Science & Technology
VAIBHAV Summit

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the summit highlights) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of science and technology - steps taken by the government)
What's the NEWS

• ^{The Prime Minister inaugurated the Vaishwik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit, a global virtual summit of overseas and resident Indian researchers and Academicians on Gandhi Jayanti, 02ndOctober 2020 which concluded on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Jayanti, 31stOctober 2020.}

Know! the summit highlights

• About 2600 overseas Indians registered for the summit online. About 3200 panelists and about 22,500 academicians and scientists from India and overseas participated in this month-long series of webinars.
• VAIBHAV has led the way in establishing research capability as an important avenue towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• The summit has proposed a comprehensive roadmap leveraging the expertise and knowledge of global Indian researchers for addressing emerging challenges for universal development.
• The goal is to create a broader ecosystem of knowledge and innovation in the country through global interactions, for India and the world.
• VAIBHAV has created an interactive and facile mechanism in the Cyberspace, and has promoted collaboration and the development of leadership.
• VAIBHAV deliberations were held under a structured framework of many areas and subjects.
• This summit had many firsts in the history of academic and scientific conferences.
• Among panelists, 45% were overseas Indians and 55% were resident Indian academicians and scientists.
• Overall Indian diaspora from 71 countries participated in this summit.
• This is one of its kind initiative in the country, where such a mammoth scale of scientific discussions was undertaken on wide range of topics.
• The Summit intended to "create an ideal research ecosystem, merging tradition with modernity to create prosperity".

Prelims Factoids
Prime Minister inaugurates to & fro Sea-plane Service between Kevadia and Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about country's first sea plane service + about water aerodromes - locations)
What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister inaugurated Water Aerodrome at Kevadia and the Sea-plane Service connecting Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.
• He also inaugurated Water Aerodrome in Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and the SeaPlane Service from Sabarmati Riverfront to Kevadia.
• These are part of a series of Water Aerodromes being planned to bring the last mile connectivity.

Know! more about the sea plane service

• This the country's first scheduled sea plane service that will connect Statue of Unity to Ahmedabad
• It will be managed by private airline SpiceJet which will operate a 19-seater plane, which will be able to accommodate 12 passengers.
• There will be four flights a day between Ahmedabad and Kevadia on each side - which means four arrivals and four departures.
• Apart from beginning seaplane services to Surat, SpiceJet also plans to introduce seaplane services between Port Blair and Havelock in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kaziranga in Assam, Delhi to Naini lake, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Tehri Dam. Similar operations are also planned in Srinagar, Ladakh, Udaipur, Sunderbans in West Bengal and backwaters of Kerala.

Know! about sea planes

• Seaplanes can land in water bodies like lakes, backwaters and dams thus offering easy access to numerous tourist spots as well.
• Amphibious planes are reliable, tough and resilient and can take off and land from places that do not have landing strips or runways and water bodies, thus reaching areas that lack other modes of transport or adequate infrastructure. Reliable, tough and resilient these smaller fixed wing aircraft can land on water bodies, gravel and grass.

Economy
Remittances to India to drop by 9% in 2020: World Bank report
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World Bank's Migration and Development report highlights)
What's the NEWS

• India followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt continue to be the top five countries in 2020 to receive foreign remittances
• Remittances to India would fall this year by nine per cent to USD 76 billion due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and global economic recession.
• As the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis continues, the amount of money migrant workers send home is projected to decline 14 per cent by 2021 compared to the pre-COVID-19 levels in 2019

World Bank's Migration and Development report highlights

• Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by 7 per cent to USD508 billion in 2020, followed by a further decline of 7.5 per cent to USD 470 billion in 2021.
• The declines in 2020 and 2021 will affect all regions, with the steepest drop expected in Europe and Central Asia (by 16 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively), followed by East Asia and the Pacific (11 per cent and 4 per cent), the Middle East and North Africa ( both 8 per cent), Sub-Saharan Africa (9 per cent and 6 per cent), South Asia (4 per cent and 11 per cent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (0.2 per cent and 8 per cent)
• This year, for the first time in recent history, the stock of international migrants is likely to decline as new migration has slowed and return migration has increased.
•  Return migration has been reported in all parts of the world following the lifting of national lockdowns which left many migrant workers stranded in host countries.
• Rising unemployment in the face of tighter visa restrictions on migrants and refugees is likely to result in a further increase in return migration

Bilateral Relations
Cabinet approves the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine
Relevance IN - Mains ( GS II bilateral relations - facts to substantiate your answer)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine.
• The bilateral MoU will encourage cooperation between the two countries through joint initiatives and technology development n the health sector.
• It will strengthen bilateral ties between India and Cambodia.

