First Indian PM to Chair UNSC Debate

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has chaired the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) open debate through video conferencing.

Highlights:

With this, PM Modi has become the first Indian Prime Minister to chair a UNSC open debate. It must be remembered that India has assumed the Presidency of the UNSC for August 2021, taking over from France.

The theme of the open debate was Enhancing

Maritime Security A Case for International Cooperation. India will organize two more meetings during its presidency, on peacekeeping and counterterrorism.

During the debate, The 5 principles that need to be followed in terms of maritime trade and security, which included: free maritime trade sans barriers; peaceful settlement of maritime disputes; combating maritime threats; encouraging responsible maritime connectivity and preserving maritime Environment and Resources.

Shah to inaugurate conclave on Strengthening PACS through FPOs

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will inaugurate a day-long mega conclave Strengthening PACS through FPOs in New Delhi on July 14, 2023. The conclave is aimed at discussing ways to strengthen https://exam.pscnotes.com/primary-agricultural-credit-societies”>Primary Agricultural credit Societies (PACS) through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).

The conclave will witness participation of experts from the sector as well as members from the FPOs across the country. The mega conclave is being organized by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Cooperation.

With an important initiative of

the Ministry of Cooperation Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has recently allocated additional blocks to NCDC to form and promote 1100 FPOs in Cooperative Sector through strengthening of PACS under the scheme to bolster the cooperative sector and provide comprehensive support to small and marginal farmers.

Under the FPOs Scheme, financial assistance of Rs.33 lakh is provided to each FPO. Further, financial assistance of Rs. 25 lakh per FPO is given to the Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBOs) for promoting and handholding the FPOs.

The Government has been pushing for integration of the PACS in the FPO scheme to enable the farmers to expand their business range of activities such as supply of production inputs; agricultural equipments like cultivator, tiller, harvester, etc. and processing and value addition, including cleaning, assaying, sorting, grading, packing, storage, transportation, etc.

The PACS have a huge member base of around 13 crore farmers who are primarily engaged in short-term credit and distribution of seeds, Fertilizers, etc. Presently, more than 86% of farmers in the country are small and marginal.

The NCDC is a statutory organisation under Ministry of Cooperation with the mandate to plan, promote, and finance cooperatives for increasing production and productivity and instituting post-harvest facilities.

AIFF passes Rs 134 crore budget, conference system most likely to be introduced in upcoming I-League

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday passed a budget of Rs 134 crore — an increase of nearly 50 crore from last year — for 2023-24 during its Annual

General Meeting (AGM) in Bengaluru.

The AIFF budget for 2022-23 was Rs 87 crore, which its general secretaryShaji Prabhakaranhad termed “meagre” for

a big country like India.

The AGM also approved the appointment of a statutory auditor to audit the accounts of the federation and the financial statements and audit reports of 2022-23.

PGI 2.0 report: Change in parametersleads to sharp decline in states scores

A radical change in the parameters adopted by the department of school Education & Literacy, Unionministry of educationhas seen a sharp fall in scores of all states in the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI). None of the 28 states and eight Union territories have been able to finish in the top five levels Daksh, Utkarsh, Ati-Uttam, Uttam and Pracheshta-1.

Only two small states,PunjabandHaryanahave managed to get the 6th level, Pracheshta-2, with scores between 641-700. UP,

along with 11 others, is among Akankshi-2 states (score band 461-520) in the PGI analysis released last week for 2021-22. In 2020-21, seven states were in level II with scores between 901-950, while none of the states could qualify for the level 1 (951-1000). UP, along with 11 other states, was in level III (score band 851-900). Likewise, last years top performing states KeralaandMaharashtra are among the second best performing states/UTs in the 2021-22 grading. Both these states plunged to Prachesta-3 (581-640 score).

Due to the drastic change in parameters, the scores of PGI 2020-21 can’t be compared with those of 2021-22, stated the PGI report. Starting in 2017-18, it was felt that many parameters of the PGI had lost relevance.

Therefore, the PGI structure for 2021-22 was revised and renamed PGI 2.0.

