PIB Analysis : 10th, 11th and 12th

by

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Antibiotics in CROPS
  2. Constitutional Provisions regarding Cattle
  3. India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL)
  4. Infrastructure Investment Trust
  5. Subramania Bharathi
  6. Startup in Defence, New Defence Projects
  7. IREDA
  8. Chartered Designs of India (CDI) and the Design Education Quality Mark (DEQM)
  9. MMTC
  10. Atal Bhujal Yojana
  11. River Interlinking Project
  12. Main Schemes implemented by Ministry of Women and Child Development
  13. Facts for Prelims
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1 . Antibiotics in Crops

Antibiotics which are used in crops

  • Aureofungin, Kasugamycin, Validamycin and Streptomycin+ Tetracycline combination are antibiotics which are registered under the Insecticide Act 1968 for use as pesticides to combat certain fungal and bacterial diseases in plants.

Regulation

  • The use of above pesticides is regulated under the Insecticide Act 1968 and the rules framed thereunder.
  • While registering the pesticide, the label and leaflets are also approved which contains the details of crop, disease/pest against which it is recommended, dose rate, directions about use, chemical composition, toxicity triangle, precautions to use and packaging specifications.
  • Pesticides are toxic substances but they do not pose any adverse effect on human beings, animals and the environment if they are used as per the label and leaflet approved by the Registration Committee.
  • Pesticides are registered for use in the country by the Registration Committee only after satisfying about their efficacy and safety to human health, animal and environment.

2 . Constitutional Provisions regarding Cattle

Constitutional Provisions

  • As per the Article 246(3) of the Constitution of India in List II of Seventh Schedule, the Preservation, protection and improvement of stock and prevention of animal diseases, veterinary training and practice are under State list on which the State has exclusive power to make laws for such State or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List II of the Seventh Schedule.
  • As per Article 48 of the Constitution of India State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.
  • As per the Eleventh Schedule of Constitution of India, the state may endow Panchyats to establish and run the Cattle Pounds (Kanji Houses)/ Gaushala Shelters(community assets). Many States are establishing the Gaushalas and Shelter houses for control of Stray Cattle.
  • Further, as per Section 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, it is the duty of every person having care or charge of any animal to take all reasonable measures to ensure the well being of such animal and to prevent infliction of unnecessary pain and sufferings. Section 11(1) (h) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 provides that it is a cruelty, if any person, being the owner of (any animal) fails to provide such animal with sufficient food, drink or shelter and as per the Section 11 (1)(i) it is a Cruelty, if any person, without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which tender it likely that it will suffer pain by reason or starvation, thirst and it is also a punishable offense under PCA Act, 1960. The Provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Rules framed thereunder need to be implemented by the State Governments.
  • The Central Government is also implementing sex sorting semen technology for artificial insemination which will produce only female animals and is being implemented through Artificial Insemination Technology for which the Central Government is providing semen straws at subsidized rates. This effort will reduce the number of male animals which are left by the farmers.

3 .   India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL)

About India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL)

  • IIFCL is a wholly-owned Government of India (GoI) company set up in 2006, is the principal entity which provides long term finance to viable infrastructure projects across sectors.
  • It is a Non-Banking Financial Company – Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC) registered with RBI since September, 2013. 
  • Infrastructure projects are typically long gestation projects and require debt of longer maturity. The provision of long term funds from commercial banks is restricted due to their asset-liability mismatch. IIFCL tries to address the above constraints in long term debt financing of infrastructure.
  • IIFCL provides financial assistance to commercially viable projects, which includes projects implemented by a public sector company; a private sector company; or a private sector company selected under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. Priority is given to those PPP projects awarded to private companies, which are selected through competitive bidding process.

