💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (June Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Type: PIB

  • Poverty Eradication – Definition, Debates, etc.

    [pib] National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023

    18 July 2023 | DOMRPIB | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023

    Mains level: Not Much

    Central Idea

    • NITI Aayog released the report ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’.
    • The report highlighted a record 13.5 crore people have moved out of multidimensional poverty in India between 2015-16 and 2019-21.

    What is National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI)?

    • NITI Aayog serves as the nodal ministry for the MPI.
    • It engages with publishing agencies such as Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    • It uses the Alkire-Foster (AF) methodology.
    • The Baseline Report of MPI is based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 conducted during 2015-16.

    Indicators used

    • The MPI considers three dimensions: health, education, and standard of living.
    • It includes indicators such as nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, bank accounts, and assets.

    Key findings of the report

    • Decline in Poverty: India has witnessed a substantial decline in multidimensional poverty, with a decrease of 9.89 percentage points from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-21.
    • Progressiveness in rural areas: Rural areas experienced the fastest decline, from 32.59% to 19.28%, while urban areas saw a reduction from 8.65% to 5.27%.
    • Regional Progress: UP recorded the largest decline in the number of poor, with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty. The states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan showed the fastest reduction in the proportion of multidimensional poor.
    • Path towards SDG Targets: The report indicates that India is on track to achieve SDG Target 1.2, which aims to reduce multidimensional poverty by at least half by 2030.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

    VAIBHAV Fellowship Program

    16 June 2023 | PIB | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-19.Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: VAIBHAV Program

    Mains level: Various initiatives for Indian Diaspora

    vaibhav

    Central Idea: The Ministry of Science & Technology has launched the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) fellowships programme.

    VAIBHAV Program

    • The program aims to connect the Indian STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) diaspora with Indian academic and R&D institutions.
    • It promotes collaborative research work, knowledge sharing, and the exchange of best practices in frontier areas of science and technology.

    Implementation and Eligibility

    • Implementing Agency: Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology.
    • Beneficiaries: outstanding scientists/technologists of Indian origin (NRI/OCI/PIO) engaged in research activities in their respective countries.
    • Benefits: Grant of INR 4,00,000 per month, international and domestic travel expenses, accommodation, and contingencies
    • Verticals identified: 75 fellows will be selected to work in 18 identified knowledge verticals, including quantum technology, health, pharma, electronics, agriculture, energy, computer sciences, and material sciences.
    • Collaborations: The VAIBHAV Fellow will collaborate with Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), universities, and/or public-funded scientific institutions.
    • R&D Activity: The fellow can spend up to 2 months per year, for a maximum of 3years, in an Indian institution.

    VAIBHAV Summit and Participation

    • The Government of India organized the VAIBHAV Summit to connect the Indian STEMM diaspora with Indian institutions.
    • The summit was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and saw the participation of over 25,000 attendees.
    • Indian STEMM diaspora from more than 70 countries took part in the deliberations.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Minimum Support Prices for Agricultural Produce

    [pib] Price Support Scheme (PSS)

    8 June 2023 | PIB | Agriculture
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-08.Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and MSP

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Price Support Scheme (PSS)

    Mains level: Read the attached story

    Central Idea

    • Procurement Ceilings for Pulses: The government has removed the procurement ceilings of 40% for tur, urad, and masur under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) operations for 2023-24.

    What is Price Support Scheme (PSS)?

    • Physical procurement: The Price Support Scheme (PSS) involves the physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds, and copra by Central Nodal Agencies.
    • Nodal Agencies: The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are the designated agencies responsible for procuring crops under the PSS.
    • Implementation: The scheme is implemented in collaboration with state governments, who exempt the procured commodities from mandi tax and provide logistical support, including gunny bags and working capital.

    Need for such scheme

    • Balancing farmer and consumer interests: The PSS strikes a balance between the welfare of farmers and consumers, ensuring fair returns for farmers and affordable prices for consumers.
    • Remunerative prices: The primary objectives of the PSS are to provide remunerative prices to farmers, encouraging increased investment and production, while ensuring affordable prices and availability for consumers.
    • Encouraging production: By offering a guaranteed price, the PSS incentivizes farmers to invest in agricultural production, leading to increased output and self-sufficiency.
    • Consumer welfare: The scheme aims to protect the interests of consumers by ensuring a stable supply of essential commodities at reasonable prices, reducing intermediation costs.
    • Market intervention: The PSS acts as a market intervention measure, stabilizing prices, and mitigating the risks faced by farmers due to market fluctuations and unforeseen circumstances.
    • Support for agricultural growth: The scheme is part of the government’s broader efforts to support agricultural growth, enhance farmer income, and promote food security in the country.

