National
PM laid foundation stone and inaugurated various development projects in Sikar
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various development projects in Sikar, Rajasthan on 27 July 2023.
The various development projects are:
1.25 lakh PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSKs):
» In a significant move benefiting farmers, the Prime Minister dedicated more than 1.25 lakh PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSKs) to the nation.
- PMKSKs are being developed to provide a one-stop solution for all farmers’ needs. From information on agri-inputs (fertilizers, seeds, implements) to testing facilities for soil, seeds, and fertilizers, to information regarding various government schemes, PMKSKs are envisaged to become a reliable support system for farmers in the country.
- They will also ensure regular capacity building of fertilizer retailers at block/district level outlets.
Urea Gold:
» The Prime Minister launched Urea Gold – a new variety of Urea that is coated with Sulphur. The introduction of Sulphur Coated Urea will address sulfur deficiencies in the soil.
- This innovative fertilizer is more economical and efficient than neem-coated urea, improves nitrogen use efficiency in plants, reduces consumption of fertilizer, and enhances crop quality.
FPOs on ONDC:
» During the programme, the Prime Minister launched the onboarding of 1600 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) on Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
- ONDC empowers FPOs with direct access to digital marketing, online payment, Business-to-business (B2B) and Business-to-consumer transactions, and encourages local value addition, catalyzing growth of logistics in rural areas.
14th installment under PM-KISAN:
» In a step that will showcase yet another example of the Prime Minister’s commitment towards the welfare of farmers, the 14th installment amount of about Rs 17,000 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), was released through direct benefits transfer to more than 8.5 crore beneficiaries.
New medical colleges:
» Rajasthan will witness a major expansion in health infrastructure as Prime Minister inaugurated five new medical colleges at Chittorgarh, Dholpur, Sirohi, Sikar and Sri Ganganagar and lay the foundation stone for seven medical colleges at Baran, Bundi, Karauli, Jhunjhunu, Sawai Madhopur, Jaisalmer and Tonk.
- The medical colleges are being established under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for “Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/ referral hospitals”.
- The five medical colleges inaugurated by the Prime Minister have been developed at a cumulative cost of more than Rs 1400 crore, while the seven medical colleges whose foundation stone will be laid will be built at a cumulative cost of Rs 2275 crore.
- Until 2014, there were only 10 medical colleges in the State of Rajasthan. Through dedicated efforts of the Central Government, the number of medical colleges in the State has grown to 35, which is a 250% increase.
- The establishment of these 12 new medical colleges would increase the number of MBBS seats in the State to 6275 seats from 1750 seats in 2013-14, which would be a 258% increase.
Eklavya Model Residential Schools:
Further, the Prime Minister inaugurated six Eklavya Model Residential Schools located in the districts of Udaipur, Banswara, Partapgarh and Dungarpur which will benefit the tribal population residing in these districts.
» He will also inaugurate Kendriya Vidyalaya Tivri, Jodhpur during the programme.
Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023
⇒ Parliament passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 on August 2, 2023.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 intends to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 by inter-alia clarifying the applicability of the Act in various types of lands and to streamline the process of approvals under the Act.
Key Points:
- The amendments passed by the Lok Sabha include insertion of a Preamble to broaden the scope of the Act, changing the name of the Act as Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 so as to ensure that potential of its provisions is reflected in its name, clarifying the scope of applicability of the Act in various lands to eliminate ambiguities.
- In addition to these amendment, certain exemptions, as proposed in the Bill, have also been passed by the Lok Sabha which include exemption of strategic projects concerning national security located within 100 km of distance from the International Borders, Line of Actual Control, Line of Control, 0.10 ha of forest land proposed to be provide connectivity to habitation and establishments located on the side of roads and railways, up to 10 ha of land proposed for security related infrastructure and up to 5 ha of forest land in Left Wing Extremism Affected Districts for public utility projects.
- The Bill also added new activities viz. infrastructure for frontline forest staff, ecotourism, zoo and safari into the array of forestry activities for the cause of conservation of forests. Surveys and investigation in the forest areas will not be considered as a non-forestry activity in view of the fact that such activities are temporary in nature and involve no perceptible change in the land use.
Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980:
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, is an important Central statute for the conservation of forests in the country.
- It provides that the de-reservation of reserved forests, use of forest land for non-forest purpose, assigning forest land by way of lease or otherwise to private entity and clearing of naturally grown trees for the purpose of reafforestation requires prior permission of the Central Government.
International
MoU between ‘India AI’ and Meta, India
⇒ In order to foster collaboration in the field of AI and Emerging Technologies, ‘India AI’ – an IBD under Digital India Corporation and Meta, India have signed an MoU on 26 July 2023.
The objective of the MoU is to establish a framework for collaboration and cooperation between ‘India AI’ and Meta in the field of Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies including to make Meta’s open-source AI models available for use by Indian AI ecosystem.
Key Points:
- ‘India AI’ and Meta have entered into a collaboration aimed at advancing research and development in AI & Emerging Technologies, seeking breakthroughs in AI technology and its applications.
- Additionally, both organisations may also consider establishing a Centre of Excellence to nurture the startup ecosystem of AI & other Emerging Technologies. Leveraging Meta’s AI research models like LlaMA, Massively Multilingual Speech, and No Language Left Behind, the partnership will focus on building datasets in Indian Languages to enable translation and large language models, with priority given to low-resource languages. This effort will foster social inclusion, improve government service delivery, and spur innovation using large language models, Generative AI, cognitive systems, and translation models.
- Furthermore, ‘India AI’ and Meta will strive to enhance accessibility to AI compute resources for researchers, startups, and organizations with limited resources. Knowledge sharing and collaboration in AI & Emerging Technologies will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, conferences, and similar platforms.
Important Day
85th Raising Day of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
⇒The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Raising Day is celebrated on July 27 every year to commemorate the formation of the central force on this day in 1939.
The 85th Raising Day of the Central Reserve Police Force was celebrated on 27 July 2023 with enthusiasm and fervor in all establishments of the Force across the Nation.
CRPF is an integral part of India’s internal security and one of the oldest Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). CRPF has grown into India’s largest CAPF and functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
History:
- The Central Reserve Police Force was established on 27 July, 1939 as the Crown Representative Police.
- After Independence, this force was named Central Reserve Police Force by an Act of Parliament on 28 December 1949.
- The then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had envisioned a multi-faceted role for this force according to the changing needs of the newly independent nation.