22 Aug 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 15th International Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics (IOAA)
2. 11th National Seed Congress
3. Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs)  in Panchayats

1. 15th International Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics (IOAA)

Syllabus – GS 3, Science & Technology – Awareness in the fields of space

Prelims – 15th IOAA

Context – Indian secured third rank at 15th IOAA.

Details –

• India secured the third position along with Singapore, winning three gold medals and two silver medals at the 15th IOAA.
• Raghav Goyal (Chandigarh), Md. Sahil Akhtar (Kolkata) & Mehul Borad (Hyderabad) won gold. Malay Kedia (Ghaziabad) and Atharva Nilesh Mahajan (Indore) secured silver medals. Raghav Goyal was awarded a special prize for giving a solution to the most challenging theoretical problem.
• The olympiad was to be held in Kyiv, Ukraine; the venue was changed to Kutaisi, Georgia in March 2022, owing to the war in Ukraine.
• The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual competition for higher-secondary level students conducted since 2007.

2. 6th Meeting of Australia Indian Education Council (AIEC)

Syllabus – GS 2, International Relations; Bilateral Agreements involving India.

Prelims – 6th Meeting of AIEC.

Context -Bilateral meeting between Indian Education Minister and his Australian counterpart to strengthen cooperation in education, research, innovation, skill development and entrepreneurship. 

Details –

• The Union Minister for Education and Skill Development held a bilateral meeting and co-chaired the 6th Meeting of AIEC with his Australian counterpart, HE Jason Clare at West Sydney University (WSU).
• The ministers discussed ways and means to strengthen cooperation in skill development, education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Ministers also gave consent to enlarge the area of cooperation in learning, research and skill development in order to make education a key pillar under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic partnership.
• The minister invited the Australian team to hold the next meeting (7th AIEC) in India.
• He emphasised the research collaboration between two nations in the area of agriculture, Ayurveda and yoga. He further said that the two nations can work in collaboration to develop the curriculum of the newly set up universities – Digital University and Gati Shakti University.
• The ministers announced plans to constitute a working group on trans-nation education to build a shared understanding of the regulatory settings in both countries and promote opportunities for two-way mobility of institutions.

About the Australia Indian Education Council:

• It is a bi-national body chaired by Indian and Australian Education ministers to augment collaboration in education, training and research.
• It works as a working council of stakeholders from the industry, academia and the government.
• The first meeting of the council was held in New Delhi in 2011.

Also read: India – Australia Relations

3. Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) in Panchayats

Syllabus – GS 2, Governance; Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors 

Prelims – Two-Day National Workshop on LSDGs

Context – Inauguration of two-day National Workshop of LSDGs in Panchayats through Thematic Approaches on Theme 6 – Self-Sufficient Infrastructure.

Details –

• The workshop was inaugurated by union ministers at Mohali, Punjab. 
• Representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions from 22 states attended the workshop.
• Panchayats that are excellent in delivering basic services through developing self-sufficient infrastructure have been provided with an opportunity to demonstrate and share their experiences and innovative models, strategies, and approaches to institutionalise the theme of Villages with Self-Sufficient Infrastructure at the grassroots.

About –

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has adopted a theme-based approach for Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) at the grassroots level through empowering Panchayats. Following are the themes for LSDGs-

1. Theme 1: Poverty Free and Enhanced Livelihoods in Village
2. Theme 2: Healthy Village
3. Theme 3: Child-Friendly Village
4. Theme 4: Water Sufficient Village
5. Theme 5: Clean and Green Village
6. Theme 6: Village with Self-Sufficient Infrastructure
7. Theme 7: Socially Secured and Socially Just Village
8. Theme 8: Village with Good Governance
9. Theme 9: Women Friendly Village

Theme 6: Self-Sufficient Infrastructure – The aim of theme 6 is to achieve Self Sufficient Infrastructure and provide access for everyone to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services. Infrastructure is important for development. The theme focuses on providing support and creating a proper environment at the Gram Panchayat level for better service delivery in the areas of roads, streetlights, drinking water, schools, health, sanitation, etc.

Read previous PIB here.

August 22nd, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here