Relevance IN - Prelims ( about CollabCAD and its objective + about ATL and AIM + about NIC) + Mains ( GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation +Governance)
What's the NEWS

• Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD, a collaborative network, computer enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design.

Know! more about CollabCAD

• AIM's collaboration with NIC's CollabCAD is a great platform for students to utilize indigenous, state-of-the-art made-in-India software for 3D modeling/slicing to use 3D Printing.
• The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination.
• This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.
• It is an indigenous three dimensional computer aided design system which helps the used to build models in virtual 3d space and create and engineering drawings for shop floor which makes it a complete package for smart manufacturing.
• ATLs established across India, provide tinkering spaces to children to hone their innovative ideas and creativity.

Tinker from Home' campaign

• The ATL program has launched a ‘Tinker from Home' campaign to ensure that the children across the county have access to useful easy-to-learn online resources to keep themselves fruitfully occupied.
• The objective of the initiative is to harness the creativity and innovativeness of children by encouraging learning through self-initiation.
• AIM also launched the Game Development module in partnership with DELL Technologies and Learning Links Foundation.
• It is an online platform where students can start their learning journey while tinkering from home.
• Through the platform they can learn to create their own games and also share it with others.

Additional Info
Atal Tinkering Lab

• In ATLs, students of class 6th to 12th acquire a problem-solving attitude, develop innovative solutions leveraging technologies like 3D printers, robotics, miniaturised electronics, IOT and programming and DIY kits, with support from teachers and mentors.

Atal Innovative Mission

• 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.
• At the school level, AIM is establishing ATLs in all districts across India. As of today, AIM has selected a total of 14,916 schools across the country spread across 33 different states and union territories, for the establishment of ATLs.

Six major initiatives of AIM:

• 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.

Generation Unlimited:

• Generation Unlimited is a new UNICEF-led global partnership that aims to ensure that every young person age 10-24 is in some form of school, learning, training, self-employment, or age-appropriate employment by 2030.
• It aims to co-create and scale up proven solutions related to secondary age-education, skills for learning, employability and decent work, and empowerment, with a focus on girls.

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

• NIC is an attached office under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India.
• NIC provides infrastructure to help support delivery of Government IT services and delivery of some of the initiatives of Digital India

Human Resource Development
Fit India and CBSE organise first-ever live fitness sessions for school students

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the Fit India, CBSE and Ministry of Ayush collaboration + about FIT India + Khelo India)
What's the NEWS

• Fit India, the Government of India's flagship fitness movement is yet again set to start a new series of fitness sessions in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for school children from across the country. During the programme guidelines of Ministry of AYUSH to stay healthy will be shared with students.
• Fit India and CBSE have taken this unique initiative to ensure fitness of all school children.
• Besides sessions on fitness-related issues, guidelines of the Ministry of Ayush on ways to build immunity and stay healthy during this time will also be shared with students.
• The live sessions will cover all aspects of children's fitness from daily workouts to yoga, nutrition to emotional well-being.

Know! about Fit India Movement

• Fit India Movement under the Ministry of Youth affairs and sports is a nation-wide movement in India to encourage people to remain healthy and fit by including physical activities and sports in their daily lives.
• It was launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on 29 August 2019 (National Sports Day).

Know! about Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG)

• Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG), formerly Khelo India School Games (KISG held annually in January or February, are the national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India held for two categories, namely under-17 years school students and under-21 college students.
• Every year best 1000 kids will be given an annual scholarship of Rs.5 lakh (US$7,000) for 8 years to prepare them for the international sporting events.
• The Training of Trainers (TOT) Programme will be carried out semi-annually or quarterly to include all the interested teachers, principals, vice-principals and physical education trainers

Prelims Factoids
"DekhoApnaDesh" webinar series

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the webinar series and its 15 locations)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Tourism has launched "DekhoApnaDesh" webinar series to provide information on the many destinations and the sheer depth and expanse of the culture and heritage of our Incredible India.

