19 Apr 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation
2. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme
3. National Level Pollution Response Exercise
4. WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine
5. The Heritage Walk
6. Plasma based green disinfectants

1. Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation

Syllabus: GS I, Urbanization, their problems and their remedies

Prelims: About Smarts Cities Mission, World Economic Forum

Mains: Discussing the challenges and opportunities of rapid urbanization in India. 

Context: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has organised the Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation event in Surat, Gujarat as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. 

Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation: An Overview

• The conference on Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation commenced with 100 Smart Cities joining from across the country.
• The winners of the India Smart Cities Awards Contest 2020 were felicitated.
• Surat and Indore received the award for ‘Best City’. 
• The ‘Best State’ award was conferred to Uttar Pradesh.
• This 3-day event was organized by MoHUA in collaboration with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Limited. 
• The event witnessed the release of the Urban Outcomes Framework 2022.

Themes of the mega conclave:

• Reimagining Public Spaces
• Digital Governance
• Climate Smart Cities
• Innovation and Smart Finance

Key launches:

• Amaro Padosh has been launched by the Smart Cities Mission and Surat Municipal Corporation with the objective of providing learning by experiencing opportunities to the participants of the event. This life-size neighbourhood is provided with public amenities like a park, anganwadi, public health centre, municipal school, Electric Vehicle charging station, handloom shop and so on. 
• A virtual hub for the collaborations on urban transformation in partnership with Smart Cities Mission and World Economic Forum has been launched. This aims to leverage emerging technologies and innovations to transform the Indian cities into centres of sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth. 
• The Digital Duniya pavilion was inaugurated to promote digital governance in the 100 participating smart cities powered by ICT interventions. This platform can be used for real-time data-driven governance benefiting other platforms like India Urban Data Exchange and Integrated Command and Control Centre. 
• The Assessment and Monitoring platform for Liveable, Inclusive and Future ready urban India (AMPLIFI) has been launched as the data portal of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. 
• The Smart Finance pavilion named ‘finance ka adda’ was set up to bring in more innovation in urban finance, thereby helping the cities to identify the untapped sources of revenue. 
• The Innovation Bazaar Pavilion offered cutting edge solutions for urban challenges through activities, dialogues and living lab deployment. 

To read more about the Smart Cities Mission, follow the link.

2. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme

Syllabus: GS III, Issues relating to growth, development and employment

Prelims: About Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme

Mains: Successful programmes of the government that have established self-sustainability in employment generation. 

Context: The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme has recorded a significant increase in the number of jobs created and has emerged as a potential tool of self-sustainability.

Image source: PIB

3. National Level Pollution Response Exercise

Syllabus: GS III, Disaster Management

Prelims: NATPOLREX

Mains: Role of the different agencies in marine disaster management enhancing preparedness. 

Context: The 8th edition of the two day National Level Pollution Response Exercise has been conducted by the Indian Coast Guard off Mormugao harbour, Goa. 

About the Exercise: (NATPOLREX VIII)

• This exercise involves marine spill preparedness in the presence of several officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, NDRF and other defence personnel and agencies. 
• This event attracts a variety of participants including 29 observers from 22 friendly foreign countries and international organisations and two coast guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

The objective behind the exercise:

• NATPOLREX intends to enhance the preparedness and response capability of all the stakeholders in fighting the marine spills. 
• It also validates the procedure and guidelines as per the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP) at the national level and the regional levels operate under the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (India is also a member of this).
• The exercise also emphasises improving the contingency plans and evaluating the preparedness of the resource agencies to tackle marine disasters. 

Read about the Indian Coast Guard Ships in the linked article.

4. WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine

Syllabus: GS II, Issues relating to Health

Prelims: WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine

Mains: Scope of traditional medicines in the present world and India’s efforts to promote them. 

Context: The foundation stone for WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine has been laid by the Prime Minister at Jamnagar, Gujarat exemplifying India’s traditional medicine system as a holistic science of life. 

An overview of the matter:

• The Ministry of Ayush and the Government of Gujarat have organised a curtain raiser event to promote the idea of traditional medicines, their development which was accompanied by the landmark inauguration of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine and the convening of the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit. 
• This centre for traditional medicine is a unique one in the world that has been encouraged by the WHO.
• The aim is to channel the potential of traditional medicine by incorporating technological advancements and evidence-based research. 
• This will be a milestone for the Ayush industry boosting the objectives of the National Ayush Mission. 
• This is a progressive initiative for India to strategise its efforts towards becoming a global hub of traditional medicinal products, practices and related services. 

What are the focus areas?

• Evidence and learning
• Data analytics 
• Sustainability and equity
• Innovation and technology keeping pace with the needs of global health. 

Read more about WHO GCTM in the link provided.

5. The Heritage Walk

Syllabus: GS I, Indian Heritage and Culture

Mains: Effective measures taken by the government to conserve and revive the cultural heritage of India

Context: The National Museum Authority has organised a unique heritage walk around Anang Tal in Mehrauli, Delhi as a part of celebrating World Heritage Day. 

About Anang Tal:

• This historic mini-lake was built by the 11th-century founder king of Delhi known as Anang Pal Tomar. 
• Anangpal Tomar also known as Anangpal II, was the ruler of the Tomara dynasty that ruled the territories of Haryana (means Abode of God), Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• It is believed that it was during the reign of Anangpal II that Lal Kot was constructed. Anangpal II brought the Iron Pillar from Saunkh (Mathura) and fixed it in Delhi according to some inscriptions. This pillar became the centre around which numerous places and temples were built along with the fort of Lal Kot. Lal Kot is believed to be Delhi’s original ‘red fort’. 
• The Yogamaya temple was also built under the patronage of Anangpal II. It was the worshipping place of the Kuldevi of the Tomars.
• During the rule of the Tomar dynasty, according to many stone inscriptions, a derivation of the name Dhillikapuri with Delhi has been inferred. 
• It has been the collaborative efforts of the archaeologists and the government to excavate the lake of AnangTal that has gradually shrunk over the years and revive the heritage hidden inside the place. 

Read about World Heritage Day in the linked article.

6. Plasma based green disinfectants

Syllabus: GS III, Science and Technology – Developments and their applications in everyday life

Prelims: About Plasma-based green disinfectants

Context: A group of Scientists from the Life Sciences and Physical Sciences divisions from the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, GoI) developed a plasma-based disinfectant with the help of cold atmospheric pressure (CAP) that can act as a green decontaminant for COVID-19. 

About the Study:

• The plasma that is generated by cold atmospheric pressure has the potential to deactivate the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 viral strain that binds to the receptor of the human cell (ACE2) and initiates the viral infection in the host. 
• Plasma is considered the fourth state of matter and makes up most of the universe and can be produced under controlled conditions in the lab and is often referred to as Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma. 
• The plasma forming gases like helium, argon and air were allowed to pass through a high voltage electric field. This resulted in the formation of a stable plasma with a mixture of ions and electrons emitting a pink glow in the reaction chamber. 

The Observation:

• It has been observed that the formation of short-lived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in the plasma led to the deactivation of the spike protein of the virus which occurs after 2 minutes of CAP treatment. 
• It was also confirmed by the RT-PCR analysis that the cold atmospheric pressure plasma can deactivate the RNA (ribonucleic acid) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

Image source: PIB

Read previous PIB here.

April 19th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here