    Why in news?

    • Notified Essential commodities: On June 2, 2023, the government imposed stock limits on tur and urad by invoking the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
    • Prevent hoarding: The imposition aims to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, as well as improve affordability for consumers.
    • Applicability and declaration: Stock limits are applicable to wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers, millers, and importers, who are required to declare their stock position on the portal of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

    Enforcement of Stock Limits by State Governments:

    • Directives to state governments: The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed state governments to ensure strict enforcement of the stock limits in their respective states.
    • Monitoring and verification: States have been asked to monitor prices and verify the stock position by coordinating with various warehouse operators.
    • Cooperation from warehousing corporations: Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) have been requested to provide details of tur and urad stocks held in their warehouses.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Indian Ocean Power Competition

    Strengthening Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) for India’s Maritime Security

    26 May 2023 | op-ed snapPIB | Internal Security
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-13.Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc:

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Andaman and Nicobar Command and framwework

    Mains level: India's maritime security and the strategic potential of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

    Central Idea

    • China’s aggressive construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea highlights the strategic significance of India’s Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands. These islands provide India with a unique opportunity to project power, safeguard its interests, and exert influence in the region. However, there is an urgent need to reinforce the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and recognize its potential in the evolving Indo-Pacific security landscape.

    All you need to about Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC)

    • The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is a unified military command of the Indian Armed Forces. It brings together the three branches of the Indian Armed Forces, the Army, Navy, and Air Force along with the Coast Guard, under the command of a designated Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar (CINCAN).
    • It was established on October 1, 2001, and is responsible for the defense and security of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are strategically located in the Bay of Bengal.
    • The ANC plays a significant role in regional security in the Indo-Pacific and contributes to joint military exercises and collaborations with partner countries.
    • It serves as a model for jointness and integration in India’s military structure, promoting coordination, interoperability, and efficiency in operations.

    China’s rapid construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and concerns for India

    • Security Threat: China’s militarization of these islands, including the deployment of military infrastructure and guided-missile batteries, poses a direct security threat to India. It enables China to extend its defensive perimeter and project power in the region, potentially affecting India’s strategic interests.
    • Maritime Domain Awareness: China’s island-building campaign allows it to enhance its maritime domain awareness by monitoring and controlling the sea routes in the South China Sea. This could potentially impact India’s freedom of navigation and its ability to operate in the region.
    • Regional Power Projection: China’s presence in the South China Sea, coupled with its growing military capabilities, challenges the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. This has implications for India’s security calculus, as it seeks to maintain a favorable regional environment and protect its interests.
    • Geopolitical Influence: China’s assertive actions in the South China Sea have regional and global geopolitical implications. It allows China to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific, potentially impacting India’s relationships with other countries in the region.
    • Disputed Territory: China’s island-building activities in the South China Sea involve disputed territorial claims with other countries in the region, including India’s close partner, Vietnam. These disputes raise the risk of potential conflicts and heighten regional tensions

    Facts for prelims: Geography of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)

    Aspect Information
    Location Located between 6° and 14° North Latitude and 92° and 94° East Longitude, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a union territory in India.
    Two groups of Islands The islands north of 10° north latitude are known as Andaman, while the islands south of 10° north latitude are called Nicobar.
    The Andamans The Andamans consist of more than 300 islands, with North, Middle, and South Andaman, collectively known as Great Andaman, being the main islands.
    The 10-degree channel The 10-degree channel, approximately 145 km long, separates Little Andaman in the south from the Nicobar Islands.
    The Nicobars The Nicobars consist of 19 islands, including Car Nicobar in the north and Great Nicobar in the south. The northwestern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, is located about 90 miles southwest of Great Nicobar.
    Formation Both the Andaman and Nicobar groups are formed by above-sea extensions of submarine ridges of mountains and are part of a great island arc. The highest peaks include Saddle Peak on North Andaman, Mount Thullier on Great Nicobar, and Mount Harriet on South Andaman.
    Andaman Terrain The terrain of the Andamans is rough, with hills and narrow longitudinal valleys, formed of sandstone, limestone, and shale of Cenozoic age. Flat land is limited to a few valleys.
    Nicobar Terrain The terrain of the Nicobar islands is diverse, ranging from flat coral-covered surfaces with offshore coral formations on islands like Car Nicobar to hilly regions with fast-flowing streams on islands like Great Nicobar.
    Fresh Water Great Nicobar is the only island in the territory with a significant amount of fresh surface water.
    Climate The climate of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is tropical but moderated by the sea.

