National
PM lays foundation stone and dedicates to nation development projects in Bikaner
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation development projects worth over Rs 24,300 crore in Bikaner, Rajasthan on 08 July 2023.
Multiple Development Projects:
» The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation six-lane greenfield expressway section of the Amritsar – Jamnagar Economic Corridor.
- Spanning over 500 km in Rajasthan, this section which runs from village Jakhrawali in Hanumangarh district to village Khetlawas in Jalore district is built at a cost of around Rs 11,125 crores.
» Giving a boost to the power sector in the region, the Prime Minister dedicated Phase-I of the Inter-State Transmission Line for Green Energy Corridor worth around Rs 10,950 crores.
- The green energy corridor will integrate about 6 GW of renewable power and help in grid balancing of Renewable Power with Thermal Generation in Western Region and Hydro Generation in the Northern region, thereby strengthening transmission capacity between Northern Region and Western Region.
» The Prime Minister also dedicated Bikaner to Bhiwadi Transmission Line to be developed by Power Grid at a cost of around Rs 1,340 crores. Bikaner to Bhiwadi Transmission Line will help in the evacuation of 8.1 GW of Solar Power in Rajasthan.
» Further, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the Bikaner Railway station.
- To be developed at a cost of around Rs 450 crores, the redevelopment work will involve renovation of all platforms along with flooring and ceiling while ensuring the preservation of the heritage status of the existing structure of the railway station.
» The foundation Stone for the doubling of the 43 km long Churu – Ratangarh section was also laid by the Prime Minister.
» The Prime Minister also dedicated a new 30-bedded Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Bikaner.
PM lays foundation stone for several infrastructure development projects in Warangal
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for several crucial infrastructure development projects in Telangana worth around Rs 6,100 crores in Warangal, Telangana on 08 July 2023.
Several crucial infrastructure development projects:
» The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for 176 km long National Highway projects worth over Rs 5,550 crores.
- The projects include 108 km long Mancherial – Warangal section of Nagpur – Vijayawada Corridor. The section will reduce the distance between Mancherial and Warangal by around 34 km, thus reducing travel time and decongesting traffic on NH-44 and NH-65.
- He also laid the foundation stone for the upgradation of the 68 km long Karimnagar – Warangal section of NH-563 from the existing two-lane to a four-lane configuration. This will help in improving connectivity to Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and SEZ at Warangal.
» The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the Railway Manufacturing Unit, Kazipet.
- To be developed at a cost of over Rs 500 crores, the modern manufacturing unit will have enhanced Rolling Stock manufacturing capacity.
- It will be equipped with the latest technology standards and facilities such as Robotic Painting of Wagons, State-of-the-art Machinery and a Plant with modern material storage and handling.
Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs for the year 2021-22
⇒ Ministry of Education the released report on Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States/UTs for the year 2021-22 in July 2023.
The Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds.
Devised by:
Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, devised Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States and UTs which assesses the performance of school education system at the State/UT level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
» The PGI – States/UTs was first released for the year 2017-18 and so far, has been released up to the year 2020-21.
Why PGI 2.0:
Over the period, many of the indicators in PGI – States/UTs have been outlived and become redundant. Therefore, to have more updated base with quality indicators, to align with new initiatives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, to monitor indicators relating to Goal 4 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to replace existing indicators which have achieved optimal target, the PGI – State structure for 2021-22 has been revised and renamed as PGI 2.0.
About PGI 2.0:
» In PGI 2.0, the data source for many of the indicators has been the data from UDISE+ and the grades have been aligned with the PGI – District to have uniformity and better comparability.
Structure of PGI 2.0:
» The new PGI structure covers 73 indicators, focused more on qualitative assessment besides including digital initiatives and teacher education.
Categories of Indicators:
» The PGI 2.0 structure comprises of 1000 points across 73 indicators grouped into 2 categories viz.,
- Outcomes
- Governance Management (GM)
These categories are further divided into 6 domains, viz.-
- Learning Outcomes (LO)
- Access (A)
- Infrastructure & Facilities (IF)
- Equity (E)
- Governance Process (GP)
- Teachers Education and Training (TE&T)
PGI 2.0 for 2021-22 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz.-
- The highest achievable Grade is Daksh, which is for State/UT scoring more than 940 points out of total of 1000 points.
- The lowest grade is Akanshi-3 which is for score up to 460.
» Indicators of PGI 2.0 have been aligned to policy initiatives and interventions introduced post implementation of National Education policy (NEP) 2020 for proper tracking the progress.
Aim:
The ultimate aim of PGI 2.0 is to propel States & UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes covering all dimensions.
» The PGI 2.0 is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.
PGI 2.0 Grades attained by various States/UTs in 2021-22:
International
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific's (UNESCAP) Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2023
⇒ The 5th UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation was initiated in January 2023. The results were launched on 5 July 2023.
Performance of India:
» India scores 93.55% in trade facilitation in UN Global survey on digital and sustainable trade facilitation 2023.
India continues to demonstrate its commitment to digital and sustainable trade facilitation, as evidenced by its outstanding performance in the released UN Global survey on digital and sustainable trade facilitation 2023.
Key Points:
» The 2023 survey, covering more than 140 economies and evaluating 60 trade facilitation measures, has positioned India at the forefront of global trade facilitation efforts, with an impressive score of 93.55% in 2023 vis a vis 90.32% in 2021.
» The 2023 Survey has recognized India’s exceptional progress across various sub indicators, with the country achieving a perfect score of 100% in four key areas: Transparency, Formalities, Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, and Paperless Trade.
- These remarkable scores are a testament to India’s relentless efforts in streamlining trade processes, enhancing transparency, and promoting cooperation among stakeholders through initiative such as Turant Customs, Single Window Interface for Facilitation of Trade (SWIFT), Pre-Arrival data processing, e- Sanchit, Coordinated Border Management etc.
» India has witnessed a substantial improvement in the score for “Women in Trade Facilitation” component from 66.7% in 2021 to 77.8% in 2023 thereby indicating commitment to gender inclusivity and the empowerment of women in the trade sector.
» India is now the best performing country amongst all the countries of South Asia region. The overall score of India has been greater than many developed countries including Canada, France, UK, Germany etc.
About the Survey:
» The United Nations Regional Commissions, including ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP and ESCWA, and UNCTAD have been conducting the Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation since 2015.
- This survey is conducted to review the progress of trade facilitation reforms of the respective Member States of UNRC.
- The survey was formerly known as the UN Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation.
» The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation conducted by UNESCAP covers WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) along with set of nearly 60 trade facilitation measures categorized into eleven sub-groups, namely:
- Transparency; Formalities; Institutional arrangement and cooperation; Transit facilitation; Paperless trade; Cross-border paperless trade; Trade facilitation for SMEs; Agricultural trade facilitation; Women in trade facilitation; Trade finance for trade facilitation; and Trade facilitation in times of crisis.
» The survey is fact-based rather than perception-based. A three-step approach to data collection and validation is generally followed, implemented over 6-month period every 2 years.
- The Survey reflects the efficacy of Trade facilitation measures taken by Indian Customs such as Turant Customs comprising of Faceless Customs, Paperless Customs and Contact less Customs, in enhancing India’s ease of doing Business and promote trade facilitative environment in the country.