NITI Aayog
All India EdTech Challenge and Master Class Series 2021-2022 launched

What's the NEWS

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Global EdTech Accelerator - UIncept have joined hands to organise the ‘All India EdTech Challenge and Master Class Series' for early and advanced stage EdTech founders.
• This initiative is an extension to the Statement of Intent (SoI) signed between NITI Aayog and Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL)* in March, 2021.

• This initiative aims to nurture EdTech companies and startups who are in pre and post minimum viable product (MVP) stages by identifying potential industry gaps, exploring mergers and acquisitions, talent sourcing and pooling, and decoding venture capital and investor mind-set while exploring industry, academia and government connections.
• The new initiative will support EdTEch start-ups with the best industry resources and expertise and funding.
• AIM, AWS EdStart & UIncept will together identify gaps in the EdTech sector, nurture EdTech startups through the expert Master Class series, and provide them exposure to business fundamentals with the aim of eventually getting them ready for pitching and fundraising.
• The EdTech Startup Challenge and Master Class Series 2021 will act as an ecosystem booster for early and advanced stage startups and entrepreneurs where they can showcase their products to India and beyond.
• AWS EdStart, the AWS educational technology (EdTech) startup accelerator, is designed to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of online learning, analytics, and campus management solutions on the AWS Cloud.

• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is the Government of India's flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• AIM is mandated to create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation ecosystem of the country and revolutionize the innovation ecosystem - touching upon the entire innovation life cycle through various programs like Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Incubation Centres, Atal Community Innovation Centres, ARISE and Atal New India Challenge.
• The ‘All India EdTech Challenge & Master Class Series' would be a step from AIM towards supporting the EdTech Ecosystem.
• UIncept Global EdTech Accelerator is a robust ecosystem of startup stakeholder: Startups, Expert Mentors, Investors, Corporates, School, Colleges, Government, Policy makers etc.
• *Amazon Internet Services Private Limited ("AISPL") undertakes the resale and marketing of AWS cloud services in India.

• AIM is the Government of India's flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• AIM's objective is to develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, create awareness and create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country.

• Atal Tinkering Labs-Creating problem-solving mindset across schools in India.
• Atal Incubation Centers-Fostering world class start-ups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model.
• Atal New India Challenges-Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors/ministries.
• Mentor India Campaign- A national Mentor network in collaboration with public sector, corporates and institutions, to support all the initiatives of the mission.
• Atal Community Innovation Centre- To stimulate community centric innovation and ideas in the unserved /underserved regions of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• ARISE-To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.

• Culture mapping of 80 villages associated with noted personalities in history, in particular the freedom movement, unique crafts and festivals had been started as a pilot project, which is expected to be completed this financial year
• From Sempore in Kashmir to Kanjirapally in Kerala, villages with a connection to the Independence struggle as well as those with their own art practices had been selected for the pilot project being conducted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

• The project would lead to a "national register and interactive database of artists and art practices from the villages of India". Each artist would be given a unique ID and an e-commerce platform set up.
• The work under the mission involves coordinating the data collection through ground and field surveys conducted on the basis of detailed formats and questionnaires, mobile application, interactive web-portal and an over-the-top (OTT) platform to showcase ethnographic documentaries/ cultural events/ festival/ melas etc. of villages.
• On the list of villages selected is Sempore or Pandrenthan in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir that is associated with 14th Century mystic Lal Ded or Lalleshwari.
• From Ladakh, the pilot project included Choglamsar and Wanla villages, known for wood carving.
• Khatkar Kalan village in Punjab, which has a memorial of Bhagat Singh; Reni village of Uttarakhand, where the Chipko movement started; and Kathputli Colony in Delhi, known for the "migrant kathputli artists", are also on the list.
• Two villages in Tamil Nadu - Ettayapuram (the birthplace of poet Subramania Bharathi) and Thiruchigadi (a village of "women potters") - are also on the list.

Prelims Factoids
KVIC Rolls Out Project RE-HAB in Assam to Prevent Elephant - Human Conflicts Using Tiny Bees

What's the NEWS

• Buoyed by the success of its innovative Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) in Karnataka, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has now replicated the project in Assam.

