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

Aspirational District Programme

Why in News?
The Prime Minister has expressed happiness after the success of Aspirational Districts program on parameters such as health, nutrition, education and exports. 

About Aspirational Districts Programme

• It was launched in 2018 which aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.
• Aspirational Districts are those districts in India, that are affected by poor socio-economic indicators.
• These are aspirational in the context, that improvement in these districts can lead to the overall improvement in human development in India.
• At the Government of India level, the programme is anchored by NITI Aayog.
• In addition, individual Ministries have assumed responsibility to drive the progress of districts.
• Aspirational Districts’ programme (ADP) is based on 49 indicators from the 5 identified thematic areas:
  • Health & Nutrition
  • Education
  • Agriculture & Water Resources
  • Financial Inclusion & Skill Development
  • Basic Infrastructure.

Objectives

• The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts.
• With States as the main drivers, ADP seeks to focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.
• In the spirit of competitive and cooperative federalism, districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch up with the best district in their state, and then aim to become one of the finest in the country, by competing with and learning from others.
• “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas” is the government’s commitment to improve people’ living conditions and promoting inclusive growth for all.
• The ADP’s main goal is to localise the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, resulting in national progress.

Challenges Associated with ADP

• The issue of insufficient fiscal resources has an impact on ADP.
• Multiple ministries are responsible for implementing ADP, resulting in a lack of cooperation.
• Data Improving programme execution and planning at the local level requires high-quality administrative data.
• The Delta ranking is primarily concerned with quantity (i.e., access coverage) rather than quality.
• In addition, as the ASER report points out, the quality of education in India is in a dismal condition.

Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN)

Why in News?
Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship program Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) has completed 5 years of success since the launch of it first flight by  Prime Minister on 27th April 2017.

About Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN)

• It is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market.

Objective

• To create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns.
• To stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses.
• The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports. The scheme is operational for a period of 10 years.
• UDAN is a market driven ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations/stations and routes under the scheme.
• Interested airlines assess the demand on particular routes connecting these airports and submit their proposals at the time of bidding.

UDAN 1.0

• Under this phase, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70 airports (including 36 newly made operational airports)

UDAN 2.0

• In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced 73 underserved and unserved airports.
• For the first time, helipads were also connected under phase 2 of UDAN scheme.

UDAN 3.0
Key Features of UDAN 3 included:

• Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
• Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes.
• Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.

UDAN 4.0

• The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.
  • The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
  • Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

NAMASTE Scheme

Why in News?
The Government has formulated a National Action Plan for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem- NAMASTE scheme for cleaning of sewers and septic tank.

NAMASTE Scheme

• Namaste is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) as a joint initiative of the MoSJE and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• NAMASTE envisages safety and dignity of sanitation workers in urban India by creating an enabling ecosystem that recognizes sanitation workers as one of the key contributors in operations and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure thereby providing sustainable livelihood and enhancing their occupational safety through capacity building and improved access to safety gear and machines.
• Ensure safety and dignity of sanitation workers in urban India and providing sustainable livelihood and enhancing their occupational safety through capacity building and improved access to safety gear and machines.
  • NAMASTE would also aim at providing access to alternative livelihoods support  and entitlements to reduce the vulnerabilities of sanitation workers and enable them to access self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities and break the intergenerationality in sanitation work.
  • In addition, NAMASTE would bring about a behavior change amongst citizens towards sanitation workers and enhance demand for safe sanitation services.

Five hundred cities (converging with AMRUT cities) will be taken up under this phase of NAMASTE. The list of cities will be notified at an appropriate time. The category of cities that will be eligible are given below:

• All Cities and Towns with a population of over one lakh with notified Municipalities, including Cantonment Boards (Civilian areas),
• All Capital Cities/Towns of States/ Union Territories (UTs), not covered in 4(i),
• Ten Cities from hill states, islands and tourist destinations (not more than one from each State).

NAMASTE aims to achieve the following outcomes

• Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India
• All sanitation work is performed by skilled workers
• No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter
• Sanitation workers are collectivized into SHGs and are empowered to run sanitation enterprises
• All Sewer and Septic tank  sanitation workers (SSWs) have access to alternative livelihoods
• Strengthened supervisory and monitoring systems at national, state and ULB levels to ensure enforcement and monitoring of safe sanitation work
• Increased awareness amongst sanitation services seekers (individuals and institutions) to seek services from registered and skilled sanitation workers

Udarashakti Exercise

Why in News?
Recently, a contingent of the Indian Air Force left for Malaysia to participate in a bilateral exercise named ‘Udarashakti’. While Harimau Shakti is Joint military exercises which are held annually between the two countries.

Highlights of the Exercise

• The Indian Air Force is participating in the air exercise with Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft while Malaysian Air Force will be flying Su 30 MKM aircraft.
• The four days of exercise will witness the conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces.
• The first bilateral Air Force exercise that staged frontline Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft was conducted in 2018.
• From 2008 to 2010, the Indian Air Force Training Team was deployed in Malaysia to give training to Malaysian pilots on the SU-30SKM aircraft.

Significance of the Exercise

• Exercises will strengthen long-standing friendships and enhance defence cooperation between both armies. As a result, regional security will be strengthened.
• IAF will have an opportunity to share and learn best practices with the Royal Malaysian Air Force through this exercise. It is also likely that they will discuss mutual combat capabilities.