PIB Analysis : 7th & 8th August 2022

by

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Indigenous 5G Test Bed 
  2. Ex – Vajra Prahar
  3. Dikhsa and Nishtha
  4. Wetlands in India
  5. PMJJBY & PMSBY
  6. Pradhan Mantri Addi adarsh Yojana
  7. Swadesh Darshan 2.0
  8. IBn Supernovae
  9. Important Bills passed in monsoon session
  10. Facts for Prelims

1 . Indigenous 5G Test Bed 

PIB Realease – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849978 

Context: Government of India has decided to offer the use of Indigenous 5G Test Bed free of cost to the Indian Government recognized start-ups and MSMEs for the next six months upto Jan, 2023. 

About Indigenous 5G Test Bed: 

  • Indigenous 5G Test Bed provides an open 5G test bed that enables R&D teams of Indian academia and industry to validate their products, prototypes, algorithms and demonstrate various services. 
  • It also provides complete access for research teams to work on novel concepts/ideas holding potential for standardization in India and on global scale. It provides the facilities of 5G networks for experimenting and demonstrating applications/use cases of importance to Indian society like rural broadband, smart city applications and intelligent transport system (ITS) and shall help to Indian operators to understand the working of 5G technologies and plan their future networks. 
  • The end-to-end test bed is compliant with the global 3GPP standard and the ORAN standard. 
  • The eight collaborating institutes in the project are IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT). 

Benefits

  • The development of this Indigenous Test Bed is a key milestone step for India’s becoming self-reliant in the 5G Technology domain and now leading towards 5G Aatmanirbhar Bharat.  
  • This Test Bed is providing the Indigenous capability for testing and validation of 5G products being developed and manufactured by Indian start-ups, MSME, R&D, Academia and industry users. This has resulted in huge cost efficiency and reduced design time due to which Indian 5G products are likely to become market competitive globally. 
  • It is available at a very nominal rate to all other stakeholders.  

2 . Ex Vajra Prahar 2022

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849960 

Context: The 13th Edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “Ex Vajra Prahar 2022” commenced in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.   

Ex Vajra Prahar  

  • This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India and the United States.  
  • The Vajra Prahar series of joint exercise aims to share best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics as also to improve inter-operability between the Special Forces of both the Nations 
  • This joint exercise is a significant step in strengthening the traditional bond of friendship between the special forces of both Nations as well as improve bilateral defence cooperation between India and the USA.  

Ex Vajra Prahar 2022 

  • The exercise is being conducted at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS), Bakloh (HP)   
  • The US contingent is represented by personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) and Special Tactics Squadron (STS) of US Special Forces and the Indian Army contingent is formed by drawing Special Forces personnel under the aegis of SFTS. 
  • During the course of the excercise, both armies would jointly train, plan and execute a series of Special Operations, Counter Terrorist Operations, Air Borne operations in simulated conventional and unconventional scenarios in mountainous terrain. 

3 . Diksha Platform & Nishtha

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849885 

Context: DIKSHA is the platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform). 

DIKSHA

  • DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) is a national platform for school education, an initiative of National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. 
  • Launched in 2017, DIKSHA has been adopted by almost all the States, Union Territories, central autonomous bodies/boards including CBSE. 
  • Under the PM eVidya initiative of the GoI, which was declared as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat, DIKSHA has been declared as ‘One Nation, One Digital Platform’. 
  • DIKSHA can be accessed by learners and teachers across the country and currently supports 36 Indian languages.  
  • DIKSHA complies with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA. This enables people with visual impairments to access the website using assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired is developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube. 
  • DIKSHA policies and tools make it possible for the education ecosystem (educationist, experts, organisations, institutions – government, autonomous institutions, non-govt and private organisations) to participate, contribute and leverage a common platform to achieve learning goals at scale for the country. 

