GS PAPER I & II NEWS
National defense dedication festival
Why in News
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- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, participated in the ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
Key point
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- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi dedicated several new initiatives of the Ministry of Defense to the nation at a grand function of ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ organized in the fort of Jhansi Fort.
- These projects include the launch of the NCC Alumni Association, with the Prime Minister being registered as the first member of the association.
- Launching of National Simulation Training Program for NCC Cadets; Kiosks for paying homage to martyrs at the National War Memorial; Mobile App of the National War Memorial; ‘Shakti’, an advanced Electronic Warfare Suite designed and developed by DRDO for Indian Navy ships; Light combat helicopters and drones are also involved in these projects.
other key points
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- The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of 600 MW Ultramega Solar Power Park at Garautha, Jhansi.
- This energy park is being constructed at a cost of over Rs 3000 crore and will help in providing twin benefits of affordable electricity and grid stability.
- The Prime Minister also inaugurated Atal Ekta Park in Jhansi. Named after former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, this Ekta Park has been built at a cost of over Rs 11 crore and is spread over an area of about 40,000 sqm.
- This park will have a library as well as a statue of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- This statue has been created by the famous sculptor Shri Ram Sutar, who built the Statue of Unity.
- The Prime Minister said that events like ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ will prove to be very helpful in creating an environment of self-reliance in the defense sector. He said that we need to glorify our national heroes and heroines in such a grand manner.
GS PAPER I & II
Geographic Information System (GIS)
Why in News
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- The Ministry of Rural Development has reached a significant milestone with the completion of Geographic Information System (GIS) schemes for 2 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) out of 2.69 lakh Gram Panchayats under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-NREGA.
Key point
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- Ministry is using remote sensing technology based on ridge to valley approach.
- GIS based planning under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development to help Gram Panchayats ensure a scientific and holistic approach to planning at the Gram Panchayat level.
- It is an important tool for ensuring participatory planning at the implementation level.
- The Ministry has provided detailed training on the use of GIS and RS (Remote Sensing) technology to Mahatma Gandhi NREGS workers of States/UTs through the initiative of the Ministry and NIRDPR (National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj).
- Subsequently, all the States/UTs prepared 4 GIS-based plans of GPs per block as a major function in the FY 2020-21, which were extended to all Gram Panchayats after successful completion.
- The contribution of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS has increased significantly by using the GIS-based scheme and its impacts are visible at the grassroots level.
Importance
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- Quality assets are being developed at the gram panchayat level through proper planning and decision making.
- Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has always emphasized on Natural Resource Management (NRM) based planning to increase livelihood and NRM resource base in rural areas.
- Systematic development of land, use of rainwater following watershed principles (ridge to valley approach) and creation of income generating assets have become important aspects of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS works.
- The work done under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is now planned using advanced technologies like Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS).
- The much acclaimed ‘Bhuvan’ space technology solution from National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been leveraged for this purpose.
- To further facilitate Gram Panchayat level planning of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS activities across the country, Yuktadhara Geospatial Planning Portal has been launched under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Division, Ministry of Rural Development, National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the Bhuvan platform.
- The Planning Portal also helps other Ministries and Departments to view the geographical location of the planned properties on a map in a web management system, which integrates planning for works, optimizes convergence plans and enables implementation of works and assets. Facilitates effective monitoring of construction.
- The Ministry is also working towards integrating climate data with the above data through a joint initiative with UK’s FCDO, known as Crisp-M, which enables local communities to measure various geophysical parameters. To understand the impact of changing climate in the context of climate change and make appropriate decisions about them.
- It is proposed to be launched initially in seven states- Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Later it will be expanded to all other states also.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
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- GIS is a computer based tool for mapping and analysis of geographical terrain and provides scientific alternatives to development works suitable for the area.
- This technology integrates common database operations such as querying and statistical analysis with the unique illustration and geographic analysis advantages offered by Maps.
GS PAPER II
Digital India Land Records Modernization Program (DILRMP)
Why in News
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- Ministry of Rural Development organized a National Workshop on Digital India Land Records Modernization Program (DILRMP) on 16th November, 2021.
Key point
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- A workshop was organized to promote the National Land Records Modernization Programme.
- This workshop will enable the states to share best practices with each other and learn about the latest software developments in the field.
