Infrastructure Development/Governance
GIS Enabled Land Bank

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) + Mains ( GS II governance - transparency and accountability + GS III infrastructure development)
What's the NEWS

• The India industrial land bank system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states so far and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021

The India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)

• Department for promotion of Industry & Internal Trade has developed India Industrial Land Bank (IIS) portal, a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the country to adopt a committed approach towards resource optimization, industrial upgradation and sustainability.
• The portal serves as a one-stop solution to the free and easy accessibility of all industrial information including availability of raw material â€" agriculture, horticulture, minerals, natural resources; distance from key logistic nodes; layers of terrain and urban infrastructure.
• It is a one-stop repository of all industrial infrastructure-related information - connectivity, infra, natural resources & terrain, plot-level information on vacant plots, line of activity, and contact details.
• Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectare of land, serving as a decision support system for investors scouting for land remotely.
• The initiative is being supported by Invest India, the national investment promotion & facilitation agency, National Center of Geo-Informatics (NCoG), National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG).

India Industrial Land Bank (IIS) aims to provide:

• Information on available land for prospective investors looking at setting up units in the Country
• GIS Mapping of Industrial Clusters
• The system also holds the information about the existing External and Internal Infrastructure such as rail, road, air and port connectivity and other common facilities in and around the manufacturing clusters
• Links to State GIS Portals and State Land Banks

Infrastructure Development
National Institute of Urban Affairs conducts Webinar to Commemorate the Launch of the Inclusive Cities Centre

Relevance In - Prelims (about NIUA + about ICC) + Mains (GS III Infrastructure Development
What's the NEWS

• The National Institute of Urban Affairs conducted a live online webinar on "Inclusive Cities - Approaches for making Indian cities more accessible, safe, and inclusive forALL" to commemorate the Strategy Launch of the Inclusive Cities Center
• The webinar was a part of the 45th anniversary celebrations of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
• The webinar aimed to bring conversations regarding inclusivity to the mainstream and will mark the engagement of thinkers, practitioners, researchers and sector experts for creating an enabling environment for all in cities.

The Inclusive Cities Center (ICC)

• The Inclusive Cities Center (ICC), set up at NIUA, aims to develop tools and frameworks for institutional strengthening of city authorities to promote inclusivity.
• A knowledge repository is also proposed for sharing learnings from global good practices of inclusive cities.
• ICC will facilitate cities in evidence-based planning and investments to improve quality of life and productivity for all.
• It will focus on the most vulnerable of the city residents including the urban poor, persons with disabilities, women, children, youth and elderly.
• The centre will implement activities to address challenges related to spatial, social, economic and digital inclusion in cities.

National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)

• Established in 1976, NIUA has been supporting the Government of India in policy formulation, research, and capacity building for the successful implementation of urban development projects such as the Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
• It is India's leading national think tank on urban planning and development.
• As a hub for the generation and dissemination of cutting-edge research in the urban sector, NIUA seeks to provide innovative solutions to address the challenges of a fast urbanising India, and pave the way for more inclusive and sustainable cities of the future.
• It is against this backdrop that in 1976, NIUA was appointed as an apex body to support and guide the Government of India in its urban development plans. Since then, it has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, alongside other government and civil sectors,

In its aims of enriching and expanding urban knowledge bases within the country, its work today addresses 5 major thematic concerns:
1. Urbanization & Economic Growth
2. Urban Governance & Finance
3. Urban Infrastructure & Built Environment
4. Environment, Climate Change & Resilience
5. Social Development

Health
India COVID 19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package: Phase II

Relevance IN - Mains (GS II Heath)
What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet has approved a new scheme ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II' amounting to Rs. 23,123 crore for FY 2021-22.
• This scheme aims to accelerate health system preparedness for immediate responsiveness for early prevention, detection and management, with the focus on health infrastructure development including for Paediatric Care and with measurable outcomes.
• The Phase-II of the Package has Central Sector (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) components.

India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project: Phase-II" would be implemented at a total cost of Rs. 23,123 Crore, from 01" July 2021 to 31" March 2022 with central and state share as under:

• Central Share of the ECRP-II -Rs.15,000 crore
• State Share of the ECRP-II -Rs.8,123 crore

• With the focus on immediate needs for the next nine months of FY 21-22, to provide support to Central government hospitals / agencies and to State/UT Governments to augment their existing response to the second wave and the evolving pandemic, including at district and sub district levels in peripheral facilities.

