07 Jul 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. India & Panama sign MoU
2. Bharat Internet Utsav
3. Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0
4. UNESCAP Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation

1. India & Panama sign MoU

Syllabus: GS-2, Functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies

Prelims: Election Commission of India

Context:

India & Panama signed an MoU on electoral cooperation.

Details:

• The Election Commission of India and the Electoral Tribunal (ET) of Panama signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Panama City to establish the institutional framework for their ongoing cooperation in the field of election management and administration. 
• ECI has been expanding its links and cooperation with foreign Election Management Bodies (EMBs) through its ‘International Cooperation Programme’.  
• Having signed MoUs with Mexico, Brazil and Chile in the past years, this is the fourth MoU signed by ECI with an EMB in the Latin Americas region, with an overall 31 MoUs with EMBs and international organisations across the world.  
• The Election Commission of India and the Electoral Tribunal of Panama are members of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB). 

Know more about the Association of World Election Bodies in PIB dated Sep 20, 2020.

2. Bharat Internet Utsav

Syllabus: GS-3, Awareness in the fields of IT

Prelims: Bharat Internet Utsav

Mains: Digital/Internet revolution in India

Context:

Bharat Internet Utsav was launched to celebrate the power of the Internet.

Details:

• Bharat Internet Utsav is an initiative of the Ministry of Communications to work towards sharing of various empowering real-life stories on the transformation brought by the Internet in the various aspects of the life of citizens.
• Under the Utsav campaign, the Ministry is adopting the feature of sharing the revolution of the internet across the country, especially in rural and remote areas.
• Under this, citizens (aged 14 and above) can send short videos describing how the internet transformed their lives.
• The top three winners will be awarded cash prizes.

3. Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0

Syllabus: GS-2, Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Prelims: Performance Grading Index

Mains: Education sector in India, challenges and opportunities

Context:

Ministry of Education released the report on Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs for the year 2021-22.

Details:

• The Performance Grading Index assesses the performance of school education system at the State/UT level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
• The new PGI structure covers 73 indicators, focused more on qualitative assessment besides including digital initiatives and teacher education. 
• The grades/level obtained by States/UTs in previous edition of the PGIs are thus not comparable as with the grades/levels obtained by States/UTs in this new edition.
• Know more about the Performance Grading Index in the linked article.

PGI 2.0:

• The PGI 2.0 structure comprises of 1000 points across 73 indicators grouped into 2 categories viz., Outcomes, Governance Management (GM). 
• These categories are further divided into 6 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure & Facilities (IF), Equity (E), Governance Process (GP) & Teachers Education and Training (TE&T).
• It classified the States/UTs into ten grades:
  • Daksh – highest achievable grade, for State/UT scoring more than 940 points out of total of 1000 points.
  • The lowest grade is Akanshi-3 which is for score up to 460.
• Chandigarh received a score of 659.0 (Grade: PRACHESTA-2) which is the highest in this edition.
• Punjab came second (647.4 (Grade: PRACHESTA-2)) followed by Delhi (636.2 (Grade: PRACHESTA-3)) and Kerala (609.7 (Grade: PRACHESTA-3)).
• Rajasthan received a score of 577.5 (Grade: AKANSHI-1)

4. UNESCAP Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation

Syllabus: GS-3, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Prelims: UNESCAP Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation

Context:

India has performed well in the 2023 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific’s (UNESCAP) Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. 

Details:

• As per the results of the survey, India is at the forefront of global trade facilitation efforts, with an impressive score of 93.55% in 2023 vis a vis 90.32% in 2021.
• The survey covers more than 140 economies and evaluates 60 trade facilitation measures.

Image source: PIB

Highlights of the survey:

• India has achieved a perfect score of 100% in four key areas: Transparency, Formalities, Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, and Paperless Trade. 
• India has also showcased a huge improvement in the “Women in Trade Facilitation” component from 66.7% in 2021 to 77.8% in 2023 thereby indicating commitment to gender inclusivity and the empowerment of women in the trade sector.
• India is the best performing country in the South Asia region.
• India’s overall score is also better than many developed countries like Canada, France, UK, Germany, etc.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

July 7th, 2023, PIB:- Download PDF Here