NISHTHA

During the pandemic, the massive teacher’s professional development programme NISHTHA 1.0 (National Initiatives for School Heads and Teacher’s Holistic Advancement), NISHTHA 2.0 & 3.0. Apart from NISHTHA , several States/UTs have designed their own capacity building programs. 

  • NISHTHA 1.0 (National Initiatives for School Heads and Teacher’s Holistic Advancement) for Elementary grades was launched online through DIKSHA. 
  • NISHTHA 2.0 (Secondary Level)  Available online through DIKSHA for secondary/senior secondary level teachers  
    • NISHTHA 2.0 Online on DIKSHA portal has been developed encompassing twelve generic courses and seven pedagogy courses. Accordingly, 68 Modules have been developed including: Curriculum and Inclusive Education; ICT in Teaching, Learning and Assessment; Personal-Social Qualities for Holistic Development of Learners; Art lntegrated Learning; Understanding Secondary Stage Learners; Health and Well Being; School Leadership Development; Vocational Education; Gender Issues in Education; Initiatives in School Education; Toy Based Pedagogy; and School Based Assessment. State can contextualize these modules in Iine with their state specific needs.  
    • The training programme covers around 10 Lakh Teacher and School Heads at Secondary Level across all States and UTs.  
    • NCERT has developed a package including 13 Online Courses with 12 Generic modules and 56 subject specific modules for NISHTHA 2.0 and as on date 33 States and UTs have initiated this training programme in 10 languages. 
  • NISHTHA 3.0
    • For Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FtN) in online mode on DIKSHA platform for teachers and school heads of pre-primary to class V  
    • NISHTHA 3.0 Online on DIKSHA portal has been developed with the aim to help teachers design experiences for holistic development of each child and comprises of 12 Modules namely: Introduction to FLN Mission; Shifting towards Competency Based Education; Understanding the Learner; Transacting 3 months Play Based School Preparation Module for Grade I Children and Balvatika; Foundational Language and Literacy; Foundational Numeracy; Learning Assessment; Involvement of Parents and Community; Integration of ICT in Teaching, Learning and Assessment; Multi lingual Education; Toy Based Pedagogy; and School Leadership. 
  • A special package consisting of 12 online modules have been developed by NCERT for this purpose, as per objectives of NIPUN Bharat Mission. So far 33 States/UTs has initiated the programme in 11 Languages and the same has been adopted by 5 Autonomous Organisation under MOE, MOD & MOTA. 
  • The NISHTHA 3.0 – FLN envisions covering nearly 25 Lakh Teacher and School Heads at Pre-Primary and Primary Level across all states and UTs. 

4 . Wetlands in India

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849868 

Context: 64 wetlands/water bodies have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance, Ramsar sites, across the country under Ramsar Convention since 1981, covering total area of around 1.25 million Hectares. 

Wetlands

  • According to the definition of wetland under Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, an area of marsh, fen, peat land or water; whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters, are considered as wetlands. 
  • As per the National Wetland Inventory & Assessment, 2011, Space Applications Centre- ISRO Ahmedabad identified approximately 2.0 lakhs water bodies/wetlands  across the country covering an area of approximately 10 million ha. 

Initiatives taken by government for conservation of wetlands: 

  • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands across country to conserve, manage and maintain the ecological character of the wetlands without restricting its wise use. 
  • Further, the Ministry is also implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely, National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) for conservation and management of identified wetlands (includes lakes) in the country on cost sharing basis between Central Government and respective State Governments.  
    • The scheme covers various activities such as interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater, shoreline protection, lake front development, in-situ cleaning i.e., desilting & de-weeding, storm water management, bioremediation, catchment area treatment, lake beautification, survey & demarcation, bio-fencing, fisheries development, weed control, biodiversity conservation, education and awareness creation, community participation, etc.  
    • Under the NPCA scheme, the central assistance is based on the proposals received from the State Governments in the form of Integrated Management Plans including brief documents, in conformity with the guidelines and budget availability.  
    • So far, MoEF&CC has sanctioned proposals for conservation of 164 wetlands across the country and released an amount of about Rs. 1066.43 Crores as central share. 
  • Four – pronged approach of preparing Brief Documents, filling Ecosystem Health Cards, instituting Wetland Mitras and formulating Integrated Management Plans based on the health and specific threats facing the wetlands, is in place for conservation and management of wetlands.   
  • A dedicated Web Portal for Wetlands has been developed, which is a publicly available information and knowledge platform in order to facilitate knowledge sharing, information dissemination, host capacity building material, and provide a single-point access data repository for processing information and making it available to the stakeholders in an efficient and accessible manner. 
  • A Centre for Wetlands Conservation and Management (CWCM) under the Ministry’s National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) has been established to serve as a knowledge hub and to enable exchange of knowledge between wetland users, managers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and to assist the national and State/ UT Governments in the design and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks, management planning, monitoring and targeted research specifically related to wetlands. 

Ramsar convention

  • International agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands. It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem. 
  • It was established in 1971 (2nd Feb) by UNESCO and came into force in 1975. India signed under it on 1st February 1982. 

5 . PMJJBY and PMSBY 

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849976 

Context: Benefits by way of 1,00,255 claims paid amounting to Rs. 1,990.57 crore, and 5,93,316 claims paid amounting to Rs. 11,866.32 crore, were offered under PMSBY and PMJJBY respectively. 

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)

  • Ministry :  Ministry of Finance  
  • It is a one-year accidental insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death or disability due to accident.  
  • Individuals in the age group of 18-70 years having a savings bank or a post office account are entitled to enroll under the scheme.  
  • Accidental death cum disability cover :For accidental death and full disability – Rs.2 Lakh and for partial disability – Rs.1 Lakh. 
  • The scheme will be offered by all Public Sector General Insurance Companies and all other insurers who are willing to join the scheme and tie-up with banks for this purpose. 

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)?  

  • Ministry:  Ministry of Finance 
  • It is a one-year life insurance scheme renewable from year to year offering coverage for death due to any reason.  
  • Individuals in the age group of 18-50 years having a savings bank or a post office account are entitled to enroll under the scheme.   
  • Life cover of Rs. 2 Lakh in case of death due to any reason against a premium of Rs. 330/- per annum. 
  • The scheme will be offered by Life Insurance Corporation and all other life insurers who are willing to join the scheme and tie-up with banks for this purpose. 

PMJJBY and PMSBY are universal social security schemes that are open to all in the specified age groups and are not specific to people living below the poverty line or any other such specific group, 

6 . Pradhan Mantri Addi adarsh Yojana

PIB Release- https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849956 

Context: Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna’ to achieve integrated socio-economic development of tribal population. 

Pradhan Mantri Addi adarsh Yojana 

  • Government has modified the earlier scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance’ to Tribal Sub-Scheme with nomenclature ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)’, for implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26. 
  • It aims at mitigating gaps and providing basic infrastructure in villages with significant tribal population in convergence with funds available under different schemes in Central Scheduled Tribe Component.  
  • The main objective of this scheme is to achieve integrated socio-economic development of selected villages through convergence approach. It includes the following components. 
    • Preparing Village Development Plan based on the needs, potential, and aspirations; 
    • Maximizing the coverage of individual / family benefit schemes of the Central / State Governments; 
    • Improving the infrastructure in vital sectors like health, education, connectivity and livelihood; 
  • It is envisaged to cover 36,428 villages having at least 50% ST population and 500 STs across States / UTs with notified STs during the period 

Implementation: 

  • The scheme envisions to mitigate gaps in prominent 8 sectors of development viz. Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block), Telecom connectivity (Mobile /internet), School, Anganwadi Centres, Health Sub-Centre, Drinking water facility, Drainage and solid waste management.  
  • A sum of ₹20.38 lakh per village as ‘gap-filling’ has been provisioned for approved activities including administrative expenses under PMAAGY.  
  • An amount of Rs. 7,276 cr has been approved by the Cabinet for the scheme in next 5 years. 
  • Besides, States / UTs are encouraged for convergence of resources as Central / State Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) funds and other financial resources available with them for saturation of infrastructure and services in the villages identified under PMAAGY. 