    Main Features of the Climate

    • Temperature:
      Usually ranges between 23°C and 31°C throughout the year. Seasonal variation is small.
    • Humidity:
      High humidity, often around 70–90%.
    • Rainfall:
      Heavy rainfall occurs due to the southwest monsoon and northeast monsoon.
      Average annual rainfall is about 3000 mm.

    Seasons

    1. Summer (March to May)
      • Warm and humid
      • Temperature around 30°C
    2. Rainy/Monsoon Season (May to December)
      • Heavy rainfall and storms
      • Strong monsoon winds
    3. Winter (December to February)
      • Pleasant and cooler
      • Temperature around 23–28°C
      • Best season for tourism

    The Importance of Strengthening ANC

    • Comprehensive Maritime Domain Awareness: The ANC must have enhanced capabilities to monitor and defend India’s territorial waters, airspace, and exclusive economic zone. It should focus on advanced surveillance systems and establish an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the islands.
    • Defense against Military Intrusions: The ANC needs increased force levels and firepower to deter potential military incursions and protect the archipelago from hostile elements.
    • Tracking and Interdicting Hostile Forces: Strengthening the ANC’s capabilities to track and neutralize hostile ships and submarines is essential for maintaining maritime security.
    • Rapid Reaction Force: The command should be equipped to deploy a rapid reaction force promptly through airlift or sealift, ensuring swift response to emerging threats

    Quad and Malabar exercises to balance China’s growing influence in the region

    • Quad Coordination: The Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan, and Australia, should take decisive steps to counter China’s aggression. Establishing a Quad secretariat in Port Blair could serve as a hub for naval coordination and cooperation.
    • Multinational Operations: The Quad navies, with their growing interoperability, should expand their joint operations beyond exercises. Engaging in non-traditional activities such as disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, and maritime security operations would reinforce regional stability and dissuade potential hegemons.

    Conclusion

    • To maximize the strategic potential of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and ensure a robust presence in the Bay of Bengal, it is imperative to strengthen and retain the ANC as an independent joint command. By bolstering its capabilities and leveraging partnerships like the Quad, India can secure its maritime interests and actively contribute to a stable Indo-Pacific region. The ANC has the potential to be a vital asset in the ongoing Indo-Pacific “Great Game.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your personal mentor for UPSC 2024 | Schedule your FREE session and get the Prelims prep Toolkit!

    Must read:

    India’s compulsion to develop The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Digital India Initiatives

    [pib] National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

    11 July 2022 | PIB | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NIXI

    Mains level: Not Much

    Two new Internet Exchange points (IXP) of NIXI were inaugurated at Durgapur and Bardhman.

    What is NIXI?

    • NIXI is a not for profit Organization under section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 and was registered on 19th June 2003.
    • It’s an initiative under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) vision 1000 days.
    • It aims for spreading the internet infrastructure to the citizens of India through the following activities:
    1. Internet Exchanges through which the internet data is exchanged amongst Internet Service Protocols (ISPs), Data Centers and CDNs.
    2. .IN Registry, managing and operation of .IN country-code domain and .भारत IDN domain for India.
    3. Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN), managing and operating Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6).

    Why NIXI?

    • NIXI was set up for peering of Internet Service Protocols (ISPs) among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US/Abroad.
    • It is thereby resulting in better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on International Bandwidth.
    • NIXI is managed and operated on a Neutral basis, in line with the best practices for such initiatives globally.

    Utility of NIXI

    • The launch of these new NIXI internet exchanges will contribute to the enhancement and improvement of Internet and Broadband services at local level and in neighbouring regions.
    • The internet service providers connecting at these points will benefit as their broadband services to their end users will improve, bringing about a change in the lives of the people of the region.
    • It will benefit every sector of the state ranging from health, education, agriculture, startup, and ecosystem to MSMEs & other business verticals.
    • Accessibility and convenience will increase for citizens in terms of availing government benefits and improving quality of life.