Only projects pertaining to following sectors are eligible for financing from IIFCL:

  1. Road and bridges, railways, seaports, airports, inland waterways and other transportation projects;
  2. Power;
  3. Urban transport, water supply, sewage, solid waste management and other physical infrastructure in urban areas;
  4. Gas pipelines;
  5. Infrastructure projects in Special Economic Zones;
  6. International convention centres and other tourism infrastructure projects;
  7. Cold storage chains;
  8. Warehouses;
  9. Fertilizer Manufacturing Industry

4 . Infrastructure Investment Trust

About Infrastructure Investment Trust

  • Infrastructure and real estate are the two most critical sectors in any developing economy. A well-developed infrastructural set-up propels the overall development of a country. It also facilitates a steady inflow of private and foreign investments, and thereby augments the capital base available for the growth of key sectors in an economy, as well as its own growth, in a sustained manner.
  • Given the importance of these two sectors in the country, and the paucity of public funds available to stimulate their growth, it is imperative that additional channels of financing are put in place.
  • An Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs) is Collective Investment Scheme similar to a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of money from individual and institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a small portion of the income as return.
  • The InvIT is designed as a tiered structure with Sponsor setting up the InvIT which in turn invests into the eligible infrastructure projects either directly or via special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
  • NHAI’s InvIT will be a Trust established by NHAI under the Indian Trust Act, 1882 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014. The InvIT Trust will be formed with an objective of investment primarily in infrastructure projects (as defined by Ministry of Finance). InvIT may hold assets either directly or through an SPV or a holding.

5 . Subramanian Bharatiyar

About Subramanian Bharatiyar

  • C. Subramaniya Bharathiyar was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu. He was known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar and the laudatory epithet Mahakavi means a great poet. He is considered as one of India’s greatest poets. His songs on nationalism and freedom of India helped to rally the masses to support the Indian Independence Movement in Tamil Nadu.

Bharathi: A poet and a Nationalist

  • Significantly, a new age in Tamil literature began with Subramaniya Bharathi. Most part of his compositions are classifiable as short lyrical outpourings on patriotic, devotional and mystic themes. Bharathi was essentially a lyrical poet. “Kannan Pattu” “Nilavum Vanminum Katrum” “Panchali Sabatam” “Kuyil Pattu” are examples of Bharathi’s great poetic output.
  • Bharathi is considered as a national poet due to his number of poems of the patriotic flavour through which he exhorted the people to join the independence struggle and work vigorously for the liberation of the country. Instead of merely being proud of his country he also outlined his vision for a free India. He published the sensational “Sudesa Geethangal” in 1908.

Bharathi as a Journalist

  • Many years of Bharathi’s life were spent in the field of journalism, Bharathi, as a young man began his career as a journalist and as a sub-editor in “Swadesamitran” in November 1904.
  • “India” saw the light of the day in May, 1906. It declared as its motto the three slogans of the French Revolution, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. It blazed a new trail in Tamil Journalism. In order to proclaim its revolutionary ardour, Bharathi had the weekly printed in red paper. “India” was the first paper in Tamil Nadu to publish political cartoons. He also published and edited a few other journals like “Vijaya”.
  • It is not surprising therefore that soon a warrant was waiting at the door of the “India” office for the arrest of the editor of the magazine. It was because of this worsening situation in 1908 that Bharathi decided to go away to Pondicherry, a French territory at that time, and continue to publish the “India” magazine. Bharathi resided in Pondicherry for sometime to escape the wrath of the British imperialists.
  • In his early days of youth he had good relations with Nationalist Tamil Leaders like V.O.Chidambaram, Subramanya Siva, Mandayam Thirumalachariar and Srinivasachari. Along with these leaders he used to discuss the problems facing the country due to British rule. Bharathi used to attend the Annual sessions of Indian National Congress and discuss national issues with extremist Indian National Leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, B.G. Tilak and V.V.S. Iyer. His participation and activities in Benaras Session (1905) and Surat Session (1907) of the Indian National Congress impressed many national leaders about his patriotic fervour. Bharathi had maintained good relations with some of the national leaders and shared his thoughts and views on the nation and offered his suggestions to strengthen the nationalist movement. Undoubtedly, his wise suggestions and steadfast support to the cause of nationalism rejuvenated many national leaders. Thus Bharathi played a pivotal role in the freedom of India.

