Weekly PIB Analysis | PIB News Analysis 20th to 30th June’ 2022

Table of Contents

20th Folk Fair and 13th Krishi Fair

Context: The inauguration of the 20th Folk Fair and 13th Krishi Fair in Puri, Odisha by the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti.

Background:

The 20th Folk Fair (National tribal/folk song & dance festival) and 13th Krishi Fair 2022 were inaugurated at Saradhabali in Puri, Odisha by the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti.
The two fairs will continue for the next five days.

Aims and objectives of the fairs:

The aim of the two fairs is to preserve the tribal culture and promote innovation in agriculture.
It is also focused on emphasizing the tribal culture and showcasing its originality and uniqueness.

The 20th Folk Fair:

The tribal culture is very original and unique in its own sense. Odisha is enriched with tribal culture and their contribution to the state economy is very significant.
This fair helps to encourage individuals and tribal communities to show their talents and preserve their culture.

The 13th Krishi Fair:

It is a platform where organizations and companies with innovations, products, solutions, and services related to agriculture can come forward.
The exhibition has representatives from the entire spectrum of agriculture and allied industry, manufacturers, dealers, traders, exporters, and consultants in agriculture, floriculture, aquaculture, sericulture, and more.
Odisha is a leading state in agriculture and has attained a surplus in the production of rice and many other crops.

International Yoga Day Celebrations

Context: The 8th International Day of Yoga was celebrated in different parts of the country and the world. In India, the PM led the celebrations from the Mysore Palace Grounds, Mysuru.

Gwalior Fort:

The Gwalior Fort was originally built in the fifth century CE or perhaps even earlier in present-day Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
It has been held by many dynasties like the Hunas, the Gurjara – Pratiharas, the Kachchhapaghatas, the Tomars, the Lodis and the Mughals.
The Fort was also sieged by Mahmud of Ghazni for 4 days.
Tomar ruler Maan Singh had commissioned many monuments within the Fort.
Mughal Emperor Akbar had used this Fort as a prison for political prisoners.
In 1780, the British captured the Fort from the Marathas.
In 1844, the Maratha Scindias took control of the Fort as a protectorate of the British government.
During the Indian Revolt of 1857, 6500 sepoys who were stationed at the Gwalior Fort joined the rebels, which prompted the British to regain control of the Fort in 1858.
After 1886, it was handed over to the Scindias as the Fort no longer held any significance for the British. The Scindias held it till independence.

Red Fort:

The Red Fort was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in
It is made up of red sandstone and marble and reportedly took nine years to complete.
It was also known as the Qila-i-Mubarak.

Modhera Sun Temple:

The Sun Temple at Modhera in Gujarat’s Mehsana district was built after 1026-27 CE during the reign of Bhima I of the Chaulukya dynasty.
The temple, dedicated to the Sun God, is now a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
The temple is built in the Māru-Gurjara style (Chaulukya style).

Kangra Fort:

Located in Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, it is one of the oldest forts in India.
The fort’s ownership changed hands many times and in the early 19th century, it came under the Sikh empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
After the Anglo-Sikh war of 1846, it was taken over by the British.

Nalanda Mahavihara:

Nalanda Mahavihara was an ancient Indian university in Nalanda, Bihar that attracted students from all over and outside the country as well.
It was built by Kumargupta I of the Gupta dynasty in the 5th century CE.
It received the patronage of kings and rulers for about 800 years.
It admitted students only after a rigorous selection process. The subjects taught were Buddhist studies, logic, science, philosophy, medicine, grammar, etc.
Many texts composed at the university influenced the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
The university was destroyed by the troops of Bakhtiyar Khilji in about 1200 CE. It was partly restored and continued to exist till about 1400 CE.
In 2016, the remains of the Nalanda Mahavihara received the UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition.

One Nation One Ration Card

Context:
Assam becomes the 36th State/UT to implement the One Nation One Ration Card.
With this, the ONORC plan is successfully implemented in all 36 states/UTs, making food security portable throughout the country.

