UPSC 2017-18: PIB Summary and Analysis Nov 03

PM’s address at World Food India 

• World Food India is MoFPI, GoI initiative and will showcase the brilliant opportunities in the food processing sector of India including FDI in food trading.

Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana

• Minister of Communications launched a Pan India scholarship program for school children called DeenDayal SPARSH Yojana to increase the reach of Philately.
• Under the scheme of SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby), it is proposed to award annual scholarships to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also pursuing Philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in all postal circles.

Criteria

• To avail this scholarship, a child must be a student of a recognized school within India and the concerned school should have a Philately Club and the candidate should be a member of the Club.
• In case the school Philately Club hasn’t been established a student having his own Philately Deposit Account will also be considered. 

What is philately?

• Philately is the hobby of collection and study of Postage stamps.
• It also entails the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other related philatelic products. The hobby of collecting Stamps includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloguing, displaying, storing, and maintaining the stamps or related products on thematic areas. 
• Philately is called the king of hobbies because Stamp collection as a hobby has lot of educational benefits – it teaches a lot about the socio economic political reality of the period in which the stamp is issued or the theme on which it is issued.

Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Co-operation (JWGACTC)

• It was constituted under the auspices of the Indo – US Defence Trade and Technology Initiative
• As part of JWGACTC periodic meetings are held between the two countries for information exchange in the field of Aircraft Carrier technology under the ambit of Indo – US Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.

SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon) 

• Indigenously developed light weight Glide Bomb, SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon) was successfully tested from Indian Air Force aircraft in the ranges at ITR, Chandipur, Odisha
• The guided bomb released from the aircraft and guided through precision navigation system, reached the targets at greater than 70 km range, with high accuracies.
• The guided bomb is developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO along with other laboratories of DRDO and Indian Air Force. 

Background

• It is a long-range precision-guided anti-airfield weapon
• It is designed to be capable of engaging ground targets with high precision out to a range of 100 kilometres
• The SAAW is a lightweight high precision guided bomb designed to destroy ground targets, such as runways, bunkers, aircraft hangers and other reinforced structures
• Weighing 120 kg it has deep penetration capabilities carries a high explosive warhead and has a long standoff range of 100 kilometres

Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo

• The Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference and Expo is an annual flagship event of the Ministry of Urban Development.
• The origin of UMI is the National Urban Transport Policy ( NUTP ) 2006, of the Government of India which lays a very strong emphasis on building capabilities at the State and city level to address the problems associated with urban mobility and undertakes the task of developing sustainable urban transport systems.
• The primary objective of the event is to disseminate information to the cities, whose officials attend the conference, and to help them remain up-to-date with best urban transport practices.
• The event brings together technology and service providers in urban transport from India and abroad, as well as policy makers, practitioners and officials under one roof.

What is Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS)?

• Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) are advanced ICT based applications for enhancing the efficiency of use of different modes of transport in cities through better coordination and by informing the users to make safe, quick and smarter use of transport networks.
• ITS are used for effective management of traffic and mobility.

Context

• 10th Urban Mobility India Conference cum Expo, 2017: The 10th UMI conference will be held from 4th to 6th November, 2017 at Hyderabad jointly with CODATU, a world renowned transport institute based at France. The theme of the conference will be on ‘Intelligent, Inclusive and Sustainable Mobility’.