centre: One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme is being implemented by the Ministry to support women affected by violence.
• OSC aims to facilitate access to an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counseling and temporary support services.
• The Ministry also implements the scheme of Universalization of Women Helpline through States/UTs Government.
• It provides 24-hour emergency and non-emergency response to women affected by violence.
• The helpline is functional in 28 states.

Supplementary Nutrition Program under ICDS Scheme

• The Supplementary Nutrition is one of the six services provided under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.
• It is given to the children (6 months – 6 years) and pregnant and lactating mothers under the ICDS Scheme.
• The services are provided to those who visit Anganwadi Centers and enroll themselves.

• ICDS comes under the purview of Ministry of Women and child Development (MoWCD).
• ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories.
• The Supplementary Nutrition Program (SNP) component was funded through a 50:50 ratio.

Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary

• The sanctuary is in Belgaum, Karnataka and is home to subtropical moist broadleaf and tropical forests.
• The rare Wroughton’s free-tailed bat can only be found in two or three places on earth, one of them being the Bhimgad forest of Karnataka.

• This evergreen forest on the Western Ghats on the Goa-Karnataka border is the origin of Mahadayi River.
• There is a fort that stands atop a hill in the heart of the forest that was served by the descendants of Marathas, during Shivaji’s time.
• The sanctuary gets its name from this former Maratha outpost which was known as Bhimgad Fort.
• The sanctuary also houses the tiger, the Malabar giant squirrel, the mouse deer, the King cobra and birds like the Great Indian pied hornbill, the Malabar trogon and the imperial pigeon.

Kra canal

• China pushes plan for kra canal construction splitting Thailand into two and thereby reshaping the Indian Ocean.
• Kra canal also known as Thai canal or Kra isthmus canal is a proposed canal to connect Gulf of Thailand (formerly known as Gulf of Siam) with Andaman Sea.
• The Kra Canal could benefit India and the region by taking pressure off the overcrowded Malacca Straits.

• From China’s point of view, the Kra Canal offers a means to secure its expanding demand for West Asia’s hydrocarbons against overcrowding in the Malacca Straits.
• Strait of Malacca is the world’s busiest maritime lane, through which an estimated 84,000 ships carrying around 30 per cent of global trade transit each year.
• Exiting the Kra Canal westwards, traffic would enter the Andaman Sea, transit past India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and then head south towards the Chinese-owned port at Hambantota, in Sri Lanka.
• Thailand’s tourism industry and fisheries could, however, face damage from the project.

White label ATM (WLA)

• White label ATMs are set up by non-banking entities.
• Broadly, ATMs differ from WLAs in two ways:

1. In case of a White Label ATM, the logo displayed on the ATM machine and in the ATM premises pertain to the WLA operator instead of a bank.
2. Cash deposits are not accepted at WLAs as it is not permitted by the RBI at present

• The country’s first WLA was set up by the Tatas’ Indicash in 2013.
• Non-bank entities were allowed by the RBI to set up White Label ATMs as banks won’t be able to provide their ATM facilities in each and every place.
• At present, cash crunch following demonetization and transaction fees that do not cover costs are affecting these services hardly.

Map of the Day

India – Indus System

• Indus River is a Trans-Himalayan that flows only through Jammu and Kashmir in India.
• Panjnad River is the major Left bank Tributary of Indus which is formed by the confluence of the five rivers - Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, Satluj and Chenab.
• Satluj is the longest of the five tributaries.

• The Harike Barrage is at the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej that channels water into the Indira Gandhi Canal.

Source: PIB, The Hindu