Foreign Policy Watch: India-Bangladesh

[pib] Exercise SAMPRITI-IX

PIB | International Relations | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Exercise SAMPRITI
Mains level: India-Bangladesh Strategic Relations
As part of the ongoing Indo-Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI-IX is being conducted in Meghalaya.

Exercise SAMPRITI
- It is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the ninth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.
- During the joint military exercise SAMPRITI-IX, a Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a Field Training Exercise (FTX) will be conducted.
- For both the CPX and FTX, a scenario where both nations are working together in a Counter-Terrorism environment will be simulated under the UN Charter.
- The FTX curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other’s organizational structure and tactical drills.
- The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment.
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Mother and Child Health – Immunization Program, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, etc.

[pib] The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Bills/Act/Laws PIB | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Highlights of the bill
Mains level: MTP: Ethical and health issues surrounding it
The Union Cabinet has approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

About the Bill
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is for expanding access of women to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds.
- It aims to increase upper gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions and to strengthen access to comprehensive abortion care, under strict conditions, without compromising service and quality of safe abortion.
Salient features of proposed amendments:
- Proposing requirement for opinion of one provider for termination of pregnancy, up to 20 weeks of gestation and introducing the requirement of opinion of two providers for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation.
- Enhancing the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women which will be defined in the amendments to the MTP Rules and would include ‘vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, Minors) etc.
- Upper gestation limit not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board. The composition, functions and other details of Medical Board to be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act.
- Anonymity of the person: Name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorised in any law for the time being in force.
Benefits
- It is a step towards safety and well-being of the women and many women will be benefitted by this.
- Recently several petitions were received by the Courts seeking permission for aborting pregnancies at a gestational age beyond the present permissible limit on grounds of foetal abnormalities or pregnancies due to sexual violence faced by women.
- The proposed increase in gestational age will ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy.
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Panchayati Raj Institutions: Issues and Challenges

[pib] Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0

PIB | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Panchayats & Local Bodies

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0, SISDP Project
Mains level: Utility of geospatial data in governance
The Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal was recently launched.

Bhuvan Panchayat Version 3.0
- For better planning and monitoring of government projects, the ISRO has launched the Bhuvan Panchayat web portal’s version 3.0.
- For the first time, a thematic data base on a 1:1000 scale for the entire country is available with integrated high resolution satellite data for planning.
- In the project that will last for at least two years, ISRO will collaborate with the gram panchayat members and stakeholders to understand their data requirements.
- The third version of the portal will provide database visualisation and services for the benefit of panchayat members, among others.
- The project is meant to provide geo-spatial services to aid gram panchayat development planning process of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
- The targeted audiences for this portal are Public, PRIs and different stakeholders belonging to the gram panchayats.
About SISDP Project
- Space based Information Support for Decentralised Planning at Panchyayat level (SIS-DP) is a national initiative of preparing basic spatial layers useful in planning process for local self governance.
- ISRO launched SISDP project to assist Gram Panchayats at grassroot level with basic planning inputs derived from satellite data for preparing developmental plans, its implementation and monitoring the activities.
- The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) is the lead centre to execute the project in collaboration with various State Remote Sensing Centres.
- SISDP phase I Project was successfully concluded in the year 2016-17.
- Under Phase II, this project shall be implemented shortly with a enhanced scope of updating geodatabase with latest high resolution remote sensing data and spatial data analytics.
- For the first time, thematic database on 1:10,000 scale for the entire country is available with high integrated High Resolution satellite data for planning.
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Indian Navy Updates

[pib] Operation Vanilla

PIB Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: HADR, Op Vanila
Mains level: NA
Indian navy will perform HADR operations in Madagascar under ‘Operation Vanilla’.

Operation Vanilla
- Indian Navy Ship Airavat whilst mission deployed in the Southern Indian Ocean has been diverted to Antsiranana based on request recieved from Madagascar.
- The ship will undertake Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission as part of ‘Operation Vanilla’.
- It has been launched to provide assistance to the affected population of Madagascar post devastation caused by Cyclone Diane.
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Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

[pib] Establishment of Chairs named after eminent Women in Universities

PIB | History | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: Various chairs named after eminent Women

Mains level: Women empowerment

On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has set up 10 Chairs in different fields with an aim to carry out research activities to encourage women.

Chairs named after eminent Women

The initiative is called “the Establishment of Chairs in the Universities in the name of eminent women administrators, artists, scientists and social reformers”.
It is being launched with the assistance of University Grants Commission (UGC).
The main objective is to inspire women to pursue higher education and to achieve excellence in their area of work.
The financial implications of the proposal is Rs. 50 lakh per Chair per year and the total expenditure for establishing ten Chairs will be approximately Rs. Rs. 5 crore per annum.
The Chairs are to be established for a period of 5 years initially as per the guidelines.