     

    UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Agmark, Hallmark, ISI, BIS, BEE and Other Ratings

    [pib] BIS develops an Standard for ‘Non-electric Cooling Cabinet made of Clay’

    18 June 2022 | PIB | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indigenization Of Technology

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: IS 17693: 2022

    Mains level: NA

    Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India, has developed an Indian Standard, IS 17693: 2022 for ‘non-electric cooling cabinet made of clay’.

    IS 17693: 2022

    • BIS standard specifies the construction and performance requirements of a cooling cabinet made out of clay, which operates on the principle of evaporative cooling.
    • These cabinets may be used to store perishable foodstuff without the need of electricity.
    • This standard helps BIS in fulfilling 6 out of 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like No poverty, Zero hunger, Gender equality, Affordable and clean energy, Industry, innovation, and infrastructure, and Responsible consumption and production.

    Why such move?

    • Named as ‘Mitticool refrigerator’, Mansukh Bhai Prajapati from Gujarat is the innovator behind the refrigerator which projects an eco-friendly technology.
    • It is a natural refrigerator made primarily from clay to store vegetables, fruits, milk, and also for cooling water.
    • It provides natural coolness to foodstuffs stored in it without requiring any electricity.
    • Fruits, vegetables, and milk can be stored reasonably fresh without deteriorating their quality.

    Back2Basics: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

    • BIS is the National Standards Body of India working under the aegis of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
    • It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986.
    • The organization was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the Resolution of the Department of Industries and Supplies in September 1946.
    • The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
    • A new Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) Act 2016 has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017.
    • The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.

    UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    [pib] Param Ananta Supercomputer

    31 May 2022 | PIB | Science and Technology
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Param Ananta Supercomputer

    Mains level: National Supercomputing Mission

    Param Ananta, a state-of the art Supercomputer was commissioned at IIT Gandhinagar.

    Param Ananta

    • Param Ananta is capable of offering peak performance of 838 teraflops.
    • It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
    • This facility is established under Phase 2 of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
    • The system is equipped with a mix of CPU nodes, GPU nodes, High Memory nodes, High throughput storage and high performance Infiniband.
    • The supercomputer will rank behind C-DAC’s Param Siddhi-AI, which as of November 2021 was the 102nd most powerful supercomputer in the world — with peak performance capability of 3.3 petaflops.

    What is a Supercomputer?

    • A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer.
    • The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).
    • Since 2017, there are supercomputers which can perform over a hundred quadrillion FLOPS (peta FLOPS).
    • Since November 2017, all of the world’s fastest 500 supercomputers run Linux-based operating systems.

    Specific features

    • Param Ananta system is based on Direct Contact Liquid Cooling technology to obtain a high power usage effectiveness and thereby reducing the operational cost.
    • Multiple applications from various scientific domains such as Weather and Climate, Bioinformatics, Computational Chemistry, Molecular Dynamics, Material Sciences, Computational Fluid Dynamics etc. have been installed on the system for the benefit of researchers.
    • This high end computing system will be a great value addition for the research community.

    Back2Basics: National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)

    • NSM is a proposed plan by GoI to create a cluster of seventy supercomputers connecting various academic and research institutions across India.
    • In April 2015 the government approved the NSM with a total outlay of Rs.4500 crore for a period of 7 years.
    • The mission was set up to provide the country with supercomputing infrastructure to meet the increasing computational demands of academia, researchers, MSMEs, and startups by creating the capability design, manufacturing, of supercomputers indigenously in India.
    • Currently there are four supercomputers from India in Top 500 list of supercomputers in the world.

    Aims and objectives

    • The target of the mission was set to establish a network of supercomputers ranging from a few Tera Flops (TF) to Hundreds of Tera Flops (TF) and three systems with greater than or equal to 3 Peta Flops (PF) in academic and research institutions of National importance across the country by 2022.
    • This network of Supercomputers envisaging a total of 15-20 PF was approved in 2015 and was later revised to a total of 45 PF (45000 TFs), a jump of 6 times more compute power within the same cost and capable of solving large and complex computational problems.

