13 Sep 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National E-Vidhan Application
2. Ujjwala Yojana
3. eCourts Project
4. One Health Approach for Pandemic Preparedness
5. Cabinet approvals for MoUs
6. New cybercrime investigation tool to track cyberattacks targeting humans
7. India - Russia
8. Skill India Digital

1. National E-Vidhan Application

Syllabus: GS-2, Governance

Prelims: National E-Vidhan Application

Context:

The President of India inaugurated the National E-Vidhan Application.

National E-Vidhan Application (NeVA):

• NeVA is an application developed by NIC that helps the Chair of the House and the members of the Legislative Assembly to conduct business smoothly in a paperless manner.
• It is a device-neutral and member-centric application that puts all the information such as member contact details, rules of procedure, list of business, notices, bulletins, bills, starred/unstarred questions and answers, papers laid, committee reports, etc. in the handheld devices or tablets thus eliminating the need for sending out requests or notices for information collection.
• The application hosts a secure page for each Member of the House to submit questions & other notices.
• The aim of the project is to bring all the legislatures of the country together, in one platform thereby creating a massive data depository without having the complexity of multiple applications.
• A mobile App of NeVA called mNeVA is also available.
• NeVA seamlessly facilitates the digitised functioning of the legislative assemblies.
• In 2022, Nagaland became the first Indian state to implement NeVA.

2. Ujjwala Yojana

Syllabus: GS-2, Govt schemes

Prelims: Ujjwala Yojana

Context:

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for the release of 75 lakh LPG connections over three years from Financial Year 2023-24 to 2025-26.

Details:

• This move would take the total number of beneficiaries under the PMUY to 10.35 crores.
• As per the existing modalities of Ujjawala 2.0, the first refill and stove will also be provided free of cost to Ujjwala beneficiaries.
• A targeted subsidy of Rs.200 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder for upto 12 refills per year is being provided to PMUY consumers. 

Know more about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the link.

Other initiatives to expand LPG coverage:

• PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hastantarit Labh): Under this scheme, beneficiaries were sold cylinders at the market rate and provided with the subsidy amount directly to their bank accounts electronically instead of providing cylinders at subsidised rates. This checked ghost accounts and reduced the problem of domestic cylinders being used for commercial purposes.
• GIVE IT UP: Instead of removing subsidies forcefully, people were encouraged to voluntarily surrender their subsidies. Extensive promotion ensured that millions of people voluntarily gave up their subsidies so that people who truly needed them could benefit.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana: During the pandemic in 2020, a free refill scheme under the PMGKY was executed.

3. eCourts Project

Syllabus: GS-2, Governance

Prelims: eCourts Project

Mains: Reforms in the judiciary

Context:

Cabinet approved eCourts Phase III for 4 years.

Know more about the eCourts Project in PIB dated Aug 3, 2023.

4. One Health Approach for Pandemic Preparedness

Syllabus: GS-2, IR, Health

Prelims: One Health Approach for Pandemic Preparedness, WOAH

Context: The government of India and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborate to Strengthen One Health Approach for Pandemic Preparedness.

Details:

• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying under the Fisheries Ministry of GOI organised a workshop on “Risk-based management of spill over events in wildlife in India” in partnership with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
• The workshop focused on four key objectives:
  • Enhancing stakeholder knowledge about wildlife-origin disease risk analysis
  • Conducting a thorough gap analysis of India’s risk assessment and management
  • Simulating disease spillover scenarios
  • Fostering communication and awareness among relevant stakeholders
• It emphasised on the importance of a One Health approach, cross-sectoral collaboration, and pandemic preparedness.

About the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH):

• WOAH is a world authority on animal health founded in 1924 as the Office International des Epizooties (OIE).
• It is an intergovernmental organisation that focuses on transparently disseminating information on animal diseases, improving animal health globally and thus building a safer, healthier and more sustainable world.
• It is headquartered in Paris and has 183 members.

5. Cabinet approvals for MoUs

Syllabus: GS-2, IR

Context:

Union Cabinet approved the signing of MoUs between GOI and the governments of Armenia, Antigua & Barbuda, and Sierra Leone.

