Current Affairs 7/2/24

Indian Heritage

Culture

Modern Indian history

The Freedom Struggle

Post-independence

Indian Society

A. population and associated issues

B. poverty and developmental issues

C.urbanization

7. Geographical features

PRITHvi VIgyan (PRITHVI) Scheme

The PRITHVI scheme encompasses five on-going sub-schemes namely:-

Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS).
Ocean Services, Modelling Application, Resources and Technology (O-SMART).
Polar Science and Cryosphere Research (PACER).
Seismology and Geosciences (SAGE).
Research, Education, Training and Outreach (REACHOUT).

The overarching scheme of PRITHVI holistically addresses all the five components of earth system namely atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, cryosphere and biosphere to improve the understating of the Earth System Sciences and to provide reliable services for the country. Various research & development and operational (services) activities under PRITHVI scheme are carried out in an integrated manner through combined efforts of the concerned Institutes under MoES.

DEVELOPMENTS IN EARTH SCIENCES

ignificant developments have been made to improve the monitoring and forecasting of severe weather events through augmenting the observational network in the country that include the following since 2014:

39 Doppler weather radars network in 2023 against 15 in 2014.
1208 Automatic weather stations in 2023 against 675 in 2014.
1382 Automatic rain gauges in 2023 against 1350 in 2014.
35 High wind speed recorders in 2023 against 19 in 2014.
56 Upper air observation systems in 2023 against 43 in 2014.
23 Manual pilot balloon (PB) stations upgraded to global positioning system (GPS) based stations while there was no GPS based PB station in 2014.
138 Runway visual ranges in 2023 against 20 in the year 2014 at different airports across the country.
107 Digital current weather systemson frangible masts at airports across India in 2023 against 29 in 2014.
8 Heliport weather observing systems (HAWOS) have been installed at various heliports across the country in 2023 while there was no HAWOS in 2014.
5896 District-wise rainfall monitoring scheme stations in 2023 against 3955 in 2014.

Agro-meteorological advisory services (AAS) have been extended to the block level from district level since 2018. At present, AAS is provided to all the agriculturally important 700 districts and around 3100 blocks in the country.

8.Indian Constitution

9. Polity

10. Governance

A. institutions

B. regulatory

C. Government policies

D. role of NGOs

E. measures

11. Social Justice

A. Welfare schemes

PM-AJAY

Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) is a unified scheme, framed after merging the three existing schemes of this Department namely Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCA to SCSP), Babu Jagjivan Ram Chatrawas Yojana (BJRCY) and Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) with an aim:

to reduce poverty of the SC communities by generation of additional employment opportunities through skill development, income generating schemes and other initiatives.
to improve socio-economic developmental indicators by ensuring adequate infrastructure and requisite services in the SC dominated villages.
to increase literacy and encourage enrolment of SCs in schools and higher educational institutions by providing adequate residential facilities in quality institutions, as well as residential schools where required, especially in the aspirational districts/ SC dominated blocks.

The details of the progress made under the scheme and the outcomes under the scheme as reported by State/UT Governments during the last 05 years are as under:

Under Adarsh Gram component, a total of 29881 villages have been covered under Adarsh Gram Component and out of these, 6087 villages have been declared as Adarsh Gram.
Under Grant-in-aid component, the central assistance of Rs. 3242.07 Cr have been released and a total of 850611 beneficiaries have been benefited from the assistance.
Under Hostel Component, a total of 85 hostels have been sanctioned and 8659 inmates have been benefited from these hostels.

B Health

C. Education

D. Human Resources

NEP, 2020

Some of the provisions/highlights of NEP 2020 are as follows:

(i) Ensuring Universal Access at All Levels of schooling from pre-primary school to Grade 12;

(ii) Ensuring quality early childhood care and education for all children between 3-6 years;

(iii) Introducing New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure (5+3+3+4);

(iv) Ensuring no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams;

(v) Establishing National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy;

(vi) Emphasis on promoting multilingualism and Indian languages; The medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.

(vii) Assessment reforms –Introducing Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired;

(viii) Setting up of a new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development);

(ix) Equitable and inclusive education –Ensuring special emphasis to be given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs);

(x) Establishing a separate Gender Inclusion fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups;

(xi) Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit-based performance;

(xii) Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters;

(xiii) Setting up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA);

(xiv) Providing Exposure of vocational education in school and higher education system;

(xv) Increasing GER in higher education to 50%;

(xvi) Introducing Holistic Multidisciplinary Education with multiple entry/exit options;

(xvii) Introducing Common Entrance Exam for Admission to HEIs to be offered by NTA;

(xviii) Establishment of Academic Bank of Credit;

(xix) Setting up of Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs);

(xx) Setting up of National Research Foundation (NRF);

(xxi) Framing ‘Light but Tight’ regulation;

(xxii) Setting up of single overarching umbrella body for promotion of higher education sector including teacher education and excluding medical and legal education- the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)-with independent bodies for standard setting- the General Education Council; funding-Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC); accreditation- National Accreditation Council (NAC); and regulation- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC);

(xxiii) Expansion of open and distance learning to increase GER.

(xxiv) Internationalization of Education.

E. poverty and hunger

12. International relations

A. India and its neighbourhood

B. groupings and agreements

C.Indian diaspora

the World Sustainable Development Summit 2024

The 23rd edition of the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)—the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS)—will be held from 7-9 February 2024 in New Delhi. The Summit deliberations will focus on the umbrella theme: Leadership for Sustainable Development and Climate Justice.

