PIB Analysis : 7th and 8th July 2022

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PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. MoU in the Field of Disaster Management
  2. PM Shri School
  3. Facts for Prelims

1 . MoU in the Field of Disaster Management

Context : The Union Cabinet, Chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister has ex-post facto approved  the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 02nd August, 2022 between the National Disaster Management Authority of the Republic of India and the National Disaster Management Authority of the Republic of Maldives on cooperation in the field of Disaster Management.

Benefits

  • The MoU seeks to put in place a system, whereby both India and Maldives will be benefited from the Disaster Management mechanisms of each other and it will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building in the field of Disaster Management.

Salient features of the MoU: 

  • The Parties will extend mutual support on the request of one Party in the time of large scale disaster incident occurring within its territory, in the field of emergency relief, response, humanitarian assistance
  • The Parties will exchange information and share experiences and best practices of disaster response, mitigation, planning and preparedness.
  • The Parties will share satellite remote sensing data and expertise of space technology base applications for effective disaster mitigation, including exchange of information on disaster on prevention and risk assessment.
  • The Parties will extend cooperation in the field of advanced information technology, early warning systems, remote sensing, satellite communication & navigation services.
  • To consider training and capacity building programme for sectoral mainstreaming in disaster risk reduction, the parties will provide opportunities to train senior officials and rescue personnel of emergency management service in the short and long term trainings.
  • The Parties will exchange information about the domestic and international exhibitions as well as exercises to be held in both countries and also cooperate in areas such as research, knowledge exchange, faculty support programmes, documentation in the areas of disaster risk reduction and academic programmes in disaster resilience & climate change adaptation.
  • The parties will determine further cooperation in other activities related to disaster management.
  • The Parties may exchange Tsunami Advisories, Storm Surge, High Wave Alert, Multi Hazard vulnerability information and multi hazard risk assessment due to oceanogenic disasters along their coastal zones.
  • The Parties may exchange information about Numerical weather Predication (NWP) products and Extended Range Forecast (ERF).
  • The Parties may exchange information including provision of access by Indian side to the Real Time Analysis of Products and Information Dissemination (RAPID) for visualization of Indian Weather Satellite Data as well as providing training on NWP and Satellite Meteorology by IMD.
  • The Parties will initiate an annual disaster management exercise that will be held in the different geographic settings of both nations.

2 . PM Shri Schools

Context : The Union Cabinet today, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved a new centrally sponsored scheme – PM SHRI Schools (PM ScHools for Rising India).

About the Scheme

  • It will be a new scheme for development of more than 14500 schools across the country as PM SHRI Schools by strengthening select existing schools being managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.
  • PM SHRI Schools will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020, act as exemplar schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.
  • The PM SHRI schools will deliver quality teaching for the cognitive development of students and will strive to create and nurture holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with key 21st century skills.
  • Scheme of PM SHRI  schools (PM ScHools for Rising India) is to be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme

Key features

  •  PM SHRI will provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.
  • PM SHRI Schools will provide leadership to other schools in their respective regions by providing mentorship.
  • The PM SHRI  Schools will be developed as Green schools, incorporating environment friendly aspects like solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management, plastic free, water conservation and harvesting, study of traditions/practices related to protection of environment, climate change related hackathon and awareness generation to adopt sustainable lifestyle.
  • Pedagogy adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based (particularly, in the foundational years) inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible and enjoyable.
  • Focus will be on learning outcomes of every child in every grade. Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real life situations and will be competency-based.
  • Assessment of the resources available and their effectiveness in terms of availability, adequacy, appropriateness, and utilisation for each of the domains and their key performance indicators will be done and gaps will be filled in a systematic and planned manner.
  • Linkage with Sector Skill Councils and local industry for enhancing employability and providing better employment opportunities will be explored.
  • A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF) is being developed, specifying the key performance indicators to measure outcomes. Quality evaluation of these schools at regular interval will be undertaken to ensure the desired standards.

