14 March 2019: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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March 14^th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2019

Context:

The President of India, visit Gujarat to inaugurate the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Gandhinagar.

About Festival of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (FINE):

• FINE is an initiative being organised by Rashtrapati Bhavan in association with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the National Innovation Foundation-India.
• It will recognise, respect, showcase, reward innovations and to foster a supportive ecosystem for innovators.
• FINE will provide a platform for innovators for building linkages with potential stakeholders to develop their ideas into implementable projects for the larger social good.
• It will provide a window to showcase creative and innovative solutions for social development through innovation emerging from grassroots, student ideas and other technologies.

About NIF:

• The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India,is India’s national initiative to strengthen the grassroots technological innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge.
• Its mission is to help India become a creative and knowledge-based society by expanding policy and institutional space for grassroots technological innovators. It was set up with the support of Honey Bee Network.
• NIF scouts, supports and spawns’ grassroots innovations developed by individuals and local communities in any technological field, helping in human survival without any help from formal sector.
• It also tries to ensure that such innovations diffuse widely through commercial and/or non-commercial channels, generating material or non-material incentives for them and others involved in the value chain.

Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile

Context:

In a major boost for Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired indigenously developed, low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) for the second time in the ranges of Rajasthan desert.

Details:

• MPATGM is incorporated with advanced features including state-of-the-art Imaging Infrared Radar (IIR) Seeker with integrated avionics.
• The first test was conducted on 13^th March 2019. In both the missions, the missiles hit the designated targets precisely at different ranges. All the mission objectives have been met.

West Nile Virus (WNV)

Context:

• A section of the media has reported that a seven-year-old boy from Malappuram District of Kerala is suffering from a West Nile Virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne disease, mostly reported in the continental United States.
• Health Ministry takes stock of the public health measures for controlling West Nile Virus.

What is West Nile Virus?

• West Nile virus can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans.
• However, approximately 80% of people who are infected will not show any symptoms.
• West Nile virus is mainly transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
• The virus can cause severe disease and death in horses.
• Vaccines are available for use in horses but not yet available for people.
• Birds are the natural hosts of West Nile virus.
• West Nile Virus (WNV) can cause neurological disease and death in people. WNV is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia. WNV is maintained in nature in a cycle involving transmission between birds and mosquitoes. Humans, horses and other mammals can be infected.
• West Nile Virus (WNV) is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae.

Workshop on India Energy Modelling Forum

Context:

The NITI Aayog and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized the first workshop on development of the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF), which has been envisaged as a pan-stakeholder platform for debating ideas, scenario-planning & discussing India’s energy future.

Details:

• The IEMF seeks to provide a platform for leading experts and policymakers to study important energy and environmental issues and ensure induction of modelling and analysis in informed decision-making process.
• The Forum aims to improve cooperation and coordination between modelling teams, the Government of India, knowledge partners and think-tanks, build capacity of Indian institutions, and identify issues for joint modelling activities and future areas of research.
• The workshop featured expert sessions on following matters:
• Discussions on energy modelling in India and the world explored how energy modelling can play an important role in decision-making. The panelists particularly laid focus on bridging the rural-urban divide and factoring in energy pressures from the informal economy within models. There was a need expressed to ensure that holistic perspective of energy consumption and ground realities must be inducted to produce practical and feasible energy models, converging land and water use patterns within energy models.
• Deliberations included a spotlight on how the impact of the evolving character of India’s cities, industries and especially the transport sector should be included in any India-centric models. The shift towards electric mobility, an increasing emphasis on mainstreaming of renewable energy options and overarching environmental concerns were also stated as key factors for determining India’s energy future.

Read previous Best of PIB here.

March 14^th 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

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