Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 September 2021

::National::

NITI Aayog suggests creation 500 'healthy cities'

NITI Aayog launched a report on measures to ramp up urban planning capacity in India.
The report, titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’, was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Shri Amitabh Kant and Special Secretary Dr K. RajeswaraRao.
Secretaries of theministries of housing and urban affairs, higher education, and panchayati raj, andchairpersons of AICTE and TCPO, Director of NIUA and President of ITPI also attended the event.
The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with concerned ministries and eminent experts in the domain of urban and regional planning. It presents a condensed outcome of the extensive deliberations and consultations conducted over a period of 9 months.
“In the coming years, urban India will power the growth of the Indian economy. Urban challenges, including town planning, need greater policy attention in our country. There is a compelling need to plug the gaps in urbanplanning capacity in the country, else a huge opportunity for rapid, sustainable and equitable growth would be at risk of being missed,”said NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar.
CEO Shri Amitabh Kant emphasized, “Urbanization is the driving force of the Indian economy. The country has reached a turning point in its transformation. It will be half urban in a couple of decades. This is the first time in the history of India that the question of urban planning capacity has been dealt with in depth.”
He also added that, “Greater synergies among the public and private sectors and education institutions will provide a massive boost towards making Indian cities more liveable, competitive, and sustainable.”
Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity: Summary
India is home to 11% of the total global urban population. By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world. Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
Urban planningis the foundation for anintegrated development of cities, citizens, and the environment. Unfortunately, it has received due attention so far. The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.
The report makes severalrecommendations that can unblock bottlenecks in the value chain of urban planning capacity in India. Some of them are:
Programmatic Intervention for Planning of Healthy Cities: Every city must aspire to become a ‘Healthy City for All’ by 2030. The report recommends a Central Sector Scheme ‘500 Healthy Cities Programme’, for a period of 5 years, wherein priority cities and towns would be selected jointly by the states and local bodies.
Programmatic Intervention for Optimum Utilization of Urban Land: All the cities and towns under the proposed ‘Healthy Cities Programme’ should strengthen development control regulations based on scientific evidence to maximize the efficiency of urban land (or planning area). The report recommends a sub-scheme ‘Preparation/Revision of Development Control Regulations’ for this purpose.
Ramping Up of Human Resources: To combat the shortage of urban planners in the public sector, the report recommends that the states/UTs may need to a) expedite the filling up of vacant positions of town planners, and b) additionally sanction 8268 town planners’ posts as lateral entry positions for a minimum period of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years to meet the gaps.
Ensuring Qualified Professionals for Undertaking Urban Planning: State town and country planning departments face an acute shortage of town planners. This is compounded by the fact that in several states, ironically, a qualification in town planning is not even an essential criterion for such jobs. States may need to undertake requisite amendments in their recruitment rules to ensure the entry of qualified candidates into town-planning positions.
Re-engineering of Urban Governance: There is a need to bring in more institutional clarity and also multi-disciplinary expertise to solve urban challenges. The report recommends the constitution of a high-powered committee to re-engineer the present urban-planning governance structure. The key aspects that would need to be addressed in this effort are: i) clear division of the roles and responsibilities of various authorities, appropriate revision of rules and regulations, etc., ii) creation of a more dynamic organizational structure, standardisation of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts, and iii) extensive adoption of technology for enabling public participation and inter-agency coordination.
Revision of Town and Country Planning Acts: Most States have enacted the Town and Country Planning Acts, that enable them to prepare and notify master plans for implementation. However, many need to be reviewed and upgraded. Therefore, the formation of an apex committee at the state level is recommended to undertake a regular review of planning legislations (including town and country planning or urban and regional development acts or other relevant acts).
Demystifying Planning and Involving Citizens: While it is important to maintain the master plans’ technical rigour, it is equally important to demystify them for enabling citizens’ participation at relevant stages. Therefore, the committee strongly recommends a ‘Citizen Outreach Campaign’ for demystifying urban planning.
Steps for Enhancing the Role of Private Sector: The report recommends that concerted measures must be taken at multiple levels to strengthen the role of the private sector to improve the overall planning capacity in the country. These include the adoption of fair processes for procuring technical consultancy services, strengthening project structuring and management skills in the public sector, and empanelment of private sector consultancies.