Know! more about the webinar

• The first webinar, which was part of a series that shall unfold, touched upon the long history of Delhi as it has unfolded as 8 cities, each one unique in its character and leaving behind traces which makes Delhi the magnificent city that it is today.
• The webinar was titled " City of Cities- Delhi's Personal Diary'.
• The series of webinars shall be an on-going feature and the Ministry would work towards showcasing the diverse and remarkable history and culture of India including its monuments, cuisine, arts, dance forms. natural landscapes, festivals and many other aspects of the rich Indian civilization.

Health
Antiviral drug remdesivir may be effective in stopping replication of corona: ICMR
Relevance IN - Prelims (about remdesivir + about Solidarity Trail)
What's the NEWS

• The Indian Council of Medical Research said antiviral drug remdesivir, which was used during the Ebola outbreak, may be highly effective in stopping the replication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.
• The research on its efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 is a part of WHO's "Solidarity Trial".

Know! about remdesivir

• The drug which was used against Ebola virus, according to the researchers, hinders the reproduction of coronavirus which is why they believe that it could be effective in COVID-19 treatment.
• Remdesivir is an antiviral medication being studied during 2020 as a possible post-infection treatment for COVID-19 illness.
• Remdesivir is a nucleotide analog, specifically an adenosine analogue, which inserts into viral RNA chains, causing their premature termination.

Solidarity Trial

• It is a multi-country trial to identify potential cures for the Covid-19 outbreak
• The World Health Organisation's Solidarity trial is expected to witness participation from Thailand, Argentina, Bahrain, Canada, France, Iran, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.
• The trial will not only test four different drugs or combinations but will also compare their effectiveness.

Science & Technology
Integrated geospatial platform

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Integrated Geospatial Platform + about SAHYOG app ) + Mains ( GS II good governance + government policies and interventions + GS III awareness in the field of S&T)
What's the NEWS

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has created an Integrated Geospatial Platform out of available geospatial datasets, standards-based services, and analytic tools to help decision making during the current COVID-19 outbreak and aid devising area-specific strategies to handle the socio-economic impact in the recovery phase.

Know! more about the Integrated Geospatial Platform

• The platform will strengthen the public health delivery system of the State and Central Governments and subsequently provide the necessary geospatial information support to citizens and agencies dealing with the challenges related to health, socio-economic distress, and livelihood challenges.
• The mobile application SAHYOG, as well as the web portal (https://indiamaps.gov.in/soiapp/) prepared & managed by the Survey of India (SoI), has been customized to collect COVID-19 specific geospatial datasets through community engagement to augment the response activities by Government of India to the pandemic.
• The SAHYOG mobile application will complement the "AAROGYA-SETU" mobile application launched by the Government of India for Contact tracing, Public awareness, and Self-assessment objectives.

Way Forward

• Integration of demographic information with geospatial data is essential for decision making, governance, and development.
• DST's efforts in integrating geospatial information can help the country in taking rapid spatial information-based decisions to face the multilayered crisis that the pandemic and brought and spread the impact of such decisions through the country.

Defence
COVSACK

Relevance IN - Prelims (about COVSACK)
What's the NEWS

• Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed COVID Sample Collection Kiosk (COVSACK) to combat Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Know! more about COVSACK

• The unit has been developed by DRDL in consultation with the doctors of Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Hyderabad.
• The COVSACK is a kiosk for use by healthcare workers for taking COVID-19 samples from suspected infected patients.
• Patient under test walks into the Kiosk and a nasal or oral swab is taken by health care professional from outside through the built in gloves.
• The Kiosk is automatically disinfected without the need for human involvement, making the process free of infection spread.
• The shielding screen of kiosk cabin protects the health care worker from the aerosols/droplet transmission while taking the sample. This reduces the requirements of PPE change by health care workers.
  
  

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