International Organisations/GSII
18^th ASEAN-India Summit and 16^th East Asia Summit

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister will attend 18^th ASEAN-India Summit to be held virtually on October 28, 2021 at the invitation of Sultan of Brunei.
• The Summit will be attended by Heads of State/Government of the ASEAN Countries.
• The 18^th ASEAN-India Summit will review the status of ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership and take stock of progress made in key areas including Covid-19 & Health, Trade & Commerce, Connectivity, and Education & Culture.

ASEAN-India Summits

• Held annually and provide opportunity for India and ASEAN to engage at the highest level.
• Prime Minister attended the 17^th ASEAN-India Summit held virtually in November last year.
• 18^th ASEAN-India Summit will be the ninth ASEAN-India Summit to be attended by him.

ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership

• It stands on a strong foundation of shared geographical, historical and civilizational ties.
• ASEAN is central to India's Act East Policy and wider vision of the Indo-Pacific.
• The year 2022 will mark 30 years of ASEAN-India relations.
• India and ASEAN have several dialogue mechanisms which meet regularly, including a Summit, Ministerial meetings and Senior Officials' meetings.

16^th East Asia Summit

• Prime Minister will also attend the 16th East Asia Summit to be held on October 27, 2021 virtually.
• The East Asia Summit is the premier Leaders-led forum in the Indo-Pacific. Since its inception in 2005, it has played a significant role in the strategic and geopolitical evolution of East Asia.
• Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russia.
• India, being a founding member of the East Asia Summit, is committed to strengthening the East Asia Summit and making it more effective for dealing with contemporary challenges.
• It is also an important platform for furthering practical cooperation in the Indo-Pacific by building upon the convergence between ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and Indo-Pacific Ocean's Initiative (IPOI).

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

• It was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.
• It is an economic union comprising 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.
• ASEAN's primary objective was to accelerate economic growth and through that social progress and cultural development.
• A secondary objective was to promote regional peace and stability based on the rule of law and the principle of United Nations charter.
• The ASEAN Summit is the highest policy-making body in ASEAN comprising the Head of States or Government of ASEAN Member States.
• The ASEAN Summit is held twice annually at a time to be determined by the Chair of the ASEAN Summit in consultation with other ASEAN Member States.

Education/GSII
Government sets up National Steering Committee for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission

What's the NEWS

• The Department of School Education and Literacy had launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy, NIPUN Bharat Mission on 5th July, 2021 with the aim to achieve the goal of universal proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3, as envisaged by National Education Policy 2020.
• As prescribed in the Mission guidelines, a National Steering Committee (NSC) for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission has been constituted on 25thOctober, 2021 under the chairpersonship of the Union Education Minister

NSC also includes

• Representatives of 7 Union Ministries i.e., Women and Child Development, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment, Health and Family Welfare, Finance, Electronics and Information Technology and Panchayati Raj
• NIPUN Bharat Mission is the convenor for the NSC.

The following are the roles and responsibilities of the NSC for the NIUPN Bharat Mission:

• To oversee the progress of National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and provide guidance on policy issues.
• To arrive at the target to be achieved nationally in 2026-27.
• To disseminate tools for measurement of yearly progress in the form of guidelines.
• To prepare and approve a National Action Plan (based on the State's Action Plans) with KRAs for every State/UT vis-à-vis factors attributable for the gaps (i.e., lack of Fund, Vacancies, Teachers, Demography, Local issues, Need of Training for teachers, Curriculum & pedagogy related).
• To review programmatic and financial norms periodically to ensure they are synchronised with targets to be achieved.
• To develop methodology of assessment to analyse the progress and provide feedback to States/UTs.

Education/GSII
Phase-II of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship inaugurated

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launched the phase-II of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship

Know! about the fellowship

• It is a two-year long fellowship conceived to create opportunity for young, dynamic individuals to contribute to enhancing skill development at the grassroots.
• The two-year fellowship seeks to combine classroom sessions by academic partner IIMs with an intensive field immersion at the district level to create credible plans and identify barriers in raising employment, economic output, and promote livelihoods in rural areas.

