23 Sep 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ​​Vande Bharat Express
2. ​​75% Villages Are Now ODF Plus under Swachh Bharat Mission - Grameen
3. ​​​​6th Edition of the NeSDA
4. ​​Samajik Adhikarita Shivirs
5. ​​World Sign Language Day

1. ​​Vande Bharat Express

Syllabus: GS-3, Economy

Prelims: Vande Bharat Express

Context: Prime minister to flag off nine Vande Bharat Express on 24th September.

Details: 

• These nine new Vande Bharat trains will boost connectivity across eleven  states
• Important religious places like Puri, Madurai and Tirupati to get Vande Bharat connectivity.
• The trains will be the fastest along the routes of their operation and will save considerable time of the passengers
• New trains to provide world class experience to passengers and provide boost to tourism

The new trains that will be flagged off are:

• Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express
• Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express
• Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express
• Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express
• Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express
• Kasaragod – Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express
• Rourkela – Bhubaneswar – Puri  Vande Bharat Express
• Ranchi – Howrah  Vande Bharat Express
• Jamnagar-Ahmedabad  Vande Bharat Express

2. ​​75% Villages Are Now ODF Plus under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen

Syllabus: GS-2, Government policies and interventions

Prelims: Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen

Context: India Achieves Major Sanitation Milestone As 75% Villages Are Now ODF Plus under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen.

Details: 

• Over 4.4 Lakh Villages Declare Themselves ODF Plus. It is A Significant Step Towards Achieving SBM-G Phase II Goals By 2025.
• 5 crore people have participated in Swachhata Hi Seva campaign with over 2.05 crore people giving Shramdaan.
• All Villages in 14 States/UTs achieve ODF Plus Status and in 4 States/UTs achieve ODF Plus Model Status.
• Top Performing States/UTs are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, D&N Haveli, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Tripura.

3. ​​6th Edition of the NeSDA

Syllabus: GS-2, Governance

Prelims: NeSDA

Context: Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) has released the sixth edition of National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) Way forward Monthly Report for States/UTs, which provides a detailed overview of status of e-service delivery across States/UTs.

Details:

• The August monthly report sets a baseline for the number of e-services and mandatory e-services provided by States/UTs on NeSDA – Way Forward dashboard. 
• It also underlines the saturation of e-services provided through the State’s/UT’s single unified service delivery portal. 
• The report assesses and compares the e-services under the labour and employment sector and highlights the state-specific opportunities to transition offline services to online platforms.
• Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala and Odisha provide 100% of their services through their identified Single Unified Service Delivery Portal i.e., e-UNNAT, e-Sevanam and Odisha One, respectively.

4. ​​Samajik Adhikarita Shivirs

Syllabus: GS-2, Social justice

Prelims: Samajik Adhikarita Shivirs

Context: In an endeavor for empowering persons with disabilities and senior citizens of the country the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is organizing ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivirs’ across 74 locations nationwide. 

Details:

• These camps aim to distribute various types of assistive devices to over 47,000 pre-identified persons with disabilities and senior citizens under the Government of India’s ADIP (Assistance to Divyang Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances) and Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana schemes.
• These events will cover 20 states/union territories and will be connected online to the centre point of programme at Manas Manch in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, via video conferencing on 24th September, 2023.
• The objective of organizing these camps is to build a perspective for an inclusive society across the country, ensuring empowerment and dignified living for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. 
• The aim is to provide equal opportunities for the persons with disabilities, allowing them to lead productive, secure, and dignified lives. 

5. ​​World Sign Language Day

Syllabus: GS-2, Social Justice

Prelims: World Sign Language Day

Context: Sign Language Day’ was celebrated by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), New Delhi under the aegis of DEPwD (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment at New Delhi.

Details: 

• Theme “A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!”.
• Ever since the United Nations declared 23rd September as the International Day of Sign Languages, the ISLRTC celebrates it every year on 23rd September. 
• DEPwD and ISLRTC had brought more citizens, stakeholders, service-providing agencies, Deaf schools, NGOs, activists, Deaf leaders, educators, researchers etc. together on Sign Language Day celebration to create positive awareness about Indian Sign Language among all sections of our society.

During the programme, the following programs and materials were also launched.

• Basic Communication Skills in Indian Sign Language an online self-learning course was launched. 
• 260 signs of Financial terms in Indian Sign Language which are jointly developed by ISLRTC, Societe Generale and V-Shesh was launched. 
• 10,000 ISL dictionary terms were launched on the website.
• ISL course in Special Schools for the hearing impaired was launched.
• Video Relay Service for the deaf community through WhatsApp video calls was launched.

Read the previous PIB articles here.