28 Dec 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. PRASHAD Project
2. City Finance Rankings & City Beauty Competition
3. G-20 Campaigns for Online Safety & Digital Innovation

1. PRASHAD Project

(A National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive)

Syllabus – GS1, Indian Heritage, Indian Architecture 

Prelims – UNESCO WHS, PRASHAD

Context- The President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu laid the foundation stone of two projects under the PRASHAD Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, GoI.

Details –

• The President laid the foundation stone for the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Facilities at Bhadrachalam Group of Temples’ at Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamivari Devasthanam, Bhadrachalam in the Bhadradri Kothagudem District of the state of Telangana. The temple at Bhadrachalam is said to be more than 350 years old and is closely associated with the epic of Ramayana.
• The President also laid the foundation stone for another project – ‘Development of Pilgrimage and Heritage Infrastructure of UNESCO World Heritage Site at Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple’ at Mulugu, Telangana. The President applauded the Ministry of Tourism for giving a boost to spiritual and cultural tourism by developing pilgrimage sites under the scheme PRASHAD.
  • The Ramappa temple of Lord Shiva is a perfect example of architectural brilliance and was built in 1213 AD by the Kakatiya rulers and has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

PRASHAD Scheme –

The scheme was launched in 2014-15 and aims to provide integrated infrastructure development to pilgrimage and heritage tourism destinations in the country. Under it, the Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments for promoting tourism at identified destinations.

Read more about the scheme in the link – PRASAD Scheme.

2. City Finance Rankings & City Beauty Competition

Syllabus – GS2, Government Policies and Interventions

Prelims – City Finance Rankings and City Beauty Competition

Context – The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched two initiatives to take India’s urban rejuvenation to the next level.

Details –

• The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri addressed the launch events of ‘City Finance Rankings’ and ‘City Beauty Competition’ and said that India has embarked on the most ambitious plan of urban rejuvenation undertaken anywhere in the world.
• City Finance Rankings, 2022 –
  • It aims to evaluate, recognise and reward ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) based on their financial (current) health and improvement over time in financial performance.
  • The participating ULBs will be evaluated on 15 indicators across three key municipal finance assessment parameters – Resource Mobilisation, Expenditure Performance and Fiscal Governance.
  • The cities will be ranked in four population categories – above four million, between 1-4 million, 100k – 1 million and below 1,00,000. The top three cities in each population category will be rewarded at the national level.
  • All 4500 + cities across all states and UTs would be encouraged to participate in the City Finance Rankings, 2022.
• City Beauty Competition –
• • It aims to encourage and recognise the efforts made by cities and wards to create beautiful, innovative and inclusive public spaces.
  • The cities would be judged across the five broad pillars – amenities, accessibility, aesthetics, activities and ecology.
  • The healthy competition would encourage ULBs to work on their basic infrastructure and make their cities beautiful, inclusive and sustainable. 

These two initiatives of MoHUA will encourage wards and cities to come forward to showcase their initiatives and interventions towards creating functionally beautiful public spaces, while also preserving their rich cultural heritage.

3. G-20 Campaigns for Online Safety & Digital Innovation

Syllabus – GS2, Global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Prelims – G20 DIA & Stay Safe Online Campaign

Context – Launch of two G20 campaigns – Stay Safe Online and G20 DIA.

Details –

• As a part of India’s G20 Presidency, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology launched the “Stay Safe Online” campaign and “G20 Digital Innovation Alliance” (G20 DIA), which G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant lauded as among the first-ever programmes to be launched worldwide as a G-20 initiative. 
• Stay Safe Online Campaign –
  • This campaign aims to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of staying safe online, given the widespread use of social media platforms and the increasing adoption of digital payments in India. 
  • The campaign is expected to inform people of all ages about the risks of cyber-attacks and provide them with the necessary knowledge to protect themselves online.
• G20 DIA –
  • The DIA is meant to “unite the innovation ecosystems” of G-20 countries and nine invitee countries to recognise and support start-ups developing innovative digital solutions.
  • The DIA programme will have start-ups from member countries with invitee countries sending in entries for digital solutions in six key sectors – Edtech, Healthtech, Agritech, Fintech, secured digital infrastructure and circular economy.
  • The G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20–DIA) summit will be held in Bangalore on the sidelines of the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG).
  • The G20-DIA Summit will bring together the key players in the innovation ecosystem from both G20 member countries and the invited non-member countries in order to recognise and support startups creating cutting-edge digital solutions in the six themes that bridge the digital divide between different segments of humanity and advance the world economy.

Also read: India Takes over Presidency of G20.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

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