Today’s challenges for attaining sustainable development are complex and interconnected and will need everyone to work towards creating a more sustainable future. Leadership plays a crucial role in driving change. Leadership for achieving sustainable development requires inclusivity, resiliency, adaptability, and creativity.

It is with this background, TERI is bringing together leading representatives from international organizations, government, business & industries, research & academia, civil society, and youth to deliberate on championing initiatives on sustainable development and climate justice. The Summit deliberations will examine topics such as integrating sustainable development, nature-based solutions, adaptation and resilience, sustainable consumption and lifestyles, addressing the energy trilemma, and climate action. Special features at the Summit will include Ministerial Addresses, Youth Plenary, Women Leadership Addresses, CEO Forum, Expo, Special Events and Thematic Tracks.

By playing a constructivist role, the Summit, and its knowledge initiative, Act4Earth seek to reinforce commitment at all levels to enhance ambition and action to create a more sustainable and equitable world for present and future generations.

13. Economic Development

A. Government Budgeting

B. industrial

the International Year of Millets (IYM – 2023)

The year 2023 was celebrated as the International Year of Millets (IYM – 2023). The Government of India has taken a proactive multi-stakeholder engagement approach (engaging various central government Ministries/Departments, States/UTs, farmers, start-ups, exporters, retail businesses, hotels, Indian Embassies etc.) to achieve the objectives of IYM 2023 and taking Indian millets globally.

The Government of India has organized various events to make it peoples’ movement so that the Indian millets, recipes, value added products be promoted globally. Millets were promoted during the G20 presidency in India, Millet Culinary carnival, International Trade Events, Chefs Conference, exhibition of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs), road shows, kisan melas, Chef’s training for paramilitary forces, ASEAN India Millet Festival at Indonesia and Delhi etc.

To make India a global hub for ‘Shree Anna’, the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad has been declared as the Global Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the national and international level. IIMR is providing training to the farmers, women farmers, home makers, students and young entrepreneurs on manufacturing of value-added millet food products, daily recipes etc., and supporting them to establish self-enterprise. The institute has also developed value-added technologies, including “Ready to Eat” and “Ready to Cook” for millet foods. Other steps taken in this regard are branding of millet foods under “Eatrite” tag; holding of awareness programmes; and promoting agribusiness incubator and technology business incubators etc.

In continuation to the efforts towards mainstreaming millets, a ‘Millets Experience Centre (MEC)’ has been opened at Dilli Haat, INA, New Delhi with an aim to raise awareness on Millets and encourage its adoption among general public. To encourage consumption of Shree Anna among government employees, all Government offices have been advised to include Shree Anna snacks in departmental trainings/meetings and Shree Anna based food items in departmental canteens.

The Government has been working to leverage partnerships with start-ups, academic & research institutions, Indian missions, processors, retailers and exporters to promote Indian millets in the global markets. An Export Promotion Forum (EPF) dedicated to promoting millets in the international market has been established. A separate millet-specific web portal has been developed containing information about millets, their health benefits, production and export statistics, millet exporter’s directory etc.

SVAMITVA Scheme

VAMITVA Scheme to provide Record of Rights to village property owners. The scheme aims to demarcate inhabited (Abadi) land in rural areas through the latest surveying drone-technology and is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Departments, State Panchayati Raj Departments and Survey of India. The scheme covers multifarious aspects, viz., facilitating monetisation of properties and enabling bank loan; reducing property related disputes; comprehensive village level planning, would be a stepping-stone towards achieving Gram Swaraj in true sense and making rural India Atmanirbhar. As on 24^th January 2024,

PM-Gati Shakti Scheme

PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan for multimodal Connectivity is a digital platform to bring the 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of Infrastructure connectivity Projects. As per policy guidelines / Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) of this Ministry for development of the National Highway/Expressway under PM Gati Shakti National Master plan, all the Projects having total capital cost of more than Rs. 500 cr are presented before the Network Planning Group (NPG) for their comments/suggestion and overall assessment of the proposal.

E.issues

14. Technology

the present installed nuclear power capacity is set to increase from 7480 MW to 22800 MW by 2031-32

the Government is taking policy measures to generate electricity through atomic energy as well as the other sources of energy in order to promote these sources of energy.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, to increase the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation in the country, the Government has taken the following steps like it accorded administrative approval and financial sanction to set up ten (10) indigenous 700 MW Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in fleet mode, Creation of Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) for implementation of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, Amendment of the Atomic Energy Act to enable Joint Ventures of Public Sector Companies to set up nuclear power projects and Entering into agreements with foreign countries for nuclear power cooperation including supply of fuel.

15. Environment

16. Security

CYBER CRIMES

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication “Crime in India”. The latest published report is for the year 2022. As per the data published by the NCRB, State/UT-wise details of cases registered under cyber crimes (involving communication devices as medium/target) for last three years are at the Annexure.

The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to deal with all types of cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam, and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based upon cyber crime hotspots/ areas having multi jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance the coordination framework among the Law Enforcement Agencies of the States/UTs. Seven workshops were organized for JCCTs at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi and Chandigarh in 2023.
National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation) has been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police. So far, National Cyber Forensics Laboratory (Investigation) have provided its services to State LEAs in around 9,000 cyber forensics like mobile forensics, memory forensics, Call Data Record (CDR) Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cyber crimes.
The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched, as a part of the I4C, to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT Law Enforcement Agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law.

17. Disaster Management