Pb. Current Affairs - UPSC Preparation Made Easy

December 3, 2019

Topic: Biodiversity and Eco-tourism.

Lack of connectivity is there as public transport vehicles rarely operate in this region.
The condition of the road connecting the wetland and the Pathankot to Gurdaspur National Highway is very poor.
The road is not properly carpeted and it is merely 10 feet wide.
Lack of proper signboards and tourism enquiry centres worsen the matters.
The Tourist Interpretation Centre, built at a cost of rupees 8 crores ( with the help of the Asian Development Bank) has not seen many updations.

On the lines of Gujarat tourism campaign, Punjab can start its own campaign to promote tourism through advertisements on televisions and social media.
The involvement of other stakeholders such as Civil Society, municipalities, business groups, etc should be promoted.
PPP model of investment could be used where private investments could be invited to the tourism sector.
The ecotourism circuit theme in Punjab can be remodelled so that neglected sites such as Keshopur wetland could be involved.
More fiscal resources could be dedicated to the development of dedicated tourist corridors and spots.

(Source:- The Tribune)

Punjab government is seeking to ink a pact with the Japanese government to introduce Electric Vehicles ( EV ) in the state.
Japanese state of the art quick charges Lithium-ion batteries EVs would be introduced in the state.
The discussions on the same topic would be held in Progressive Punjab Investors Summit, 2019.

JETRO is a government-related trade body.
JETRO promotes mutually beneficial trade and investment between Japanese organisations and other countries.
Many companies from Japan are participating such as Mitsui, SML Isuzu and Mitsubishi.
Punjab is also interested in establishing a Centre of excellence in advanced and emerging technologies such as Artificial intelligence and Internet of things.
For setting up this centre, Japanese assistance would be taken.
Earlier, India had established an MoU with the electronic ministry of Japan.

Japan’s Aichi steel company had acquired an 11.4% stake in Ludhiana based Vardhaman special steels.
Sumitomo group, which holds a 50% stake in SML Isuzu, also invested around rupees 200 crores in its Nawanshahr plant.
Similarly, Kansai paint company from Japan had started operations from its new plant at Goindwal Sahib near Amritsar.
It has a capacity of around 38000 MT per year.

The state can set up its foreign investment policy with the help of all the stakeholders.
It can improve its logistics and infrastructure. Subsequently, Punjab can further improve its ranking in the Logistics index prepared by Niti Aayog.
Ease of doing business can further be improved in the state by providing better roads, Electricity etc.
A huge scope exists in the food processing sector, where corporate farming can go a long way in the diversification of Agriculture and boosting farm incomes.

(Source:- The Tribune)

It has been found that the contractors, who employ the Safai karamcharis pay them less than the minimum wages.
Also, wages are often paid in cash. Whereas the amount should be deposited in the accounts of the karamcharis so that corruption could be reduced.

Do away with the contractor system.
Cancel the licenses of the guilty Contractors.
Getting the life insurance of the safai karamcharis done.
Other services such as free medical checkup would also be done ( once in 3 months).
Also, the Safai Karamchari Commission has been asked to look into the grievances of the safai sewaks in entirety.

(Source:- The Tribune news)