27 Sep 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Jaldoot App
2. 10th BRICS Meet
3. World Tourism Day
4. Exercise Kakadu
5. VSHORADS

1. Jaldoot App

Syllabus – GS 3, Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Prelims – Jaldoot App.

Context – Launch of Jaldoot App and Jaldoot App – e- brochure, to enable monitoring of groundwater tables across the country.

Details – 

• The App has been designed jointly by the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
• The App will enable to capture the water level of selected 2-3 wells in a village, across the country.
• The manual measurement of water levels in open wells will be done twice a year – pre-monsoon & post-monsoon for the same well.
• The mobile App will work in both online and offline mode.
• Jaldoots, officers assigned to measure the water levels, have to upload the geo-tagged photographs through the app on every occasion of measurement. 
• The regular data collected by the Jaldoots would be integrated with the database of the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC), which can be used for analysis and display of useful reports for the benefit of various stakeholders.
• Water level reports, monsoon reports and registered user reports are available at the Jaldoot web portal. 
• The Jaldoot App will help in observing water tables across the country and the resulting data will be utilised for Gram Panchayat Development Plan and MGNREGA plans.

About NWIC –

National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) was set up by the Government of India in March 2018 to act as a central repository of updated water data and allied themes. It is created as a subordinate office under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR and the office is located in New Delhi.

2. 10th BRICS Meet

Syllabus – GS 2, Regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting  India’s interests.

Prelims – BRICS, 2022 hosted by China.

Context – BRICS STI declarations 2022 and BRICS Innovation Action Plan 2022 – 23 adopted.

Details –

• Dr Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology addressed the 10th BRICS  (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) meet virtually. The minister highlighted the importance of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in tackling new and emerging problems of BRICS countries.
•  BRICS Youth Summit, BRICS Sports, BRICS Young Scientist Conclave and an increase in exchanges amongst scientific organisations, researchers and civil society have strengthened the people-to-people contact of BRICS nations.
• India is moving along the mantra of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan and Jai Anusandhan” which believes in coordinating various sectors to make India a global centre of research and innovation.
• Today India is in 3rd position in scientific publications as per the NSF database. As per Global Innovative Index (GII), India is in the 46th position. India is at position 3 in terms of the number of PhDs, in the size of the Higher Education System as well as in terms of the number of start-ups. There are 25 TIHs (Technology Innovation Hubs) in the country.
• BRICS STI Declaration, 2022 was adopted. Advancing  BRICS innovation enterprises, developing next-generation BRICS scientific leadership and enabling resource sharing is the guiding strategy of the BRICS STI partnership.
• The BRICS Innovation Action Plan 2022-23 was adopted that would help share best practices and networking among the BRICS Innovation ecosystem and innovation actors.

3. World Tourism Day

Syllabus – Important International Organisations.

Prelims – 27th September, World Tourism Day.

Context – Celebrations in India on World Tourism Day.

About World Tourism Day –

• World Tourism Day is commemorated each year on the 27th of September to foster awareness among the international community about the importance of tourism and its social, political, cultural and economic value.
• World Tourism Day (WTD) was designated by the World Trade Organisation (UNWTO) in September 1979, with the commemoration to commence in 1980.
• This year the official World Tourism Day celebration was held in Bali, Indonesia. 
• The theme of the World Tourism Day for 2022 is “rethinking tourism”.

Here in India –

• On the occasion of World Tourism day, Vice President of India Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar presented the National Tourism Awards to 81 awardees to highlight the achievements of the industry in 2018 -19.
• The Vice President of India also released India Tourism Statistics 2022, New Incredible India Global Promotional Films, ‘GoBeyond: 75 experiences of North East’ e-book on this occasion.
• Innovative initiatives like Dekho Apna Desh and Utsav Portal have helped in the development of the tourism industry in the country.
• India plans to position itself as a major tourist destination during its presidency of G20 in 2023.
• The Ministry of Tourism has prepared a draft “National Tourism Policy 2022” as a part of the vision of New India on a high trajectory of growth and prosperity. The policy aims to improve framework conditions for tourism development in the country, support the tourism industry, strengthen tourism support functions and develop tourism sub-sectors.

Also read: National Tourism Day

4. Exercise Kakadu

Syllabus – GS 2, Grouping and agreements involving India and/ or affecting India’s interest.

Prelims – Exercise Kakadu.

Context – Indian Navy’s P81 aircraft participates in Kakadu Exercise.

Details –

• A P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in the Multinational Maritime Exercise Kakadu 2022.
• It was hosted by the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin.
• The event was held from 12 to 25 Sep 22.
• 34 aircraft from over 20 nations participated in the exercise.
• In this exercise, INS Satpura also participated and showed her precise target destruction capability during gun firing exercises.
• Exercise Kakadu is a joint-enabled, biennial exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force. It started in 1993.

5. VSHORADS

Syllabus – GS 3, Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Prelims – VSHORADS

Context – Successful test flight of VSHORADS.

Details –

• DRDO conducted two successful test flights of VSHORADS (Very Short Range Air Defence Systems) from a ground-based portable launcher at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.
• It is a Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPAD), designed and developed by DRDO’s RCI (Research Centre Imarat), Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO labs and Indian Industry Partners.
• VSHORADS includes many advanced technologies like miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics.
• The missile has been developed for neutralising low-altitude aerial threats at short ranges and is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor.

Read previous PIB here.

September 27th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here