14 Mar 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Evidence-based policymaking for responsive governance
2. Defense Modernisation
3. North Eastern Development Finance Corporation
4. PM-DevINE for North East
5. Bal Bhavans
6. India Cooling Action Plan
7. Protection of Great Indian Bustards

1. Evidence-based policymaking for responsive governance

Context: The Vice President highlighted the importance of evidence-based policymaking to ensure that governance is responsive to the changes and disruptions around us. 

What is Evidence-based policymaking?

• Evidence-based policymaking is a set of methods that informs the policy process, rather than aiming to directly affect the eventual goals of the policy. 
• It advocates a more rational, rigorous and systematic approach. 
• The pursuit of EBP is based on the premise that policy decisions should be better informed by available evidence and should include rational analysis. 

Significance of Evidence-based policy-making (EBP) 

• Evidence-based policy-making (EBP) assists in making decisions about policies, by placing the best available evidence from research conducted at the heart of policy development and implementation.
• It needs an evidence base at all stages in the policy cycle to define issues, shape agendas, make choices of action, identify options, deliver them, and monitor their impact and outcomes. 
• Basically, it is a set of methods that informs the policy process, rather than aiming to directly affect the eventual objectives of the policy. 

Conclusion: 

The Indian government should ensure that policy is driven by evidence and reasoning, and research is translated into action. Systemic institutionalization of EBP is the way forward in the fight to eradicate poverty and to improve economic performance, education, health care and social assistance for millions of people.

2. Defense Modernisation

Context: 

This article examines the need for defense modernisation in India and the challenges associated with it.

What is Defense Modernisation?

Defense Modernisation involves the acquisition of new state-of-the-art platforms, technologies and weapon systems to upgrade and augment defense capabilities. 

It is a continuous process based on threat perception, operational challenges and technological changes to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness to meet the entire spectrum of security challenges. 

This is achieved through the induction of new equipment and technological up-gradation of capabilities. 

Issues in India’s Defense Modernisation

• India faces a whole range of complex challenges in its defense modernisation aspirations.
• India’s over-dependency on other countries for sophisticated weapons systems for the services of the Armed Forces is likely to negatively affect India’s aspirations.

Suggestions for reform:

• Supporting private sector: To build a defense industrial base, the government should consider supporting the private sector in India and trusting the private sector with bigger and stable defense contracts. 
• Funds for Armed Forces: The Indian government should consider reviewing the budget allocation for defense to ensure adequate funds for the three forces relative to personnel costs.
• Decision-making and time delays: To overcome decision-making challenges facing defense procurement, the Ministry of Defense should consider a restructuring of the decision-making process. 

3. North Eastern Development Finance Corporation

Context:  North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), has organized a Startup Investment Festival.

North Eastern Development Finance Corporation

• North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) is a Public Financial Institution under Section 4A of the Companies Act 1956.
• It was registered as an NBFC in 2002 with the RBI. 
• The shareholders of the Corporation are IDBI, SBI, LICI, SIDBI, ICICI, IFCI, SUUTI, GIC and its subsidiaries.
• NEDFi provides financial assistance to micro, small, medium and large enterprises for setting up industrial, infrastructure and agri-allied projects in the North Eastern Region of India.

North East Venture Fund (NEVF):

• North East Venture Fund (NEVF) is a dedicated venture fund for the NER promoted by NEDFi, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). 
• It was launched in September 2017 with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore, with contributions of
  • Rs. 45 crore as interest-free loan from MDoNER, 
  • Rs. 30 crore by NEDFi itself and 
  • Rs. 25 crore from SIDBI. 
• It is registered with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012, as a sector-agnostic fund.

4. PM-DevINE for North East

Context: A new scheme, Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East (or PM-DevINE) has been announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.

Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East (or PM-DevINE) 

• The PM-DevINE scheme will fund infrastructure in the spirit of PM Gati Shakti, and social development projects based on the felt needs of the North-East. 
• PM-DevINE will enable livelihood activities for youth and women by filling the gaps in various sectors, but it will not be a substitute for existing Central or State schemes. 
• Know more about the  PM-DevINE Scheme in PIB dated Feb 24, 2022.

5. Bal Bhavans

Context: National Education Policy 2020 recommends that every State will be encouraged to strengthen existing or establish “Bal Bhavans”.

 Bal Bhavans

• At Bal Bhavans, children of all ages can visit once a week or more often, as a special daytime boarding school, to partake in art-related, career-related, and play-related activities.
• It is for the respective State Governments to take decisions on setting up Bal Bhavans within its jurisdiction.

6. India Cooling Action Plan

Context: This article enlists the steps that have been taken to implement the recommendations of various thematic areas of the ICAP.

India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) 

• The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) provides an integrated vision towards cooling and better technology options by 2037-38.
• The Indian plan (ICAP) was launched in March 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• It aims to address cooling requirements across sectors and lists out actions that can help reduce the cooling demand through synergies in actions for securing both environmental and socio-economic benefits.
• The ICAP aims to reduce both direct and indirect emissions.
• The ICAP provides a 20-year perspective and outlines actions needed to provide access to sustainable cooling.

7. Protection of Great Indian Bustards

Context: 

This article enlists important steps taken by the Government for the protection of Great Indian Bustards in the country.

Protection of Great Indian Bustard 

• The Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby, according it the highest degree of legal protection from hunting.
• The Great Indian Bustard has been included in Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) on the basis of a proposal submitted by India. 
• It was also the mascot of the prestigious 13th CMS Conference of Parties held in Gandhinagar giving wider publicity for the conservation of the species.
• There are around 150 Great Indian Bustards left across the country in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Know more about the Great Indian Bustard.

Read previous PIB here.

March 14th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here