Education/GSII/Science and Technology/GSIII
Blockchain-based digital degrees
 
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister attended the 54^th Convocation Ceremony of IIT Kanpur and issued digital degrees through in-house blockchain-driven technology.
• All the students were issued digital degrees through an in-house blockchain-driven technology developed at the Institute under the National Blockchain Project.
• These digital degrees can be verified globally and are unforgeable.
• The students, who were not physically present during the convocation ceremony, received digital degrees

• The use of fake education certificates is rampant in India.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) frequently releases lists of universities blacklisted for issuing them.
• While hiring freshers, several companies, typically software service or back office service providers, have to spend crores of rupees to verify the certificates and transcripts of applicants.
• A digital certificate based on blockchain technology could counter this problem.
• Another use of blockchain-based certificates is for employment outside India.
• Graduates need to get their certificates attested by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure their authenticity before applying for jobs in several countries and this is a time-consuming process.
• In the case of digital certificates issued on a blockchain, verification can be done via an app and authentication can be instantaneous once the certificate holder approves of the access.
• Another advantage is that records cannot be tampered as changes to individual blocks can be made only with the approval of all parties processing the block.
• Simplest possible example of blockchain is google docs, which everyone can access and edit at same time.

• Distributed ledger system or the blockchain technology allows an organisation to create any chain of records or transactions without the need of intermediaries.
• The government aims to explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in a digital economy.
• Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released a ‘National strategy on blockchain', which identifies 44 potential areas which can use the technology extensively.
• The identified areas include education, governance, finance and banking, healthcare, logistics, cyber security, media, legal, power sector, among others.

• INS Sharda, an Offshore Patrol Vessel and INS Kabra, a Waterjet Fast Attack Craft visited Beypore port for participating in Beypore International Water Fest.
• The fest was organised by the Govt of Kerala wherein IN ships and aircraft participated on 26 and 27 Dec 21.
• The ships were deployed towards ongoing 75 years of Independence celebrations at the behest of Southern Naval Command.
• The visit was aimed to raise awareness about coastal security and instil patriotism in the local populace.

• It aims to bring the infinite possibilities of water tourism to the world.
• It is the largest international water theme festival in India to nurture the infinite potential of water tourism in the tourism sector.
• The Department of Tourism organizes notable events in connection with the water festival.
• The International Water Fest features a variety of water adventure performances, water sports, various arts, and cultural events, and food fair.

What's the NEWS

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) handed over technology for indigenous extreme cold weather clothing system (ECWS) to 05 Indian companies

• The extreme ECWS is required by Indian Army for its sustained operations in glacier and Himalayan peaks.
• The Army, till recently has been importing extreme cold weather clothing and several Special Clothing and Mountaineering Equipment (SCME) items for the troops deployed in high altitude regions.
• The DRDO designed ECWCS is an ergonomically designed modular technical clothing with improved thermal insulation and physiological comfort based on the insulation required at various ambient climatic conditions in Himalayan regions during different levels of physical activity.
• The three layered ECWCS is designed to suitably provide thermal insulation over a temperature range of +15 to -50° Celsius with different combinations of the layers and intensity of physical work.

• Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 announced by the Minister of State for Education

• ARIIA is a very unique joint initiative of Ministry of Education and AICTE to systematically rank higher educational institutions in India on indicators related to Innovation, Startup and Entrepreneurship Development amongst students and faculty.
• ARIIA critically evaluate institutions on parameters like patent filing and granted, number of registered students and faculty startups, fund generation by incubated startups, specialised infrastructure created by institutions to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, etc.
• The first edition of the ARIIA was launched in 2018 and it has given huge impetus for developing innovation ecosystem in our HEIs.
• This year 1438 institutions (including all IITs, NITs, IISc, etc.) participated as compared 674 HEIs during the 2nd edition of ARIIA (ARIIA-2020) last year.
• This is more than double as compared to 2nd edition and approximately 4 times as compared to the first edition.
• ARIIA-2021 ranks will be announced in 9 separate categories which includes Centrally funded technical institutions (eg IITs, NITs, etc), State Universities, State standalone Technical colleges, Private universities, Private standalone technical colleges, non-technical government and private universities and institutions.