Bharthi as a social reformer

  • Bharathi was also against caste system. He declared that there were only two castes-men and women and nothing more than that. Above all, he himself had removed his sacred thread. He had also adorned many Dalits with sacred thread.  He used to take tea sold in shops run by Muslims.
  • He along with his family members attended church on all festival occasions. He advocated temple entry of Dalits. For all his reforms, he had to face opposition from his neighbours. But Bharathi was very clear that unless Indians unite as children of Mother India, they could not achieve freedom. He believed in women’s rights, gender equality and women emancipation. He opposed child marriage, dowry and supported widow remarriage.

6 . Startup in Defence

Initiatives undertaken by Govt

  • Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework, was launched with the aim to achieve self-reliance and to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace Sector by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia. Initially, 15 problem statements were launched. 44 iDEX winners have so far been identified for 14 problem statements. 3 new problem statements have been launched recently to expand the network.
  • DRDO has launched a program termed as “Technology Development Fund (TDF)” for meeting the requirements of Tri-Services, Defence Production and DRDO. The scheme has been established to promote self-reliance in Defence Technology as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative by encouraging participation of public/private industries especially MSMEs.
  • ‘Make-II’ procedure has been simplified to encourage wider participation of Indian industry, with impetus for MSME/Start-ups and timely induction of equipment into Indian Armed Forces. The ‘Start-ups’ recognized by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), are eligible to participate under ‘Make-II’ procedure. In addition, the framework for implementation of ‘Make II’ at OFB and DPSU level has also been notified.

Government has taken special measures to promote new and innovative defence production projects under the “Make in India” programme in Tamil Nadu and other States.

  • A new category of procurement ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ has been introduced in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016 to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment.
  • The ‘Make’ Procedure has been simplified with provisions for funding of 90% of development cost by the Government to Indian industry and reserving Government funded Make-I projects not exceeding development cost of Rs. 10 Crore & procurement cost Rs. 50 Crores per year for MSMEs.  Industry funded Make-II Projects not exceeding development cost of Rs. 3 Crore & procurement cost Rs. 50 Crores per year have also been reserved for MSMEs.
  • A separate procedure for ‘Make-II’ category has been notified to encourage indigenous development and manufacture of defence equipment including provisions such as relaxation of eligibility criterion, minimal documentation, provision for considering proposals suggested by industry/individual etc.
  • ‘Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)’ was launched in April, 2018 to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, Start-ups, Individual Innovators, R&D institutes and Academia including grants/fund.
  • The ‘Strategic Partnership (SP)’ Model for establishment of long-term strategic partnerships with Indian entities through a transparent and competitive process, enabling tie up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for technology transfers to set up domestic manufacturing infrastructure and supply chains was notified.
  • FDI Policy has been revised to allow FDI under automatic route upto 49% and beyond 49% through Government approval for technology acquisition etc.
  • A ‘Policy for Indigenisation of Components and Spares used in Defence Platforms’ was notified in March, 2019 to support indigenization of imported components (including alloys & special materials).
  • ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ was notified in November, 2018 to support Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) culture in indigenous defence industry.
  • Defence Products list requiring Industrial Licences was rationalised and initial validity of the Industrial Licence granted under the IDR Act increased from 03 years to 15 years with provision of extension by 03 years.
  • 112 items were notified under Public Procurement Order 2017 of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) whereby Defence PSUs/OFB give preference to deomestic manufacturers in procurement.
  • Government announced two defence industrial corridors to promote defence industrial base in the country in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (UP). 

7 . IREDA

Context : Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), is planning to set up a dedicated “Green Window to serve the unserved segments of renewable energy.”

About IREDA

  • Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). IREDA is a Public Limited Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987 engaged in promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency/conservation with the motto: “ENERGY FOR EVER”

Objectives

  • To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and / or energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
  • To strive to be competitive institution through customer satisfaction.
  • To maintain its position as a leading organization to provide efficient and effective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency / conservation projects.
  • Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers through continual improvement of systems, processes and resources.

About Green Window

  • Green windows, like green banks, are public entities created to work with the private sector to increase investment in green energy and bring clean energy financing into the mainstream.
  • They are innovative and new tools that have been successful in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and the United States.

