18 Jul 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. NIIO Seminar ‘Swavlamban’
2. DIGI Yatra Project
3. Presidential Elections, 2022

1. NIIO Seminar ‘Swavlamban’

Syllabus: GS Ⅲ, Security; Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

Context – About Swavlamban and Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

Details:

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation, NIIO Seminar, Swavlamban.
• The two-day seminar aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the defence sector. The PM said that a self-reliant defence system is critical for the economy and also from a strategic point of view. 
• During the programme, the PM unveiled ‘SPRINT Challenges’, which are aimed at giving a boost to the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy.
• As a part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, NIIO in conjunction with the DIO (Defence Innovation Organisation) aims at inducting at least 75 new indigenous technologies into the Indian Navy. This collaborative project is named SPRINT (Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX- Innovations for Defence Excellence, NIIO and TDAC- Technology Development Acceleration Cell).

About Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO):

• NIIO has been established to foster innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in keeping with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact with academia and industry.
• The NIIO was launched in 2020.

2. DIGI Yatra Project

Syllabus: GS Ⅲ, Science & Technology; Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Prelims: DIGI YATRA

Context – The Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Civil Aviation was held in New Delhi and the topic for discussion was ‘DIGI YATRA’.

About DIGI YATRA:

• Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, gave the background of the project. It is a project conceived to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports, based on Facial Recognition Technology, FRT.
• Digi Yatra Foundation has been set up as a joint venture (JV) company in 2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Its shareholders are Airport Authority of India (AAI) (26%) and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
• In the first phase, Digi Yatra is proposed to be rolled out at two airports namely Varanasi and Bengaluru in August 2022.

3. Presidential Elections, 2022

Syllabus: GS-2; Polity; Structure, Appointment to various Constitutional posts

Prelims: Procedure of  Presidential Elections in India

Details

• The voting in the Presidential elections 2022 was conducted in July 2022, with a voter turnout of almost 99%.
• There were two contesting candidates – Shrimati Droupadi Murmu and Shri Yashwant Sinha for the 16th presidential election. Polling was held at 31 locations between 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

About Presidential Elections 

• The Indian President is elected through an Electoral College System. 
  • The electoral college is made up of all the elected members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories (MLAs). 

For more information on the President and the procedure for the election of the Indian President, check the linked article.

Read previous PIB here.

July 18th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here