Daily Current Capsules - 15th July 2020
Education
Pragyata

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Pragyata ) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health,
Education, Human Resources )
What's the NEWS

• The HRD Ministry is launching 'Pragyata', which will comprise digital education guidelines, including screen-time and mental health tips for children which they would need for online learning.

• The HRD Ministry is launching ‘Pragyata', which will comprise of guidelines on digital education and can help school heads, teachers and parents in online classes of students.
• The digital education guidelines will also comprise of recommended screen-time for children along with tips on coping with mental or physical stress during the digital learning process.
• With most schools imparting education to students through online classes, controlling screen-time of children has become an important factor now.
• Besides screen-time issues, staying at home for so long can have an adverse effect on children who need to be encouraged to engage with their peers for healthy development and also take part in many physical activities.

Relevance IN Prelims ( about the objective of COVID 19 demo days) + Mains ( GS II Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology
What's the NEWS

• NITI Aayog's flagship Atal Innovation Mission, (AIM) is on full swing to keep the entrepreneurial spirit high across the country by teaming up with other Ministries and partners to support Startups with COVID-19 innovative Solutions and to further fight Covid- 19 pandemic.
• AIM coordinated and concluded a series of virtual COVID-19 Demo-Days- an initiative to identify promising start-ups with potential Covid-19 innovations to further help them deploy and scale-up their solutions nationwide.

Know! all about COVID-19 Demo Days

• It is an initiative by the Government of India to empower startups, drive innovation and bring various departments of the Government and private organisations together to combat COVID-19.
• The initiative was launched in partnership with other government bodies including Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology (DBT); Department of Science and Technology (DST), Startup India, AGNIi, and other Ministries
• Over 1,000 COVID-19 related start-ups from a diverse set of categories including curative, preventive and assistive solutions were put through two rounds of evaluation, from which more than 70 start-ups were shortlisted for the Virtual COVID-19 Demo Days.
• These start-ups will receive support in the form of funding, access to manufacturing abilities, supply chain and logistics and finding the right vendors and mentors.
• A total of nine DemoDays for Medical Devices, PPE, Sanitization, Technology solutions etc were held
• The joint initiative is expected to provide a much-needed fillip to the India's mobilization efforts relating to all COVID-19 related products / services / solutions and give the start-up ecosystem an effective platform to contribute during the current scenario.
• As a result of these virtual Demo Days, more than 340 connections involving more than 50 startups have been made between the startups and various investor groups / other organizations.

Bilateral Relations
Iran drops India from Chabahar rail project, cites funding delay
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Chabahar port + rail line + INSTC) + Mains ( GS II Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

What's the NEWS

• Four years after India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, the Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.
• The development comes as China finalises a massive 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India's plans.

Know! about the trilateral agreement

• The railway project, which was being discussed between the Iranian Railways and the state-owned Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON), was meant to be part of India's commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
• The Chabahar Rail Project is a 628 km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan.
• In May 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tehran to sign the Chabahar agreement with Iranian President Rouhani and Afghanistan President Ghani, IRCON had signed an MoU with the Iranian Rail Ministry.
• The MoU was to construct the Chabahar-Zahedan railway as "part of transit and transportation corridor in trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan.

Know! the genesis of 2016 historic deal

• India signed a historic deal in 2016 to develop the strategic port of Chabahar in Iran and agreed on a three-nation pact to build a transport-and-trade corridor through Afghanistan that could help halve the time and cost of doing business with Central Asia and Europe.
• Developing the Chabahar port was seen as crucial for India because it will not only allow New Delhi to bypass Pakistan and access global markets but also counter China's expanding influence in the Indian Ocean region.
• As part of a separate trilateral deal, India, Afghanistan and Iran agreed to establish a land transit-and-trade corridor.
• From Chabahar port, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan. This road can then connect to the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram road -- constructed by India in 2009 at a cost of Rs 680 crore - and finally to Afghanistan's Garland highway.
  
  

• This will give India road access to four major cities; Afghanistan-Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif

• Completion of this project would give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Prelims Factoids
Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Neowise + about comet)
What's the NEWS

• The recently discovered comet called C/2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE after the NASA telescope that discovered it, will make its closest approach to the Earth on July 22.
• On July 3, the comet was closest to the sun at 43 million km. On this day, the comet cruised inside Mercury's orbit and, due to its proximity to the sun, its outer layer was released creating an atmosphere - referred to as coma - of gas and dust from its icy surface.This atmosphere sometimes leads to formation of a bright tail of debris that can extend for thousands or millions of kilometres.

Know! about comets

• Comets or "dirty snowballs" are mostly made of dust, rocks and ice, the remnants from time the solar system was formed over 4.6 billion years ago.
• Comets can range in their width from a few miles to tens of miles wide. As they orbit closer to the sun, like in the case of C/2020 F3, they heat up and release debris of dust and gases that forms into a "glowing head" that can often be larger than a planet.
• The debris forms a tail that can stretch out to millions of miles. Each time a comet passes the sun, it loses some of its material and it will eventually disappear completely as a result.
• Comets do not have light of their own and what humans are able to see from Earth is the reflection of the sun's light off the comet as well as the energy released by the gas molecules after it is absorbed from the sun.

Prelims Factoids
The Google for India Digitisation Fund
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Google India Digitization Fund)

Google India Digitization Fund (highlights)

• As part of the company's Google for India initiative, the tech giant will invest $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India.
• The Rs 75,000 crore fund will be spent, on upscaling of Google's digital India mission.

• It will br through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments.
  

• The Investments will focus on four areas important to India's digitization including: "First, enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, whether it's Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, or any other. Second, building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India's unique needs. Third, empowering businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation. Fourth, leveraging technology and AI for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture"

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