Details:

• The MoUs were on cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at the population scale for digital transformation.
• The MoUs intend to promote closer cooperation and exchange of experiences and digital technologies-based solutions (viz. INDIA STACK) in the implementation of digital transformational initiatives of the countries. 
• The MoUs envisage improved collaboration leading to employment opportunities in the field of IT.
• They shall remain in force for a period of three years.

6. New cybercrime investigation tool to track cyberattacks targeting humans

Syllabus: GS-3, Science & Technology; Security

Prelims: Cybercrime

Context:

A new cybercrime investigation tool to track cyberattacks targeting humans, like insurance fraud, online matrimonial fraud and so on. 

Details:

• It has been developed by the I-hub NTIHAC Foundation (c3ihub) at IIT Kanpur with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
• The tool called TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures)-based cybercrime investigation framework can help in tracking and classifying cybercrimes identifying the chain of evidence required to solve the case and mapping evidence onto the framework to convict criminals.
• For successful cybercrime investigations, a proper framework was required which could extract key points from the victim’s FIR, provide investigators with sufficient information on the reported cybercrime to categorize it systematically and exhaustively, indicate the steps to follow based on pre-existing crime paths, map evidence to the steps taken to decide the following step and finally conclude and convict criminals.
• No framework exists for this and the new tool addresses this gap.
• The technology can create an approximate crime execution path and suggest a crime path based on user derived set of keywords. 
• It can also compare the modus operandi used in different crimes and manage user roles and track activity for crime paths.
• This can help reduce the incidents of cybercrime in the country.

Background:

• Cybercrime causes huge losses to people, especially women and the elderly in many states.
• The number of cybercrime investigations falls way below the number of such reports in India.
• In cybercrime cases, the investigations depend on the FIR filed; it becomes difficult for victims with low cyber literacy to accurately provide information, thus hampering the investigations.

7. India – Russia

Syllabus: GS-2, IR

Prelims: Eastern Maritime Corridor

Mains: India – Russia relations

Context:

India and Russia explore the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) in an effort to widen maritime cooperation.

Details:

• The Union Minister for Shipping & Waterways met with the Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic in Russia.
• During the meeting, both leaders discussed a wide range of items of maritime communication between India and Russia to widen maritime cooperation including the possibility of usage of new transport corridors like the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as well as the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) between Vladivostok and Chennai.
• This is significant as it would reduce the time to move cargo by over two weeks.
  • The eastern maritime corridor is estimated to cut the time required to transport cargo between Indian and Russian ports of the Far East by up to 16 days. 
  • The corridor will enable Russian shipments to reach India in 24 days instead of over 40 days.
• The minister alluded to the Sagarmala initiative which aims to boost the country’s logistics sector by unlocking the full potential of India’s coastline and waterways.
• The EMC allows India to have a presence in the South China Sea through a trade route, which is primarily aimed at the speedy transportation of coking coal.

8. Skill India Digital

Syllabus: GS-2, Govt schemes

Prelims: Skill India Digital

Context:

Union Minister launched Skill India Digital (SID).

Skill India Digital:

• It is a comprehensive digital platform aimed at synergizing and transforming the skills, education, employment, and entrepreneurship landscape of India. 
• SID is the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the skilling, education, employment, and entrepreneurship ecosystem of India.
• It is expected to be a breakthrough in accelerating skilled talent hiring and facilitating lifelong learning and career advancement. 
• Apart from promoting digital literacy, it is also a comprehensive information gateway for all government skilling and entrepreneurship initiatives – a go-to hub for citizens in pursuit of career advancement and lifelong learning.
• Some of the benefits provided by SID:
  • Aadhaar/AI-based Facial Authentication
  • Digital Verifiable Credentials (DVC)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Recommendations
  • Aadhaar based eKYC
  • Digital Learning
  • Citizen-Centric Approach
  • Mobile-First Approach
  • Scale and Speed
  • Security Measures
  • Interoperability
  • WhatsApp Chatbot
  • Ease of Doing Business

Read the previous PIB articles here.