The main areas of cooperation between the two Governments include:

• Mother and child health;
• Family Planning;
• HIV/AIDS and TB;
• Drugs and Pharmaceuticals;
• Technology Transfer;
• Public Health and Epidemiology;
• Disease Control (Communicable and Non-Communicable);
• Medical Research and Development, subject to the approval of the National Ethic Committee of Cambodia and to the clearance by concerned Department/Ministry in India;
• Medical Education;
• Health manpower development in the field of public health;
• Training in clinical, para-clinical and management skills; and
• Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.

Government Schemes
Cabinet approves Extension of Norms for Mandatory Packaging in Jute Materials

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the provisions of JPM act + steps taken by the government to promote jute industry) + Mains ( GS III farmers welfare)
What's the NEWS

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved that 100% of the foodgrains and 20% of the sugar shall be mandatorily packed in diversified jute bags.
• The decision to pack sugar in diversified jute bags will give an impetus to the diversification of the jute industry.

Know! about JPM Act, 1987 and benefits of extending JPM

• The Government has expanded the scope of mandatory packaging norms under the Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987.
• The government has been making concerted efforts for the development of jute sector; increasing the quality and productivity of raw jute, diversification of jute sector and also boosting and sustaining demand for jute products.
• The approval will benefit farmers and workers located in the Eastern and North Eastern regions of the country particularly in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
• Under the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory use in Packing Commodities) Act, 1987 (hereinafter "the JPM Act"), the Government is required to consider and provide for the compulsory use of jute packaging material in the supply and distribution of certain commodities in the interest of production of raw jute and jute packaging material and of persons engaged in the production thereof.
• Therefore, the reservation norms in present proposal would further the interest of domestic production of raw jute and jute packaging material in India

Know! the support provided to the Jute Sector by the government

• The jute industry is predominantly dependent on Government sector which purchases jute bags of value of more than Rs. 7,500 crore every year for packing foodgrains.
• This is done in order to sustain the core demand for the jute sector and to support the livelihood of the workers and farmers dependent on the sector.
• In order to improve the productivity and quality of raw jute through a carefully designed intervention, called the Jute ICARE, the Government has been supporting jute farmers by disseminating improved agronomic practices such as line sowing using seed drills, weed management by using wheel-hoeing and nail-weeders, distribution of quality certified seeds and also providing microbial assisted retting.
• The Jute Corporation of India has entered into MoU with National Seeds Corporation for distribution of 10,000 quintals of certified seeds on commercial basis also.
• The intervention of Technology up-gradation and distribution of certified seeds would increase the productivity and quality of jute crops and also increase the income of the farmers.
• To support diversification of jute sector, the National Jute Board has collaborated with National Institute of Design and a Jute Design Cell has been opened at Gandhinagar.
• Promotion of Jute Geo Textiles and Agro-Textiles has been taken up with the State Governments particularly those in the North Eastern region and also with departments such as Ministry of Road Transport and Ministry of Water Resources.
• To boost demand in the jute sector, Government of India has imposed Definitive Anti-Dumping Duty on import of jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal with effect from 5th January, 2017.
• To promote transparency in jute sector, Jute SMART, an e-govt initiative was launched in December, 2016, providing an integrated platform for procurement of B-Twill sacking by Government agencies.
• Further, the JCI is transferring 100% funds to jute farmers online for jute procurement under MSP and commercial operations.

Prelims Factoids
Public Affairs Index-2020
Relevance IN - Prelims ( Public Affairs Index-2020 - highlights)
What's the NEWS

• Kerala has been adjudged as the best-governed state in the country in the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre
• The report was released by the Bengaluru-based not-for-profit organization headed by K Kasturirangan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
• Uttar Pradesh was placed on the last position in the table in the large states category.

Public Affairs Index-2020 highlights

• The ranking was given to states as per their governance performance based on a composite index in the context of sustainable development in terms of equity, growth and sustainability.
• In the large state category, four southern took the top four positions in the list.
• Kerala stood first with 1.388 PAI index points followed by Tamil Nadu which got 0.912 points. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka got the third and fourth positions with 0.531 and 0.468 points, respectively.
• Uttar Pradesh (-1.461), Odisha (-1.201) and Bihar (-1.158 ) were placed at the bottom three positions in the table.
• In the small state category, Goa finished on top with 1.745 points. Meghalaya got the second position with a score of 0.797 points, closely followed by Himachal Pradesh which got 0.725 points. Manipur (-0.363), Delhi (-0.289) and Uttarakhand (-0.277) finished at the bottom in this category.
• In the list of Union Territories, Chandigarh was adjudged the best with 1.05 PAI points followed by Puducherry which got 0.52 points. Lakshadweep got the third place with 0.003 points.
• In this category, Dadar and Nagar Haveli (-0.69), Andaman, Jammu and Kashmir (-0.50) and Nicobar (-0.30) got the last three positions.

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