14 Mar 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. World Consumer Rights Day
2. SCO International Conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage”
3. Exercise Bold Kurukshetra
4. Atal Innovation Mission launches ATL Sarthi
5. 2nd SCO Tourism Expert Working Group

1. World Consumer Rights Day

Syllabus: GS 3, Economy.

Mains: World Consumer Rights Day.

Prelims: World Consumer Rights Day.

Context: World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on 15th March 2023.

Details:

• World Consumer Rights Day is being celebrated by the Department of Consumer Affairs on 15th March 2023.
• The theme of World Consumer Rights Day is “Empowering consumers through clean energy transitions”.
• The main thrust is the deployment of technology to reduce dependence on traditional energy sources like fossil fuels. It will further enable the transition to clean energy solutions thereby promoting sustainability, affordability, accessibility, and security in long term.
• National Consumer Helpline (NCH) is also being technologically strengthened for the redressal of common consumer grievances like refund, replacement, and service delivery.
  • NCH is an alternate dispute redressal mechanism at the pre-litigation level.
  • It is accessible in more than 17 languages.
  • Consumers can register their complaints by calling ‘1915’ or through a mobile app.
• The e-Daakhil portal has been established for the online filing of consumer complaints.

Also read: World Consumer Rights Day, 2022

2. SCO International Conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage”

Syllabus: GS 2, International Relations.

Mains: Regional Groupings (Shanghai Cooperation Organization).

Prelims: Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Details:

• The first-of-its-kind international conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage”, under the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), was inaugurated in New Delhi.
• It is a two-day conference that highlights India’s civilizational connection with the SCO nations.
• The objective of the Conference is to renew trans-cultural links and shared histories between different countries. It aims to strengthen the cultural bonds between SCO members.
• The event will bring together Central Asian, East Asian, South Asian, and Arab countries to discuss “Shared Buddhist Heritage”.
• The conference is being organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the International Buddhist Confederation.

Also read: Buddhism

3. Exercise Bold Kurukshetra

Syllabus: GS 3, Security.

Mains: Various security forces and their mandate.

Prelims: Exercise Bold Kurukshetra.

Context: Thirteenth Edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra.

Details:

• Indian Army and Singapore army participated in the 13th edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra.
• It is a bilateral armour exercise that was conducted from 6th to 13th March 2023 at Jodhpur Military Station, India.
• It fostered a common understanding of mechanized warfare in emerging threats and evolving technologies. 
• The exercise also developed interoperability using operational and tactical procedures.
• The contingents of both countries exchanged ideas and best practices of modern combat zones.
• The exercise was first conducted in the year 2005. It displays the strong and long-standing bilateral defence relationship between India and Singapore and enhances cooperation between the two.

4. Atal Innovation Mission launches ATL Sarthi

Syllabus: GS 2, Polity and Governance.

Mains: Government policies and interventions.

Prelims: ATL Sarthi.

Details:

• ATL Sarthi was launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog. 
• It is a comprehensive self-monitoring framework to strengthen the ecosystem of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).
• In literal terms ‘Sarthi’ means ‘charioteer’. Thus ATL Sarthi will enable ATLs to become effective and efficient.
• The initiative has four pillars:
  • MyATL Dashboard is a self-reporting dashboard for regular process improvements.
  • Compliance SOPs for schools to ensure financial and non-financial compliance.
  • Cluster-based approach for on-ground deployment of ATLs with local authorities.
  • Performance-Enablement (PE) Matrix for performance analysis.
• It is suggested that ATL Sarthi will add a crucial element of self-sustainability to the ATLs.

Also read: Atal Tinkering Labs – ATL

5. 2nd SCO Tourism Expert Working Group

Syllabus: GS 2, International Relations.

Mains: Shanghai Cooperation Organization Tourism Expert Working Group Meeting.

Prelims: SCO.

Details:

• The two-day second meeting of the Tourism Expert Working Group is being held in Kashi (Varanasi).
• Notably, India is the President of the Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for the year 2023.
• The First Expert Working Group under India’s SCO presidency was held on 31 January 2023.
• The meeting focused on the Joint Action Plan for implementing the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on the Development of Cooperation in Tourism.
• The meeting is being attended by officials from SCO member countries.
• It aims to cover areas and topics like:
  • Promotion of the SCO tourism brand
  • Promotion of the cultural heritage of the SCO Member States in tourism
  • Sharing and Exchange of information and digital technology in tourism
  • Strengthening mutual cooperation in medical and health tourism
  • Improving the quality of services
• It should be noted that Kashi has been designated as the first cultural capital of the SCO region.

Also read: Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor

Read the previous PIB articles here.

March 14th, 2023, PIB:- Download PDF Here