13 May 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Next Generation Water Action (NGWA) Global Multi-hub Challenge
2. National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP)
3. NABH Certificates
4. National Disaster Management Authority

1. Next Generation Water Action (NGWA) Global Multi-hub Challenge

Syllabus: GS III, Environment, Conservation

Prelims: Atal Innovation Mission, AIM-iCREST, ICDK

Mains: Initiatives of the Government of India to ensure innovative solutions towards water management. 

Context: In India, the Next Generation Water Action (NGWA) Global Multi-hub Challenge was held at the NITI Aayog premises.

Aim of the Initiative:

• Next Generation Water Action Challenge is intended to identify innovative and next-generation solutions to solve proposed challenges with corporate and public partners. 
• The objective of the Challenge was to engage young talents from universities and innovation hubs across the country to develop their skills and apply their technical knowledge to resolve water-related issues. 

About the Challenge:

• The Next Generation Water Action (NGWA) Global Multi-hub Challenge happened simultaneously in five countries namely, Mexico, India, South Korea, Kenya and Denmark. 
• This iconic and innovative event took place in India with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog as the challenge partner. 
• In order to select students for the NGWA final round, the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog had introduced the AIM-ICDK 2.0 (Innovation Centre Denmark in India as a partnership between India and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade Council and the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education) water innovation challenge. 
• This event exemplified an extensive Indo-Danish Bilateral Green partnership. 
• The focus areas of ICDK involve Clean tech, ICT and Life Sciences to boost startups, market research and network opportunities. 
• Two participating teams from India won the Challenge: 
  • Team Hydrogravitricity – won the IWA World Water Congress Scholarship
  • Team BARCO – won the acceleration scholarship award
• The winners of the challenge will get the opportunity to represent India at the International Water Congress 2022.

Significance:

• This initiative offered an arena to innovate technology-driven solutions to the essential subject of water management, its conservation and mitigate the crisis experienced in the water sector. 

Read about Atal Innovation Mission in the linked article.

2. National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP)

Syllabus: GS II, Governance, e-governance – applications, models

Prelims: About NDAP

Mains: Evaluating the effectiveness of data analytics for better governance. 

Context: The National Data & Analytics Platform has been launched by the NITI Aayog and has been made available for public use. 

Exploring further:

• The NDAP is a flagship initiative of the NITI Aayog that provides free and easy access to government data. 
• It further intends to democratise access to public government data by making data interoperable, interactive, accessible and available on a user-friendly platform. 
• It gathers and compiles foundational datasets from various government agencies and presents them in a single platform with the tools for analytics and visualisation. 
• Prior to the public launch, NDAP underwent a beta release that offered access to limited users for testing and feedback. 
• A use-case based approach is maintained to address the needs of data users from government, academia, journalism, civil society and the private sector. All datasets are standardised to a common schema, which results in the ease of cross-sectoral analytics.
• Overall, this platform will create a progressive way for better decision making and research contributing towards the governance of this country with transparency and accountability. 
• NDAP will be a milestone to reap the benefits of India’s data-rich ecosystem enabling better tracking of last-mile delivery of services. 

Also read about NDAP in PIB dated 23rd Jan 2022.

3. NABH Certificates

Syllabus: GS II, Polity, Regulatory bodies 

Prelims: NABH certificates, Quality Council of India

Mains: Assurance of quality in Ayurveda hospitals in India

Context: The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) Certificates have been distributed among five Ayurveda hospitals by the Ministry of Ayush.

About the NABH Certificates:

• NABH is a constituent board of the Quality Council of India, established to operate accreditation programmes for healthcare organisations. 
• These certificates ensure the maintenance of compliance and quality of Ayurveda hospitals.
• This is a welcoming move to promote trust among people regarding Ayurvedic treatments and medicines as India aspires to lead the world with AYUSH as an alternative discipline of medicine. 

Read about National Ayush Mission in the linked article.

4. National Disaster Management Authority

Syllabus: GS III, Disaster Management

Prelims: NDMA

Mains: Interventions by the government towards disaster resilience and preparedness.

Context: In order to assess and review the heatwave and monsoon preparedness in the country, the National Disaster Management Authority conducted a meeting. 

Important Highlights:

• There were discussions on tackling and assessing the situation at the onset of the southwest monsoon. 
• The adoption of the concept of a decision support system with an integrated Flood Early Warning System was discussed. 
• The NDRF has been informed after consultation with states and union territories to plan their pre-monsoon deployment for the most vulnerable areas with respect to flooding. 
• Danger and warning levels of reservoirs and dams were reviewed with an emphasis on their timely checking. 
• The emerging threats of flooding of sand mines and coal mines were highlighted and it was decided to deploy the Apda Mitra volunteers to manage such disasters at various levels of districts and states. 
• Flood prone areas were mapped with the aid of advanced tools like Flood Hazard Zonation Atlas, the Damini App which enable an impact based forecasting of urban floods. 

Read previous PIB here.

May 13th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here