Daily PIB Analysis for UPSC Civil Services Exam
Topics Covered
- ISRO Samvaad with Students
- RCEP & APEC
- Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS)
1 . ISRO Samvaad with Students
ISRO launches Samwad with Students on New Year Day
- Through the SwS initiative, ISRO aims to constantly engage youngsters across India to capture their scientific temperament.
- The new conversation mission will inspire students cutting across schools and colleges.
- The first SwS event saw 40 wards and 10 teachers from select schools interact with ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan at the Anthariksh Bhavan.
2 . Benefits of RCEP Agreement
About RCEP
- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a pact that aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
- The RCEP members include 10 ASEAN members – Brunei Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam and their 6 free trade agreement partners – India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Benefits
- It is expected to provide market access for India’s goods and services exports and encourage greater investments and technology into India.
- It would also facilitate India’s MSMEs to effectively integrate into the regional value and supply chains.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. APEC’s 21 members aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.
- APEC ensures that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders. Members facilitate this trade through faster customs procedures at borders; more favorable business climates behind the border; and aligning regulations and standards across the region. For example, APEC’s initiatives to synchronize regulatory systems is a key step to integrating the Asia-Pacific economy. A product can be more easily exported with just one set of common standards across all economies.
- India is not a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC).
3 . Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS)
About Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS)
- IBMS aims to fill this gap by preparing a data base/inventory of all bridges in the country and detailing their structural condition so that timely action can be taken to repair the structures or build new ones in their place.
- During inventory creation each bridge is assigned a unique identification number or National Identity Number based on the state, RTO zone and whether it is situated on an National Highway, State Highway or is a district road.
- Then the precise location of the bridge in terms of latitude-longitude is collected through GPS and based on this, the bridge is assigned a Bridge Location Number.
- Thereafter, engineering characteristics like the design, materials, type of bridge, its age, loading, traffic lane, length, width of carriage way etc are collected and are used to assign a Bridge Classification Number to the structure.
- These are then used to do a structural rating of the structure on a scale of 0 to 9, and each bridge is assigned a Structural Rating Number.
- The rating is done for each component of the structure like integral and non integral deck, superstructure, substructure, bank and channel, structural evaluation, deck geometry, vertical clearance, waterway efficiency etc.
- In addition to the structural rating, the bridges are also being assigned Socio-Economic Bridge Rating Number which will decide the importance of the structure in relation to its contribution to daily socio-economic activity of the area in its vicinity.
- Based on this inventory IBMS will analyse data and identify bridges that need attention. Further inspection will be carried out wherever required to improve the operational availability of the structure, enhance its life and prioritize repair and rehabilitation work. The data will help to decide which bridge needs critical attention, or which needs to be rebuilt.