    When did India initiate its efforts to build supercomputers?

    • India’s supercomputer program was initiated in the late 1980s, when the United States ceased the export of a Cray Supercomputer due to technology embargos.
    • This resulted in India setting up C-DAC in 1988, which in 1991, unveiled the prototype of PARAM 800, benchmarked at 5 Gflops. This supercomputer was the second-fastest in the world at that time.
    • Since June 2018, the USA’s Summit is the fastest supercomputer in the world, taking away this position from China.
    • As of January 2018, Pratyush and Mihir are the fastest supercomputers in India with a maximum speed of Peta Flops.

    What are the phases of the National Supercomputing Mission?

    Phase I:

    • In the first phase of the NSM, parts of the supercomputers are imported and assembled in India.
    • A total of 6 supercomputers are to be installed in this phase.
    • The first supercomputer that was assembled indigenously is called Param Shivay. It was installed in IIT (BHU) located in Varanasi.
    • Similar systems, Param Shakti (IIT Kharagpur) and Param Brahma (IISER, Pune) were also later installed within the country.
    • The rest will be installed at IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies (JNIAS).

    Phase II:

    • The supercomputers that are installed so far are about 60% indigenous.
    • The 11 systems that are going to be installed in the next phase will have processors designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and will have a cumulative capacity of 10 petaflops.
    • These new systems are to be constructed more cost-effectively than the previous ones.
    • One of the 11 proposed supercomputers will be installed
    • at C-DAC exclusively for small and medium enterprises so that they can train employees as well as work on supercomputers at a very low cost.

    Phase III:

    • The third phase aims to build fully indigenous supercomputers.
    • The government had also approved a project to develop a cryogenic cooling system that rapidly dispels the heat generated by a computing chip. This will be jointly built together by IIT-Bombay and C-DAC.

     

    UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • UDAY Scheme for Discoms

    [pib] National Open Access Registry (NOAR)

    3 May 2022 | PIB | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-13.Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc:

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: National Open Access Registry (NOAR)

    Mains level: Not Much

    National Open Access Registry (NOAR) has successfully gone live from 1st May 2022.

    What is NOAR?

    • NOAR is a centralized online platform through which the short-term open access to the inter-state transmission system is being managed in India.
    • It is an integrated platform accessible to all stakeholders in the power sector, including open access customers (both sellers and buyers), power traders, power exchanges, National/Regional/State LDCs and others.
    • The platform provides automation in the workflow to achieve shorter turnaround time for the transactions.
    • NOAR platform also has a payment gateway integrated for making payments related to interstate short-term open access transactions.
    • NOAR platform provides transparency and seamless flow of information among stakeholders of open access.

    Key features

    • Centralized System: Single point electronic platform for all the stakeholders
    • Automated Process: Automated administration process of the short-term open access
    • Common Interface: Interface with the RLDCs scheduling applications and Power Exchanges (s)
    • Payment Gateway: Make payments related to STOA transactions

     

    UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Promoting Science and Technology – Missions,Policies & Schemes

    [pib] Petascale Supercomputer “PARAM Ganga” established at IIT Roorkee

    9 March 2022 | PIB | Science and Technology
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Param Ganga, Petaflops

    Mains level: National Supercomputing Mission

    The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) has now deployed “PARAM Ganga”, a supercomputer at IIT Roorkee, with a supercomputing capacity of 1.66 Petaflops.

    What is a Supercomputer?

    • A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer.
    • The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).
    • Since 2017, there are supercomputers which can perform over a hundred quadrillion FLOPS (peta FLOPS).
    • Since November 2017, all of the world’s fastest 500 supercomputers run Linux-based operating systems.

    PARAM Ganga

    • PARAM Ganga is designed and commissioned by C-DAC under Phase 2 of the build approach of the NSM.
    • It is based on a heterogeneous and hybrid configuration of Intel Xeon Cascade lake processors, and NVIDIA Tesla V100.
    • There are 312 (CPU+GPU+HM) nodes with a total peak computing capacity of 1.67 (CPU+GPU+HM) PFLOPS performance.
    • The cluster consists of compute nodes connected with the Mellanox (HDR) InfiniBand interconnect network.
    • The system uses the Lustre parallel file system and operating system is CentOS 7.x.

