National
First greenfield airport ‘Donyi Polo Airport', Itanagar
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the first greenfield airport ‘Donyi Polo Airport’, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh on 19 November 2022. The foundation stone for this airport was laid by the Prime Minister himself in February 2019.
- He also dedicated 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Station to the nation.
» The Prime Minister said that Donyi Polo Airport will be the fourth operational airport for Arunachal Pradesh, taking the total airport count in the North-East region to 16. From 1947 to 2014, only 9 airports were built in the North-East.
About Donyi Polo Airport:
» In a key step to boost connectivity in the Northeast, the Prime Minister inaugurated the first greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh – ‘Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar’.
- The name of the airport reflects the traditions and rich cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh and its age-old indigenous reverence for the Sun (‘Donyi’) and the Moon (‘Polo’).
- The airport, which is the first greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh, has been developed in an area of over 690 acres, at a cost of more than Rs 640 crores.
- With a 2300 m runway, the airport is suitable for all weather day operations.
- The airport terminal is a modern building, which promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy and the recycling of resources.
- The development of a new Airport in Itanagar will not only improve connectivity in the region but will also act as a catalyst for the growth of trade and tourism, thus providing a boost to the economic development of the region.
Other Points:
- Airports in five northeastern states, namely, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years.
- Aircraft movement in the North-East has also witnessed an increase of 113% since 2014, from 852 per week in 2014 to 1817 per week in 2022.
About 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Station:
» During the Programme, Prime Minister also dedicated 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Station to the Nation.
- Developed at a cost of more than Rs 8450 crore and in an area spread over more than 80 kilometres in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh.
- The project will make Arunachal Pradesh a power surplus state, also benefiting the National Grid in terms of grid stability and integration.
- This project will contribute in a major way towards fulfilment of the country’s commitment to increase adoption of green energy.
Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2021- 22
⇒ Minister of State, Ministry of Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar gave away the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP), 2021-22 to the National awardee schools in New Delhi on 19 November 2022.
- The third edition of the Award i.e. SVP 2021-22, saw a phenomenal participation with 9.59 lakh schools registered for the awards.
- This number is approx 1.5 times more than the number of schools (6.15 lakh schools) in SVP 2017-18, who participated during that year.
Awardees:
» Out of 9.59 lakh schools, more than 8.23 lakh schools submitted their applications for SVP 2021-22.
» The National Selection Committee for selection of schools for SVP 2021-22, in their meeting held on 10th October 2022, selected 39 schools (34 in overall category and 5 in sub-categories) for National level awards for SVP 2021-2022, after 3rd party evaluation by UNICEF partner agency (NEERMAN).
- Out of 39 selected schools, 21 schools are from rural areas and 18 from urban areas.
- Further, 28 schools are government/ government aided while 11 are private schools.
- The awarded schools also include 2 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and one Navodaya Vidyalaya and 3 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
- Out of 39 schools, 17 are elementary and 22 are secondary/ higher secondary schools.
- Cash prizes of Rs 60,000 to 34 schools (in overall category) and Rs 20,000, (in sub-categories) were given to the awardee schools.
Background:
»The Department launched Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative in 2014. Under this initiative, a record number of 4,17,796 toilets were constructed in 2,61,400 schools, including 1,90,887 girls toilets in one year period upto 15th August, 2015.
» Encouraged with this stupendous success, the Department of School Education and Literacy launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in 2016-17 to ensure long term sustainability and behavioural change.
» The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar not only honours the schools who have taken exemplary work in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene but also provides a benchmark and roadmap for schools to make further improvement.
Under this Award, schools are rated on six broad parameters:
- Water
- Toilets
- Handwashing with Soap
- Operation and Maintenance
- Behaviour Change and Capacity building, and
- COVID-19 (Preparedness and Response)
- The Puraskar is given at District, State and National level.
» Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP), 2021-22 was successfully launched by Dr Subhas Sarkar on 12th January 2022, which was the birthday of Swami Vivekanand and is celebrated as National Youth Day.
International
Network Readiness Index 2022
⇒ India has improved its position by six slots and is now placed at 61st rank as per the Network Readiness Index 2022 (NRI 2022) report released in November 2022.
About Network Readiness Index Report:
In its latest version of 2022, the NRI Report maps the network-based readiness landscape of 131 economies based on their performances in four different pillars: Technology, People, Governance, and Impact covering a total of 58 variables.
Prepared by:
The report has been prepared by the Portulans Institute, an independent non-profit, nonpartisan research and educational institute based in Washington DC.
Performance of India:
» India has been ranked 61st as per the Network Readiness Index 2022 report.
- India has not only improved its ranking, but also improved its score from 49.74 in 2021 to 51.19 in 2022.
It is noteworthy that India leads in several indicators.
- The report states that India secured 1st rank in “AI talent concentration”, 2nd rank in “Mobile broadband internet traffic within the country” and “International Internet bandwidth”, 3rd rank in “Annual investment in telecommunication services” and “Domestic market size”, 4th rank in “ICT Services exports”, 5th rank in “FTTH/Building Internet subscriptions” and “AI scientific publications”.
» NRI-2022 report states that India has a greater network readiness than would be expected given its income level.
» India is ranked 3rd out of 36 in the group of lower-middle-income countries after Ukraine (50) and Indonesia (59).
» India has a score higher than the income group average in all pillars and sub-pillars.
Highlights:
» The Network Readiness Index 2022 ranks a total of 131 economies that collectively account for almost 95 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
Ranking of the top ten countries:
- The United States takes the 1st spot from the Netherlands (4th) as the most network-ready society. The biggest mover is Singapore (2nd), which surged from seventh position to rank second in this year’s index, pushing Denmark (6th) and Finland (7th) out of the top 5.
- The other five countries that make up the top 10 are Sweden (3rd), Switzerland (5th), Germany (8th), Korea, Rep. (9th) and Norway (10th).
» As the list of the top 10 performers indicates, NRI 2022 confirms that advanced economies in Europe, parts of Asia and the Pacific, and North America are among the world’s most network-ready societies.
» Of the economies covered in this year’s index, 49 are high-income economies, 32 are upper-middle-income countries, 36 are lower-middle-income countries, and 14 are low-income countries.
» In terms of regional distribution, there are 31 African countries, 12 Arab States, 21 economies from Asia and the Pacific, 6 from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), 41 European countries, and 20 countries from the Americas.
Ranking of the bottom five countries:
Lesotho (127); Angola (128); Congo, Dem. Rep. (129); Burundi (130); Chad (131)