IND-INDO CORPAT

Context: The 38th edition of India–Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy is being conducted in June 2022.

About IND-INDO CORPAT:

The navies of India and Indonesia have been carrying out CORPATs (coordinated patrols) since 2002 with the aim of keeping this vital part of the Indian Ocean Region safe and secure for commercial shipping and international trade.
The CORPAT has also enhanced understanding and interoperability between the navies and facilitated the institution of measures to prevent unlawful activities at sea as well as to conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.
India is represented by INS Karmuk, an indigenously built Missile Corvette based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command, along with a Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Purple Revolution

Context: Union Minister says the success of “Purple Revolution” has shifted focus to Agri-tech Start-ups.

Background:

Purple revolution is the term used to describe the success seen in aroma/lavender cultivation.
It has become a popular agricultural start-up
It has boosted rural farmer employment, ignited entrepreneurship in the production of aromatic oils and other aromatic products, and decreased imports of essential and aromatic oils.
The initiative is spearheaded by the Aroma Mission of the CSIR.
CSIR is also planning to introduce the aroma crops in other hilly States with similar climatic conditions like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and in the North-Eastern States after the success in J&K.

Why lavender?

CSIR introduced the high-value essential oil-bearing lavender crop through its Jammu-based laboratory, the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicines (IIIM) for cultivation in J&K.
Lavender is a crop native to Europe and it has now been naturalized for India in its regions with a temperate climate.
Lavender is a tough plant that can tolerate drought and frost conditions.
It requires good sunlight also.
At higher altitudes, it gives higher yields.

NIRYAT Portal

Context: PM inaugurates ‘Vanijya Bhawan’ and launches NIRYAT portal.

About NIRYAT Portal:

It is an information portal where importers and exporters can get all necessary information related to foreign trade and will provide real-time data to stakeholders.
NIRYAT stands for National Import-Export for Yearly Analysis of Trade.
The portal dedicatedly deals with the import and export analysis of India.
NIRYAT has been pegged as a one-stop platform for stakeholders for easy access to critical information related to India’s foreign trade by the Centre.
Additional Information:
The PM also inaugurated the Vanijya Bhawan, an office complex for the Department of Commerce and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

National Logistics Excellence Awards

Context: The Government of India hosted its first-ever National Logistics Excellence Awards in New Delhi.

About the National Logistics Excellence Awards:

The National Logistics Excellence Awards aim to acknowledge the many logistics service providers in the country that have been able to display innovation, diversity and efficiency.
In this first edition, there are 169 entries and 12 categories of awards.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry identified, categorised and selected qualified applications.
An Expert Screening Committee of 18 diverse experts and a National Jury of 9 senior dignitaries were formed to make the final deliberations.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur

Context: National Monuments Authority to observe martyrdom day of great warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur on 25th June.

About Banda Bahadur:

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was a great Sikh warrior and a commander of the Khalsa army who defeated the Mughals.
Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the Zamindari system and granted property rights to the tillers of the land. He introduced the Nanak Shahi coins.
He was captured by the Mughal ruler Farrukhsiyar and executed.

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illegal Trafficking

Context: The Department of Social Justice & Empowerment organised a “Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Run” on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse.

International Day against Drug Abuse and Illegal Trafficking

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided to observe the 26th of June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987.
It is observed annually since 1989

Through this initiative, the UNGA expressed its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.
Theme for 2022: Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises
The focus of the United Nations Office On Drug And Crime (UNODC) is to spread awareness about it so that a world free of drug abuse can be created.

Holy Relics of Lord Buddha

Context: Union Minister receives the holy Kapilvastu relics of Lord Buddha brought back from Mongolia.

What’s in News?

The four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha came back to India after being displayed for 12 days at the Batsagaan Temple within the premises of Gandan Monastery, Mongolia as part of celebrations of the Mongolian Buddh Purnima.