National Common Document Registration System (NGDRS)
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- NGDRS is actually an in-house advanced software application for registration. The system is configurable and adapted to state-specific requirements in India.
National Land Management Award, 2021
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- The National Land Management Awards, 2021 was instituted by the Department of Land Resources to appreciate and provide more incentives to the good work done by various State Governments of India.
- This department will also provide national level ranking for infrastructure projects to all the states in the country, based on best practices for land acquisition.
Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN)
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- Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) is similar to Aadhaar number of different land blocks across the country.
- In this unique system a unique ID will be generated based on the geo-coordinates of the plot concerned.
- Unique IDs have been given to these plots. The system has been implemented in 13 states and has been piloted in another 06 states. The said department wants to complete the process of allotting Unique ID across the country by the end of the financial year 2021-22.
GS PAPER II
Global innovation summit
Why in News
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- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Global Innovation Summit (Global Innovation Summit) of the pharmaceutical sector through video conferencing on November 18, 2021.
Key point
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- The two-day summit will have 12 sessions and more than 40 national and international speakers to discuss a range of topics.
- In this, national and international speakers are discussing topics such as Innovation Infrastructure, Industry-Academia Collaboration, and Funding for Innovation and Regulatory Environment.
- This two-day Global Innovation Summit in the pharmaceutical sector is being attended by prominent members from domestic and global pharma industries, executives, investors and researchers from John Hopkins Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, IIM Ahmedabad and other reputed institutions.
Key highlights of PM Modi’s address at the summit
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- Addressing this Global Innovation Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Indian pharma industry is a major driver of India’s economic growth.
- Prime Minister Modi highlighted that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has earned global trust by meeting the challenge posed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to India now being called the ‘Pharmacy of the World’.
- India has exported more than 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to around 100 countries in the year 2021.
- India has also exported medical equipment and life-saving drugs to over 150 countries during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Prime Minister Modi further said that the Indian healthcare sector has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of over $12 billion since 2014.
- Prime Minister Modi also highlighted the need to develop indigenous capabilities for which India’s 1. 3 billion people have tried to make India self-reliant.
- We should accelerate domestic manufacturing of key ingredients needed for medicines and vaccines.
GS PAPER II
Swachh Survekshan Award 2021
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Why in News
- Swachh Survekshan Puraskar 2021 has been presented to clean cities by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Swachh Survekshan Award 2021
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- Indore has been declared the cleanest city of India for the fifth time in a row by the central government.
- Surat has got the second position. While Indore in MP stood first, President Kovind honored Surat in Gujarat and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh for becoming the second and third cleanest cities in the country.
- Varanasi of UP has been ranked first in the category of cleanest Ganga city in the annual cleanliness survey of the Central Government.
- Chhattisgarh was declared as the cleanest state of India in the annual cleanliness survey announced by the central government.
- 342 cities honored by President Kovind, which were awarded in ‘Swachh Survekshan 2021’ in the category of Garbage Free Cities and Safai Mitra Challenge.
- The Ministry said that the program to felicitate cities, ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ is being organized by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) and is taking place at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.
- Apart from this, the program will also pay tribute to the sanitation workers by recognizing the top performing cities under the ‘SafaiMitra Suraksha Challan’.
- A total of 4,320 cities participated in the 2021 edition of Swachh Survekshan. Cities are usually rated using the star system and this year, 342 cities were given certificates under certain star ratings, compared to 56 in 2018. This includes nine five star cities, 166 three star cities, 167 one star cities.
- The ministry said, this is the sixth edition of the Swachh Survekshan which has become the world’s largest urban sanitation survey.
- Highlighting the improvement in performance of several states and union territories, the ministry said that six states and six union territories have shown an overall improvement of between 5% and 25% in their overall grassroots level improvement.
- Last year, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot and Surat (Gujarat), Mysore (Karnataka), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), and Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) were given five star ratings.
‘Clean Amrit Mahotsav’ program
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- President Ram Nath Kovind said in the ‘Clean Amrit Mahotsav’ program organized in Delhi, ‘Change in the thinking of the countrymen is a huge success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Today this change has taken place on a large scale. Now in many families even small children stop the elders of the family from spreading dirt.
- He further said, those children prevent him from throwing anything on the road. I congratulate the countrymen for such a change. I especially appreciate the Safai Mitras and Safai Karamcharis for the success of the cleanliness drive.