04 Feb 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship 2022
2. Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)
3. Blue Revolution
4. Towns of Export Excellence
5. 100 years of Chauri Chaura Incident
6. National Agriculture Disaster Management Scheme

1. Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship 2022

Syllabus: GS III, Environmental pollution and degradation

Prelims: Waste to Wealth Mission, Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship

Mains: India’s roadmap for the sustainable management of waste

Context: The Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship 2022 has been announced by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, the Government of India under the Waste to Wealth Mission. 

Aim of the Initiative: 

• The fellowship programme aims to empower young innovators who participate in community work of waste management, waste awareness campaigns and waste surveys. 
• It also aims at reducing the waste burden on the environment making the surroundings greener. 

About the Programme: 

• The ‘Waste to Wealth’ mission is one of the nine national missions of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
• This fellowship was launched in 2021 to recognise the engagement of students, community workers/self-help groups and municipal/sanitary workers in tackling the issue of waste management. 
• To continue the noble initiative, the Swachhta fellowship applications are released for the participation of all the stakeholders and encourage them to keep up the good work. 

2. Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)

Syllabus: GS II, Government Policies and Interventions

Prelims: About the RYSK scheme

Mains: Developmental schemes for the empowerment of women

Context: The government has decided to extend the RYSK scheme to develop the personality and leadership qualities of the youth.  

About the Scheme:

• The Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram scheme is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• The beneficiaries of the scheme include youth in the age group of 15-29.
• The age group has been considered in alignment with the definition of ‘youth’ as per the National Youth Policy of 2014. 
• In the case of programme components specifically meant for the adolescents, the beneficiaries are in the age group of 10-19 years. 
• The programmes of the RYSK scheme is implemented through seven sub-schemes: 
  • Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
  • National Youth Corps
  • National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development
  • International Cooperation
  • Youth Hostels
  • Assistance to Scouting and Guiding Organisations
  • National Young Leaders Programme
• The scheme programme includes skilling and propagating the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, mass awareness and action plan, establishing disaster risk reduction and preparedness teams and so on and so forth along with the promotion of youth volunteerism. 
• The government collaborates with UN agencies like the UNDP and the Commonwealth Youth Programme to provide effective exposure to the young population. 

Objectives:

• The major aim of the scheme is to motivate the youth to strive for excellence in their respective fields and engage them in the developmental process. 
• It seeks to harness the immense youth energy for nation-building.
• Besides, it also aims at enhancing National Integration, Adventure, Youth Leadership and Personality Development and Empowerment of Adolescents, Technical and Resource Development. 

3. Blue Revolution

Syllabus: GS III, Economics of animal rearing

Prelims: About Blue Revolution

Context: The Blue Revolution scheme of the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and its progressive outcomes were discussed in the Parliament. 

About the scheme:

• It was implemented for a period of five years as a centrally sponsored scheme. 
• The purpose of the scheme was to increase the inland and marine productivity of fisheries through financial assistance and multidimensional activities. 
• Overall growth and adequate funding have been reported in the last five years. 
• The PMMSY (Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana) has provided a major boost to the objectives of the blue revolution.

Read more about Blue Revolution in the linked article.

4. Towns of Export Excellence

Syllabus: GS III, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, growth, development

Prelims: DGFT, Towns of Export Excellence

Context: 39 towns have been recognized as Towns of Export Excellence under the foreign trade policy towns of export excellence to avail the benefits under the policy. 

Towns of Export Excellence: Benefits

• Towns producing goods of Rs 750 crore or more can be recognised as Towns of Export Excellence based on the potential for growth in exports. 

Under the foreign trade policy, these towns can benefit in the following manner:

• Recognised associations of units in towns of export excellence can avail financial assistance under the Market Access Initiative Scheme, on a priority basis. 
• The assistance will be provided for export promotion projects for marketing, capacity building and technical services. 
• The common service providers in the towns of export excellence are entitled for authorization under the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme. 
• Tripur, Ludhiana, Panipat, Kanoor and Karur are some of the towns under this category. 

Read about the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in the linked article.

5. 100 years of Chauri Chaura Incident

Syllabus: GS I, The Freedom Struggle – its various stages

Prelims: Chauri Chaura incident

Mains: Significance of Chauri Chaura incident in the freedom struggle

Context: The Prime Minister remembered the historic Chauri Chaura incident on the completion of 100 years in 2022. This incident was a landmark in shaping the progress of the freedom struggle taking it to the next level. 

Turn the pages of history and read in detail about the Chauri Chaura Incident in the linked article.

6. National Agriculture Disaster Management Scheme

Syllabus: GS III, Disaster Management

Prelims: About the National Agriculture Disaster Management Scheme

Mains: Government Interventions to protect the interests of the farmers 

Context: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched a flagship network project called the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) in line with the National Agriculture Disaster Management Scheme. 

What is the aim?

• The scheme aims at strategic research on adaptation and mitigation of unusual climatic events.
• It also aims at spreading awareness among the farmers about climate-resilient practices of agriculture along with technology dissemination. 

Provisions of the National Agriculture Disaster Management Scheme:

• The scheme will tackle the issues of sudden climate change that impact agriculture incurring huge losses for the farmers.
• Every ministry and department is mandated to have a disaster management plan in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005. On similar lines, the Department of Agriculture has also prepared a National Agriculture Disaster Management Plan to achieve the developmental goals related to the agriculture sector.
• Under the scheme, the government will make an attempt to introduce climate-smart technologies involving farmers in risk assessment and adaptation techniques in several clusters covering many villages. 
• About 65 location-specific climate-resilient technologies have been developed.
• So far, 8 climate-resilient varieties have been identified in rice, green gram, maize and lentil. 

Image Source : nidm.gov.in

Read previous PIB here.

February 4th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here