Major illustrative interventions of Scheme of PM SHRI Schools (PM Schools for Rising India) are:

  1. Quality and Innovation (Learning Enhancement Programme, Holistic Progress Card, Innovative Pedagogies, Bagless days, Internships with Local artisans, Capacity building etc.)
  2. Beneficiary oriented entitlements under RTE Act. 100% of PM SHRI Schools will receive Science and Math Kits.
  3. Annual School Grants (Composite School grants, Library grant, Sports grant)
  4. Early Childhood Care and Education including Balvatika and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
  5. Equity and Inclusion including provision of safe and appropriate infrastructure for girls and CWSN.
  6. Encouraging flexibility in choice of subjects offered to students.
  7. Encouraging mother tongue/local languages as medium of instruction using technological interventions to help bridge language barriers.
  8. ICT, smart classrooms and digital libraries for using digital pedagogy. 100% of the PM SHRI Schools will be covered under ICT, smart classrooms and digital initiatives.
  9. Strengthening of existing infrastructure
  10. Vocational interventions & Enhancing internship / entrepreneurship opportunities especially with local industry. Mapping of skills with developmental projects/nearby industry and develop courses/curriculum accordingly.
  11. Saturation approach will be adopted to develop these schools with all modern facilities. Science labs, Library, ICT facility and Vocational labs etc. will be provided to all the schools.
  12. Green School initiatives

Further, the scheme envisages convergence with existing schemes /Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Urban Local bodies and community participation for infrastructure upgradation of the school and creation of facilities.

Implementation strategy

  • PM SHRI Schools would be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, KVS & NVS. The other autonomous bodies would be involved on specific project basis as required.
  • These schools shall be monitored vigorously to assess progress and understand the challenges faced in implementation of National Education Policy 2020.

Selection Methodology:

  • Selection of PM SHRI schools will be done through Challenge Mode wherein Schools compete for support to become exemplar schools. Schools would be required to self-apply on the online portal. The portal will be opened four times a year, once every quarter, for first two years of the scheme.
  • The Elementary schools (Class 1-5/1-8) & the Secondary/ Sr. Secondary Schools (Class1-10/1-12/6-10/6-12) managed by Centre/State/UT Governments / local self-governments having UDISE+ code would be considered for selection under the Scheme. 
  • Selection would be done through a three-stage process with definite time lines, which is as follows: –
    • Stage-1: States/UTs would sign MoU agreeing to implement NEP in entirety with Centre laying down the commitments for supporting these schools for achieving specified quality assurance as PM SHRI schools.
    • Stage-2: In this stage, a pool of schools that are eligible to be selected as PM SHRI Schools would be identified based on prescribed minimum benchmark through UDISE+ data.
    • Stage-3: This stage is based on the challenge method for fulfilling certain criteria. Only the schools from the above eligible pool of schools would compete to fulfill the challenge conditions. Fulfillment of conditions would be certified by States/KVS/JNV through physical inspection.
  • States/UTs/KVS/JNV shall verify the claims reported by Schools and recommend the list of schools to the Ministry.
  • Maximum two schools (one Elementary & one Secondary/Senior Secondary) would be selected per block/ULB with upper limit of number of total schools across India.Geo-tagging of schools for the selection and monitoring of PM SHRI schools will be done. The services of Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) will be taken for geo-tagging and other related tasks. An Expert committee would be constituted for final selection of schools.

Quality Assurance of PM SHRI Schools

  1. Showcase of NEP 2020
  2. Student registry  for tracking enrolment and learning progress
  3. Improvement in learning outcomes of each child to achieve levels above state and national average
  4. Every middle grade child exposed/oriented to cutting edge and 21st century skills
  5. Every secondary grade child passes out with at least one skill
  6. Sports, Arts, ICT for every child
  7. Sustainable and Green schools
  8. Each school linked/connected to Higher Education Institutions for mentoring
  9. Every school linked/connected to local entrepreneurial ecosystem
  10. Every child counselled for psychological well-being and career
  11. Students will be rooted to knowledge and heritage of India, proud of civilizational ethos and values of Bharat, aware of India’s contribution to the world, conscious of duties towards society, living beings and the nature, communicatively competent in Indian languages, respecting inclusivity, equality and unity in diversity, sense of service and furthering the spirit of  ‘Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat’.
  12. Character-building, citizenship values, fundamental duties and responsibilities towards nation-building

These schools will be developed as vibrant schools focusing on all round development of children.

