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24th, August, 2022

 

Topic: Indian Administrative Fellowship (IAF) program for Punjab Officers

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • Government of Punjab is glad to partner with The/Nudge Institute to launch The/Nudge IAF program.

Aim:

  • The/Nudge IAF program aims to strengthen the reach and efficiency of public systems by bringing together visionary civil servants and spirited senior professionals to deliver needle-moving change on strategic State mandates.

 

About Nudge Indian Administrative Fellowship (IAF) program:

  • A program for senior professionals in leadership positions to stimulate systems change by driving large scale government projects through power of the state administrative ecosystem.

 

About Punjab Cohort:

  • The inaugural Indian Administrative Fellowship Cohort in Punjab; PB/22 brings top talent from the private sector and motivated Senior Secretary-level officers across departments in the Government of Punjab together to build pathways for sustained impact on livelihoods at scale.
  • Over the duration of 18 months, the Fellows will work on enabling systems change by unlocking innovation & strategic implementation to deliver disproportionate positive impact, across departments ranging from Agriculture & Education to Information Technology.

 

About Fellowship Program:

  • The Fellowship is an 18-month rigorous program on framing and executing statewide government programs of strategic relevance under the guidance of visionary civil servants leading the department.
  • A Fellow will be stationed at the secretariat/ relevant department office, but one would be expected to travel frequently and on short notice during the Fellowship.

 

The target Fellow profile is that of a CXO/VP/GM in a large scale organization, with rich experience of leading transformational programs.

The program is not a good fit for someone:

– who is a non-resident Indian, although OCI cardholders who are regular taxpayers can consider applying
– who has less than 15 years of experience in leading transformational initiatives
– who is not comfortable with working 6 days work weeks, traveling or working in the field, committing full-time to the assignment
– who lacks the leadership experience required for such large-scale initiatives

What happens during the 18 months?

  • The Fellows will work closely with the Civil Servant and the department on conceptualizing and executing the strategic projects/programs. The/Nudge will constantly support the learning and development needs of Fellows through mentors, training and networking opportunities whilst a talent pool will be available to the Fellows ensuring a smooth and efficient execution across all projects.
  • There is no upper age limit for the role so long as one has the intent, commitment, and skill to contribute.

What is the support on offer from the associated Civil Servant/Department Head?

  • The Civil Servant and the Fellow shall work as a team ensuring exceptional progress is made on the project over the course of the program, while the Civil Servant will step up to solve for stakeholder access, alignment & administrative support for executing the efficiently.
(Source: The Tribune and thenudge)

 

 

Topic: World Water Week

 

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • World Water Week is celebrated from 23rd August to 1st September every year to create awareness about water issues.
  • Protecting water sources from contamination in the agriculture prime state becomes even more important. Let’s conserve water which is the essence of life on earth.
  • In an agrarian State, it becomes even more important to save sources of water from getting polluted.

Water Status in Punjab:

  • Punjab is occupied by Quaternary alluvial deposits of the Indus river basin.
  • In the major part of the state, ground water levels are in the range of 10 to 20 meters. However around major cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Sangrur, water levels are 20 to 40 meters deep.
  • The long term water level fluctuation data indicate that water levels in major parts of the state have declined drastically.
  • As per the ground water assessment carried out, net dynamic ground water resources of Punjab State are 21.443 MCM (Million Cubic meters), whereas net draft is 31.162 MCM, leading to a ground water deficit of 9.719 MCM. The stage of ground water development for the State as a whole is 145% and the State falls under “over- exploited” Category.

 

Reason:

  • The major reason of depletion of water level is the cultivation of paddy crop which requires a huge amount of water and is grown in the peak summer season when the temperature in Punjab is very high and hence the rate of evaporation of water is also high.

 

There are cases of pollution of ground water due to various human activities as well as shortage of clean drinking water in urban areas.

 

Some of the major issues that need to be addressed are outlined below:

1. Ground Water Depletion Due To Overexploitation
2. Rising Water Table and Water Logging
3. Saline / Brackish Water – Use and Disposal
4. Flood Plains – Scope For Ground Water Development
5. Water Shortage In Urban Areas
6. Ground Water Development in Hilly Areas
7. Ground Water Pollution

 

Various Conservation Practices:

  • In the overexploited areas, mainly resorting to artificial recharge and following various conservation practices can augment ground water.
  • The conservation would include: Increasing water use efficiency ,change in cropping pattern, change in irrigation policy, timely plantation of paddy, promotion of sprinkler and drip irrigation, realistic irrigation power pricing, mass awareness program, ground water regulation and recycling of water
(Source: Punjab Government and cgwb)

 

 

Topic: Open Network for Digital Commerce First Startup of Punjab

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • uEngage becomes the first tech platform from the Chandigarh and Punjab region to join ONDC.

What is ONDC?

  • Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a network based on open protocol and will enable local commerce across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application.
  • The platform aims to create new opportunities, curb digital monopolies and by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and small traders and help them get on online platforms. It is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
(Source: Punjab Government)

 

 

Topic: Action against Ghaggar riverbed encroachment in Punjab

 

Importance: Punjab PCS Prelims and Mains

 

What is the news?

  • Punjab Government plans to act against Ghaggar riverbed encroachment.
  • From illegal mining, temporary self-made dams, encroachments, religious structures to farming, residents of many villages have been exploiting the Ghaggar to make a quick buck, hence affecting the natural flow of the seasonal river that originates in Himachal Pradesh and flows south through Haryana and Rajasthan, eventually entering Pakistan.

Challenges shared:

 

A former chief engineer said:
  • The seriousness of the Irrigation Department could be gauged from the fact that a majority of the technical field employees were mechanical engineers who weren’t trained in dealing or preparing for floods. “Flood-control measures — cleaning drains and the maintenance of protection bundhs — are civil works. Instead of spending crores of rupees every year, the department needs to have a long-term plan, else the officials will continue to pocket funds while the villagers suffer due to the floods.”
  • Alleging hundreds of crores of rupees had been spent on temporary measures, the residents of flood-prone villages said rampant corruption in carrying out the annual repair and maintenance exposes them to the Ghaggar flood fury.

 

32nd meeting held on October 12 last year, the Ghaggar Standing Committee had discussed:

  • The final model study report that recommended “widening of the river from 60 m to 90 m at some feasible points, along with limiting water-level rise to 2 m at both banks by constructing embankments”.
  • Meanwhile, the staff attached with Irrigation Minister Harjot Bains confirmed that a committee had been formed and “action will be taken after a detailed report on the Ghaggar”.

 

About Ghaggar river:

  • The Ghaggar is an intermittent river in India, flowing during the monsoon season. It originates in the Shivalik Hills of Himachal Pradesh and flows through Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. In Haryana, it flows through the south-west of Sirsa and by-the-side of Talwara Jheel in Rajasthan.
(Source: The Tribune)

 

 

Some More Important:

1) Punjab accounts for 25% of India’s Secondary steel market and housing.

2) India’s 2nd Largest Forging Unit is also located in the state.

3) Punjab is No 1 in Hand Tools & Machine Tools which shows its potential to bring in more investment in Precision Engineering.