09 Aug 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Government e- Marketplace (GeM) Portal
2. Indo- US Joint Research Projects Through TIHs

1. Government e- Marketplace (GeM) Portal

Syllabus – Bodies Constituted for the betterment of weaker sections, Cooperative Society.

Prelims – GeM Portal for Cooperatives.

Context – The Union Minister for Home & Cooperation Shri Amit Shah e-launched the onboarding of cooperatives on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal in New Delhi.

Details –

• The GeM portal has been made available to all cooperative societies in the country.
• There is immense potential in the cooperative sector and the GeM portal will be a very useful platform for the expansion of this sector.
• Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Cooperation has taken many measures for cooperatives and in the last one year, the Ministry is constantly working on 25 to 30 initiatives.
• The Cooperative policy is also being prepared with a holistic approach from PACS to APEX, the government has to expand cooperatives, but there is a lack of a database, therefore the ministry is also creating a national-level database of different categories of cooperatives.
• Shri Narendra Modi has awakened the aspirations of 60 crore population, who worry about their daily necessities, by fulfilling their primary needs, by opening bank accounts, providing gas cylinders, toilets, electricity, pure drinking water and free food grains, and cooperatives have the potential to fulfill these aspirations.
• The cooperative model allows people with limited capital to come together and work on a large scale.
• The establishment of a cooperative university is progressing and will help in training those working in the cooperative sector as well as new employees.
• An export house is also being registered, for which the process will be completed by December. It will be a platform for the export of products by cooperatives.
• The GeM portal will bring transparency into the cooperative sector, farmers’ and milk producers’ trust in committees and their members will also increase when there is transparency.
• Shri Narendra Modi has brought transparency in government procurement through the GeM portal. This is a new system, and there may be some initial administrative problems, but no one should doubt the intentions of bringing in this system.
• The expansion that GeM has achieved is unimaginable; there are about 62,000 government buyers available on GeM and around 49 lakh sellers. More than 10,000 products and more than 288 services are listed, so far business worth Rs. 2.78 thousand crores has taken place and this is a huge achievement for GeM.

This address was given by Shri Amit Shah.

2. Indo- US Joint Research Projects Through TIHs

Syllabus – Science and Technology- Innovations

Prelims – DST – NSF Joint Research Projects

Details –

• Experts from India and the United States interacted to bring out the best plans for joint research projects that would be implemented through the Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs), at the DST-NSF Joint Research and Development Projects Kick-off Workshop.
• The workshop was organised by IIT Delhi in association with DST to discuss how the projects to be implemented by the six TIHs identified under NM-ICPS for collaborative research and development with NSF-supported institutions would leverage unique resources, such as testbeds and datasets available in India and  the US, expand collaborations on critical technologies like AI and advanced wireless, and encourage student and researcher exchange programs.
• It was informed that a total of 35 joint projects have been identified which will be implemented by the Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) and research institutions in USA
• Six TIHs under NM-ICPS have been identified for collaborative research and development with NSF-supported institutions. These projects aim at adding the component of international collaboration to existing research projects in both countries. The Hubs are part of a five-year, nearly $430 million investment by DST under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems and comprise academic researchers and industry partners.
• Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and National Science Foundation (NSF) joined hands for collaborative research and development in Sept 2021 in thematic areas of Agriculture, Autonomous systems technologies and applications, Health and Environment, Rehabilitation and assistive robotics, and Smart cities covering various cyber-physical systems.
• DST is implementing National Mission-Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS) with an outlay of Rs. 3,660.00 crores for a period of five years to encourage innovation in new-age technologies. As part of the Mission implementation, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) have been established in reputed institutes across the country in advanced technologies to create a strong foundation and a seamless ecosystem for Cyber-Physical Systems, leading a platform for policymakers, researchers/innovators, premier institutes, start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors, industries and global connect as well.

Read previous PIB here.

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