Beneficiaries

  • More than 18 lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme. Futher impact will be generated through the mentoring and handholding of the schools in vicinity of PM SHRI schools.

3 . Facts for Prelims

US Startup SETU – Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling programme in the Bay Area of San Francisco.

  • The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal launched the US Startup SETU – Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling programme in the Bay Area of San Francisco.
  • The initiative would connect start-ups in India to US-based investors and start-up ecosystem leaders with mentorship and assistance in various areas including funding, market access and commercialization.
  •  The programme was launched at a luncheon interaction focused on specific issues related to start-up ecosystem in India. The meeting focused on ways to encourage domestic incorporation and mentorship of early-stage Indian startups by successful diaspora members in the Bay Area.
  •  SETU is designed to break the geographical barriers between mentors based in US that are willing to invest in entrepreneurship and sunrise startups in India.
  • The interaction will be supported through the mentorship portal under the Startup India initiative MAARG, or the Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth program, which is a single-stop solution finder for startups in India.
  • The portal has been developed with the idea to be accessible from every corner of the country to connect with a mentor. A mentor will offer human intelligence in guiding the startups. It may be noted that till date, more than 200 mentors have been successfully onboarded on MAARG across the globe.
  • The core functions of MAARG are to improve ease of access, use Artificial Intelligence for Matchmaking, schedule meetings virtually, host masterclasses, provide a custom dashboard for relevant information, analytics, features, etc., host cohort-based programs that will allow startup ecosystem enablers to be become a part of the program and enable outcome driven activities.

E-Daakhil Programme

  • Pertinently, the e-Daakhil programme offers a simple platform for consumers who are facing time constraint to contact the consumer commission for the resolution of their complaints.
  • It has been agreed to integrate the Common Service Centers (CSC) with the e-daakhil site in order to make electronic filing easier for rural consumers. The services of CSCs are being used by consumers at the Gram Panchayat level who do not have access to or unable to use electronic means of communication to file complaints with the Consumer Commission.
  • The process of integrating this portal with CSC is now complete. As a result, consumers who lack access to or technical expertise to operate electronic equipment can seek assistance from their local CSCs to lodge complaints with the relevant consumer commission.

IEPFA

  • The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) was set up on September 7, 2016, under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, for administering the Investor Education and Protection Fund for making refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, and matured deposits/debentures, among other things, to investors.

NCAER

  • NCAER is India’s oldest and largest independent economic think tank, set up in 1956 to inform policy choices for both the public and private sectors. It is one of a few independent think tanks world-wide that combines rigorous economic analysis and policy outreach with deep data collection capabilities, particularly for large-scale household surveys.
  • NCAER is led by its Director General, Dr Poonam Gupta, the institution’s first woman head, who assumed office on 1 July 2021, and it is governed by an independent Governing Body currently chaired by Mr Nandan M. Nilekani.

CoE-SURVEI

  • CoE-SURVEI, established by Directorate General Defence Estates at National Institute of Defence Estates Management, leverages latest technologies in survey viz. satellite imagery, drone imagery and geo-spatial tools for effective land management and urban planning

International Day of Clean Air for blue skies

  • United Nations General Assembly has designated 7th September as the “International Day of Clean Air for blue skies” with an aim to raise awareness and to promote actions to improve air quality. This year, it raises awareness on the urgency of strengthening national action and regional collaboration to improve air quality, with the global theme of “The Air We Share”.

Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFD)

  • The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence has been working for the welfare and rehabilitation of war widows, wards of martyred soldiers and Ex-Servicemen (ESM), including disabled ones by providing financial assistance for their identified personal needs such as penury grant, children’s education grant, funeral grant, medical grant and orphan/disabled children grant. This financial assistance is provided out of the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF) for which contributions are received from the general public on the Armed Forces Flag Day (AFFD) which is celebrated on 7th December every year.

Kerala’s traditional Panch Vadayam

  • Panch Vadyam is an orchestra of five instruments, basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala.
  • Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, kombu, is a wind instrument.

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