20 September 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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India International Convention and Expo Centre

• The commission for the India International Convention & Expo Centre in Dwarka (IICC Dwarka) is the result of the international competition organised by the DMICDC (Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation) in January 2017.
• The Centre is going to be a world-class state-of-the-art Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre, with facilities like financial, hospitality and retail services located in Sector 25, Dwarka.
• It is a 100% Government owned company under Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Relationship between India and Romania

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India and Romania are growing at an unprecedented and steady pace during his two-day visit to Romania.
• India signs MoU with Romania in the field of Petroleum and Gas.
• Romania support’s for resumption of talks on India-European Union Broad-based Trade & Investment Agreement
• Romania also supports India in its aspiration for a permanent seat in UN Security Council.
• Romanian companies are also operating in India and the cumulative FDI inflow from Romania to India is around USD 7.5 million.
• Opportunities for bilateral investment flows between a growing Romanian economy and a huge Indian market in sectors such as IT, automobiles, mining, agriculture and food processing, tourism, healthcare products and energy. 

Indore (Mangaliyagaon) — Budni New Line (205.5 Km)

• Cabinet approves Indore (Mangaliyagaon) — Budni New Line (205.5 Km) with Electrification.
  It will reduce the distance between Jabalpur and Indore by 68 Kms.
• It will also reduce travel time between Indore to Mumbai and towards South India.
• This project will generate direct employment during construction for about 49.32 lakh man-days.

ASHA Benefit Package

• Cabinet approves ASHA Benefit Package with two components:

1. ASHAs and ASHA facilitators meeting the eligibility criteria (18-70 years) to be enrolled in social security schemes implemented by Government of India namely, the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
2. An increase in the amount of routine and recurring incentives under National Health Mission for ASHAs under NHM from Rs. 1000/- per month to Rs. 2000/-per month.

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project

• The Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) is an initiative being undertaken by the Central Water Commission (CWC), Government of India with World Bank loan assistance, to improve the safety and performance of selected existing dams and associated appurtenances in a sustainable manner, and to strengthen the dam safety institutional setup in participating Implementing Agencies across participating States as well as in the CWC.

Objective:

1. Component-I: – Rehabilitation of Dam and its Appurtenant Structures,
2. Component-II: – Institutional Strengthening and
3. Component-III: – Project Management.

• The Scheme envisages comprehensive rehabilitation of 198 existing dam projects located in seven states of India namely, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand (Damodar Valley Corporation) and Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited).

India and Morocco sign Air Services Agreement

• India and Morocco signed the revised Air Services Agreement between the two countries enabling greater connectivity through a modernized agreement.

Benefits:

• Greater air connectivity between India and Morocco and will enable the airlines of each side to enter into code share with airlines of other party, as well as provide greater freedom in mounting direct flights. 
• These developments in the Civil Aviation sector will enable the people of each country to travel to the other country leading to better economic and cultural ties.

Exercise Aviaindra-18

Aim:

• To focus towards anti-terrorist operations in a bi-lateral scenario. The exercise would further enhance the co-operation and understanding each other’s Concept of Operations. There would be formal interactions, discussions, exchange of ideas and friendly sports matches to enhance bonhomie between the two Air Forces.

About:

• Exercise Aviaindra is Air Force level exercise between India and Russia. It was conducted for first time in 2014 and since then it is conducted bi-annually (twice a year) in both countries.

Application of GIS (Geographic Information System) in Disaster Management

• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is conducting a two-day training-cum-workshop programme on ‘Application of GIS (Geographic Information System) in Disaster Management’.
• A total of 19 representatives from 12 States, UTs and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are participating in the training programme which will enable them to understand the need, role and scope of web-based GIS service for management of disasters more efficiently and effectively through an integrated platform.

Aim:

• To help participants develop skills for effectively utilising the geo-information tools for disaster management.

About:

• NDMA is working towards integrating geospatial data for research, mitigation and post disaster management. This system will help the Centre as well as State Governments, local bodies, civil societies and other stakeholders to handle the complete disaster cycle in an effective and efficient manner.

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS -2018

About:

• National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year.
• Arjuna Award is given for consistency outstanding performance for four years.
• Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.
• Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime contribution to sports development.
• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy is given to overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments.

(i)         Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2018

(ii)        Dronacharya Awards 2018

(iii)       Arjuna Awards 2018

(iv)      Dhyan Chand Award 2018

(vi) Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018

(vii) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18: 

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

Successful Flight Test of Prahar

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the indigenously developed surface-to-surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’.
• There were also a series of papers which were presented on weapon integration on service aircraft and towards building and sustaining the training for naval experimental test pilots and flight test engineers.

About:

• ‘Prahar’ is a contemporary weapon system capable of carrying multiple types of warheads and neutralizing a wide variety of targets.

Health Ministry partners with Dell and Tata Trusts

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, exchanged the MoUs with the Tata Trusts and Dell to provide a technological platform for nationwide prevention, control, screening and management program of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Aim:

• Bringing healthcare technology transformation in Comprehensive Primary Health Care NCD program under Ayushman Bharat, the Health Ministry is working with Dell as technology partner and the Tata Trusts as deployment partner.
• A cloud-based mobile, web and analytics solution has been developed to digitize health records to aid the population-based screening program, to bring quality health services at door step, to enable increased productivity for health workers and doctors, and to facilitate monitoring of delivery of services by state and district administrators.

Launching of two portals to strengthen Women Safety

• The Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) portal “cybercrime.gov.in” will receive complaints from citizens on objectionable online content related to child pornography, child sexual abuse material, sexually explicit material such as rape and gang rape.
• The National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), which is accessible only to law enforcement agencies, will assist in effectively tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences.

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