12 Apr 2024: PIB Summary for UPSC

12 Apr 2024 PIB
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Festivals in India
2. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

1. Festivals in India

Syllabus: GS-1, Art and Culture

Prelims: Festivals of Vaisakhi, Vishu, Bishub, Bahag Bihu, Poila Boishakh, Vaishakhadi and Puthandu

Context:

Vaisakhi, Vishu, Bishub, Bahag Bihu, Poila Boishakh, Vaishakhadi and Puthandu are being celebrated on the 13th and 14th of April, 2024 in various parts of India.

Details:

• Vaisakhi: Vaisakhi or Baisakhi marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April. It is a spring harvest festival celebrated chiefly in Punjab and northern India. For Sikhs, it also marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
• Vishu: Vishu is a Hindu festival celebrated as the Malayali New Year by people in Kerala and the Malayali diaspora. God Vishnu and his incarnation of Krishna are worshipped on the day of Vishu. The festival is marked by preparing colourful auspicious items and viewing these as the first thing on Vishu day including the flowers of Indian laburnum.
• Bishub: Maha Bishuba Sankranti or Pana Sankranti is celebrated as the traditional New Year’s Day festival of the Odia people. In the Odia tradition, the day is the birthday of Lord Hanuman.
• Bahag Bihu: Also known as Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu, the festival is celebrated as the traditional Assamese New Year.
• Poila Boishakh: It is the first day of the Bengali calendar. It is also called Nobo Borsho in Bengali. People clear their homes, wear traditional clothes and come together with family. 
• Vaishakhadi: Vaisakhadi or Mesadi is an important festival celebrated by the people of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is celebrated on the 13th day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Vaishakha.
• Puthandu: This is the Tamil New Year. The festival date is set with the solar Hindu calendar’s solar cycle, as the first day of the Tamil month Chithirai.

2. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Syllabus: GS-3, Science & Technology; IT

Prelims: TRAI

Context:

TRAI released recommendations on “Encouraging Innovative Technologies, Services, Use Cases and Business Models through Regulatory Sandbox in Digital Communication Sector”.

Details:

• Acknowledging the need to provide an environment in which new technologies (5G/6G, Machine to Machine Communications, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, etc.), services, use cases and business models can be tested in live networks, TRAI has formulated recommendations regarding a regulatory sandbox framework for new services, technologies, and business models in the digital communication industry.

Regulatory Sandbox:

• Regulatory Sandbox (RS) makes real-time but regulated access to telecom networks and customer resources, something that is not possible in conventional methods of lab testing or pilots. 
• Specific and generic exemptions in regulations, valid only for RS testing, are granted for testing new ideas.  
• Regulatory bodies in many countries have established such sandbox frameworks. Providing such a framework for live testing in India will encourage more entrepreneurs to develop solutions for the digital communication industry of the country as well as the world. 

The recommendations:

• The recommendations outline all the relevant components in detail and offer a comprehensive framework for conducting Sandbox testing for the Digital Communication sector.
• They detail the qualification to take part in the RS testing, essential requirements that participants must meet, supporting paperwork needed to demonstrate eligibility, the application, evaluation & approval procedure, the authority to waive or amend rules, validity period, procedures for authorization revocation, and the reporting requirements. 
• The framework provides that permission granted under the RS will have a validity period of up to 12 months for testing its product. However, provisions have been incorporated for extending the validity period or to close/terminate the testing early, if so required.

Significance:

• The recommended Regulatory Sandbox framework is expected to give the Digital Communication industry’s startup ecosystem access to real network environments and other telecom network data to help test the reliability of new applications before bringing them to market.

Read previous PIB articles here.