Under the Central Sector components

• Support would be provided to Central Hospitals, AIIMS, and other Institutions of National Importance under DoHFW.
• National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) would be strengthened by providing Genome Sequencing machines, besides sanctioning Scientific Control room, Epidemic Intelligence Services (EIS) and INSACOG Secretariat support.
• Support would be provided for implementation of Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) in all the District Hospitals of the Country .All district -hospitals would implement HMIS through NIC developed E-Hospital and CDAC developed E-Shushrut softwares.
• Support would also be provided for expanding the National Architecture of e Sanjeevani Tele-consultation platform This includes support to the States/UTs to enable tele-consultations with the COVID patients at the COVID Care Centres (CCCs) by strengthening Hubs for eSanjeevani Tele-consultation in all the districts of the country.

Under the CSS components


The efforts are aimed at strengthening district and sub district capacity for an effective and rapid response to the pandemic. States/UTs would be supported to:

• Create Paediatric units in all 736 districts and also, to establish Paediatric Centre of Excellence (Paediatric CoE) in each State/UT for providing Tele-ICU services, mentoring and technical hand-holding to the District Paediatric units.
• Augment 20,000 ICU beds in public healthcare system out of which 20% will be Pediatric ICU beds.
• Install 1050 numbers of Liquid Medical Oxygen Storage Tanks with Medical Gas Pipeline System (MGPS)
• Engage Undergraduate and post graduate medical interns and final year MMBS, BSc, & GNM nursing students for effective COVID management.
• As "Test, Isolate and Treat" and following-up COVID Appropriate Behaviour at all the times, is the national strategy for effective COVID-19, support is provided to the States to maintain at least 21.5 lakhs per day.
• Flexible support to the Districts for meeting the requirement of essential medicines for COVID-19 management, including creation of buffer stock.

International Organisations
Innovation Cooperation Action Plan proposed by India
Relevance in - Prelims ( about the Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24) + Mains ( GS II international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• All BRICS countries have agreed to the STI-led BRICS Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24) proposed by India during 12th Meeting of BRICS S&T Steering Committee.

Know! about the action plan

• Indian had proposed the plan to facilitate sharing of experiences of each other's innovation ecosystem and networking of innovators and entrepreneurs.
• The Details of the Action Plan would be worked out by BRICS Science, Technology Innovation Entrepreneurship partnership (STIEP) Working Group.
• It was agreed that the proposal may be forwarded to BRICS STIEP working group through the respective country's STI focal point.
• Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, hosted the 12th Meeting of BRICS S&T Steering Committee
• The BRICS officials discussed in detail about the thematic areas for this year's call for proposals at the meeting and unanimously agreed for collaboration in ten thematic areas.
• Further, all countries agreed to thematic areas proposed by India for 6th edition of BRICS Young Scientist Conclave, which will be held in Bangalore during 13-16 September 2021.
• The three themes to be discussed at the conclave include Healthcare; Energy Solutions, Cyber-Physical System (CPS), and their applications.

Bilateral Relations
India-UK hold Financial Market dialogue via virtual mode

Relevance IN - Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• India and the United Kingdom (UK) held the inaugural meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue (‘the Dialogue')
• The Dialogue was established at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in October 2020 to deepen bilateral ties in the financial sector.

Discussions during the Dialogue were focused on four themes:

1. GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) City, India's flagship international financial centre,
2. banking and payments,
3. insurance, and
4. capital markets

• Following the government-to-government discussion on these issues, private sector partners were invited to the discussion. 
• The City of London Corporation's Capital Markets Working Group presented their work on the Indian corporate bond market, and the India-UK Financial Partnership presented their recommendations on the UK-India financial services relationship, particularly on development of GIFT City as global services hub.
• As two services driven economies, both sides agreed that there is significant scope for strengthening the financial services cooperation between India and the UK.
  
• They also concurred to continue to engage bilaterally on these areas in the coming months, in the run up to the next EFD and the beginning of negotiations for a future India-UK FTA, both expected to take place later this year.

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