Holy Relics of Lord Buddha:

The Holy Buddha Relics are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.
The last time these relics were taken out of the country was in 2012 when their exposition was held in Sri Lanka and were on display at several locations across the island nation.
However, later guidelines were issued and the Holy Relics were placed under the ‘AA’ category of those Antiquities and Art Treasures which should not be ordinarily taken out of the country for exhibition, considering their delicate nature.

UN Ocean Conference

Context: The 5-day UN Ocean Conference takes off with the Governments of Kenya and Portugal being the co-hosts.

About the UN Ocean Conference:

At this conference, leaders from over 130 countries will deliberate to find an international agreement on protecting the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources.
The Indian delegation that is attending the conference also held bilateral discussions with other countries.

Significance:

The Ocean Conference comes at a crucial juncture as the world is seeking to address many of the challenges requiring structural transformations and Innovative and Green solutions to achieve the SDG Goal 14, which calls for Conservation and Sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.

Report on India’s Gig and Platform Economy

Context: NITI Aayog Launches Report on India’s Gig and Platform Economy.

Details:

The report presents comprehensive perspectives and recommendations on the gig–platform economy in India.
The report provides a scientific methodological approach to estimate the current size and job-generation potential of the sector.
It highlights the opportunities and challenges of this emerging sector and presents global best practices on initiatives for social security and delineates strategies for skill development and job creation for different categories of workers in the sector.

Recommendations of the report in brief:

Accelerating access to finance through products specifically designed for platform workers.
Linking self-employed individuals engaged in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., with platforms to enable them to sell their produce to wider markets in towns and cities.
Engaging in platform-led transformational and outcome-based skilling.
Enhancing social inclusion through gender sensitization and accessibility awareness programmes for workers and their families and extending social security measures in partnership mode as envisaged in the Code on Social Security 2020.
Undertaking a separate enumeration exercise to estimate the size of the gig and platform workforce and collecting information during official enumerations (Periodic Labour Force Survey) to identify gig workers.

Performance Grading Index For Districts

Why in News?

The Ministry of Education has released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for 2019 which studied 83 indicators grouped in six categories.

What is PGI-D?

The PGI for District (PGI-D), which comprises 83 indicators, was created to assess how well each district is performing in terms of education.
Through an internet portal, districts enter the data.
A district’s areas for improvement are shown by the indicator-by-indicator PGI score.
There are 83 indications totaling 600 points in the PGI-D framework.
They are divided into six categories: outcomes, effective classroom transactions, infrastructure facilities and students’ entitlements, school safety and child protection, digital learning, and governance process.
These categories are outcomes, effective classroom transaction, infrastructure facilities and student’s entitlements, school safety and child protection, digital learning and governance process.

Significance

In order to motivate districts to perform better, the PGI-D will reflect the relative performance of each district on a consistent scale.
The state education agencies should be able to use it to discover performance gaps at the district level and make decentralised improvements.

How does the grading scale works?

The PGI-D grades the districts into 10 grades with the highest achievable grade being ‘Daksh’, which is for districts scoring more than 90% of the total points in that category or overall.
‘Utkarsh’ category is for districts with score between 81-90%, followed by ‘Ati-Uttam’ (71-80%), ‘Uttam’ (61-70%), ‘Prachesta-I’ (51-60%), ‘Prachesta-II’ (41-50%) and ‘Pracheshta III’ (31-40%).
The lowest grade in PGI-D is called ‘Akanshi-3’ which is for scores up to 10% of the total points.

Performance of the states

Rajasthan’s Sikar is the top performer, followed by Jhunjhunu and Jaipur.
The other States whose districts have performed best are Punjab with 14 districts in ‘Ati-uttam’ grade (scoring 71-80% on a scale of 100).
It followed by Gujarat and Kerala with each having 13 districts in this category.
However, there are 12 States and UTs which do not have even a single district in the ‘Ati-uttam’ and ‘Uttam’ categories and these include seven of the eight States from the North East region.