Benefits of Green Window

  • India, however, needs high amount of capital invested – of the order of ₹ 21,45,000 crore (USD 330 billion) between 2018 and 2030 – to accomplish its commitments under the Paris Agreement.
  • Given the existing high exposure to conventional power, there is limited debt capacity in the financial system to fund the amount of new generation needed to meet renewables targets.
  • A green window would lower the risk for traditional banks to finance green energy and tap into international capital to help India power its cities and rural communities.

8 . Chartered Designs of India (CDI) and the Design Education Quality Mark (DEQM)

Context : The India Design Council (IDC) launched the Chartered Designs of India (CDI) and the Design Education Quality Mark (DEQM) in New Delhi today.

Background

  • As Design Education gains momentum in India, it is necessary that commissioners of Design projects and designers are able to distinguish qualified professional designers as against hobbyists and non-professionals. India has a growing design ecosystem that has resulted in growth both in employment of creative skills and impact in the service sector. Creative manufacturing and design innovation will be the key drivers in the Make in India initiative of 2020 and beyond and further strengthening the brand “designed in India”.
  • These two initiatives of IDC and National Institute of design, Ahmedabad will help to address the 5 challenges of scale, quality of design, quality of education for design, raising the priority for design in industry and design for public purpose.

About Indian Design Council

  • India Design Council is an autonomous body of the Government of India established under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • It is a national strategic body for multi-disciplinary design and is involved in promotion of design to make India a design enabled country.
  • IDC is mandated to implement the National Design Policy and is committed to work towards raising the standards of design education in India and ensure that it meets global benchmarks. IDC is working with other government agencies, the design community, industry and educational institutions to promote design in business, society and public service.

About the New Initiatives – Design Education Quality Mark

  • Design Education Quality Mark will benchmark design education programmes on predetermined standards and will accord Design Education Quality Mark to institutions that meet the provisions of the published standard. The DEQ Mark will be granted to institutions which undergo the review process and meet or exceed the expectations for quality and standards as prescribed in the Quality Code.
  • The Quality Mark will communicate to everyone that an institution has a guaranteed minimum level of quality and standards and has undergone a third party, neutral review process. The Quality Mark includes a trademark-protected logo, which could be used by the recipient institutions in all forms of internal and external communication.
  • The Quality Mark will help students to choose the right design programme from a wide choice, help prospective employers understand the standing of the design institute and communicate to the society about the adherence of Quality Code by the design institute.

Chartered Designs of India

  • The second initiative launched today of the CDI is envisaged as an institution that will establish and uphold the professional standards of design practice in India.
  • The focus of CDI is the “Professional Designer” identified by a design qualification and or experience. CDI is a cohesive platform that adheres to the design practice to standards in professional design competence, ethics and service.
  • The need for a quality code was felt as there has been an exponential growth in the number of institutions providing design qualifications in India necessitating the creation of a guiding framework that represents a common rationale/ philosophy for design curricula and its implementation. The aim is to harmonise the different education systems whilst taking into account their great diversity.
  • The Quality Code is the means to create this guiding framework. It has been based on the UK Quality Code for Higher Education published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, UK (QAA).

9 . Metals and Minerals Corporation of India

Context : State-owned MMTC has placed order for importing 6090 tonnes of onion from Egypt 

About Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India ( MMTC )

  • Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India, is one of the two highest earners of foreign exchange for India and India’s largest public sector trading body.
  • Not only handling the export of primary products such as coal, iron ore, and manufactured agro and industrial products, MMTC also imports important commodities such as ferrous and nonferrous metals for industry, and agricultural fertilizers.
  • MMTC’s diverse trade activities cover Third Country Trade, Joint Ventures and Link Deals and all modern forms of international trading.
  • MMTC is one of the two highest foreign exchange earner for India (after petroleum refining companies)
  • It is the largest international trading company of India and the first public sector enterprise to be accorded the status of Five Star Export Houses by Government of India for long standing contribution to exports

