19 Aug 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

August 19th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Recruitment Agency
2. Eat Right Challenge
3. Millennium Alliance
4. Tribes India on Wheels

1. National Recruitment Agency

Context:

Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency to conduct Common Eligibility Test.

About the National Recruitment Agency (NRA):

• The NRA will be a multi-agency body that will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) to screen/shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non-technical) posts.
• The NRA will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.
• It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central Government recruitment.

Need for the NRA:

• At present, candidates seeking government jobs have to appear for separate examinations conducted by multiple recruiting agencies for various posts, for which similar eligibility conditions have been prescribed.
• Candidates have to pay fees to multiple recruiting agencies and also travel long distances for appearing in various exams.
• These multiple recruitment examinations are a burden on the candidates, as also on the respective recruitment agencies, involving avoidable/repetitive expenditure, law and order/security related issues and venue related problems.
• On average, 2.5 crore to 3 crore candidates appear in each of these examinations.
• A common eligibility Test would enable these candidates to appear once and apply to any or all of these recruitment agencies.

Expected benefits of the NRA:

• Enhance access to candidates from far-flung locations.
• Provide relief to economically weaker candidates because of the avoidance of multiple fees, travel, boarding, lodging, etc. It will also help women candidates and candidates from rural areas.
• The CET would be available in a number of languages, making it more accessible to candidates from various backgrounds and regions.
• A single eligibility test would significantly reduce the recruitment cycle.

Standardised testing:

• The NRA shall conduct a separate CET each for the three levels of graduate, higher secondary (12^th pass) and the matriculate (10^th pass) candidates for those non-technical posts to which recruitment is presently carried out by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
• Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.
• The CET score of the candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. The best of the valid scores shall be deemed to be the current score of the candidate.
• Even though initially the CET scores would be used by the three recruiting agencies, it is expected that eventually, other recruitment agencies of the central government would adopt them. Later on, the scores would be open to other public and private agencies if they choose.
• There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.
• Relaxation in the upper age limit shall be given to candidates of SC/ST/OBC and other categories.
• Candidates would have the facility of registering on a common portal and give a choice of centres. Based on availability, they would be allotted examination centres.
• The ultimate aim is to reach a stage wherein candidates can schedule their own tests at centres of their choice.

2. Eat Right Challenge

Context:

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) organised an online workshop as part of its ‘Eat Right India Challenge’.

About the Eat Right India Challenge:

• FSSAI launched this campaign in 2018 to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food.
• It aims to engage, excite and enable citizens to improve their health and wellbeing.
• ‘Eat Right India’, is built on two broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Safe’.
• It is a collective effort to make both the demand and supply-side interventions through the engagement of key stakeholders.

Also read: Junking Junk Food – RSTV Big Picture

3. Millennium Alliance

Context:

49 innovations in 5 focus areas receive Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID-19 Innovation Challenge Awards.

What is the Millennium Alliance?

• The Millennium Alliance is an innovation-driven and impact-focused initiative leveraging collaborative resources to identify test and scale Indian innovations that address global development solutions.
• It is a consortium of partners (Public-Private Partnership) including the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation.
• The programme is currently running in its sixth year and has played a catalytic role in providing funding, capacity building, and business development support to Indian social enterprises.

4. Tribes India on Wheels

Context:

‘Tribes India On Wheels’ mobile vans flagged off.

About Tribes India on Wheels:

• This is a mobile shopping solution for organic, essential & natural immunity-boosting products of ‘Tribes India’, a brand created by TRIFED in 1987.
• With this novel initiative of Mobile Vans, TRIFED is taking these goods directly to the customer in various localities.
• All the sales proceeds will directly go to the tribals and help in sustaining their income and livelihoods.

Read more about TRIFED in PIB dated Feb 11, 2019, under the heading, Tribal Drink.

Read previous PIB here.

August 19th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here