Details about the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship:

• To operationalise the mission and strengthen the skill training delivery mechanism in the country, Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP), a World Bank loan assisted program, was launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in January 2018.
• SANKALP engages with District Skill Committees (DSCs) to effectively reduce the mismatch between the supply and demand of skilled manpower in the country, thereby creating decent opportunities for the youth to work and earn.
• The MGNF program under SANKALP was designed to provide a cadre of professionals at District level who not only know about governance and public policy in general but vocational education too.
• MGNF is a unique blend of academic and work-based training handled at the IIM campus and the districts, respectively.
• The academic module familiarizes the Fellows with concepts from Management, Development Economics, Public Policy and the District Skills Ecosystem.
• During the fieldwork (District Immersion), the fellows shall work within the district with DSC officials on skilling challenges facing the district.
• Along with the DSC officials, they shall put together District Skill Development Plans (DSDPs) and implementation road maps.
• MGNFs shall assist the districts on evidence-based planning and management of skilling in the districts.
• The sharp focus on developing skills for local needs gives impetus to the "vocal for local", and also building an industry-relevant skill base will help the cause of "Atmanirbhar Bharat".
• MGNF is an opportunity for young women and men in the age group of 21-30 years who already possess some level of academic or professional expertise for providing catalytic support to the district administration to improve the skill development program delivery.
• MGNF Phase-I (Pilot): Launched with IIM Bangalore as Academic Partner and 69 are Fellows currently deployed in 69 districts across 6 States.
• MGNF Phase-II (National Roll Out): Being launched on 25th October with 661 MGNFs who will be deployed across all districts of the country.
• 8 more IIMs have been on boarded taking the total to 9 IIMs (IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM-Jammu, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, IIM Nagpur, IIM Ranchi, IIM-Udaipur and IIM Visakhapatnam)

Infrastructure Development: Energy/GSIII
Green Day Ahead Market (GDAM)

What's the NEWS

• Union Minister of Power & New and Renewable Energy, launched the new market segment, Green Day Ahead Market (GDAM) .
• The launch of the green day-ahead market will deepen the green market

Know! all about the green day-ahead market

• It will provide competitive price signals, besides offering an opportunity to the market participants to trade in green energy, in the most transparent, flexible, competitive, and efficient manner.
• Any interested party can setup renewable energy capacity and sell it to Discoms / industries . sell renewable energy.
• Advantages of free ISTS will be available and Open access will be granted within 15 days.
• The market-based competitive prices will provide another option to renewable generators to sell power as well as accelerate the renewable capacity addition towards the Government's vision of building India as a sustainable and efficient energy economy.
• The distribution utilities would also be able to sell surplus renewable power generated in their area.
• The obligated entities (distribution licensee, open access consumers and captive power consumers) would also be able to meet the RPO target by directly buying green power from the power exchange(s).
• The non-obligated entities will be able to buy power on voluntary basis and help increasing the share of green power.
• The introduction of GDAM is expected to create a domino effect that will lead to a gradual shift from PPA based contract to market-based models which will build and deepen the markets to the next level, paving the way for India to meet its ambitious target of 450 GW green capacity by 2030.
• The other benefits of participating in the GDAM would be reduction of curtailment of green power, unlocking untapped renewable energy potential, ensuring instant payment to RE generators ie on the day of delivery itself.
• National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), POSOCO, as the Nodal Agency, has set up the latest technologies and communication infrastructure for facilitating the Green Day Ahead Market.
• The Green Day-ahead market will operate in an integrated way with the conventional day-ahead market.
• The Exchanges will offer the market participants to submit bids together for both conventional and renewable energy through the separate bidding windows.
• The clearance will take place in a sequential manner - renewable energy bids will be cleared first in accordance with the must run status of the renewables, followed by conventional segment.
• This mechanism will allow renewable energy sellers to subsequently bid in the conventional segment should their bids remain uncleared in the green market.
• There will be separate price discoveries for the both the conventional and renewables.