10 . Atal Bhujal Yojana

About Atal Bhujal Yojana

  • The World Bank has approved Atal BhujalYojana (ABHY), a Rs.6,000 Crore Central Sector Scheme, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation.
  • The funding pattern is 50:50 between Government of India and World Bank.
  • The scheme envisages active participation of the communities in various activities such as formation of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting, preparation and implementation of Gram-Panchayat wise water security plans and Information, Education & Communication (IEC) activities related to sustainable ground water management.
  • The identified over-exploited and water stressed areas for the implementation of the scheme fall in the States of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
  • The States have been selected according to a number of criteria, including degree of groundwater exploitation and degradation, established legal and regulatory instruments, institutional readiness, and experience in implementing initiatives related to groundwater management.

11 . Interlinking of Rivers

About the Project

  • The National River Linking Project (NRLP) formally known as the National Perspective Plan, envisages the transfer of water from water ‘surplus’ basins where there is flooding to water ‘deficit’ basins where there is drought/scarcity, through inter-basin water transfer projects.

Scope of the Project

The National River Interlinking Project will comprise of 30 links to connect 37 rivers across the nation through a network of nearly 3000 storage dams to form a gigantic South Asian Water Grid. It includes two components:

  • Himalayan Rivers Development Componentunder which 14 links have been identified. This component aims to construct storage reservoirs on the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers, as well as their tributaries in India and Nepal. The aim is to conserve monsoon flows for irrigation and hydropower generation, along with flood control. The linkage will transfer surplus flows of the Kosi, Gandak and Ghagra to the west. A link between the Ganga and Yamuna is also proposed to transfer the surplus water to drought-prone areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. 
  • Peninsular Rivers Development Component or the Southern Water Grid, which includes 16 links that proposeto connect the rivers of South India. It envisages linking the Mahanadi and Godavari to feed the Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery, and Vaigai rivers. This linkage will require several large dams and major canals to be constructed. Besides this, the Ken river will also be linked to the Betwa, Parbati, Kalisindh, and Chambal rivers.
Projects in the Himalayan component (Source: National Water Development Agency)

 Benefit from Interlinking of Rivers (Inter basin water transfer) 

  • The overall implementation of Interlinking of Rivers programme under National Perspective Plan would give benefits of 35 million hectares of irrigation, raising the ultimate irrigation potential from 140 million hectare to 175 million hectare and generation of 34000 megawatt of hydropower, apart from the incidental benefits of flood control, navigation, water supply, fisheries, salinity and pollution control etc.

12 . Main Schemes implemented by Ministry of Women and Child Development

(i) Anganwadi Services Scheme is a unique programme for early childhood care and development. It offers a package of six services, viz. Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-School Non-Formal Education, Nutrition and Health Education, Immunization, Health Check-Up and Referral Services. The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

(ii) PoshanAbhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies by reducing mal-nutrition/under nutrition, anemia among young children as also, focus on adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

(iii) Pradhan MantriMatruVandanaYojana (PMMVY) scheme provides cash incentive amounting to Rs. 5,000 in three instalments directly to the Bank/Post Office Account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mother(PW&LM) in DBT Mode during pregnancy and lactation in response to individual fulfilling specific conditions.

(iv) Scheme for Adolescent Girls aims at out of school girls in the age group 11-14, to empower and improve their social status through nutrition, life skills and home skills. The scheme has nutritional and non nutritional components which include nutrition, iron and folic acid supplementation, health check up and referral service, nutrition and health education mainstreaming out of school girls to join formal schooling, bridge course/ skill training, life skill education, home management etc, counselling/ guidance on accessing public services.

(v) National Creche Scheme provides day care facilities to children of age group of 6 months to 6 years of working women. The facilities are provided for seven and half hours a day for 26 days in a month. Children are provided with supplementary nutrition, early childcare education, and health and sleeping facilities.

(vi) Child Protection Services Scheme aims to contribute to the improvement in the well-being of children in difficult circumstances, as well as, reduction of vulnerabilities to situation and actions that leads to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children from parent. The Scheme aims to spread awareness regarding the ways and means to prevent all children from child abuse of any kind including child sexual abuse.

