PIB Summary- 22nd June, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

MoU between India and Fiji

Details:

• The MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of Dairy Industry Development, Rice Industry Development, Root Crop Diversification, Water Resources Management, Coconut Industry Development, Food Processing Industry Development, Agriculture Mechanization, Horticulture Industry Development, Agricultural Research, Animal Husbandry, Pest and Disease, Cultivation, Value Addition and Marketing, Post-Harvest and Milling, Breeding and Agronomy.
• India distributed about 7 tonnes of seeds of 14 varieties of fruits and vegetables as requested by Fiji, as a grant from the Government of India, for the livelihood restoration of communities affected by Cyclone Yasa.
  • Cyclone Yasa had struck Fiji in December 2020. It was one of the most powerful storms to hit the island nation and left two dead and hundreds of buildings damaged.

Indian Navy – US Navy: Carrier Strike Group Passage Exercise

Details:

• Indian Naval Ships Kochi and Teg along with P8I and MiG 29K aircraft are participating in a Passage Exercise with US Navy Carrier Strike Group Ronald Reagan during its transit through Indian Ocean Region on 23 and 24 Jun 2021.
• The Indian Naval warships along with aircraft from Indian Navy and Indian Air Force will be engaged in joint multi-domain operations with the Carrier Strike Group.
• The two-day exercise aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship and cooperation by demonstrating the ability to integrate and coordinate comprehensively in maritime operations.
• High tempo operations during the exercise include advanced air defence exercises, cross deck helicopter operations and anti-submarine exercises.
• The participating forces will endeavour to hone their war-fighting skills and enhance their interoperability as an integrated force to promote peace, security and stability in the maritime domain.
• The Indian Air Force will also take part in operational engagements with the US Navy during the Carrier Strike Group’s current deployment in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The exercise will be carried out south of Thiruvananthapuram, on the western seaboard, over two days.

Toycathon 2021

Details:

• Toycathon 2021 is an inter-ministerial initiative organized by Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell with support from All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Toycathon 2021 is a unique opportunity for Students, Teachers, Start-ups and Toy experts/professionals in India to submit their innovative toys/games concepts and win large number of prizes worth Rs. 50 lakhs.

About Toycathon-2021:

• This is a special kind of hackathon where students and teachers from schools and colleges, design experts, toy experts and start-ups will get together to crowd source ideas for developing toys and games that are based on Indian culture and ethos, local folklore and heroes, and Indian value systems.
• While this will greatly help India develop into a global hub for toys and games, it will also help our children to understand the ethos and values of Indian culture as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020.
• The Toycathon is based on nine themes viz. Indian Culture, History, Knowledge of India and Ethos; Learning, Education and Schooling; Social and human values; Occupations & specific fields; Environment; Divyang ; Fitness and sport; Out of the box, creative and logical thinking and Rediscovering/redesigning traditional Indian toys.
• It will have three variants of tracks – junior, senior and start-up.
• It is an inter-ministerial initiative. The participating agencies are the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Women & Child Development, the Ministry of Textiles, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, DPIIT, Ministry of MSME, Innovation Cell (Education Ministry) and the AICTE.
• There are categories for both online and physical toys.

Why do new virus waves happen?

NITI Aayog’s Member for Health has explained why new waves happen.

There are four elements leading to the formation of a new wave:

1. Behaviour of the virus: The virus has the capacity and ability to spread.
2. Susceptible host: Virus keeps looking for susceptible hosts for it to survive. So, if we are not protected either via vaccination or by previous infection, then we are a susceptible host.
3. Transmissibility: The virus can become smart enough where it mutates and becomes more transmissible. The same virus which used to infect three hosts becomes capable of infecting 13. This factor is unpredictable. No one can pre-plan to fight such mutations. The change of the very nature of the virus and its transmissibility is an X factor and no one can predict when and where it may happen.
4. Opportunity: ‘Opportunities’, which we give to the virus to infect. If we sit and eat together, crowd, sit in closed areas without masks, then the virus gets more opportunities to spread.

The Member said that even though behaviour and transmissibility of the virus are not in our hands and cannot be controlled, the other two factors, susceptibility and opportunities for infection are under our control. Hence, the only way to prevent another wave is by following all the recommended covid-appropriate behaviours and decreasing susceptibility to infection.