National
PM participated in the program organized to mark 20 years of SWAGAT Initiative
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a programme marking 20 years of completion of the Statewide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology – SWAGAT Initiative in Gujarat via video conferencing on 27 April 2023.
- The Gujarat government celebrated SWAGAT Saptah on successfully completing 20 years of the initiative.
- During the event, the Prime Minister also interacted with the past beneficiaries of the scheme.
About SWAGAT:
- SWAGAT (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) was started by the Prime Minister in April 2003 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The programme was driven by his belief that the foremost responsibility of a Chief Minister is to solve the problems of the people of the State. With this resolve, along with the early realization of the potential of technology to promote ease of living, the then CM Modi launched a first-of-its-kind tech-based grievance redressal programme.
- The main purpose of this programme was to act as a bridge between the citizens and the government by using technology to solve their day-to-day grievances in a quick, efficient and time-bound manner. Over time, SWAGAT brought about a transformative impact on the lives of people and became an effective tool to solve woes in a paperless, transparent and hassle-free manner.
- The uniqueness of SWAGAT is that it helps the common citizen air his grievances directly to the Chief Minister. It is held on the fourth Thursday of every month wherein the Chief Minister interacts with citizens for grievance redressal. The programme has been instrumental in bridging the gap between people and government through a prompt resolution of grievances. Under the programme, it is ensured that every applicant is informed of the decision. Proceedings of all applications are available online. More than 99% of grievances submitted to date have been resolved.
- The SWAGAT Online Programme has four components: the State SWAGAT, District SWAGAT, Taluka SWAGAT and Gram SWAGAT. The Chief Minister himself attends public hearings during State SWAGAT. The District Collector oversees District SWAGAT while the Mamlatdar and a Class-1 Officer head the Taluka SWAGAT. In Gram SWAGAT, citizens file the application from the 1st to the 10th of every month to the Talati/Mantri. These are included in the Taluka SWAGAT program for redressal. In addition, a Lok Fariyad program is also operational for citizens wherein they file their grievances at the SWAGAT Unit.
- The SWAGAT Online Programme has been given various awards over the years, including the United Nations Public Service Award in 2010 for improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in public service.
PM inaugurates 91 new 100W FM Transmitters to enhance FM connectivity
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated 91 new 100W FM Transmitters on 28 April 2023 via video conferencing. The inauguration will give a further boost to radio connectivity in the country.
Key Points:
- As part of the government’s commitment to enhancing FM connectivity in the country, 91 new 100W FM transmitters have been installed in 85 districts across 18 States and 2 Union Territories.
- A special focus of this expansion has been on enhancing coverage in Aspirational Districts and in border areas.
- The States and UTs which are covered include Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Ladakh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- With this expansion of AIR’s FM service, an additional 2 crore people will now be covered who did not have access to the medium. It will result in the expansion of coverage in about 35,000 sq km area.
MoHUA launches the ‘City Beauty Competition’
⇒ The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India launched the ‘City Beauty Competition’. The ‘City Beauty Competition’ portal has been made live by the Ministry on April 26, 2023.
- Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country are participating in this competition through an online process.
Key Points:
- The objective of the competition is to encourage and recognize the transformational efforts made by cities and wards across the country to create beautiful, innovative and inclusive public spaces.
- The City Beauty Competition provides a unique opportunity to the wards and cities to showcase their interventions towards creating beautiful public spaces.
- The competition would promote heritage and culture, sustainable communities and ecological conservation and would also encourage peer learning among states and cities.
Under this competition, wards and public spaces in cities would be judged against five broad pillars viz.,
- accessibility
- amenities
- activities
- aesthetics, and
- ecology
» The competition would felicitate the most beautiful wards and public spaces in the cities.
» The last date to participate in the ‘City Beauty Competition’ was July 15, 2023.
PS CDISHA at IIT, Madras
⇒ Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurated the Pratap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence, Security Hardware and Architecture Centre (PS CDISHA) at IIT, Madras on 27 April 2023.
About Centre:
- The Centre has been created through contribution of one of IIT-M alumni from the class of 1985, Shri Pratap Subrahmanyam.
- As part of the Computer Science Engineering Department, it will work in the areas of Computer Architecture, Security, Machine Learning and VLSI Design.
International
Indo-UK Joint Military Exercise “AJEYA WARRIOR – 2023”
⇒ The 7th edition of joint military exercise “AJEYA WARRIOR-23” between India and the United Kingdom was conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom from 27 April to 11 May 2023.
Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR is a biennial training event with the United Kingdom which is conducted alternatively in the United Kingdom and India, the last edition was held at Chaubatia, Uttarakhand in October 2021.
Participation:
- Soldiers of the 2 Royal Gorkha Rifles from the United Kingdom and Indian Army soldiers from the BIHAR Regiment participated in the exercise.
- The Indian Army contingent arrived at Brize Norton on 26 April 2023 by an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft with indigenous weapons and equipment.
Aim:
The aim of the exercise was to build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together, while undertaking company-level sub-conventional operations in urban and semi-urban environments under UN mandate.
- Furthermore, the objective of the exercise was to develop inter-operability, bonhomie, camaraderie, and friendship between the two armies.
Scope:
- The scope of this exercise involved a Command Post Exercise (CPX) at the Battalion level and Company level Field Training Exercise (FTX).
- During the exercise, participants engaged in a variety of missions testing their operational acumen in various simulated situations; showcasing and refining their tactical drills, and learning from each other’s operational experience.