08 March 2020: PIB Summary & Analysis

March 8th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Nari Shakti Puraskar
2. Update on COVID-19- New Cases Found
3. KIRAN-Women Scientist Scheme

1. Nari Shakti Puraskar

Context:

The President of India presented the Nari Shakti Puraskar on the occasion of International Women’s Day at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

Details:

• The Nari Shakti Puraskar, instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, are “National Award in recognition of exceptional work for women empowerment” conferred every year on March 8 as a mark of respect and recognition for those who have demonstrated exemplary courage and stellar contribution towards the empowerment of women.
• Formerly known as Stree Shakti Puraskar, the award was instituted in the year 1991.
• The award carries a cash prize of rupees one lakh and a citation.

2. Update on COVID-19- New Cases Found

Context:

The Government is keeping a close watch on the situation and a number of measures have been taken to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Details:

• Since the disease has spread to over more than 90 countries with over 1 lakh cases worldwide, the States/ UTs have been asked to enhance community surveillance as per the list of passengers provided to the States/UTs.
• In view of rising cases from France, the USA, Spain, it was decided to have dedicated aerobridges of these countries also in addition to the 12 countries.
• As of today, there are 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. Five new cases have been confirmed in Kerala. They have travel history to Italy.

For more details on the issue of the Coronavirus, click on the linked article.

3. KIRAN-Women Scientist Scheme

Context:

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, GOI has started several pioneering initiatives for promoting women in science.

Details:

• In 2014, DST restructured all women-specific programmes under one umbrella called Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), which encompasses women-exclusive schemes and encourages them to foster their career by not only undertaking research in Science and Technology (S&T) but also focusing on S&T solutions of issues & challenges at the grassroots level for social benefits.
• The mandate of the KIRAN Program is to bring gender parity in S&T through gender mainstreaming.
• Women Scientist Scheme (WOS) addresses the challenges faced by S&T qualified women primarily due to social responsibilities.
• Its two components WOS-A and WOS-B are directly implemented by the KIRAN Division and the third component WOS-C or KIRAN-IPR is implemented by TIFAC with grant-in-aid from DST.
  • TIFAC is an autonomous think tank under the DST. It was established in 1988.
  • It was mandated to assess the state-of-art of technology and set directions for future technological development in India in important socio-economic sectors.
• The WOS was launched to address the critical issues of “career-break”, identify neglected well-qualified women in the field of S&T and to provide opportunities to women scientists.
• To encourage women to continue the research in S&T, the Ministry provides fellowships through the following categories:
  • Women Scientist Scheme-A (WOS-A) – Research in Basic/Applied Science
  • Women Scientist Scheme-B (WOS-B) – S&T interventions for Societal Benefit
  • Women Scientist Scheme-C (WOS-C) – Internship in Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for the Self-Employment

March 8th, 2020 PIB:- Download PDF Here

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