10 August 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam

Races of Silk Worm Seed

• Central Silk Board (CSB) has notified recently developed races of silkworm seed of mulberry and Vanya silk for increasing the productivity of cocoons and to increase the income of the farmers engaged in sericulture.
• Silk worm breeds for specific agro-climatic condition are essential for increasing the productivity of cocoons.
• The recently notified silkworm races will improve the income of the farmers by its enhanced productivity and quality.
• Central Silk Board under the Ministry of Textiles is engaged in applied research developing new breeds of races of silkworm seed and conducts extensive field trial before commercial use in the field.

“PARIVESH”

• “PARIVESH” – an environmental single window hub for Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ clearances launched
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub) on the occasion of World Biofuel Day.
• PARIVESH is a Single-Window Integrated Environmental Management System, developed in pursuance of the spirit of ‘Digital India’ initiated by the Prime Minister and capturing the essence of Minimum Government and Maximum Governance.

SCO Peace Mission 2018

• As part of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initiatives, SCO Peace Mission Exercise is conducted biennially for SCO member states.
• The joint exercise for the year 2018 will be conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia from 22 August to 29 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk, Russia.
• This will be a historic occasion due to the maiden participation of India post becoming a full member of the SCO in June 2017.
• This exercise marks a major milestone in the multilateral relations of SCO member nations. The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international counter insurgency or counter terrorism environment under SCO Charter.
• The joint exercise will strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and enable sharing of best practices among armed forces of SCO Nations. It will be a landmark event in the history of SCO defence cooperation.

National Energy Storage Mission

• NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute’s joint report on India’s Energy Storage Mission has proposed three stage solution approach i.e.

1. creating an environment for battery manufacturing growth;
2. scaling supply chain strategies; and
3. scaling of battery cell manufacturing.

• Key areas for energy storage application include:

1. integrating renewable energy with distribution and transmission grids;
2. setting Rural micro grids with diversified loads or stand-alone systems; and
3. developing Storage component of electric mobility plans.

100% FDI under automatic route in educational institutions

• As per consolidated FDI Policy, 2017, the Government has allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100% under automatic route in the educational institutions subject to applicable laws/sectoral rules/regulations/ security conditions.
• As per these regulations, Indian Universities and Colleges having the highest grade of accreditation/threshold accreditation, and conforming to other eligibility conditions as laid down in the regulations, can apply online to the UGC for starting twinning arrangement with Foreign Educational Institutions (FEI) having the prescribed quality.
• The AICTE has set norms for regulating collaboration and twinning program between Indian and Foreign University/Institutions in the field of Technical Education Research and Training with an objective to safeguard the interest of student community in India and ensure uniform maintenance of Norms & Standards as prescribed by various statutory bodies.

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