7 . Swadesh Darshan 2.0

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849849 

Context: Ministry of Tourism under its Swadesh Darshan Scheme (SDS) has sanctioned 10 projects under the theme of Coastal Circuit. 

Swadesh Darshan 

  • Launched in 2014-15 for integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits, it is 100% centrally funded scheme.  
  • Various circuits under the scheme are :- Buddhist Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Heritage Circuit, Northeast Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit, Wildlife Circuit and Tribal Circuit. 

Swadesh Darshan 2.0 

  • The Ministry of Tourism has now revamped its Swadesh Darshan scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) in order to develop sustainable and responsible destination centric approach with the following objectives: 
    • To enhance the contribution of tourism to the local economies. 
    • To create jobs including self-employment for local communities. 
    • To enhance the skills of local youth in tourism and hospitality. 
    • To increase private sector investment in tourism and hospitality. 
    • To preserve and enhance the local cultural and natural resources. 

8 . IBn Supernovae

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849932 

Context: A team of scientists have deciphered the physical characteristics of a rare class of supernovae called Type Ibn Supernovae. 

IBn Supernovae 

  • Type Ibn supernovae are a rare class of stripped-envelope supernovae interacting with a helium-rich dense circumstellar medium.  
  • These Supernovae are unique and essential because they help to explore about the typical density, velocity, and composition of the nearby SN environment.  
  • They are more luminous than normal supernovae, which are huge stellar explosions releasing a humongous amount of energy.  
  • SN 2019wep is one of the very rare Supernovae for which a long-term monitoring campaign was launched to decipher the physical characteristics following detection of flash ionisation signatures.  

Key findings

  • The researchers have identified rare signatures of flash ionisation in the very early spectra of SN 2019wep.  
  • The rare signatures hint towards a special class of very hot and massive stars in advanced stages of stellar evolution, having depleted hydrogen, called Wolf-Rayet progenitor star. The early signatures of flash ionisation, especially Helium, were previously traced in some SNe mostly due to the CSM recombination.  
  • The team traced the unique Carbon and Nitrogen signatures in the optical waveband deciphering the physical characteristics.   
  • The SN Ibns is a peculiar one, which shows a transitioning nature and residual H-alpha. 
    • In general, SN Ibn are expected to show He features only, however, this is a unique case where we can see some remaining Halpha in the SN spectrum.  
    • The researchers said that SNe Ibns are typically short-lived, and dedicated follow-up campaigns will help unravel the mysteries of the unique members of Type Ibn class and their ancestors. 

9 . Important Bills passed during monsoon session

PIB Release – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849999 

Context: During the monsoon session, a total of 5 Bills were passed by both Houses of the Parliament. 

Important Bills passed during monsoon session: 

During the Session 6 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha. 7 Bills were passed by Lok Sabha and 5 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha. One Bill was withdrawn with the leave of Lok Sabha. Total number of Bills passed by both Houses of the Parliament during the Session is 5. Some of the major Bills passed by both Houses during the Session are as under: 

  • The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 seeks to amend the parent Act to provides
    • For the establishment of Family Courts in the State of Himachal Pradesh with effect from the 15th February, 2019 and in the State of Nagaland with effect from the 12th September, 2008; 
    • For the insertion of a  new section 3A to retrospectively validate all actions under the parent Act taken by the State Governments of Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland. 
  • The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, which, seeks to —  
    • prohibit financing of any activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems;  
    • empower the Central Government to—  
      • freeze, seize or attach funds or other financial assets or economic resources for preventing such financing;  
      • prohibit making available funds, financial assets or economic resources for any prohibited activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. 
  • The Indian Antarctica Bill, 2022 provides for the national measures for protecting the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
  • The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021 provides for the constitution of the National Anti-Doping Agency for regulating anti-doping activities in sports and to give effect to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation International Convention against doping in sport, and compliance of such other obligations and commitments thereunder and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
  • The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022 seeks to amend the Central Universities Act, 2009, to provide for the establishment of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya as a body corporate. 