• India is constantly improving on Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking and has now moved upward to 46^th position in 2021 from 81^st in 2015.
• India has been emerged as world's third largest startup hub

• Raksha Mantri dedicated to the Nation 24 bridges and three roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four States and two Union Territories
• The main highlight was the inauguration of India's first indigenous Class 70 140-feet Double-Lane Modular Bridge, built at the height of 11,000 feet at Flag Hill Dokala, Sikkim and Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass at over 19,000 feet in Ladakh which also holds the Guinness World Record of world's highest motorable road.
• The indigenous Double-Lane Modular Bridge as a shining example of ‘Aatmanirbharta' and appreciated the fact that it has been developed at a much lower cost and can be dismantled, if need be.
• The e-inauguration has taken the tally of infrastructure projects executed by BRO to a record 102 in a single working season, that too in the 75th year of India's Independence.

• Atal Tunnel, Kailash Mansarovar road, recent inauguration of 54 bridges and setting up of Centres of Excellence on ‘Road Safety' & ‘Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Air-fields'.

• To boost tourism and facilitate the Armed Forces personnel in border areas, the Raksha Mantri announced setting up of 'BRO Cafes' at 75 places, as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations.
• These Cafes will showcase the local traditions and facilities such as food, parking, sitting area, souvenir shops, medical inspection rooms and photo galleries.

Infrastructure Development/GSIII
PM inaugurates Bina (MP)-Panki (UP) Multiproduct pipeline project

What's the NEWS

• The Multiproduct pipeline from Bina Refinery (MP) to POL Terminal at Panki, Kanpur (UP) was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister
• 356 Km long project has a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonne per annum.

• This Project also includes augmentation of Tankage capacity and construction of Rail Loading Gantry at Panki POL Terminal.
• Total cost of the project is Rs.1524 crore (Rs. 1227 crore in UP and Rs. 297 crore in MP). project will cover 5 districts of UP: Lalitpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur Nagar, and 2 of MP: Sagar and Tikamgarh.
• The project has been completed and commissioned one month ahead of approved completion schedule of December 2021 (3 years from PNGRB authorisation) and within the approved cost.
• It will provide for safe and efficient evacuation of products from Bina Refinery and also improve availability of products in Eastern U.P, Central U.P., Northern Bihar and Southern Uttarakhand.
• The project includes laying of 18 inch dia, 356 km long multi-product pipeline (283 km in UP and 73 km in MP) with design capacity of 3.5 MMTPA from Bina Dispatch Terminal at Bina (MP) to POL Terminal at Panki, Kanpur (UP) for transporting MS, HSD & SKO (Industrial diesel is often called high speed diesel (HSD), gasoline is called motor spirit (MS) and kerosene oil is called superior kerosene oil (SKO).

• Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has achieved a remarkable milestone of distributing 50 lakhs LED bulbs under Project Crore of their Gram Ujala programme.

• Gram Ujala scheme is being implemented in rural households in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana.
• CESL began this illuminating the villages journey in March this year. On National Energy Conservation Day 2021 this month, CESL achieved distributing 10 lakh bulbs in a single day.
• CESL is providing high quality 7-Watt and 12-Watt LED bulbs with 3 years guarantee at a cost of INR 10 per bulb in exchange of working incandescent bulbs.
• Every household can exchange a maximum of 5 bulbs.
• The distribution has resulted in energy savings of 71,99,68,373.28 units per year with cost savings of 250 crores per year in the rural areas of aforementioned states.
• The programme is active till March 31, 2022.
• CESL is supported by C-Quest Capital in the entire distribution journey under SHINE programme.

• Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of public sector companies under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. CESL is focused on delivering clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
• CESL is also working towards enabling battery-powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India.

• It is a social impact project developer whose purpose is to transform the lives of families in poor communities around the world.
• This by providing access to sustainable energy services and clean energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, combat global climate change, and improve the health of those in need.
• CQC was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Washington D.C., USA, with subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia and on-ground teams in Malawi and Zambia.
• CQC developed high impact carbon finance projects under three operational platforms: Cleaner Cooking, Efficient Lighting and Sustainable Energy.

SwissRe's Shine Programme

• It is a corporate programme looking for startups that are building sustainable products with a social impact.
• The Shine Programme functions under the aegis of Swiss Re Foundation, which supports social innovators in translating their ideas into scalable business models and to maximise social impact.
• Shine has partnered with BOOKBRIDGE, a social enterprise, and Ashoka, a global NGO nurturing social entrepreneurs.

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