Daily Current Capsules - 14th July 2020
Culture
NadiVigyan

Relevance IN - Prelims ( facts about Nadi Vigyan ) + Mains ( GS I Indian Heritage and Culture)
What's the NEWS

• To enlighten about the ancient form of health science- NadiVigyan and its fruitful benefits in curing various spinal disorders, Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘NadiVigyan: A complete solution for spinal disorders' under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series.

• According to Ayurveda, there are 3 doshas or three internal state of a body namely Vata (air+ether) Pitta(Fire+ water) and Kapha (Earth+ water).
• Any imbalance of these elements in the body leads to several disorders.
• Thus, it is being stated in Ayurveda that the diet plan of an individual should be made in consideration to the body type in sync with these elements.
• Nadi Parikshan (or pulse diagnosis) helps in determining the problems or disorders caused due to the imbalance of Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
• The origin point of Nadi is called as Kandasthana which is the nabi (navel area) of the human body as navel is the central power of the body.
• A baby in the mother's womb also gets nourishment from the umbilical cord which is also connected to navel of the baby.
• Our body consists of 72,000 Nadis (or channels). The 72,000 nadis spring from three basic nadis - the left, the right and the central - the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna.
• The word "nadi" does not mean nerve. Nadis are pathways or channels of prana in the system.
• These 72,000 nadis don't have a physical manifestation. There are 72,000 different ways in which the energy or prana moves.

• The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the Ministry of Tourism in conducting of the Dekho Apna Desh Webinars by providing technical assistance directly with a professional team thereby ensuring effective citizen engagement and communication with all stakeholders using the digital experience platform.

NITI Aayog
India's second Voluntary National Review at UN's High-Level Political Forum

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about VNR and HLPF and highlights of India's VNR 2020 report) + 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

• NITI Aayog presented India's second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020.

Know! about VNR and HLNF

• The HLPF is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• The India VNR 2020 report titled Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local
• The HLPF meets annually in July for eight days under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.
• The VNRs presented by Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
• The reviews are voluntary and state-led and are aimed at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
• The process of preparation of a country's VNR provides a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of various relevant stakeholders. NITI Aayog prepared and presented India's first VNR in 2017.

India VNR 2020

• India's VNR this year has undertaken a paradigm shift in terms of embodying a "whole-of-society" approach in letter and spirit.

• NITI Aayog engaged with sub-national and local governments, civil society organizations, local communities, people in vulnerable situations and the private sector.

• As part of this process, NITI Aayog partnered with UN in India and Civil Society Organisations to curate a consultative process which saw more than 50 national and sub-national consultations with over 1000 CSOs from fourteen population groups including women, children, elderly, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), People Living with HIV (PLHIV), among others .

• India has been playing a leading role in promoting global engagement platforms such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure (CDRI), and the active participation in implementing the Sendai Framework, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
• The India VNR 2020 report was also unveiled during this event. The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in India.
• NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national level. The India VNR 2020 represents NITI Aayog's efforts in embodying the whole-of-society approach and its commitment towards localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Infrastructure Development
Green Railway by 2030
Relevance IN - Prelims ( factual info about the steps taken by the railways to promote green railway) + Mains ( GS III infrastructure development + environment conservation - facts can be used to substantiate your answers)
What's the NEWS

• Ministry of Railways, with a goal of transforming Indian Railways into Green Railways by 2030 has taken a number of major initiatives towards mitigation of global warming and combating climate change.
• Railway Electrification, improving energy efficiency of locomotives & trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations, fitting bio toilets in coaches and switching to renewable sources of energy are parts of its strategy of achieving net zero carbon emission.

• Indian Railways has completed electrification of more than 40,000 Route km (RKM) (63% of BG routes)
• All routes on BG network have been planned to be electrified by December 2023.

• Indian Railways has also taken a number of initiatives to promote solar energy. Indian Railways is working to harness the potential of 500 Mega Watt (MW) energy through roof top Solar panels (Developer model).
• Indian Railways is trying to produce power from land Based Solar installations for running trains. Indian Railway has 51,000 hectare of land potential of installing 20 GW land based solar plants.
• Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL), a Joint Venture Company of Indian Railways (49 % Equity) and RITES Limited (51 % Equity), has been mandated for proliferation of taking up land based project.
• In the wind energy sector, 103 MW wind-based power plants have already been commissioned.
• Among them, 26 MW is in Rajasthan (Jaisalmer), 21 MW is in Tamil Nadu and 56.4 MW is in Maharashtra (Sangli).
• Indian Railways has also planned to set up 200 MW wind energy plants in next 2 years in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
• Realizing its role in climate change Indian Railways has started other Green Initiatives like 100 per cent LED illumination of buildings and stations.
• Total 505 pairs of trains have been converted to Head on Generation(HOG), unleashing approx 70 million liter diesel/ Rs 450 crore per annum potential of saving.

Governance
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) signed MoU with NCRB
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NATGRID + about NCRB + about CCTNS) + Mains ( GS II Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential
What's the NEWS

• The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the centralised online database on FIRs and stolen vehicles.

Know! all about NATGRID

• First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID (under the Ministry of Home affairs) seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a "secured platform". The project aims to go live by December 31.
• The MoU, signed in March, will give NATGRID access to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) database, a platform that links around 14,000 police stations.
• It links intelligence and investigation agencies.
• All State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
• NATGRID is exempted from the Right to Information Act, 2005 under sub-section (2) of Section 24.
• The MoU enables the NATGRID to get information about details of a suspect as mentioned in the FIR such as his/her father's name, telephone number and other details.
• At least 10 Central government agencies, such as the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing and others have access to the data on a secured platform.

Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS)

• It is a plan scheme conceived in the light of experience of a non-plan scheme namely - Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA).
• CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Govt. of India.
• The concept was first conceived in the year 2008 by the then Home Minister in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• The system includes a nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 14,000 police stations across the country.
• The project is implemented by National Crime Records Bureau.
• CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing through adopting of principle of e-Governance and creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art tracking system around 'Investigation of crime and detection of criminals'.

Police Systems in India(reforms taken)

• Several initiatives have been introduced in the past to leverage IT in police functioning. Some of these initiatives include centrally initiated programs such as the NCRB-led CCIS (Crime and Criminals Information System) and CIPA (Common Integrated Police Application), and State-led initiatives such as e-COPS (in Andhra Pradesh), Police IT (in Karnataka), Thana Tracking System (in West Bengal), CAARUS (in Tamil Nadu) and HD IITS (in Gujarat).

Know! about NCRB

• The NCRB is a government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
• NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
• It empowers Indian Police with IT and criminal Intelligence to enable them to uphold the law and protect people

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