    Back2Basics: National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)

    • NSM is a proposed plan by GoI to create a cluster of seventy supercomputers connecting various academic and research institutions across India.
    • In April 2015 the government approved the NSM with a total outlay of Rs.4500 crore for a period of 7 years.
    • The mission was set up to provide the country with supercomputing infrastructure to meet the increasing computational demands of academia, researchers, MSMEs, and startups by creating the capability design, manufacturing, of supercomputers indigenously in India.
    • Currently there are four supercomputers from India in Top 500 list of supercomputers in the world.

    Aims and objectives

    • The target of the mission was set to establish a network of supercomputers ranging from a few Tera Flops (TF) to Hundreds of Tera Flops (TF) and three systems with greater than or equal to 3 Peta Flops (PF) in academic and research institutions of National importance across the country by 2022.
    • This network of Supercomputers envisaging a total of 15-20 PF was approved in 2015 and was later revised to a total of 45 PF (45000 TFs), a jump of 6 times more compute power within the same cost and capable of solving large and complex computational problems.

    When did India initiate its efforts to build supercomputers?

    • India’s supercomputer program was initiated in the late 1980s, when the United States ceased the export of a Cray Supercomputer due to technology embargos.
    • This resulted in India setting up C-DAC in 1988, which in 1991, unveiled the prototype of PARAM 800, benchmarked at 5 Gflops. This supercomputer was the second-fastest in the world at that time.
    • Since June 2018, the USA’s Summit is the fastest supercomputer in the world, taking away this position from China.
    • As of January 2018, Pratyush and Mihir are the fastest supercomputers in India with a maximum speed of Peta Flops.

    What are the phases of the National Supercomputing Mission?

    Phase I:

    • In the first phase of the NSM, parts of the supercomputers are imported and assembled in India.
    • A total of 6 supercomputers are to be installed in this phase.
    • The first supercomputer that was assembled indigenously is called Param Shivay. It was installed in IIT (BHU) located in Varanasi.
    • Similar systems, Param Shakti (IIT Kharagpur) and Param Brahma (IISER, Pune) were also later installed within the country.
    • The rest will be installed at IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies (JNIAS).

    Phase II:

    • The supercomputers that are installed so far are about 60% indigenous.
    • The 11 systems that are going to be installed in the next phase will have processors designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and will have a cumulative capacity of 10 petaflops.
    • These new systems are to be constructed more cost-effectively than the previous ones.
    • One of the 11 proposed supercomputers will be installed
    • at C-DAC exclusively for small and medium enterprises so that they can train employees as well as work on supercomputers at a very low cost.

    Phase III:

    • The third phase aims to build fully indigenous supercomputers.
    • The government had also approved a project to develop a cryogenic cooling system that rapidly dispels the heat generated by a computing chip. This will be jointly built together by IIT-Bombay and C-DAC.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Roads, Highways, Cargo, Air-Cargo and Logistics infrastructure – Bharatmala, LEEP, SetuBharatam, etc.

    [pib] Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)

    1 March 2022 | PIB | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-13.Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc:

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)

    Mains level: NA

    National Logistics Portal (NLP) is set to be integrated with Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to make the multi-modal logistics ecosystem more efficient.

    Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP)

    • ULIP is designed to enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of logistics in India by creating a transparent, one window platform that can provide real-time information to all stakeholders.
    • It was also emphasized that the solution should have the visibility of multi-modal transport, and all the existing systems of various ministries, governing bodies, and private stakeholders should be integrated with the ULIP system.
    • This will create a National Single Window Logistics Portal which will help in reducing the logistics cost.
    • ULIP will provide real-time monitoring of cargo movement while ensuring data confidentiality with end-to-end encryption, comprehensive reduction in logistic cost resulting in competitive costing.

    There are three key components which are defining the ULIP platform:

    • Integration with existing data sources of ministries: As authorization, compliance and clearance are some of the critical activities of Logistics; the integration with data points of ministries shall enable a holistic view and interlink the handshaking points.
    • Data exchange with private players: To enable the private players, logistics service providers, and industries to utilize the data available with ULIP and at the same time share their data (transportation, dispatch, delivery, etc.) with ULIP, thereby streamlining the processes to bring better efficiency through data exchange.
    • Unified document reference in the supply chain: To enable a single digitized document reference number for all the documentation processes in a single platform.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor