3rd Oct Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

ODF cities and towns

• All cities and towns in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana became ‘Open Defecation Free’ as the Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM) completed three years.
• Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh had already declared all cities and towns ODF.
• Chandigarh is the only UT to have become ODF under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban).

ODF Rural

• Rural Gujarat has been declared as ODF, marking the completion of three years of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).
• The state joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Haryana, which were the first 5 states to be declared ODF rural states.
• SBM (Gramin) is implemented by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and SBM (Urban) is implemented by Ministry of Urban development.

National Waterway – 4

• National waterway – 4 connects the state of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• It runs along Krishna, Godavari Rivers and Commanur, Buckingham Canals along the Coromandal Coast.
• It is proposed to be developed in three phases.
• Phase-I: Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River)
• Phase-II: Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari
• Phase-III: Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari Rivers.

• Work on the first phase from Muktiyala to Vijayawada stretch has already commenced and the foundation stone will be laid today.

Commission to Examine Sub Categorization of OBC

• The President has appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes.
• The commission is formed in exercise of the powers conferred to the President under the Article 340 of the Constitution.
• The five-member panel will be headed by retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court G. Rohini.
• Sub-categorisation of OBC is done to ensure that the more backward among the communities can access the benefits of reservation.
• The terms of reference of the commission are
  • Examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBC.
  • To work out the mechanism for sub- categorisation of OBC with reference to such classes included in the Central list.
• Article 340 - Appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes.

Friends of Fish

• It is an informal group of members in WTO which includes Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, Pakistan, Peru and the US.
• The group is formed following the discussions on curbing fisheries subsidies in the WTO.
• The group has pointed out that subsidies to the fisheries sector have led to over-capacity and over fishing.
• However some countries including Japan, South Korea and China has expressed scepticism over the link between subsidies and over fishing.
• Many developing countries such as India and the Philippines have been seeking flexibility in granting subsidies to their fisheries sectors.