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

• Indian Navy has launched Operation "Samudra Setu" - meaning "Sea Bridge", as a part of national effort to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas.

• Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa and Magar are presently enroute to the port of Malè, Republic of Maldives to commence evacuation operations from 08 May 2020 as part of Phase-1.
• The ships have been suitably provisioned for the evacuation operation. The evacuated personnel would be provided the basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea-passage.
• This operation is being progressed in close coordination with Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and various other agencies of the Government of India and State governments.

• Vande Bharat Mission' will see the operation of 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
• Once completed, it may turn out to be the largest evacuation operation ever since the 1990 airlift of 1.7 lakh people from Kuwait.

• India will operate 10 flights to the UAE, seven flights each to the US and the UK, five flights to Saudi Arabia, five flights to Singapore and two flights to Qatar to repatriate Indian nationals between May 7 and May 13.
• During this period, India will also operate seven flights each to Malaysia and Bangladesh, five flights each to Kuwait and Philippines, two flights each to Oman and Bahrain.
• Under the repatriation plan, the government will be facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds in a phased manner. All international flights have been grounded since mid-March.

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NAM) + Mains ( GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister of India participated (for the first time since he took over six years ago) in the online Summit of Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Contact Group to discuss response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Know! about the online NAM Contact Group Summit

• The online NAM Contact Group Summit on the theme of "United against COVID-19". was hosted by the current Chairman of NAM, President of Republic of Azerbaijan HE Ilham Aliyev.
• The objective of the Summit was to promote international solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to mobilise efforts of States and international organisations to address the pandemic.
• The event also commemorated the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.

Know! about NAM

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) had its origins in the Bandung Conference of April 1945 In Indonesia, inspired by three world leaders: Nehru of India, Tito of Yugoslavia and Nasser of Egypt.
• Bandung formulated the concept of non-alignment based on the Third World desire not to become involved in the East-West ideological confrontation of the Cold War, and to focus instead on national independence struggles, the alleviation of poverty, and economic development.
• These principles were adopted at the founding non-aligned summit in Belgrade in 1961.
• Whereas NAM started with 25 members in 1961, it has now expanded to 115 developing member countries which constitute nearly two-thirds of the United Nations.

Prelims Factoids
NGMA KE SANGRAH SE
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the virtual programme - NGMA ke Sangrah se)
What's the NEWS

• National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi presents the virtual program "NGMA KE SANGRAH SE" to display EXHIBITION OUTREACH DURING LOCK- DOWN.

Know! more about the Visual Program

• This virtual program will showcase the rarely seen or maybe unseen jewels from its repository.
• This program is based on various weekly/ daily themes from NGMA's prestigious collections.

• The theme for this week is ARTIST BY ARTISTS and is dedicated to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
• These virtual programs and exhibitions will give the opportunity to art lovers, artists, art connoisseurs, students, teachers, etc. to see the rarely presented artworks from their homes.

Defence
DRDO develops UV Disinfection Tower

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower)
What's the NEWS

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower for rapid and chemical free disinfection of high infection prone areas.
• The equipment named UV blaster is a UV based area sanitiser designed and developed by Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC),premier laboratory of DRDO

Know! about the UV blaster

• The UV Blaster is useful for high tech surfaces like electronic equipment, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods.
• The product is also effective for areas with large flow of people such as airports, shopping malls, metros, hotels, factories, offices, etc.
• The UV based area sanitiser may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using wifi link.

Government Schemes
The Saras Collection

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the Saras collection - aim and objective + about GeM + DAY-NRLM) + Mains (GS II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What's the NEWS

• The Union government has launched "The Saras Collection" on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal

Know! about the initiative

• It is a unique initiative of GeM and the DeenDayalAntyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, the Saras Collection showcases daily utility products made by rural self-help groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.

Under this initiative, the SHG sellers will be able to list their products in 5 product categories, namely
(i) handicrafts
(ii) handloom and textiles
(iii) office accessories
(iv) grocery and pantry, and
(v) personal care and hygiene.
Know! more about Saras collection(working mechanism + benefits)

• During the first phase, around 913 SHGs from 11 states were registered and 442 products were added.
• GeM will provide dashboards for functionaries at the national, state, district and block level to provide them real time information about the number of products uploaded by SHGs, and value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.
• The platform will reduce human interventions in procurement and enables transparency, cost savings, inclusiveness and efficiency.
• In order to facilitate the Self Help Groups in uploading of their products, GeM portal assist the sellers in product catalogue management, order fulfilment and bid participation.
• By providing SHGs with direct access to Government buyers, the Saras Collection will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain, thus ensuring better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level.

Know! about DAY-NRLM:

• DAY-NLRM aims to reduce poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment while creating skilled wage employment opportunities.
• The scheme supports building social capital and ensuring financial linkages to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of the life of rural poor women.
• It has ambitious plans on innovations for alternate channels of financial inclusion like digital finance, creating value chains around rural products and improving market access, rural enterprise and strengthening community institutions.

Know! about GeM:

• Government e Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent Government owned Section 8 Company set up as the National Public Procurement Portal for procurement of goods and services required by Central and State Government organizations.
• GeM provides an online, end to end solution for procurement of goods and services for all Central Government and State Government Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), local bodies and autonomous organisations.
• The platform reduces human interventions in procurement and enables transparency, cost savings, inclusiveness and efficiency of faceless standardized public procurement.

KEEP Learning KEEP Evolving
TEAM CL IAS