Uttarakhand Affairs
More than 6,000 beneficiaries have so far availed the benefit of One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme since its implementation in Uttarakhand. The secretary of food and civil supplies, B S Manral told The Pioneer that 1,303 migrants from other states have taken the benefit of the scheme while a total of 835 natives of the states who have changed the districts within the state have availed the scheme. He said that the process of digitization and Aadhaar seeding of 99.87 per cent ration cards under the National Food Security scheme has been completed. There are 14.03 Lakh such cards with 61 lakh units in the state. Manral added that under the State Food security scheme the state has 9.65 lakh ration cards. There are more than 23 lakh total ration cards in Uttarakhand.
The one nation one ration card scheme strives to enable national portability of ration card. The scheme is being implemented under National Act (NFSA). Under the scheme all the ration card holders can avail the benefit from Fair Price Shops (FPS) anywhere in the country. For availing this benefit the beneficiaries need to make a call on toll free number 14,445 and inform the place they have shifted to. The service would then tell the nearest FPS to which the beneficiary can take the ration. The FPS concerned would then do a simple authentication based on bio-metric system and Aadhaar and provide the ration to the displaced card holder. The One Nation One Ration Card scheme was initially started in four states in August 2019 and it is now implemented in the entire country.
National and International Affairs
One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi by J&K
n Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has launched a new mission called One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi. The mission was launched at Jammu & Kashmir Development Institute, Pampore. He outlined that DIGI-Pay Sakhi has brought Financial Inclusion inside the UTs Self Help Group (SHG) ecosystem, creating a much wished economic get entry to factors with increased transparency even in the remotest of the areas.
Highlights:
Initially, the DIGI-Pay facility will be furnished in 2,000 far off villages of UT. In the first phase, 80 girls from self-help agencies from throughout the Jammu and Kashmir divisions have been selected as DIGI-Pay Sakhis.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor dispensed eighty Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems (AEPs) amongst the DIGI-Pay Sakhis under the Jammu & Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM).
One of the selected projects is- Solar-Powered Ironing Cart project that has been designed by a 14-year-old Tamil Nadu schoolgirl.
Second project is- Agricultural Waste Recycling Concept developed by an entrepreneur from Delhi.
Total of 15 finalists have been selected out of hundreds of nominations from across the world for the Environmental Prize.
The first-ever Environment Prize, called Earthshot Prize, was launched by Britains Prince William (Duke of Cambridge) and David Attenborough in 2020. This prize is conferred annually from 2021 to 2030, to five winners each year. Winners are selected for their solutions or protects that substantially help the environment. It is given by the Royal Foundation, England. Award is given in five separate categories with the support of UN Sustainable Development Goals. Winners are selected by the Earthshot Prize Council which is a global team spanning six continents.
This project has been developed by Vinisha Umashankar. She made the cut within the Clean Our Air category. Her concept is about solar-powered clean alternative for charcoal-powered street irons which press clothes for millions of Indians.
Under the PARTNERSHIP, Byjus will provide free access to its high-quality and tech-driven Learning programmes to students in order to ensure access to quality Education.
This project envisages for establishment of a dedicated working group, which in turn will help in creating a knowledge, innovation, and strategy support system.
Collaboration between NITI Aayog and BYJUs to support the school students in the developmentally challenged districts have two main components:
First-Ever Global Buddhist Conference in India
India is ready to host the 1st-ever Global Buddhist Conference on November 19 & 20, 2021, in Nava Mahavihara campus, in Nalanda, Bihar.
The educational conference, being organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), will grow to be an annual feature. Four regional conferences in India (Saranath, Telangana, Gangtok and Dharamshala) & overseas (Japan, South Korea, Thailand & Cambodia) will be planned, in the run-up to the conference.
The reports of these regional conferences will be introduced at the inaugural Global Buddhist Conference.
Global Buddhist Conference focuses on making India the center of Buddhism, by advertising Buddhist activities, like academic, cultural, seminars, people traveling for fairs like Buddha Purnima, Vesak.
As a part of the event, an award for the advertising of Buddhist studies, which will be given on November 21 through Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, carrying a Money reward of $20,000 (around Rs 14.7 lakh), a plaque, and a gold-plated medallion.
UNESCO Award for NIOS
The NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling), run by the training ministry, has bagged international recognition from UNESCO for its modern strategy closer to Education.
Highlights:
The attention is for instructing differently-abled humans through technology-enabled inclusive gaining knowledge of material.
The NIOS cross has a specific center of attention on Indian signal language-based content.
By awarding NIOS the King Sejong Literacy Prize, the jury has recognized the price of supplying for the special academic and language wants of PwD rookies by way of developing TEACHING content in sign language through digital mode.
The award-winning programme looks at the use of digital equipment and neighborhood language to assist individuals with disabilities the choice to access Indian Sign Language based content.
The Group has decided to stop publishing its Doing Business report on country Investment climates because of allegations of irregularities.
This decision was taken in the backdrop of probe of data irregularities allegedly because the pressure by top bank officials, for boosting Chinas ranking in 2017, came to Light.
World bank also noted that, it will remain firmly committed towards advancing the role of private sector in development and providing support to governments in order to design the regulatory Environment that supports this.
World Bank will now be working on a new approach of assessing the business and investment Climate.