Target IAS : PIB News

Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (Allahabad-Haldia-1620 km) in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal as NW-1, declared in 1986.
River Brahmaputra (Dhubri-Sadiya-891 km) in the state of Assam as NW-2 declared in 1988
West Coast Canal (Kottapuram-Kollam) along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals – (205 km) in the state of Kerala as NW-3 declared in 1993.
Kakinada-Puducherry Canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078 km) – in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry as NW-4 declared in 2008.
East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km) in the states of West Bengal and Odisha as NW-5 declared in 2008.

The share of nuclear power in total electricity generation in the year 2012 in India was about 3.6%.

World Health Organization (WHO) on 24^th February, 2012 removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild poliovirus transmission.

The Government is also working to eliminate measles and control Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) by 2020 in association with South-East Asia Region.
Drugs & Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013 has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 29th August, 2013 to provide for inter alia creation of a Central Drugs Authority with powers to review, suspend and cancel the licenses issued by the Central and States’ Licensing Authorities, new Chapters containing regulatory provisions for medical devices and clinical trials, regulatory provisions for exports and centralized licensing in respect of 17 categories of drugs contained in a new Third Schedule.
The rate of malnutrition has declined from 42.7% in 1998-99 (NFHS-2) to 40.4% in 2005-06 (NFHS-3) for children below 3 years of age.Global Hunger Index (GHI) prepared by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is based on three equal weight indicators which are: a) Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population; b) Child underweight: the proportion of children younger than age five who are under weight and c) Child mortality: the mortality rate of children younger than age five.

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has launched ‘Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme’ for providing broadband connectivity to rural and remote areas, USOF has signed an Agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on January 20, 2009.National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project is planned to connect all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 Lakh) in the country through optical fibre utilizing existing fibers of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), RailTel and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and laying incremental fiber wherever necessary to bridge the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats and Blocks.
The Government is promoting organic farming through various schemes like National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH), National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility (NPMSH&F) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and also Network Project on Organic Farming of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Some of the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development are as follows :

Gender Budgeting has been adopted as a tool for mainstreaming gender perspective at various stages of planning, budgeting, implementation, impact assessment and revisiting of policy/ programme objectives and allocations;
The Government of India has also introduced a Gender Budget Statement 20, an important tool for reporting allocations made for women in the Union Budget, with effect from 2005-06;
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) to ensure sustainable employment and income generation for marginalized and asset-less rural and urban poor women across the country;
Rastriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) to extend micro-finance services to bring about socio-economic upliftment of poor women;
National Misssion for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) has been set up with the aim to strengthen the overall processes that promote all round development of Women.
Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls-Sabla for all-round development of adolescent girls of 11-18 years by making them self-reliant by facilitating access to learning, health and nutrition;
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahayog Yojana (IGMSY) to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers.

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