(vii) Mahila Shakti Kendra scheme empowers rural women through community participation by involvement of Student Volunteers. The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels. At the national and state level, technical support to the respective government on issues related to women is provided.

(viii) SwadharGreh scheme targets the women victims of unfortunate circumstances who are in need of institutional support for rehabilitation so that they could lead their life with dignity.

(ix) Ujjawala is a comprehensive scheme to combat trafficking with the objective to prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation, to facilitate rescue victims and placing them in safe custody, to provide rehabilitation services by providing basic amenities/needs, to facilitate reintegration of victims into the family and society, to facilitate repatriation of cross border victims.

(x) Working Women Hostel aims at providing safe and affordable accommodation to working women. These hostels have Day care facility for the children of inmates too. The Ministry provides financial support for establishing such hostels by NGOs or State Governments.

(xi) BetiBachaoBetiPadhao (BBBP) scheme is a tri-ministerial initiative of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development with a focus on awareness and advocacy campaign for changing mindsets, multi-sectoral action in select districts, enabling girls’ education and effective enforcement of Pre-Conception & Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act. The specific objectives of the scheme include preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

(xii) One Stop Centre (OSC) facilitates access to an integrated range of services including police, medical, legal, psychological support and temporary shelter to women affected by violence. The Scheme is funded through Nirbhaya Fund.

(xiii) Women Helpline – The Scheme is being implemented since 1st April, 2015 to provide 24 hours emergency and non-emergency response to women affected by violence through referral and information about women related government schemes/programmes across the country through a single uniform number (181).

13 . Facts for Prelims

Indian Culture Portal

  • Indian culture portal is the first government authorized portal where knowledge and cultural resources of various organizations of Ministry of Culture are now available in public domain on a single platform.
  • The Indian Culture portal was envisioned by the Ministry of Culture and was developed by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay while the curation of the data has been done by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
  • The content available on the portal comprises mainly of rare books, e-books, manuscripts, artefacts from museum, virtual galleries, archives, photo archives, gazetteers, Indian National Bibliography, videos, images, cuisine, UNESCO, Musical Instruments of India among others.
  • One of the unique features of the portal is the stories, based on original archival documents narrated in an interesting, easy to read and understand format. The portal also contains write-ups and beautiful pictures on cuisines, festivals, paintings, folk art and classical art from different states of India. Rich information about rare books, manuscripts and research papers on our cultural heritage is also available on this portal.
  • The content on the portal is available in English and Hindi language in an interactive, user-friendly interface. As envisioned by the Ministry, the portal also will be available in other regional languages in future. The larger aim of the Indian Culture portal is to create awareness among the citizens about the diverse heritage of our country.

NAVARMS-19

  • International Seminar cum Exhibition on Naval weapon Systems is called as NAVARMS-19

Gandhi Encyclopedia

  • The Government is developing ‘Gandhi Encyclopedia’ to spread awareness in the society.
  • Ministry of Culture has approved a project for development of Gandhi Paedia by National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata for promotion of appropriate Gandhian philosophy and thoughts through social media platforms under 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi commemoration

Universal Health Coverage

  • Universal Health Coverage (UHC) aims that ‘all people have access to needed promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services’.
  • In December 2012, the United Nations passed a landmark resolution endorsing universal health coverage. In September 2015, the achievement of UHC was enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a key target to be reached by 2030.
  • UHC Day, first commemorated on 12 December 2014, marks the anniversary of the landmark UN resolution.
  • In 2017, 12 Dec was officially designated as International Universal Health Coverage Day by the United Nations. In Sept 2019, in the backdrop of United Nations General Assembly, there was a high level meeting on UHC (UNHLM), where world leaders committed to advance UHC.

She Box

  • This Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) is an effort of GoI to provide a single window access to every woman, irrespective of her work status, whether working in organised or unorganised, private or public sector, to facilitate the registration of complaint related to sexual harassment.
  • Any woman facing sexual harassment at workplace can register their complaint through this portal. Once a complaint is submitted to the ‘SHe-Box’, it will be directly sent to the concerned authority having jurisdiction to take action into the matter.

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