PIB Summary- 18th July, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

NIIO Seminar ‘Swavlamban’

Context
About Swavlamban and Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

Details

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation, NIIO Seminar, Swavlamban.
• The two-day seminar aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the defence sector. The PM said that a self-reliant defence system is critical for the economy and also from a strategic point of view. 
• During the programme, the PM unveiled ‘SPRINT Challenges’, which are aimed at giving a boost to the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy.
• As a part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, NIIO in conjunction with the DIO (Defence Innovation Organisation) aims at inducting at least 75 new indigenous technologies into the Indian Navy. This collaborative project is named SPRINT (Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX- Innovations for Defence Excellence, NIIO and TDAC- Technology Development Acceleration Cell).

About Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

• NIIO has been established to foster innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in keeping with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact with academia and industry.
• The NIIO was launched in 2020.

DIGI Yatra Project

Context
The Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Civil Aviation was held in New Delhi and the topic for discussion was ‘DIGI YATRA’.

About DIGI YATRA

• Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, gave the background of the project. It is a project conceived to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports, based on Facial Recognition Technology, FRT.
• Digi Yatra Foundation has been set up as a joint venture (JV) company in 2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. Its shareholders are Airport Authority of India (AAI) (26%) and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
• In the first phase, Digi Yatra is proposed to be rolled out at two airports namely Varanasi and Bengaluru in August 2022.

Presidential Elections, 2022

Details

• The voting in the Presidential elections 2022 was conducted in July 2022, with a voter turnout of almost 99%.
• There were two contesting candidates – Shrimati Droupadi Murmu and Shri Yashwant Sinha for the 16th presidential election. Polling was held at 31 locations between 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

About Presidential Elections

• The Indian President is elected through an Electoral College System.
  • The electoral college is made up of all the elected members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories (MLAs).