Today's Brief 18/01/2025
- Smriti IASxp
- Jan 18, 2025
- 6 min read
IE Analysis:https://youtu.be/xxPdPXruPHQ?si=u6RGDIvdt-rV7V-N
JN Analysis:https://youtu.be/oF4wHR7AjHE?si=c051X6_A2qLVRRm_
1 .Svamitva Scheme:
(GS Paper II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)
is a Government of India initiative aimed at providing rural residents with documented ownership of their property. It involves using drone technology to survey land parcels in rural inhabited areas, creating accurate digital maps and issuing legal ownership cards to property owners.
This scheme aims to reduce property disputes, facilitate rural development planning, and empower rural communities by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset.
Objectives
Creation of accurate land records for rural planning and reducing property-related disputes.
To bring financial stability to the citizens in rural India by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.
Determination of property tax, which would accrue to the GPs directly in States where it is devolved or else, add to the State exchequer.
Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use.
To support in the preparation of a better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS maps
The scheme is a reformative step towards the establishment of clear ownership of property in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with the issuance of legal ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to the property owners.
There are about 6.62 lakh villages in the country which will be eventually covered in this scheme. The entire work is likely to be spread for five years.
2 .IMF retains India’s economic growth outlook at 6.5 % over next 2 Financial Years: In India, growth is projected to be solid at 6.5 percent in FY26 and FY27, as projected in October and in line with potential, the IMF said in its report. India's growth projections are 6.8 percent for 2025 and 6.5 percent for 2026 based on calendar year. “Global growth is expected to remain stable
3 .National Sports Awards 2024: The National Sports Awards are the pinnacle of sporting honours in the Republic of India.
The awards are given annually to recognize and reward excellence in sports, highlight extraordinary performance at the national and international competitive events, encourage sportsmanship and promote nation-building by creating a sense of national pride and unity in a country as diverse as India.
It promotes qualities like leadership, discipline, commitment, teamwork and a passion for health and fitness in the psyche of a nation with the world’s largest youth population. The awards are administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India.
Categories
The six categories of the National Sports Awards are:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
Arjuna Award,
Dronacharya Award,
Major Dhyan Chand Award,
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad rolling Trophy, also called the MAKA Trophy, and
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
Since 2004, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award has also been given out along with the six National Sports Awards.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award:
Considered India’s highest sporting honour, the Khel Ratna was established in 1991-92. The award is named after the Indian hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand (1905–79) who is considered to be one of the best players to have ever played the sport of hockey. He was the star of the Indian hockey team that dominated the sport in the years before World War II.
He played a key role in India’s three consecutive gold hauls at the Olympic Games - in 1928, 1932 and 1936. His mastery of the game and ball control was so dazzling that it earned him the epithets 'Hockey Wizard' and 'The Magician'.
Gukesh D (Chess)
Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey)
Praveen Kumar (Para-Athletics)
Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Arjuna Awards:
Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics)
Annu Rani (Athletics)
Nitu (Boxing)
Saweety (Boxing)
Vantika Agrawal (Chess)
Salima Tete (Hockey)
Abhishek (Hockey)
Sanjay (Hockey)
Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey
and several other athletes across various disciplines.
Dronacharya Award:
Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting)
S Muralidharan (Badminton)
and others
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar:
Physical Education Foundation of India
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024:
Chandigarh University (Overall winner)
These awards were presented by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
4 .Startup India initiative completes 9 years:
(GS Paper II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)
is a flagship program launched by the Government of India in 2016 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It aims to create a conducive environment for startups to thrive, promoting economic growth and job creation.
Since the launch of the initiative on 16th January, 2016, Startup India has rolled out several programs with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs, and transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.
The broad scope of Startup India’s programs is outlined in the Action Plan below, and is managed by a dedicated Startup India Team, which reports to the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DPIIT).
The 19-Point Action Plan envisages the following forms of support for Startups, and more:
- Enhanced infrastructure including incubation centres
- Easier IPR facilitation, including easier patent filing
- A better regulatory environment including tax benefits, easier compliance, improved of setting up a company, faster exit mechanisms and more
- An economic stimulus in the form a INR 10,000 crore Fund of Funds managed by SIDBI, with the goal of increasing funding opportunities
- This website, also known as the Startup India Portal, which offers a range of useful resources and a vast networking database for entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the Startup ecosystem
5 .Bhashini Platform:
(General Studies-III (250 marks)Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management)
, the National Language Technology Mission (NLTM), was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2022 to provide language technology solutions as digital public goods through the Bhashini platform (https://bhashini.gov.in).
Bhashini is a platform that helps translate languages spoken in India, like Hindi, Tamil, or Bengali. It uses special technology called AI to understand and translate these languages. This makes it easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other and access information online.
This is aimed to be achieved by harnessing emerging technologies such as AI/ML, and NLP to develop and share open-source models, tools and solutions (products and services) for Indian languages with ecosystem development involving startups, industries, academia, research groups, enthusiasts and State/Central Governments
7 .Coal imports in the country have dropped by over three percent from April to October last year. It has dropped from over 154 million tonnes to over 149 million tonnes during the same period in the previous year.
Last Year: From April to October, India imported over 154 million tonnes of coal.
This Year: During the same period, imports dropped to over 149 million tonnes, which is a decrease of over three percent.
India is the second-largest coal producer globally, after China.
Coal is a crucial fuel source for India's energy needs, particularly for electricity generation.
State-Owned Dominance: Coal India Limited (CIL) Headquartered in Kolkata, India is the largest coal-producing company in the world, contributing significantly to India's domestic production.
6 .Mission Mausam:
(General Studies-III (250 marks)Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management)
to be chiefly implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is envisaged to be a multi-faceted and transformative initiative to tremendously boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and services. It will help to better equip stakeholders, including citizens and last-mile users, in tackling extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change.
The ambitious program will help broaden capacity and resilience across communities, sectors, and ecosystems in the long run.
Three institutes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences: the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting will primarily implement Mission Mausam
These institutions will be supported by other MoES institutions (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, and National Institute of Ocean Technology), along with collaborating national and international Institutes, Academia and Industries, furthering India’s leadership in weather and climate sciences and
7.India's first private satellite constellation by PixxelSpace
8.Fast Track Immigration - Trusted Travellers' Programme (FTI-TTP) has been initiated to speed up the Immigration clearance process for eligible persons from the following categories:
1. Indian Nationals
2. Foreign Nationals holding OCI Card
Applicant found eligible, will need to provide Biometrics (fingerprint and face image) in addition to required information as per data fields provided in the application form. The enrolment to the programme shall be done after necessary verifications and fulfilment of eligibility.
However, those travellers who may be required by Law Enforcement Agencies and Courts to join investigations can be suspended from this programme even after enrolment.
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