• The project has been implemented in Assam with the support of the local forest department.
• Surrounded by dense forests, a large part of Assam is infested by elephants with 332 human deaths reported between 2014 and 2019 due to elephant attacks.
• Under Project RE-HAB, "Bee-fences" are created by setting up bee boxes in the passage ways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories.
• The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further.
• It is a cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animals. It is scientifically recorded that elephants are annoyed by the honey bees.
• Elephants also fear that the bee swarms can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes.
• The collective buzz of the bees is annoying to elephants that force them to return.
• Notably, Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of KVIC's National Honey Mission.
• While the Honey Mission is a programme to increase the bee population, honey production and beekeepers' income by setting up apiaries, Project RE-HAB uses bee boxes as a fence to prevent the elephant attacks.
• Project RE-HAB was launched at 11 locations in Kodagu district of Karnataka on 15th March 2021. In just 6 months, this project has reduced elephant attacks by over 70%.

• 11^th Edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India & Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives from 06 to 19 December 2021.
• The exercise will enhance synergy & inter-operability between Armed Forces of both the Nations in terms of understanding transnational terrorism both on land & at sea, conducting Counter Terrorism & Counter Insurgency Operations and sharing best military practices and experiences.
• Besides rigorous training, the joint military exercise will also include cultural and sports activities to enhance defence cooperation and bilateral relations.
• The exercise will go a long way in strengthening India's relations with Maldives amidst emerging security dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region.

• The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been confirmed in India and in at least 30 other countries by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• While the variant can only be reliably confirmed with genome sequencing, the WHO has also recommended that certain commonly used COVID-19 detection tests, with ‘S-gene dropout' capabilities, can be used to quickly screen for an Omicron infection.

• Tests usually look for three target genes related to parts of the virus: S (spike), N2 (nucleocapsid or inner area) and E (envelope or outer shell).
• The S-gene refers to the gene that codes for the spike protein, or the most distinctive part of the coronavirus.
• The SARS-CoV-2, like many other coronaviruses, has key protein-regions that define its structure: The envelope protein (E), thenucleocapsid protein(N), the membrane protein (M) and the spike protein (S).
• To accurately identify the virus, diagnostic tests are made that can identify characteristic genes that make these proteins.

Agriculture/Farmer's Welfare/GSIII
PepsiCo's IPR on FL-2027 potato variety revoked
What's the NEWS

• In a setback to PepsiCo India, the plant varieties protection authority PPV&FR revoked its varietal registration certificate which was granted to the food and beverages major on a potato variety 'FL-2027' in the country.

• PPV&FR is a statutory body set up under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001.
• The Indian legislation is unambiguous that farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant as well as what they are entitled to do with their produce from any variety, including seed of registered variety
• The only condition is that farmers should not sell seed of protected varieties in a branded fashion knowingly
• Despite the law being this clear, Pepsico India harassed and intimidated farmers and sued them for exorbitant levels of alleged damages in 2018 and 2019
• In 2018 and 2019 PepsiCo India provoked outrage by suing nine Gujarati farmers for allegedly infringing patent rights by growing its registered potato variety
• Now the company's registration of the variety has been revoked by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights' Authority (PPV&FRA).

• The PPV&FRA questioned the documentation produced by PepsiCo claiming it was the owner of the variety, and thus could be considered the Registered Breeder under the law.
• The FL-2027 variety of potatoes, used in Lays potato chips, came to the limelight in April 2019, when it became the centrepiece for a fight in the potato belt of northern Gujarat.
• The potato was grown by about 12,000 farmers with whom the company had an exclusive contract to sell seeds and buy back their produce.
• In 2016, the company registered the variety under the PPV&FR Act, 2001. Alleging that farmers who were not part of its "collaborative farming programme" were also growing and selling this variety in Gujarat, PepsiCo had filed rights infringement cases against nine farmers.

• It seeks to address the rights of plant breeders and farmers on an equal footing.
• It affirms the necessity of recognizing and protecting the rights of farmers with respect to the contribution they make in conserving, improving and making Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) available for the development of new plant varieties.
• The PPV&FR Act recognizes the multiple roles played by farmers in cultivating, conserving, developing and selecting varieties.
• With regard to developing or selecting varieties, the Act refers to the value added by farmers to wild species or traditional varieties/ landraces through selection and identification for their economic traits.
• Accordingly, farmers' rights encompass the roles of farmers as users, conservers and breeders.

• Farmers are entitled to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell their farm produce, including seed of protected varieties, in the same manner as they were entitles to before the coming into force to the PPV&FR Act.
• However, farmers are not entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act. Farmers can use farm saved seed from a crop cultivated in their own.

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