Government Schemes
SVAMITVA Scheme

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about SVAMITVA Scheme ) + Mains ( GS II e-governance + accountability and transparency + government policies and interventions)
What's the NEWS

• To transform rural India and empower millions of Indians, Prime Minister will launch the physical distribution of Property Cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme
• The launch will enable around one lakh property holders to download their Property Cards through the SMS link delivered on their mobile phones.
• This would be followed by physical distribution of the Property Cards by the respective State governments.
• These beneficiaries are from 763 villages across six States
• The move will pave the way for using property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits.

Know! about SVAMITVA

• SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which was launched by the Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24th April 2020.
• The scheme aims to provide the ‘record of rights' to village household owners in rural areas and issue Property Cards.
• The Scheme is being implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years (2020-2024) and would eventually cover around 6.62 lakh villages of the country.
• About 1 lakh villages in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, and few border villages of Punjab & Rajasthan, along with establishment of Continuous Operating System (CORS) stations' network across Punjab & Rajasthan, are being covered in the Pilot phase (2020-21).
• All these six States have signed MoU with Survey of India for drone survey of rural areas and implementation of the scheme.
• These States have finalised the digital property card format and the villages to be covered for drone-based survey.
• States of Punjab and Rajasthan have signed MoU with Survey of India for establishment of CORS network to assist in future drone flying activities.

Different nomenclature for the Property Cards in different states

• Different States have different nomenclature for the Property Cards viz. ‘Title deed' in Haryana, ‘Rural Property Ownership Records (RPOR)' in Karnataka, ‘Adhikar Abhilekh' in Madhya Pradesh, ‘Sannad' in Maharashtra, ‘Svamitva Abhilekh' in Uttarakhand, ‘Gharauni' in Uttar Pradesh.

Know! about CORS Network

• CORS is a geo positioning infrastructure that provides seamless consistent and uniform framework of the country.
• It offers highly accurate DGPS service that also improves the speed, efficiency, and simplicity of in-house data-acquisition process. CORS network also act as a driver for reliable data collection by ‘authorized-crowd-sourcing'.
• CORS Network has a wide application in the development of India.
• It will help in the construction of large infrastructure projects and in generation and updation of revenue maps, which is one of the major problems being faced by the country today.
• The system will also augment with the NAVIC network along with other GNSS networks like GPS, Galileo and GLONASS.

Prelims Factoids
Bhai Taru Singh Ji
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Bhai Taru Singh Ji)
What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister has bowed to Bhai Taru Singh Ji, on the occasion of his 300th birth anniversary.

Know! about Bhai Taru Singh

• Bhai Taru Singh was a prominent Sikh martyr known for sacrificing his life for protecting Sikh values, having had his head scalped rather than cutting his hair or converting to Islam
• Bhai Taru Singh was born around 1720 into a Sandhu Jat family Amritsar during the reign of the Mughal Empire.
• He was raised as a Sikh by his widowed mother and had one sister, Tar Kaur.
• Gurdwara Shahidi Asthan Bhai Taru Singh ji is a Sikh Gurdwara at Naulakha Bazaar in Lahore, Pakistan, which commemorates the spot where Bhai Taru Singh was martyred.
• The shrine was built on the grounds of the Shaheed Ganj Mosque, leading to a legal dispute over ownership that began in 1850

Prelims Factoids
GSFC's indigenous variety of ‘Calcium Nitrate' & 'Boronated Calcium Nitrate'

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Calcium Nitrate' & 'Boronated Calcium Nitrate'-manufactured for the first time)
What's the NEWS

• The Chemicals & Fertilizers ministry has launched indigenous variety of Calcium Nitrate' & 'Boronated Calcium Nitrate' manufactured by Gujrat State Fertilizers and Chemicals -GSFC India Ltd

Calcium Nitrate & 'Boronated Calcium Nitrate

• ‘Calcium Nitrate' & 'Boronated Calcium Nitrate is being manufactured for the first time in India. Till now, it was imported from other countries.
• GSFC launched these two products in the retail market for the first time from Solan in Himachal Pradesh and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.
• The indigenous variety of calcium nitrate and Boronated calcium nitrate will provide a quality product in cheaper rate to the farmer community in the country than imported ones.
• Calcium nitrate is used as a water-soluble fertilizer in agriculture. In addition, this product is also used in wastewater treatment and to increase the strength of cement concrete.

Prelims Factoids
World Post Day

• Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World Post Day + Universal Postal Union (UPU)

What's the NEWS

• India Post commenced celebration of the National Postal Week , starting with World Post Day which is celebrated each year on 9^th October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Berne.
• The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people's and businesses' everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries.

Universal Postal Union

• The Universal Postal Union established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system.
• The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration (CA), the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the International Bureau (IB).
• It also oversees the Telematics and Express Mail Service (EMS) cooperatives.
• Each member agrees to the same terms for conducting international postal duties.
• The UPU's headquarters are located in Bern, Switzerland.

