28 Apr 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ADIGRAMS
2. MSME Sustainable ZED Certification Scheme
3. Atal Tunnel
4. Quarterly Employment Survey (QES)
5. CERT-In

1. ADIGRAMS

Syllabus: GS II, Social Justice, Welfare Schemes for the vulnerable sections of the population

Prelims: About ADIGRAMS

Mains: An overview of the schemes that are intended for the development of the tribal population in the country. 

Context: A workshop has been organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in Jharkhand on ADIGRAMS (Adivasi Grants Management System). 

What is ADIGRAMS?

• It is a unique portal which will monitor the physical and financial progress of the grants given by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the States and can track the actual utilisation of the funds. 
• The information related to the beneficiaries is uploaded on the portal and the infrastructure projects are geotagged. 
• All the information will be available in the public domain for transparency and accountability. 
• Similar initiatives have been taken by the Ministry in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya along with training conducted by a team of technical experts from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and UNDP. 
• The workshop organised offers a training session on the portal and uploading the data associated with the tribal schemes. 

Read about TRIFED in the shared link.

2. MSME Sustainable ZED Certification Scheme

Syllabus: GS III, Economy, growth and development

Prelims: ZED Certification Scheme

Mains: Government interventions to boost the MSMEs. 

Context: The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has launched the MSME Sustainable ZED (Zero Defect Zero Effect) certification scheme to boost the MSME ecosystem in the country. 

MSME Sustainable ZED Scheme:

• This scheme intends to offer a roadmap to global competitiveness for the MSME sector of India. 
• The ZED certification aims to better the productivity and performance along with improving the capability of transforming the mind-set of manufacturers and make them more environment friendly.
• The scheme will function as an extensive drive to assist the MSMEs to adopt Zero Defect Zero Effect practices and will incentivise them for ZED certification, encouraging them to become MSME champions. 
• It also aims to reduce wastage, increase productivity, promote environmental consciousness, save energy and natural resources and expand their markets. 
• The scheme allows a provision of up to Rs 5 lakhs per MSME and will be made available for handholding and consultancy support for MSMEs under ZED certification.
• The MSMEs can also avail of a number of incentives for ZED certification by states and union territories, financial institutions and can also apply for free certification under the MSME KAWACH (COVID-19 support) initiative. 

Subsidies for MSMEs under ZED Certification:

• Micro Enterprises – 80% subsidy
• Small Enterprises – 60% subsidy
• Medium Enterprises – 50% subsidy
• There will be an additional subsidy of 10% for the MSMEs owned by Women/SC/ST entrepreneurs or MSMEs in the North East Region/Himalayan region/Region of Left Wing Extremism/ island territories/aspirational districts. 
• 5% subsidy will be given to MSMEs that are a part of the Micro & Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme of the Ministry of MSME

Know more about the MSE-CDP in PIB 28th Nov, 2019.

• A limited purpose joining reward of Rs 10,000 will be offered to each MSME once they have taken the ZED pledge. 

Areas of Assistance under the scheme: 

• Access to finance
• Create market linkages
• Technology upgradation
• Capacity building
• Innovation
• Industrial Infrastructure Development

3. Atal Tunnel

Syllabus: GS III, Economic Development, Infrastructure: Roads 

Prelims: About Atal tunnel

Context: The Atal Tunnel received the ‘Best Infrastructure Project Award’ conferred by the Indian Building Congress. 

About Atal Tunnel:

• It is considered to be one of the engineering marvels of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). 
• The tunnel is of enormous strategic importance connecting Manali to the Lahaul-Spiti Valley. 
• It was built by using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) with a well equipped semi-transverse ventilation system and fire hydrants provided at specific locations throughout the tunnel. 
• There are pollution sensors to continuously monitor the air quality in the tunnel and there is a facility to inject fresh air into the tunnel, through two heavy fan systems, if the air quality is below the desired level. 

Explore more about Atal tunnel in the linked article.

4. Quarterly Employment Survey (QES)

Syllabus: GS III, Economy, growth, development and employment

Prelims: Facts related to QES

Mains: Analysing the employment scenario in India.

Context: The report on the Quarterly Employment Survey has been released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. 

QES: An Overview

• It is prepared by the Labour Bureau which is an attached office of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. 
• This covers the time period from October to December, 2021. 
• The All India Quarterly Establishment based Employment Survey is released to provide frequent updates about the employment and related variables of establishments in both the organised and unorganised sectors. 
• For this purpose, nine sectors are selected that comprise the majority of the total employment in the non-farm establishments. 
• The QES formulates the employment data with respect to the establishments employing 10 or more workers, mostly constituting the organised segment in the nine selected sectors. These sectors include manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, IT/BPO and financial services. 
• According to the report, 85.3% of the workers were regular workers and 8.9% are contract workers. 
• Manufacturing sector is the largest employer accounting for around 39% of the estimated total number of workers followed by the education sector (22%).

Image source: PIB

5. CERT-In

Syllabus: GS III, Security, Cyber security

Prelims: CERT-In, Cyber crime 

Mains: Enhancing the cyber security posture for a safe and trusted internet in the country. 

Context: The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued directions relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention, response, and reporting of cyber incidents for a safe and trusted internet. 

About CERT-In:

• It serves as the national agency for performing various functions in the area of cyber security in India as per the provisions of section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 
• It operates under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 
• CERT-In offers a thorough analysis of cyber threats and tackles them with regular improvements in their methods and operations. 
• To address the gaps in handling the Cybercrime incidents, CERT-In has issued directions under the provision of sub-section (6) of section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 

Aspects of Directions Issued:

• Synchronisation of ICT system clocks
• Mandatory reporting of cyber incidents to CERT-In
• Maintenance of logs of ICT systems
• Maintenance of registration details of Subscriber/Customer by data centres 
• Setting up Virtual Private Server providers
• VPN service providers
• Cloud service providers

Read about National Cyber Security Policy in the linked article.

Read previous PIB here.

April 28th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here