Science & Technology
Cashew Multiple Rooting Propagation Method
What's the NEWS

• A woman farmer from Kannur district of Kerala has come up with an innovative practice to develop support roots in cashew trees to protect her senile cashew garden from devastating borer attacks and frequent cyclonic storms.

Cashew Multiple Rooting Propagation Method.

• This method generates multiple roots in a grownup cashew tree, thus improving production per unit area.
• It also helps eco-friendly management of stem and root borers, restores productivity, provides strong anchorage against wind damage/cyclonic storms, and extension of the plantation life without the necessity of replanting.
• National Innovation Foundation, an autonomous organisation of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, has taken up the innovative technology for the necessary support and incubation activities.
• The technology (Cashew Multiple Rooting for Senile plantation) has been further verified by ICAR- Directorate of Cashew Research
• It has been found that to be unique and provides anchorage against wind damage/cyclonic storms, and restores cashew trees from severe attack of cashew stem and root borers in a very eco-friendly and cost-effective way.
• The technology offers new hope to the cashew growers having senile cashew gardens to realize additional yield,
• The two different methods used by the innovator include--- Cylindrical Shape Method and Low Lying Parallel Branch Method

Cashew cultivation in India

• The area under cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) cultivation in India is around 10.11 lakh ha, the highest amongst all the cashew growing countries, and the total annual production is approximately 7.53 lakh tonnes with several farmers dependent on it for their livelihood.
• The production of cashew is hampered by several biotic as well as abiotic factors.
• Stem and root borer is one of the most debilitating pests as it is capable of killing even the grown-up trees within a short period.
• Besides pest infestation, cashew nut plantation in coastal India is affected by frequent intense cyclones, and each such devastation requires more than ten years to be restored

Science and Technology/GSIII
Skilling of Design/ Commissioning technical personnel in Application of Geo-synthetics in infrastructure projects approved
What's the NEWS

• The Pilot Project on skilling of Design/ Commissioning technical personnel associated with application of geo-textiles in infrastructure projects (roads. highways, railways, water resources) has been approved by the Ministry of Textiles.

Know! about the project

• It will be conducted concurrently by (i) Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, (ii) Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; and (iii) Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.
• Ministry will coordinate, for all matters related to conducting of these Courses
• A batch will consist of minimum 75 to maximum 100 candidates.
• During the pilot phase, 2 batches are scheduled per each of the three Institutes.
• Continuation of the special skill development course will be subjected to a review by the Mission Directorate of National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) or the Ministry of Textiles.
• The Institutes will conduct these courses on no-profit/ no-loss basis.
• The Institutes will advertise/ publicize the courses and invite application from willing and eligible candidates (who are Indian citizens having relevant educational qualifications and adequate experience related to the field).
• The Institute will charge Rs. 1000 per candidates as a token fee. Once batch(es) having minimum number of 75 candidates is firmed, Ministry of Textiles will provide full amount or Rs. 4.50 lakhs per batch as an advance to the respective Institute.
• On completion of the Batch/ Course, the Institute will furnish a Statement of Expenditure/ UC to the Ministry and surplus grant, if any, will be returned to the Government.

Know! about Geotextiles

• Geotextiles are permeable fabrics which, when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect, or drain.
• Typically made from polypropylene or polyester, geotextile fabrics come in three basic forms: woven (resembling mail bag sacking), needle punched (resembling felt), or heat bonded (resembling ironed felt).
• Geotextile composites have been introduced and products such as geogrids and meshes have been developed.
• Geotextiles are durable, and are able to soften a fall if someone falls down.
• Overall, these materials are referred to as geosynthetics and each configuration-geonets, geosynthetic clay liners, geogrids, geotextile tubes, and others-can yield benefits in geotechnical and environmental engineering design.

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