PIB Summary- 8th July, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Sri Ramanujacharya

Why in News?
Union Home and Cooperation Minister unveiled the Statue of Peace of Swami Ramanujacharya in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir through video conferencing. 

About Ramanuja (c. 1017 – 1137 CE)

• Ramanuja, reformer and Vaishnavite saint was born at Sriperumbudur near modern Chennai.
• He preached Vishista Advaitavada (qualified monism).
• His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
• According to him, God is Saguna Brahman (with attributes) and the creative process including all the objects in creation are real and not illusory as was held by Shankaracharya. Therefore, according to Ramanuja, God, soul, and matter are real. However, God is the inner substance and the rest are his attributes. 
• In Vishista Advaitavada, the universe and Brahman are considered two equally real entities, as in dualism, but here the universe is not separate from Brahman but is formed out of Brahman. The Brahman is considered as a personal god with omniscient qualities who has created the world out of his own self. Thus, the world bears to Brahman the relation of the part to the whole, or the relation of a ‘qualified effect’ to the base (hence qualified monism).
• The difference between Dualism and Vishista Advaita is that “mankind enjoys higher status than in pure dualistic worship and is nearer to God”. In Vishista Advaita, both the world and Brahman are considered equally real; they are not considered to be two separate entities as in Dualism.
• Ramanuja advocated prabattimarga or the path of self-surrender to God. He invited downtrodden people to Vaishnavism and advocated salvation by Bhakti.

Important writings include

• Vedarthasangraha (literally, “Summary of the Vedas meaning”),
• Sri Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Brahma Sutras),
• Bhagavad Gita Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita), and
• The minor works titled Vedantapida, Vedantasara, Gadya Trayam (which is a compilation of three texts called the Saranagati Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam and the Srivaikunta Gadyam), and Nitya Grantham.

Bhakti Movement

• Bhakti movement took place in Tamil Nadu between the seventh and ninth centuries.
• Bhakti saints looked upon religion as love between the worshipped and worshipper.
• Bhakti was reflected in the emotional poems of the Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) and Alvars (devotees of Vishnu).
• A more effective method for spreading the Bhakti ideology was the use of local languages. The Bhakti saints composed their verses in local languages.
• They also translated Sanskrit works to make them understandable to a wider audience.
• Examples include Kabir, Surdas , Tulsidas, Shankaradeva, Chaitanya Mirabai.

PM SVANidhi

Why in News?
The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, launches ‘SVANidhi Mahotsav’ – a cultural festival for celebrating the success of PM SVANidhi Scheme.

PM Street Vendor’s Atmanitbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)

• PM SVANidhi is a Special Micro-Credit Facility.
• PM SVANidhi was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown.
• Under the Scheme, the vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year.
• The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives.
• Beneficiaries: 50 lakh Street Vendors.

The eligible vendors are identified as per following criteria

• Street vendors in possession of Certificate of Vending / Identity Card issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs);
• The vendors, who have been identified in the survey but have not been issued Certificate of Vending / Identity Card;
• Street Vendors, left out of the ULB led identification survey or who have started vending after completion of the survey and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB / Town Vending Committee (TVC); and
• The vendors of surrounding development/ peri-urban / rural areas vending in the geographical limits of the ULBs and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB / TVC.

PM SVANidhi and SIDBI

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the Implementation Agency for PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)
• SIDBI will also manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
• SIDBI will leverage the network of lending Institutions like Non-Bank Finance Companies (NBFCs), Co-operative Banks etc., for the Scheme implementation.

Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE)

• The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, GoI and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), established a Trust named Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to implement the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises.
• Beneficiaries: New and existing Micro and Small Enterprises engaged in manufacturing or service activity excluding Educational Institutions, Agriculture, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Training Institutions etc., are eligible.
• Fund and non-fund based (Letters of Credit, Bank Guarantee etc.) credit facilities up to Rs 200 lakh per eligible borrower are covered under the guarantee scheme provided they are extended on the project viability without collateral security or third-party guarantee.

BRICS

Why in News?
The 8th Meeting of BRICS Communications Ministers was held in virtual mode yesterday under the presidency of China.

What is BRICS?

• BRICS is the international grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• This was set up as a move towards greater multi­polarity; hence the spread across three continents and both hemispheres.
• In terms of GDP, China occupies the second position; India the fifth; Brazil the ninth; Russia the 11th; and South Africa the 35th.
• In terms of growth rates, China grew at 6%; India at 4.5%, Russia 1.7%, Brazil 1.2% and South Africa 0.1%.
• BRICS does not exist in form of organization, but it is an annual summit between the supreme leaders of five nations.
• The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
• The BRICS seeks to deepen, broaden and intensify cooperation within the grouping and among the individual countries for more sustainable, equitable and mutually beneficial development.
• BRICS takes into consideration each member’s growth, development and poverty objectives to ensure relations are built on the respective country’s economic strengths and to avoid competition where possible.
• BRICS is emerging as a new and promising political-diplomatic entity with diverse objectives, far beyond the original objective of reforming global financial institutions.

Mission Vatsalya Scheme

Why in News?
Ministry of Women and Child Development issued Guidelines for Mission Vatsalya Scheme.

About  Mission Vatsalya Scheme

• “Mission Vatsalya” erstwhile Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme, since 2009-10 for the welfare and rehabilitation of children. 
• Mission Vatsalya is a roadmap to achieve development and child protection priorities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It lays emphasis on child rights, advocacy and awareness along with strengthening of the juvenile justice care and protection system with the motto to ‘leave no child behind’.
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provisions and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 form the basic framework for implementation of the Mission.

Vision and Mission of the Scheme

• To secure a healthy & happy childhood for each and every child in India, ensure opportunities to enable them to discover their full potential and assist them in flourishing in all respects, in a sustained manner.
• Mission Vatsalya promotes family based non-institutional care of children in difficult circumstances based on the principle of institutionalization of children as a measure of last resort.

The Mission aims to:

• Support and sustain Children in difficult circumstances;
• Develop context-based solutions for holistic development of children from varied backgrounds;
• Provide scope for encouraging innovative solutions;
• Cement convergent action.

Key objectives of Mission Vatsalya

• Prioritisation of children in the scheme of Administration keeping Centrality of the Child during all the activities and actions taken under the Mission.
• Best interest of the Child while designing or delivering projects and programmes and to take affirmative action to ensure right to grow in happy family environment with strong social safety net to support families.
• Ensuring Children’s right to Survival, Development, Protection and Participation.
• To establish essential services and strengthen emergency outreach, noninstitutional care within the family and community, and institutional care counselling and support services at the national, regional, state and district levels.
• To ensure appropriate inter-sector response at all levels, coordinate and network with all allied systems to promote convergent efforts for seamless service delivery to children.
• To strengthen child protection at family and community level, equip families and communities to identify risks and vulnerabilities affecting children, create and promote preventive measures to protect children from situations of vulnerability, risk and abuse.
• Encourage private sector partnerships and interventions to support children within the framework of law.
• Raise public awareness, educate public about child rights, vulnerabilities and measures for protection sponsored by government and engage community at all levels as stakeholder in ensuring the best interest of children.
• To build capacities of duty holders & service providers at all levels.
• Monitor progress on objective parameters against well-defined Outputs and Outcomes
• Participation of Panchayats and Municipal Local Bodies at the village level and at the ward and the urban cluster level within the urban municipal ward, for sustained assessment of the issues deserving attention, implementation of appropriate interventions, regular monitoring to develop a robust social safety net for children.