Defence
DRDO successfully flight tests Indigenously Developed Anti Radiation Missile (RUDRAM)

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

• New generation Anti Radiation Missile (RUDRAM) was successfully Flight tested onto a radiation target located on Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha.
• The missile was launched from SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

Know! all about RUDRAM

• The RUDRAM is first indigenous anti-radiation missile of the country for Indian Air Force (IAF), being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The missile is integrated on SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft as the launch platform, having capability of varying ranges based on launch conditions.
• It has INS-GPS navigation with Passive Homing Head for the final attack.
• The RUDRAM hit the radiation target with pin-point accuracy.
• The Passive Homing Head can detect, classify and engage targets over a wide band of frequencies as programmed.
• The missile is a potent weapon for IAF for Suppression of Enemy Air Defence effectively from large stand-off ranges.
• With this, the country has established indigenous capability to develop long range air launched anti-radiation missiles for neutralising enemy Radars, communication sites and other RF emitting targets.

Government Schemes
Goa becomes first 'Har Ghar Jal' State across the nation by providing tap water connection to every rural household

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)
What's the NEWS

• Goa has earned itself the unique distinction of becoming first 'Har Ghar Jal' State in the country as it successfully provides 100% Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) in the rural areas covering 2.30 lakh rural households.
• All rural homes in the State now have a tap water supply.
• To strengthen the water testing facilities, the State is in process of getting 14 water quality testing laboratories NABL accredited.
• Jal Jeevan Mission mandates training 5 persons in very village especially women to be trained in using Field Test Kits, so that water can be tested in the villages.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

• Government of India has restructured and subsumed the ongoing National Rural Drinking Water Programme(NRDWP) into Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household i.e., Har Ghar Nal Se Jal (HGNSJ) by 2024.

The following kinds of works/ schemes are proposed to be taken up under JJM:
1. In-village water supply (PWS) infrastructure for tap water connection to every household;
2. Reliable drinking water source development/ augmentation of existing sources;
3. Transfer of water (multi-village scheme; where quantity & quality issues are there in the local water sources);
4. Technological intervention for treatment to make water potable (where water quality is an issue, but quantity is sufficient);
5. Retrofitting of completed and ongoing piped water supply schemes to provide FHTC and raise the service level;
6. Grey water management;
7. Capacity building of various stakeholders and support activities to facilitate the implementation.
Service level delivery under JJM
• The goal of JJM is to provide functional household tap connection to every household with service level at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd).
The institutional mechanism under JJM
1. National level National - Jal Jeevan Mission
2. State level - State Water and Sanitation Mission (SWSM)

3. District level - District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM)
4. Gram Panchayat level - Paani Samiti/ Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ User group

• The fund sharing pattern between Centre and State is 90:10 for Himalayan (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) and North-Eastern States, 100:0 for UTs and 50:50 for rest of the States.

Science & Technology
DST collaborates with IBM to scale up two DST initiatives--Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar)

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of science and technology)
What's the NEWS

• The Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India announced collaborations to scale up two DST initiatives--Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar)

Know! about the Partnership

• The partnership with IBM will make these programs of DST and Vigyan Prasar reach the students and teachers in interactive ways on a large scale.
• Scaling up of the interactive learning platform ‘Engage with Science' will make learning relevant and foster scientific spirit among the country's youth
• The engage with Science platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of digital tools
• DST and IBM India will work together to further integrate and develop Science & Technology in the education ecosystem with short term courses, workshops, mentoring, and online science content communication for teachers and students in India.

Know! about Vigyan Jyoti

• It is a programme to promote Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning among girl students and to inspire them towards STEM careers by creating a level-playing field for meritorious girls from grades 9 to 12 to pursue STEM in their higher education, especially from the top colleges in the areas where girls are hugely underrepresented.
• The Vigyan Jyoti programme was launched by DST in 2019 to inspire girl students to pursue higher education and career in STEM fields.
• The program provides a scholarship, visit to nearby scientific institutions, science camps, lecturers from eminent women scientists, and career counseling.
• The program is currently implemented by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in 58 districts, with the participation of about 2900 students.
• The partnership with IBM India will strengthen the current activities and expanded to include more schools in the future.
• Women tech experts working at IBM India will interact inspire girl students to plan for a career in STEM under the program.
• This will strengthen the DST's initiative to increase the number of women in technology fields.

Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge)

• DST and IBM India aim to create a robust STEM ecosystem that nurtures critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators through Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) - a program targeting to build one million ideas rooted in science from school students.

Engage with Science of Vigyan Prasar

• IBM will work with Vigyan Prasar - an autonomous body under the DST to help India's science popularization agenda through several strategic initiatives, including ‘Engage With Science'.
• It is an initiative to build interest and create a community of practice with students, teachers, and scientists connecting the high school students to the higher education institutions.
• This is an interactive platform that will be built on top of the India Science Over-The-Top (OTT) platform to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue Science & Technology (S&T) for a career.
• As part of the collaboration, IBM will run the day-to-day activities of the program, including student workshops, seminars, and leverage its expertise to mentor the students.
• The platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of gamification tools and AI/ML components.
• ‘Engage With Science' will actively engage with schools, shoot interactive programmes in the school premises, provide windows of recognition, and glorification to select teachers of S&T subjects.

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