The new PGI structure covers 73 indicators, focused more on qualitative assessment besides including digital initiatives and teacher education. It reduces the weightage given to the Governance Processes.

Turkey links Sweden’s NATO membership to EU Support

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced a new condition for approving Swedens membership in NATO, calling on European countries to open the way for Turkiye to join the European Union.

The

surprise announcement by Erdogan before departing to a NATO summit in Lithuanias capital added new uncertainty to Swedens bid to become the alliances 32nd member, which Turkiye initially blocked saying Sweden was too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers security threats.

It was the first time that Erdogan linked his countrys ambition to join the EU with Swedens efforts to become a NATO member.

Turkiye is a candidate

to join the EU, but democratic backsliding during Erdogans presidency, disputes with EU-member Cyprus and other issues have held up the countrys progress toward admission in the 27-nation bloc.

Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan

Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan was launched in 112 Aspirational Districts by Piramal Foundation and .

The Surakshit Hum Surakshit Tum Abhiyaan was created to help district administrations provide Home-care support to Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

It is part of the Aspirational Districts Collaborative, a special initiative in which local leaders, civil Society, and volunteers collaborate with district administrations to address emerging problems across key focus areas of

the Aspirational Districts Programme.

It will be led by district magistrates in collaboration with over 1000 local non-governmental organisations.

Sanchar Saathi portal launched by Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Union Minister for Communications,Ashwini Vaishnaw, launched theSanchar Saathi Portalduring a function held inNew Delhi. This citizen-centric portal aims to empower mobile phone users by providing essential Services, such as tracking and blocking lost mobile

132.3c6.3 23.7 24.8 41.5 48.3 47.8C117.2 448 288 448 288 448s170.8 0 213.4-11.5c23.5-6.3 42-24.2 48.3-47.8 11.4-42.9 11.4-132.3 11.4-132.3s0-89.4-11.4-132.3zm-317.5 213.5V175.2l142.7 81.2-142.7 81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube
phones.

The Union Minister further emphasized how several reforms have positively impacted the telecommunications sector. The is now more robust and Investment-oriented due to these transformations.

Digital India Programme: National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)

The main objective of this workshop is to promote the adoption of the NeVA platform by all State and Union Territory Legislatures. By utilizing technology, the aim is to bring transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to their legislative proceedings.

NeVA is part of the Digital India Programme initiated by the Government of India and is classified as one of the 44Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). Its purpose is to eliminate the need

for paper-based operations in all State Legislatures, transforming them into digital entities. Currently, 21 State legislatures have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implementNeVA.

Funding has been allocated for 17 Legislatures, and they have received the necessary funds to implement the project.

Microsoft launches Jugalbandi, a multilingual AI-chat bot for rural India

Microsofthas launchedJugalbandi,a generative AI-driven multilingual chatbot accessible via popular messaging platform, WhatsApp. The bot has been especially made to cover areas of rural India which arent easily penetrated through media and lack access to governments welfare activities. The chatbot has been developed by AI4Bharat in collaboration with IIT Madras. It is aimed at providing personalised assistance by understanding user queries in multiple languages, whether spoken or typed. The chatbot was launched in April and has been tested inBiwan,a village near Indias capital city of New Delhi.

According to

81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube
Microsoft, Jugalbandi combines AI models from AI4Bharat and Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, allowing seamless conversation between users and the chatbot.

These generative AI tools can synthesise vast amounts of data to generate text and other forms of content.

Inauguration of online education program Pahal for rural children

The online rural educationinitiative Pahalwas officially launched by Chief Secretary DurgaShankar Mishraat Government UP Sainik Inter College in Sarojini Nagar. This program, developed through a PARTNERSHIP between theDepartment of Secondary Education and

213.4-11.5c23.5-6.3 42-24.2 48.3-47.8 11.4-42.9 11.4-132.3 11.4-132.3s0-89.4-11.4-132.3zm-317.5 213.5V175.2l142.7 81.2-142.7 81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube
IIT Kanpur,aims to provide education to rural communities through online platforms.