• Nuakhai is a regional public holiday in the Indian state of Odisha on the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
• This is the panchami tithi (fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhadraba.

• This is an agricultural festival of the people of Odisha.
• The festival is observed across the state, but it is particularly important in the life and culture of Western Odisha.
• It is also celebrated in the neighbouring area of Simdega in Jharkhand, where Odia culture is predominant.
• Nuakhai is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakhai Bhetghat.
• The word 'nua' means 'new' and khai means food, so this is a harvest festival to celebrate the gathering of the rice crop.
• Nuakhai is thought to date back to Vedic times, about 3,000 years ago, when the sages recorded panchayajna, the five important activities in the annual calendar of an agrarian society.

• sitayajna (the tilling of the land),
• pravapana yajna (the sowing of seeds),
• pralambana yajna (the initial cutting of crops),
• khala yajna (the harvesting of grains) and
• prayayana yajna (the preservation of the produce).

• Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand organized the 6th Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT)

• The ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at the Research and Information System for Development Countries (RIS) and ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok were the organizing partners of the Round Table.
• The theme of the Round Table was 'ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era'.
• More than 400 people from academia, industry, government and diplomatic community attended the Round Table.
• The ASEAN-India Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives was established at the 7th ASEAN-India Summit in Thailand in 2009 to provide policy inputs to Governments on future direction of cooperation.
• The forum serves as a high quality research platform and provides long-term perspectives to further strengthen ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Brunei, Vietnam, Lao PDR ,Myanmar and Cambodia on 30 joined after that making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

• ASEAN Plus Three was the first of attempts for further integration to improve existing ties of Southeast Asia with East Asian countries of China, Japan and South Korea.
• This was followed by the even larger East Asia Summit (EAS), which included ASEAN Plus Three as well as India, Australia, and New Zealand.

• The East Asia Summit is a unique Leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
• Established in 2005, EAS allows the principal players in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss issues of common interest and concern, in an open and transparent manner, at the highest level.
• The membership of EAS consists of ten ASEAN Member States (i.e. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the USA.
• EAS is an initiative of ASEAN and is based on the premise of the centrality of ASEAN.
• The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
• The final report of the East Asian Study Group in 2002, established by the ASEAN+3 countries (i.e. China, Japan and ROK), recommended EAS as an ASEAN led development limited to the ASEAN +3 countries.
• The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) held in Vientiane on July 26, 2005 welcomed the participation of ASEAN, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand, in the first EAS.
• USA and the Russian Federation were formally included as members of the EAS at the 6th EAS held in Bali, Indonesia on 19 November 2011.
• Twelve East Asia Summits have been held so far. India has been a part of this process since its inception in 2005 in Kuala Lumpur
• There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS. These are - Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity.
• India endorses regional collaboration in all six priority areas.

• India's population is expected to grow by 25%, from 121.1 crores to 151.8 crores during the period 2011-2036 - an increase of 25% in 25 years at the rate of 1.0% annually according to the final report of the technical group on population projections dated July 2020.
• The group was constituted by the National Commission on Population (NCP) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the mandate to provide population projections for the period 2011 to 2036.

• India's population growth rate is expected to decline to its lowest since the Independence in the 2011-2021 decade, with a decadal growth rate of 12.5%.
• It will decline further to 8.4% in the 2021-2031 decade India will overtake China as the world's most populous country around 2031 - almost a decade later than the United Nations projection of 2022.

Rural and Urban Population

• The report projects that as much as 70% of this increase will be in urban areas.
• So, while 31% of Indians were living in urban India in 2011, that will grow to 39% by 2036.
• The proportion of the rural population will decline from 69% to 61% as the urban population is projected to increase more than twice the projected increase in the rural population.
• The state of Delhi, which was 98% urban in 2011, will be 100% urban by 2036.
• In addition, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat will all be more than 50% urban
• The states of Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar will continue to be less than 20% urban.
• The most dramatic population shift from rural to urban will happen in Kerala, where 92% of the population will be living in urban areas

Migration

• The Cohort component model, which has been used by the technical group for the projections, has used fertility, mortality and migration.
• The rate of migration to and from states to be constant for the projection period.
• In that period, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the major net out-migration states while Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi had positive in-migration.
• The net out-migration effect is offset by higher fertility rates and large base populations in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• These two states will account for 34% of the increase in population in the country between 2011 and 2036.
• Uttar Pradesh,will see an increase of almost 30% in 2036
• Bihar will witness an increase by 42% in 2036.
• 54% of the growth in population in India between 2011 and 2036 will take place in the five states of UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
• The five southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu will account for only 9% of the growth.

Declining fertility rates

• UP and Bihar are also the two states with the highest total fertility rates (TFRs) (average number of children born to each woman) in 2011 with 3.5 and 3.7 respectively.
• This was significantly greater than India's overall TFR, which was 2.5.
• States like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh had TFRs below 2.
• In the 2011-2036 period, the TFR in India will decline to 1.73
• According to the report, the only Indian state with a TFR higher than 2 by 2035 will be Bihar at 2.38.
• In India, life expectancy at birth is expected to increase from 66 for men and 69 for women in 2011 to 71 and 74 respectively.
• Kerala is once again likely to be the outperformer here and could become the only Indian state with a life expectancy above 80 for women by 2036 and 74 for men.

Sex Ratio

• The population in 2036 is expected to be more feminine compared to the population as of 2011 when it came to sex ratio.
• The country's sex ratio of the total population (females per 1000 males) is expected to increase from 943 in 2011 to 957 during 2036.
• In 2036 sex ratio in eighteen states, except Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat will increase as compared to 2011
• The lowest sex ratio of 899 is expected to be in NCT of Delhi in 2036, followed by 900 and 908 in Gujarat and Haryana respectively.

