04 Jan 2022: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport
2. Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences launches eOffice
3. CSIR - National Physical Laboratory: Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

1. Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport

Syllabus: GS 3, Infrastructure

Prelims: About Maharaja Bir Bikram and the developmental initiatives

Mains: Role of government initiatives in improving the connectivity of the Northeast region.

Context: The Prime Minister inaugurated the New Terminal Building of Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala to strengthen connectivity along with the launch of developmental initiatives.

About Maharaja Bir Bikram:

• Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman was the revered ruler of Tripura belonging to the Manikya dynasty.
• He was born on August 19th 1908.
• He became the 184th and the second last Maharaja of the Kingdom of Tripura in 1923 and ruled till 1947.
• Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore Deb Barman succeeded his father Bir Bikram and continued as the nominal king for two years until the merger of Tripura with India in 1949.
• He is regarded as the Modern Architect of Tripura as he played a pioneering role in the establishment of higher educational institutions.
• He introduced proper planning for the entire state of Tripura during his rule.
• It was the determined effort and administrative efficiency of Bir Bikram that he reserved land for local indigenous people of Tripura which is at present demarcated as Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Councils Areas.

Significance of the Airport:

• The airport is a blend of Tripura’s culture, natural beauty and modern facilities that would expand the air connectivity in the North East.
• This is an exemplary step to make Tripura the gateway to the northeast and turn it into a new hub of business and industry as well as a trade corridor.

The Developmental Initiatives launched in Tripura:

With the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Prayas, the Government of India introduced the HIRA model of development.

• The Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana was launched with the objective of ensuring tap water for every household, housing, coverage under the Ayushman Bharat Programme, insurance cover and better roads to increase the confidence of rural people.
• Mission – 100 and ‘Vidya Jyoti’ campaign will assist the youth within the age group of 15-18 years to get vaccinated and get access to education which is in line with the National Education Policy. The Mission-100 of Vidya Jyoti schools is aimed to improve school education in the state by providing all state-of-the-art facilities and quality education to the existing 100 higher secondary schools. The project targets to cover 1.2 lakh students from nursery to class XII in the next three years.

2. Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences launches eOffice

Syllabus: GS 3, Science and Technology/Awareness in the field of IT

Prelims: About eOffice

Mains: Role of IT in governance

Context: The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences under the Ministry of Ayush took an initiative to set up an eOffice for its official purpose.

Aim: The council intended to become a paperless organization and collaborated with the National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to set up the eOffice.

Details:

• The e-file application was launched emphasizing the advantages of electronic platforms that can be used for official work.
• During the event, the IT-based initiatives of the Ministry of Ayush like the NAMASTE Portal, Ayush Research Portal and many other welfare initiatives were highlighted.

Operation of the eOffice:

• The eOffice platform is a digital workplace solution that consists of a suite of products and features that results in efficient and transparent governance.
• This will streamline all workflow and make the procedures paperless.
• It has been informed by the IT cell at CCRAS that an integrated software SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) will enable it to process the annual performance report of the officials.

3. CSIR – National Physical Laboratory: Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

Syllabus: GS 3, Science and Technology

Prelims: About CSIR-NPL

Mains: Progress made in the field of Science and Technology

Context: The CSIR – National Physical Laboratory commemorated its 75th year of foundation.

About the Event:

• A special commemorative postage stamp was released to begin the occasion along with the establishment of the LED Photometry Laboratory that envisages developing energy-efficient illumination technology.
• This will save foreign exchange spent on availing the testing and calibration services from abroad and reduce turn-around time pertaining to LED lighting products.

Important Releases:

• The Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya was released to support testing and calibration of laboratories for quality assurance at par with the international standards for the high purity of elements like gold and silver.
• Certification for Indian made Ambient Ozone Analyzers was also launched.
• The calibration facility for Infusion Pump Analyzer was launched to test infusion pumps along with the certification process for Indian made Low Volume PM2.5 Sampler to fight pollution.
• With the aim to propagate awareness about the metrology related activities of CSIR-NPL, a fully responsive website has been created.

About CSIR-NPL:

• The National Physical Laboratory was conceptualized in 1943 by the governing body of CSIR. The Foundation stone was laid on the 4th of January, 1947.
• It is situated in New Delhi.
• It acts as the premier laboratory with the responsibility of the dissemination of measurements to the needs of the country.
• Mandated as India’s National Measurement Institute, the NPL acts as the custodian of maintaining the National Standards, for example, the Indian Standard Time.
• It also maintains and calibrates national standards of weights and measures.

Read previous PIB here.

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