20 Apr 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit 2022
2. Civil Services Day
3. India-Finland Cooperation in the field of quantum computing
4. Green Hydrogen Plant

1. Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit 2022

Syllabus: GS II, Issues relating to health

Prelims: About Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit, National Ayush Mission

Mains: Efforts made by the government of India to promote investment in the Ayush sector.

Context: The Prime Minister inaugurated the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

About the Summit:

• This Summit has been organised with the prime intention of encouraging more investments and innovation in the Ayush sector. 
• This event became an iconic one with the presence of important delegates that included the Prime Minister of Mauritius, WHO Director and representatives from the ministries of Health and Family Welfare, AYUSH and other stakeholders. 
• This three-day Summit will witness a dialogue between entrepreneurs, industry, startups and other stakeholders who are willing to aspire for taking AYUSH Therapy to the next level serving the objectives of the National Ayush Mission. 
• The emerging advancements of AYUSH have been discussed at the summit as India has experienced a significant increase in the production of Ayush medicines, supplements and cosmetics. An estimate of the growth of AYUSH amounts to more than $18 billion. 
• The launch of the Ayush Export Promotion Council along with four Ayush ICT initiatives have been announced. 
• The four Ayush ICT initiatives include Ayush Information Hub, AyuSoft, Ayush Next and Ayush GIS. 
• A comic book release was witnessed with the title ‘Professor Ayushman’ which describes the potential of ayurvedic medicines in curing diseases and how they helped in the treatment of COVID-19. 
• India has also decided to introduce a special Ayush visa category to facilitate people to travel to India for AYUSH therapy. This will add to the popularity of India’s traditional medicine system on the global platform. 
• The Ayush Startup Challenge was also organised by the All India Institute of Ayurveda in association with Start up India. 

Also read about Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in the link shared.

2. Civil Services Day

Syllabus: GS II, Governance, Role of Civil Services in a democracy

Mains: Evaluating the contributions of Civil Services as the steel frame for the retention of a vibrant democracy. 

Context: The Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration will be conferred to recognise the contributions of district units and the central/state organizations for the welfare of common citizens. The civil servants across the country will be addressed by the Prime Minister. 

• On National Civil Services day, the officers of central and state governments are awarded by the Prime Minister of India for their extraordinary services in the field of public administration.
• The award function is organised by the Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievance, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Civil Services Day 2022:

• Every 21st day of April is celebrated as Civil Services Day.
• Five identified priority programmes will be felicitated with awards and they are: 
  • Promoting Jan Bhandari or People’s participation in Poshan Abhiyan
  • Promoting excellence in sports and wellness through Khelo India Programme. 
  • Digital Payment and good governance
  • Holistic development of one district one product scheme
  • Seamless end-to-end delivery of services without human intervention

3. India-Finland Cooperation in the field of quantum computing

Syllabus: GS III, Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers

Prelims: About Quantum Computing

Mains: Highlighting the scope of Quantum Computing in India and the areas of application. 

Context: Cooperation in the area of quantum computing and a roadmap for such collaboration have been discussed by the delegates from India and Finland along with the plans to set up a virtual Centre of Excellence. 

About the Meeting:

• The meeting on quantum computing was held after the joint declaration of setting up the Indo-Finish Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing. 
• This will enable academia and the industries to partner for the development of quantum science and technology improving the life of humankind. 
• The aim of setting up the Centre of Excellence is to create a research-driven collaboration between India and Finland in the development of supercomputing devices, sensors, communication technologies, space technologies and so on. 
• There have been discussions on engagement through the  National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-physical Systems and through the Quantum Enabled Science and Technology (QuEST) program building a strong scientific ecosystem and IT communities. 

Read more about Quantum Computing in the linked article.

4. Green Hydrogen Plant

Syllabus: GS III, Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation

Prelims: National Green Hydrogen Mobility Project

Mains: India’s progressive transition towards new and renewable sources of energy.

Context: India’s first pure hydrogen plant has been commissioned in Jorhat, Assam.

Image source: www.cleanfuture.co.in

About the Hydrogen Plant:

• In a significant step towards Green Hydrogen Economy, Oil India Limited has commissioned India’s first 99.999% pure green hydrogen pilot plant at the Jorhat Pump Station in Assam. 
• This plant is provided with an installation capacity of 10 kg per day.
• The plant has the capacity to produce green hydrogen from the electricity generated by the existing 500 kW solar plant using a 100 kW Anion Exchanger Membrane Electrolyser array. 
• This is for the first time in India that Anion Exchanger Membrane technology is used. 
• This plant is expected to increase the production of green hydrogen from 10kg per day to 30 kg per day in future. 
• This is a major step towards India’s firm commitment to energy transition to clean and green energy. 

Anion Exchanger Membrane (AEM) technology:

• This technology employs an anion exchange membrane which is a semipermeable membrane generally composed of isomers and designed to conduct anions.
• These membranes have positively charged functional groups. 
• It acts as a fuel cell with high efficiency of power generation by directly converting the chemical energy of fuel like hydrogen or methanol into electrical energy. 
• These membrane fuel cells make use of solid polymer electrolyte membranes that have high power densities, simplified operations and easier maintenance. 
• An ideal anion exchange membrane is desired to possess high hydroxide conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, good thermal stability and robust alkaline stability to transport the ions from anode to cathode. 

Read more about Green Hydrogen in the linked article.

Read previous PIB here.

April 20th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here