Infant mortality rate (IMR)

• The report said that the infant mortality rate (IMR) of the country, which is reported to be 46 in 2010 is expected to go down to 30 by the end of the period 2031-35.
• The IMR, which was highest in Madhya Pradesh at 58 followed by 57 in Uttar Pradesh in 2011-15 is expected to come down to 37 in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh (38) in 2031-35
• The lowest IMR is expected to be in Kerala at 9 in 2031-35.

Youth Population

• The youth population in the age- group 15-24 years is expected to increase from 23.3 crores in 2011 to 25.2 crores in 2021 and then continue to decrease to 22.7 crores in 2036

National Population Commission

• The National Commission on Population (NCP) was constituted in May 2000, to fulfil the objectives of the National Population Policy 2000.
• The objectives of this commission are to review, monitor and give directions for the implementation of the National Population Policy (NPP) 2000.
• It is chaired by the prime minister with the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) as vice chairman.
• Chief ministers of all states, ministers of the related central ministries, secretaries of the concerned departments, eminent physicians, demographers and the representatives of the civil society are members of the commission.
• Presently this Commission is functioning under Ministry of Health.

Economy
RBI unveils framework for umbrella entity to manage payment systems
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NPCI and the facts about the pan-India umbrella entity for retail payments + Mains ( GS III Economic development - financial inclusion)
What's the NEWS

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled the framework to set up a pan-India umbrella entity

• Any new umbrella organization for retail payments on the lines of the National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) must have a minimum paid-up capital of ₹500 crore and strive for inter-operability with NPCI systems
• Such organizations are expected to challenge the monopoly of NPCI, which was floated by the RBI and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) in 2008.

Know! the Framework for authorisation of pan-India umbrella entity for retail payments

• Min. paid-up capital -500 crore
• No single promoter or promoter group should have more than 40% investment in the capital of this entity.
• The promoter "can" bring down shareholding in the entity to a minimum of 25% after five years
• Applicants must also have at least three years of experience in the payments ecosystem.
• A minimum net-worth of Rs 300 crore should be maintained at all times,
• The proposed entity may be a ‘for-profit' or a Section 8 company as may be decided by it
• The promoters or promoter groups shall upfront demonstrate capital contribution of not less than 10% or ₹50 crore at the time of making an application for setting up of the umbrella entity
• Under the terms set out by the central bank, the scope of activities of this umbrella entity will be to set up, manage and operate new payment systems in the retail space.
• It will also have to operate clearing and settlement systems for participating banks and non-banks, and is also expected to interact and be interoperable, to the extent possible, with the systems operated by NPCI.

Know! about NPCI

• NPCI was incorporated as a not-for-profit company under the provisions of the Companies Act to provide infrastructure to the entire banking system in India.
• The 10 core promoter banks are SBI, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank and HSBC.

Bilateral Relations
India, Israel sign cultural agreement


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the cultural agreement - key highlights) + Mains ( GS II Bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• India and Israel signed a cultural agreement that outlines a three-year programme of cooperation to further strengthen their strategic bilateral relations.

Know! the important takeaways from the cultural agreement

• It aims to promote greater people-to-people exchanges.
• The agreement states that it shall contribute to the development of their relations and to raising awareness, particularly among youth, of the history and culture of the people of both countries.
• The programme of cooperation between the two countries for the years 2020-23 is based on the cultural agreement signed between them on May 18, 1993, a little more than a year after they established full-fledged diplomatic relations.
• The major areas of cooperation identified to promote cultural ties include the exchange of culture and art experts, encouraging cooperation in the protection of cultural heritage and archaeology with the help of Israel Antiquities Authority (IIA) and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and organising literary fests and book fairs while promoting the translation of famous works in each other's languages.
• It also includes student exchanges through scholarships, encouraging the participation of films and film-makers in each other's international film festivals, devising youth exchange programmes and encouraging sports-related interaction among youth and to encourage direct contacts between national libraries and book publishers
• Israel also signed a cooperation agreement with the Uttar Pradesh government on August 20 for resolving water crisis in Bundelkhand region.

Prelims Factoids
Aarogya Setu introduces Open API Service


Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Open API Service + functions and benefits of Aarogya setu app)
What's the NEWS

• Aarogya Setu team has worked on a new innovative feature which is called ‘Open API Service'.
• In order to help businesses and economy to start functioning while being safe, the Open API Service enables organizations to check the status of Aarogya Setu and integrate it into its various Work from Home features.
• The Open API Service of Aarogya Setu, addresses the fear/risk of Covid-19 infections and help the people, businesses and the economy to return to normalcy.

• The Open API Service of Aarogya Setu, can be availed by organizations and business entities, who are registered in India with more than 50 employees, and they can use the Open API Service to query the Aarogya Setu Application in real-time and get the health status of their employees or any other Aarogya Setu User, who have provided their consent for sharing their health status with the organization.
• The Open API shall only provide the Aarogya Setu status and name of the Aarogya Setu User (with User's consent). No other personal data shall be provided through the API.

• Aarogya Setu has now emerged as the most downloaded contact tracing App in the world, with more than 15 crore Users.
• Thus Aarogya Setu based Bluetooth contact tracing and testing is very efficient and effective.
• The Aarogya Setu ITIHAS interface which uses location data and Aarogya Setu analytics to predict emerging hotspots at Sub Pincode levels
• More than 30,000 hotspots have been identified at a very granular level of 300 m X 300 m and shared with State Governments and Districts.
• Aarogya Setu has continuously innovated and introduced more novel features like e-pass integration, QR Code scanning, sharing of Health status with family/known persons

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