10 . Facts for Prelims

National Handloom day  – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849340 

  • In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared August 7 as the National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi movement that began in 1905 on the same day and to revive this ancient Indian art. 
  • It is also aimed at encouraging countrymen to use handloom products woven by indigenous weavers 
  • On this day, we honour our handloom-weaving community and highlight the contribution of this sector in the socio-economic development of our country. We reaffirm our resolve to protect our handloom heritage and to empower the handloom weavers and workers financially and instilling pride in their exquisite craftsmanship. 

ITU – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849356 

  • It is the United Nations specialised agency for Information and Communication Technologies – ICTs. 
  • Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks. 
  • It is Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. 
  • It allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strives to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide. 
  • ITU currently has a membership of 193 countries and over 900 private-sector entities and academic institutions. 

National School of Drama – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849355 

  • The National School of Drama is one of the foremost theatre training institutions in the world and the only one of its kind in India. 
  •  It was set up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as one of its constituent units in 1959. 
  •  In 1975, it became an independent entity and was registered as an autonomous organization under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, fully financed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.  
  • Training in the School is highly intensive and is based on a thorough, comprehensive, carefully planned syllabus which covers every aspect of theatre and in which theory is related to practice. 
  • It under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is organizing “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022 (Azadi Segment)” to pay tributes to our freedom fighters. 

Drone- A thon – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849961 

  • The Indian Army in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India has launched the ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme. 
  • It is aimed to catalyse and provide focused opportunities to the Indian drone ecosystem to develop path-breaking drone capabilities for meeting requirements of frontline troops.. 
  • The ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme is pan India sustained connect between all stake holders including industry, academia, software developers and drone product manufacturers 
  • This initiative in line with Atmanirbharta in defence manufacturing. 
  • It will be conducted in stages with quantifiable parameters (like altitude, weight, range, endurance etc) being progressively enhanced based on demonstrated capabilities. 

IDEX initiative : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849786 

  • Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework was launched by the Government 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 and promote self-reliance.  
  • The Government has approved a central sector scheme for iDEX for the next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.  
  • The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to nearly 300 Start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and about 20 Partner Incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). 

Recycling of e-waste – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849863 

  • The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 provide for compulsory registration of the recycling units 
  • The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 also provide for recognition and registration, skill development, monitoring and ensuring safety and health, of workers involved in dismantling and recycling of e-waste. 
  • Under the E-Waste Management Rules, provision for reduction of hazardous substances in manufacturing of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) has been provided. It mandates that every producer of EEE and their components shall ensure that their products do not contain lead, mercury and other hazardous substances beyond the maximum prescribed concentration. 
  • Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued guidelines/Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for processing of e-waste.  
  • The CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) have been monitoring the units and necessary steps have been taken to mainstream and modernise the recycling industry with the help of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 

Jan Samarth” Portal – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1849971 

  • The Government has launched “Jan Samarth” Portal to provide a common platform for availing loan under certain credit-linked Government schemes.  
  • The salient features of the “Jan Samarth” Portal are as under: 
    • It connects all stakeholders like beneficiaries, financial institutions, Central/State Government Agencies, and Nodal Agencies on a common platform. 
    • Applicants can initially access 13 credit-linked Government Schemes catering to youth, students, entrepreneurs and farmers viz. Education Loans, Agriculture Loans, Business Activity Loans, and Livelihood Loans. 
  • The “Jan Samarth” Portal eases the loan application and disbursement process.  
  • Any applicant/ beneficiary can register, check eligibility under various Government Schemes and apply for loan through Jan Samarth Portal round the clock. 

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