PIB Analysis : 22nd and 23rd August 2022

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. International Astronomy and astrophysics Olympiad
2. Australia – India Educational Council
3. Smart India Hackathon
4. VL-SRSAM
5. Science & Tech hub

1 . International Astronomy and astrophysics Olympiad

PIB Release : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853625

Context: India secured the third rank in medal tally at the 15th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA).

15th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA):

• The 15th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2022 held in Kutaisi, Georgia, in August, 2022.
• There were 209 students from 37 main and 6 guest teams participating in this year’s IOAA. In addition, 24 students from 6 countries participated in the online mode.
• In all, 28 gold, 38 silver and 55 bronze medals were awarded at this IOAA.  
• In the medals tally India was placed jointly in the third position along with Singapore, behind Iran’s official team (5 golds) and guest team (4 golds, 1 silver).
• Raghav Goyal won a special prize for the best solution to the most challenging theoretical question.

About IOAA:

• The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics is an international competition for high-school students along the lines of the other International Science Olympiads, covering the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
• The main goal of the IOAA is to promote the growing interest in Astronomy and related STEM subjects, especially through the general education of young people, and enhancing the development of international contacts among different countries in promoting Astronomy and Astrophysics in schools.
• The first IOAA was held in 2007.

2 . Australia – India Educational Council

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853533

Context: Union Minister for Education & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting and co-chaired the 6th meeting of Australia India Education Council (AIEC) with Australian Counterpart at Western Sydney University.

6^th meeting of Australia – India Educational Council:

• It focussed on strengthening cooperation in education, skill development, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
•  India welcomed Australian universities and skilling institutions to set up their campuses in India and explore areas of collaboration with Indian institutions.
• Both countries also agreed to expand the cooperation in learning, skilling and research with a view to make education a key pillar under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
• India stressed on the research collaboration between the two countries in skill certification and the areas like Ayurveda, Yoga, Agriculture, mining, logistics management, etc.
• Both sides announced establishment of a working group on transnational education to build shared understanding of the regulatory settings in both countries and promote opportunities for two-way mobility of institutions.

Australia – India Educational Council:

• The Australian India Education Council (AIEC), is the principal bi-national body for driving the Australia India education, training and research agenda.
• it is co-chaired by the Australian and Indian Education Ministers.
• The AIEC meets in conjunction with the annual Australia-India Ministerial Dialogue on Education Cooperation and has a number of working groups to drive joint initiatives in five thematic areas. These Working Groups are focused on skills, student mobility and welfare, quality assurance and recognition, schools and higher education and research.

3 . Smart India Hackathon

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853862

Context: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2022 on 25th August via video conferencing.

Smart India Hackathon:

• Smart India Hackathon (SIH) was started in the year 2017.
• SIH is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve the pressing problems of society, organizations, and government.
• It aims to inculcate the culture of product innovation, problem-solving and out-of-the-box thinking among students.

5^th Smart India Hackathon:

• More than 15,000 students and mentors are travelling to the 75 nodal centres to take part in the SIH 2022 grand finale.
• Students from over 2900 schools and 2200 Higher Education Institutions will tackle 476 problem statements from across 53 Union Ministries in the finale, including Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of Temple inscriptions and translations in Devanagari Scripts, IoT-enabled risk monitoring system in Cold Supply Chain for perishable food items, High-resolution 3D model of terrain, infrastructure and roads conditions in disaster struck areas, etc.
• This year, Smart India Hackathon – Junior has also been introduced as a pilot for school students to build a culture of innovation and develop problem-solving attitude at the school level.

4 . Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853841

Context: Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully flight tested Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

VL-SRSAM:

• The flight test was carried out from an Indian Naval Ship against a high-speed unmanned aerial target for demonstration of vertical launch capability.
• The missile is equipped with indigenous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker and has intercepted the target with high accuracy.
• The VL-SRSAM system has been indigenously designed and developed by DRDO.
• The missile will prove to be a force multiplier for the Indian Navy and will further strengthen the Indian Navy for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets.

5 . Science & Tech hub

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853901

Context: Ministry of Science and Technology is setting up 75 Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Hubs in different parts of the country, exclusively for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to promote scientific talent and uplift the socio-economic status of these communities.

Science Technology and Innovation Hubs:

• Science Technology and Innovation Hubs are being established by the Department of Science and Technology.
• They aim to develop, nurture and ensure the delivery of appropriate and relevant technologies for inclusive socio-economic development through creation of sustainable livelihoods for the SC and ST population.
• They also aim to address the weakest linkages in the predominant livelihood systems through Science & Technology (S&T) interventions and improve the Indigenous Knowledge Systems through inputs of S&T.
• These Hubs will directly benefit over 30,000 SC and ST population through various interventions spreading across farm, non-farm, other allied livelihood sectors and various livelihood assets like energy, water, health, education, etc.
• The Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) division of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is providing grant-in-aid support to several Knowledge Institutions, and Science and Technology based Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) for the holistic development of SC and ST communities.