17 October 2019: PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam.

October 17th, 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

Ex-Eastern Bridge – V

Context:

The Indian Air Force is participating in a bilateral joint exercise with the Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO), named Ex Eastern Bridge – V, scheduled for 4 days in October 2019, at Air Force Base Masirah in Oman.

About Ex Eastern Bridge – V:

• This is a joint bilateral exercise between the Air Forces of India and Oman.
• The previous exercise was held in 2017 at Jamnagar in Gujarat. 2019 marks the fifth edition of the exercise. The first such exercise was held in 2009 in Jamnagar.
• This is for the first time that the MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be participating in an international exercise outside India.
• The exercise will enhance inter-operability during mutual operations between the two Air Forces and will provide an opportunity to learn from each other’s best practices.
• The participation of the Indian Air Force in the exercise will also promote professional interaction, exchange of experience and operational knowledge.
• Besides strengthening bilateral relations, it will also provide a good opportunity to the air-warriors to operate in an international environment.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

Context:

The Minister of State for Home Affairs inaugurates the 20^th All India Conference of Directors of Fingerprint Bureaus being organised by the NCRB.

About the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB):

• NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
• It was established based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Task force (1985).
• NCRB works under the Home Affairs Ministry.
• The body monitors, coordinates and implements the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) project. The project connects 15000+ police stations and 6000 higher offices of police in the country.
• In 2017, the NCRB launched the National Digital Police Portal, which allows search for a criminal/suspect on the CCTNS database apart from providing various services to citizens like filing of complaints online and seeking antecedent verification of tenants, domestic helps, drivers, etc.
• The NCRB also maintains the National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO), which it shares with states/UTs regularly.
• It has also been designated as the Central Nodal Agency to manage technical and operational functions of the ‘Online Cyber-Crime Reporting Portal’ through which any citizen can lodge a complaint or upload a video clip as an evidence of crime related to child pornography, rape/gang rape.
• NCRB also deals with associated work of Cyber Crime Prevention against Women & Children (CCPWC) through this portal.
• The National Crime Statistics data is published by the NCRB. These publications serve as principal reference point by policymakers, police, criminologists, researchers and media, both in India and abroad.
• NCRB has also floated various IT-based Public Services like Vahan Samanvay (online matching for Stolen/Recovered vehicles) and Talash (matching of missing persons and dead bodies).
• The Central Finger Print Bureau under NCRB is a national repository of all fingerprints in the country and has more than one million ten-digit fingerprints database of criminals both convicted and arrested and provides for search facility on Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS).

India Innovation Index 2019

Context:

NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index 2019.

About the India Innovation Index:

• NITI Aayog has released the India Innovation Index 2019 along with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner.
• The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.
• The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions.
• The states have been classified into three categories: major states, north-east, and hill states, and union territories/city states/small states.
• The idea behind this index came from recognizing the role of innovation as a key driver of growth and prosperity for India.
• The study is an outcome of extensive research and analysis, which looks holistically at the innovation landscape of India by examining the innovation capabilities and performance of Indian states and union territories.
• The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation environment of 29 states and seven union territories in India and intends to perform the following three functions
  • Ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores
  • Recognizing opportunities and challenges
  • Assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation
• The index is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions:
  • Enablers: These are the factors that underpin innovative capacities, grouped in five pillars:
    • Human Capital
    • Investment
    • Knowledge Workers
    • Business Environment
    • Safety and Legal Environment
  • Performers: This dimension captures benefits that a nation derives from the inputs, divided in two pillars:
    • Knowledge Output
    • Knowledge Diffusion

India Innovation Index 2019 Report:

• The broad level learnings and some policy imperatives at the national level include increasing the spending on research and development, improving the capability of top rung educational institutions in the country to produce greater innovation outputs.
• There is also a need for greater coordination and collaboration between the industry and educational institutions for enhancing innovation capability.
• Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India. Karnataka’s number one position in the overall ranking is partly attributed to its top rank in the Performance dimension. It is also among the top performers in Infrastructure, Knowledge Workers, Knowledge Output and Business Environment.
• Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively.
• The top ten major states are majorly concentrated in Southern and Western India.
• Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the north-eastern & hill states, and union territories/city states/small states respectively.
• Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.

Related Links:

October 17th, 2019 PIB:-Download PDF Here

Read previous PIB articles here.