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::International::

France recalls ambassadors to the US and Australia over submarine deal

President Emmanuel Macron made the exceptional decision due to the “gravity of the announcements on September 15 by Australia and the United States”, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in a statement.
The rare diplomatic backlash against France’s allies came two days after Australia announced the scrapping of a major purchase of French conventional submarines in favour of US nuclear-powered submarines.
The announcement represented “unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners”, said the statement.
Australia in 2016 had chosen France's Naval Group, partly owned by the state, to build 12 conventionally powered submarines, based on France's Barracuda nuclear-powered subs in development.
The contract was worth around 50 billion Australian dollars (€31 billion, $36.5 billion) when announced in 2016.
But on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden, along with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announced a new US security alliance between their countries that would develop an Australian nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
The Australia-UK-US alliance – dubbed AUKUS – has been strongly condemned by France, with Le Drian calling it “a stab in the back”.

::Economy::

India to be 3rd largest importer by 2050: UK report

With a growing middle class and its rising discretionary spending, India will become the world’s third largest importer by 2050 with a share of 5.9% of global imports, right behind China and the US, a new report said, mimicking its projected ranking among world economies. At present, India is ranked eighth among largest importing nations with a 2.8% import share and is set to become the fourth largest importer by 2030.
“The US’s and the EU’s share of most import sectors is expected to decline out to 2030 as the growing purchasing power of Asia’s middle-class accounts for a rising share of global import demand. This change is particularly marked in the food, travel and digital services sectors where larger and increasingly wealthy populations in the Indo Pacific are expected to consume more discretionary goods and services,” the latest Global Trade Outlook issued by the UK’s Department of International Trade said.
The world’s centre of economic gravity has been shifting eastward for decades due to the rapid growth in Indo Pacific, causing trade patterns to shift as it moves. “Between 2019 and 2050, 56% of global growth is expected to come from the Indo Pacific, compared with a quarter from the EU and North America combined. Growth within the Indo Pacific is also expected to rebalance over time, with South Asia’s contribution (driven by India) rising,” it added.
China is a major driver of this eastward economic shift as it is expected to become the world’s largest economy by 2030. China already displaced the US in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms (which account for differences in local prices) in the mid-2010s. But based on market exchange rates, which are more relevant for trade, the change is expected to happen around 2030. “At that point, both countries will account for around 22% of global GDP,” the report said.
The report projected that India would leapfrog to the third place by 2050 in the ranking of world’s largest economies, just behind China and the US, with a share of 6.8% in global GDP. At present, India is ranked fifth in size of world’s economies with a share of 3.3%. India’s GDP is projected to cross Germany by 2030 to become the fourth largest economy.

::Science and tech::

India's 61st Software Technology Park Center opens in Nagaland

Nagaland’s first and India’s 61st Software Technology Park of India (STPI) centre was inaugurated at the state capital by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the Directorate of Information Technology & Communication (DITC).
Prabir Kumar Das, jurisdictional director of ATPI in Northeast and West Bengal, said the state-of-the-art STPI centre, covering 18,137 sqft, in Kohima is envisaging to host as a Centre of Entrepreneurship in IT Applications in Graphic Design, where start-ups, students and innovators can utilize the facility for research and development of new innovative solutions.
KD Vizo, principal secretary to the chief minister, IT&C and power, shared that in 2015, the Director General of STPI, New Delhi, during the e-Naga Summit and had signed a MoU to set up the Software Technology Park of India at Kohima.
“It may be worthy to note that we had a vision of making the State of Nagaland the next IT hub of South East Asia and as far as the basic infrastructures is concerned, we are slowly getting ready to embrace IT culture in a big way. Our biggest strength is the availability of highly trained IT-savy youths who are willing to compete with the rest of the world and they are just waiting for infrastructure like the STPI,” he said.

::Sports::

Lingard, Ronaldo earn dramatic late win for Man United

Jesse Lingard scored a stunning late goal and David de Gea saved a stoppage-time penalty as Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-1 in a dramatic Premier League match on Sunday.
Substitute Lingard hit a thumping shot into the top corner in the 89th minute against his former club but West Ham were awarded a penalty moments later for a handball by defender Luke Shaw.
Mark Noble stepped up to take the penalty immediately after coming off the bench but De Gea guessed correctly and dived to turn his spot-kick away.