The chairs proposed by UGC and approved by the Ministry are as under:

S. No.	Subject	Proposed name of chair
1.	Administration	Devi Ahilyabai Holkar
2.	Literature	Mahadevi Varma
3.	Freedom Fighter (North East)	Rani Gaidinliu
4.	Medicine & Health	Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi
5.	Performing Art	Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi
6.	Forest/Wildlife Conservation	Amrita Devi (Beniwal)
7.	Mathematics	Lilavati
8.	Science	Kamala Sohonie
9.	Poetry & Mysticism	Lal Ded
10.	Educational Reforms	Hansa Mehta

Functions of these chairs

Academic functions of the Chairs will be to engage in research and, in turn, contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the area of the study, strengthen the role of university/academics in public policy making etc.
The University will review the progress of the Chair annually and submit a final report on the activities and outcome of the Chair to the UGC after five years.
However, the UGC may undertake the exercise of reviewing the Chair for its continuance, at any stage.

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NITI Aayog’s Assessment

[pib] National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP)

PIB | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP)
Mains level: Data Analytics and its applications in governance
NITI Aayog has released its vision for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP).

National Data and Analytics Platform
- The platform aims to democratize access to publicly available government data.
- NDAP will host the latest datasets from various government websites, present them coherently, and provide tools for analytics and visualization.
- It will spearhead the standardization of formats in which data is presented across sectors and will cater to a wide audience of policymakers, researchers, innovators, data scientists, journalists and citizens.
- It will follow a user-centric approach and will enable data access in a simple and intuitive portal tailored to the needs of a variety of stakeholders.
- The development of NDAP will take place over a period of one year. The first version of the platform is expected to be launched in 2021.
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Digital India Initiatives

[pib] SERVICE Initiative

PIB | Governance | Mains Paper 2:

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: SERVICE Initiative
Mains level: NA
The Steel Authority of India Ltd has launched an initiative called SERVICE to promote Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by its employees.

About SERVICE
- SERVICE stands for “SAIL Employee Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for Community Engagement (SERVICE)”.
- It aims to promote and facilitate philanthropist activities by the employees in a structured manner.
- The Minister also launched a portal for the employees to register for the scheme.
- This dedicated portal will act as a platform for enabling faster interaction and communication amongst the various stakeholders.
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Start-up Ecosystem In India

[pib] National Startup Advisory Council

PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: National Startup Advisory Council
Mains level: Mechanisms to promote startup in India
The Union Government has notified the structure of the National Startup Advisory Council to advice on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.

National Startup Advisory Council
- The Council will be chaired by Minster for Commerce & Industry.
- It will consist of the non-official members, to be nominated by Central Government, from various categories like founders of successful startups, veterans and persons capable of representing interests of incubators and accelerators etc.
- The term of the non-official members of the Startup Advisory Council will be for a period of two years.
- The nominees of the concerned Ministries/Departments/Organisations, not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, will be ex-officio members of the Council.
- Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will be the Convener of the Council.
Various functions
- The Council will suggest measures to foster a culture of innovation amongst citizens and students in particular, promote innovation in all sectors of economy across the country
- It will also suggest measures to facilitate public organizations to assimilate innovation with a view to improving public service delivery, promote creation, protection and commercialization of intellectual property rights.
- It would suggest making it easier to start, operate, grow and exit businesses by reducing regulatory compliances and costs, promote ease of access to capital for startups, and incentivize domestic capital for investments into startups.
- It would also mobilize global capital for investments in Indian startups, keep control of startups with original promoters and provide access to global markets for Indian startups.
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Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

[pib] Novel Corona Virus (nCoV)

PIB | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: nCoV
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been closely monitoring the situation after the reports of 41 confirmed cases of novel Corona virus (nCoV) including one death from Wuhan, China, 2020.

About Novel Corona Virus
- Corona viruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats.
- They cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
- 2019-nCoV is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
- Much remains to be understood about the new coronavirus, which was first identified in China earlier this month.
- Not enough is known about 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, clinical features of disease, or the extent to which it has spread. The source also remains unknown.
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Fertilizer Sector reforms – NBS, bio-fertilizers, Neem coating, etc.

[pib] APNA UREA – SonaUgle

PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: APNA UREA – SonaUgle
Mains level: Not Much
APNA UREA – SonaUgle
- The Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers launched the “APNA UREA – SonaUgle” brand of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL).
- HURL is Joint Venture Company promoted by the three Maharatna Companies i.e. Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as the lead promoters with FCIL and HFCL as other two partners.
- The commissioning of the HURL’s three Units in the states of UP, Bihar and Jharkhand will open forward and backward linkages for business activity in the Eastern part of India.
- It will be instrumental in opening new avenues for the generation of income and employment in the Eastern part of our country.
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Type: PIB