Ethanol Blending

Why in News?

Recently, India has achieved the target of 10 percent ethanol blending, 5 months ahead of schedule

What is Ethanol fuel?

Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, used as fuel.
It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline.
Ethanol is commonly made from biomass such as corn or sugarcane.
Bioethanol is a form of renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feedstocks.
It can be made from very common crops such as hemp, sugarcane, potato, cassava and corn.
There has been considerable debate about how useful bioethanol is in replacing gasoline.
Concerns about its production and use relate to increased food prices due to the large amount of arable land required for crops, as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production, especially from corn.

Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBP)

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in 2003- and this initiative is pursued aggressively in the last 4 to 5 years to reduce import dependence of crude oil as well as mitigate environmental pollution.
The Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) seeks to achieve blending of Ethanol with motor sprit with a view to reducing pollution, conserve foreign exchange and increase value addition in the sugar industry enabling them to clear cane price arrears of farmers.
Although the Government of India decided to launch EBP programme in 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended Petrol, it later scaled up blending targets from 5% to 10% under the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP).
The Government of India has also advanced the target for 20% ethanol blending in petrol (also called E20) to 2025 from 2030.
Currently, 8.5% of ethanol is blended with petrol in India.

Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India by 2025

The central government has released an expert committee report on the Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India by 2025 that proposes a gradual rollout of ethanol-blended fuel to achieve E10 fuel supply by April 2022 and phased rollout of E20 from April 2023 to April 2025.
The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) had instituted an Expert Group to study the issues such as pricing of ethanol, matching pace of the automobile industry to manufacture vehicles with new engines with the supply of ethanol, pricing of such vehicles, fuel efficiency of different engines etc.

Advantages of Ethanol Blending

Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
The unregulated carbonyl emissions, such as acetaldehyde emission were, however, higher with E10 and E20 compared to normal petrol. However, these emissions were relatively lower.
Increased use of ethanol can help reduce the oil import bill. India’s net import cost stands at USD 551 billion in 2020-21. The E20 program can save the country USD 4 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) per annum.
The oil companies procure ethanol from farmers that benefits the sugarcane farmers.
Further, the government plans to encourage use of water-saving crops, such as maize, to produce ethanol, and production of ethanol from non-food feedstock.

Dak Karmayogi

Why in News?

‘Dak Karmayogi’ , an e-learning portal of the Department of Posts was launched by, Minister of Communications, Railways, Electronics & IT, and Minister of State for Communications, at a function held at Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre.

About Dak Karmayogi

This portal has been developed ‘In-House’ under vision of ‘Mission Karmayogi’, which was conceptualized by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with a view to bring efficiency in actions of all the employees of Government of India and transforming efficiency of bureaucracy with ‘Minimum Government’ and ‘Maximum Governance’.
On successful completion of final summative assessment, a system generated course completion certificate will be sent on trainee’s registered email ID automatically.
Trainees can give their feedback, ratings and suggestions for each and every video and other learning content so that necessary enrichment can be ensured.
Department of Posts has been imparting training to its employees through its network of 10 Postal Training Centres/Regional Training Centre and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy (RAKNPA), a Central Training Institute.
To recognise the good performance of employees of Department of Posts and motivate them to maintain or improve their good work, Meghdoot Awards were also conferred in eight different categories by Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology and Minister of State for Communications during the event.

Objectives:

It will enhance the competencies of about 4 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks & Departmental employees by enabling the trainees to access the uniform standardized training content online or in blended campus mode to enable them to effectively deliver a number of G2C services for enhanced customer satisfaction.
However, with the launch of this portal, Departmental employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks will be able to avail training ‘Any-time, Any-where’ and upgrade their Attitude, Skill and Knowledge (ASK), as per their convenience.
The portal is expected to go a long way in being an enabler in providing better services by upgrading employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks.