Vande Bharat Express 2.0

Paper 3 – Infrastructure

Why Should You Know?

Recently The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off Gandhinagar- Mumbai Vande Bharat Express at Gandhinagar station

In details –

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi flagged off Gandhinagar- Mumbai Vande Bharat Express at Gandhinagar station and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station today.
• The Prime Minister inspected the train coaches of the Vande Bharat Express 2.0 and took stock of the onboard facilities. Shri Modi also inspected the control centre of the locomotive engine of Vande Bharat Express 2.0.
• The Prime Minister then flagged off the new & upgraded version of Vande Bharat Express between Gandhinagar and Mumbai and travelled on the train from there to Kalupur Railway Station.
• The Prime Minister also interacted with his co-passengers including those from the family members of Railways staff, women entrepreneurs and researchers and youngsters. He also interacted with workers, engineers and other staff who toiled to make Vande Bharat trains a shining success.

Significance –

• Vande Bharat Express 2.0 between Gandhinagar and Mumbai is going to be a game changer and will boost connectivity between the two business hubs of India.
• It will enable business owners from Gujarat to travel to Mumbai and vice versa without bearing the brunt of high-cost airline tickets while availing facilities that are available on air.
• One-way travel time of Vande Bharat Express 2.0 from Gandhinagar to Mumbai is estimated at around five and a half hours.

Facilities-

• The Vande Bharat Express 2.0 offers a myriad of superior and aircraft-like travelling experiences. It is equipped with advanced state-of-the-art safety features including an indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System – KAVACH.
• Vande Bharat 2.0 will be equipped with more advancements and improved features such as reaching the speed of 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in just 52 seconds, and a maximum speed up to 180 kilometres per hour.
• The improved Vande Bharat Express will weigh 392 tons when compared to the previous version of 430 tons. It will also have a Wi-Fi content on-demand facility.
• Every coach is equipped with 32” screens providing passenger information and infotainment compared to 24” in the previous version. Vande Bharat Express is also going to be environment friendly as the ACs will be 15 per cent more energy efficient. With dust-free clean air cooling of the traction motor, the travel will become more comfortable.
• Side recliner seat facility which was provided only to Executive Class passengers earlier will now be made available for all classes. Executive Coaches have the added feature of 180-degree rotating seats
• In the new design of Vande Bharat Express, a photo-catalytic ultraviolet air purification system is installed in the Roof-Mounted Package Unit (RMPU) for air purification.  As recommended by Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, this system is designed and installed on both ends of RMPU to filter and clean the air free from germs, bacteria, viruses etc. coming through fresh air and return air.

Ahmedabad Metro

Paper 3 – Infrastructure

Why Should You Know?

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase-I of Ahmedabad Metro project at a public function at the Ahmedabad Education Society in Ahmedabad.

In details

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase-I of Ahmedabad Metro project at a public function at the Ahmedabad Education Society in Ahmedabad.
• The Prime Minister also flagged off the Ahmedabad Metro rail project and took a metro ride from Kalupur station to Doordarshan Kendra metro station.
• Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel, Governor of Gujarat, Shri Acharya Devvrat, Union Minister of Railways, Shri Ashvini Vaishnav, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Member of Parliament, Shri C R Patil, Union Minister of State for Railways Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh and Mayor of Ahmedabad, Shri Kirit Parmar were those present on the occasion.

About Ahmedabad Metro project

• Phase-I of Ahmedabad Metro project comprises about 32 km of the East-West corridor from Apparel park to Thaltej and the North-South corridor between Motera to Gyaspur.
• The Thaltej-Vastral route in the East-West corridor has 17 stations. This corridor also has a 6.6 km underground section with four stations.
• The 19 km North-South corridor that connects Gyaspur to Motera Stadium has 15 stations. The entire Phase 1 project is built at a cost of more than ₹12,900 crores.
• Ahmedabad Metro is a massive state of art infrastructure project involving underground tunnels, viaducts & bridges, elevated and underground station buildings, ballastless rail tracks and driverless train operation compliant rolling stock etc.
• The metro train set is equipped with an energy-efficient propulsion system which can save about 30-35% of energy consumption. The train has a state of art suspension system providing a very smooth riding experience to passengers.
• Inauguration of Ahmedabad Phase-1 metro project will provide world-class multi-modal connectivity to the people of the city. Multi-Modal connectivity is being provided with the Indian Railways, and Bus system (BRTS, GSRTC and City Bus service).
• This includes connectivity with BRTS at Ranip, Vadaj, AEC station etc. and with Indian Railways at Gandhidham, Kalupur and Sabarmati station. At Kalupur, the metro line will be connected to the High-Speed Rail system connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Beta testing of ONDC network

Paper 3 – Economy

Why Should You Know?

Recently ONDC network started beta testing with consumers in Bengaluru, Which will become an alternative to Flipkart and Amazon.

In details –

• On September 30, 2022 The government opened the ‘Open Network for Digital Commerce’ (ONDC) in Bengaluru for the general public. The aim of the government is to help small retailers with the help of ONDC and create an alternative to Amazon and Walmart, which have captured more than half the e-commerce market.
• ONDC Network has started beta testing with consumers across 16 pin codes in Bengaluru from 30th September.
• ONDC is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. ONDC is not an application, platform, intermediate or software, but a set of specifications designed to promote open, unbundled and interoperable open networks, thereby eliminating dependence on a single platform.
• The objective of beta testing is to allow consumers to experience the network for the first time and gather feedback, which will help make it more efficient before rolling out to ONDC across India.

Order in two categories now

• For starters, consumers can place their orders in two categories – groceries and restaurants – through participating buyer apps on the ONDC network. Consumers will be able to shop across categories of products and services (currently two) from any buyer app of their choice. They will now be able to shop from every seller listed on the network.
• This also includes local sellers who were not previously present on the digital platform and have become e-commerce enabled for the first time.
• The advantage of ONDC for sellers would be that there would be additional visibility for their products and services, thereby generating additional revenue. Even their existing customers can view and place orders from them online through any of the buyer’s apps, which helps them maintain the existing trusted relationships.

‘Buyer Apps’ and ‘Seller Apps’

• ‘Buyer Apps’, in ONDC terminology, refers to applications or websites that enable consumers to make purchases from all vendors available on ONDC. At the start of beta testing, consumers can shop online from buyer apps like Mystore, PayTM, and Spicemoney.
• Seller apps, are applications or websites that enable sellers to join networks to make their catalogs and inventory visible to buyers. Bizom, Digiit, Enstore by Innobits, eSamudaay, eVitalrx, Go Frugal, GrowthFalcons, Mystore, nStore, Seller App, Uengage and Ushop are seller apps participating in the beta test.

The major objectives of ONDC are:

• Democratization and decentralization of e-commerce
• Inclusivity and access for vendors, especially small and medium entrepreneurs and local businesses
• Increased choice and freedom for consumers.

Launching of 5G Services in India

Paper 3 – Infrastructure

Why Should You Know?

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is going to launch 5G services in India on October 1, 2022

In details

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will launch 5G Services in India on October 01, 2022.
• The launch of 5G services follows years of intense preparation. Recently, 5G spectrum auctions were conducted successfully and 51,236 MHz was allocated to Telecom Service Providers with a gross revenue of Rs. 1,50,173 Crores. The auction aggregated the demand for a robust 5G ecosystem that can cater to its use cases involving IoT, M2M, AI, Edge Computing, Robotics etc.
• DoT has amended Right of Way (RoW) Rules 2016 in August 2022, wherein the charges for RoW permissions have been made reasonable and a ceiling for RoW charges for installation of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on street furniture has been fixed.
• DoT has set up a 5G Testbed with help of IITs, IISc Bengaluru and SAMEER to develop technology in 2018. A 5G Hackathon was commenced in 2020, to trigger ideation and prototyping of use-cases by startups and has led to spurring innovative products.
• An inter-ministerial committee on 5G use-cases has been functioning since 2021 in coordination with 12 Central Ministries, enabling setting up of 5G use-case labs.
• Consultations with Industry have been held enabling the 5G ecosystem to make 5G handsets available. A roundtable was held in Mumbai with Investors, Bankers and Industry on 5G Business opportunities and to identify key interventions by the Government.
• C-DOT has developed an indigenous 5G Non-Stand Alone (NSA) core. C-DOT is also developing 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) in collaboration with local industry and start-ups. C-DOT has already tested its 4G Core in collaboration with TCS and Tejas Networks successfully.
• All these will help in answering the Prime Minister’s clarion call on “Jai Anusandhan”. All these efforts are game-changers for India’s manufacturing and Telecom ecosystem leading to domestic 5G enterprise carrier grade stacks as well as innovative impactful 5G use-cases.
• The 5G to be launched by the Prime Minister in select cities will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years.

Significance

• 5G can unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits giving it the potential for being a transformational force for Indian society.
• It will help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovations by startups and business enterprises as well as advance the ‘Digital India’ vision.
• The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is expected to reach $450 Billion by 2035.

6th India Mobile Congress 2022

Paper 3 – Science & Tech

Why Should You Know?

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is going to inaugurate the 6th Edition of India Mobile Congress 2022 (IMC-2022).

In details

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 6th Edition of India Mobile Congress 2022 (IMC-2022) to be held from October 1-4, 2022, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
• The theme of the IMC-2022, the leading digital event in Asia is ‘Encapsulate, Engage and Experience a New Digital Universe’ and has the main objective of promoting new technologies, particularly the indigenous ones and letting Citizens experience the usages and applications of 5G.
• The other objectives are promoting local manufacturing, fostering international regional cooperation, inspiring inclusive & sustainable development, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, driving foreign and local investments, amongst others.
• It is expected to attract over 5,000 CXOs and Delegates, 250+ Exhibitors, 100+ Start-ups, 300+ Speakers, with an expected footfall of 70,000+ participants and visitors.
• State IT Secretaries have also been invited to the IMC-2022 and a roundtable conference with State IT Ministers is also planned during the IMC-2022 to discuss with them about the role of States and UTs in the rollout of 5G, business opportunities, need for skill development and for interaction with potential start-ups and investors.

About India Mobile Congress

• The India Mobile Congress (IMC) is the largest digital technologies forum in Asia, consisting of a three-day international conference and a technology exhibition.
• The event is envisioned to be the “leading platform for India’s start-up and technology ecosystem. Within the telecommunications and technology industry, IMC is already known as the “largest digital technology forum in Asia.”
• The mega-event is organised jointly by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India.
• The forum aims to be a platform for industry, businesses, regulators and policy makers to discuss and deliberate on critical issues affecting the growth and proliferation of the telecom and technology sector.
• In the first two editions, IMC was focused on the transformative technology of 5G and most of the booths showcased various use-cases and scenarios where 5G would play an important role; the exhibitors included service providers, OEMs and infrastructure providers.
• India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 is scheduled from 01-04 October, 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

IBBI to celebrate its Sixth Annual Day

Paper 3- Economy

Why Should You Know?

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is celebrating its Sixth Annual Day on 1st October, 2022.

In details

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is celebrating its Sixth Annual Day on 1st October, 2022. Union Minister for Finance and Minister of Corporate Smt.
• Nirmala Sitharaman, Affairs will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest and Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Planning; and Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, will be the Guest of Honour.
• In order to commemorate the establishment of the IBBI, it has instituted an Annual Day Lecture Series. Chief Justice (Retd.) Shri Ramalingam Sudhakar, President, National Company Law Tribunal and Shri Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson, Competition Commission of India will be delivering the Annual Day Lecture this year.
• To mark the occasion, an annual publication, “IBC: Idea, Impressions and Implementation” will also be released.
• Senior officers of the Government and regulatory bodies will grace the occasion. The occasion will witness the presence of stakeholders of the insolvency regime, namely, the insolvency professionals, registered values, other professionals, debtors, creditors, business leaders, academicians, and researchers.

About IBBI and IBC

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is the regulator for overseeing insolvency proceedings and entities like Insolvency Professional Agencies (IPA), Insolvency Professionals (IP) and Information Utilities (IU) in India.
• It was established on 1 October 2016 and given statutory powers through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which was passed by Lok Sabha on 5 May 2016.
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), being responsible for implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
• It aims for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time bound manner for maximization of the value of assets, to promote entrepreneurship, availability of credit and balance the interests of all the stakeholders.
• The IBC has created a strong ecosystem in insolvency regime which is expanding in terms of number of service providers and number of cases using the IBC as rescue mechanism for distressed firms.
• The IBC has rescued 1,934 CDs (517 through resolution plans, 774 through appeal or review or settlement and 643 through withdrawal) till June 2022. In value terms, around 69% of distressed assets which entered the process under the IBC have been resolved.

School Management System

Paper 3 – Science & Tech

Why Should You Know?

‘School Management System’ started in 194 schools of Cantonment Boards

In details

• Enabling ‘Ease of Living’ to the residents of Cantonment areas, a Digital Platform- School Management System (SMS) has been implemented in 194 Schools under the management of 62 Cantonment Boards across the Fifteen States. 
• The Directorate General of Defence Estate (DGDE), Ministry of Defence has developed the SMS in-house, benefiting 61,943 students and 1,965 teachers and catering to the residents of Cantonments and adjoining areas.
• The system presently works in English Medium and is being further developed to deliver services in local languages too.
• The SMS is receiving encouraging response from parents, teachers, students and other stakeholders. For ease of the parents, a helpdesk facility has also been provided by Cantonment Boards. It has become most unique user friendly system offered on a single platform.
• Cantonment Boards provide various online citizen services to more than 20 lakh residents across 62 Cantonments in the country through eChhawani project of Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE), Ministry of Defence.

Significance

• The SMS enables parents to apply for school admission online, monitor progress of their wards, grievance, pay fees in digital mode, etc. The SMS initiative is user friendly enabling “Ease of Services” to the Cantonment residents. The process of issuing Transfer Certificate has also been made simpler for the parents.

Facilities

The following online facilities are being provided in School Management System:

• Registration and Admissions
• Issuing of Transfer Certificate
• Homework and Assignment
• Grievance and incident reporting
• Deposit of Fees and charges
• Academic performance and grades of students
• Time table and attendance
• Grades and report card
• Notifications and school activity circulars
• Intimation via SMS and email to parents pertaining to performance and progress their wards

Bharatskills Forum

Paper 2 – Education

Why Should You Know?

Recently Directorate General of Training (DGT) launched Bharatskills Forum, a digital knowledge-sharing platform for the ITIs’ trainees, trainers and industry.

In details

• A new feature called the Bharatskills Forum has been added to the Bharatskills learning platform developed by DGT that allows sharing of books, notes, videos, question bank, etc., and other relevant skill-related content for learners.
• This facility shall act as a digital warehouse for the skilling community by allowing sharing of contents in various forms like handwritten trainers’ or trainees’ notes, PDFs, scanned copies, or recorded videos in any language.

About the bharatskills platform

• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is the apex organisation for development and coordination at national level for the programmes relating to vocational training.
• DGT in Oct 2019 had launched an online learning platform called the Bharatskills, a Central Digital Repository for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, providing easy access to updated curriculum, e-books, Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., for courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Craft Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) and the Apprenticeship Training Scheme (ATS), thus enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
• This platform presents unique access to a centralized, scalable, and thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the new age (Industrial Revolution 4.0) skills to meet the demands of the industry.
• The usage of Bharatskills learning platform has increased multi-fold from around 90,000 users in March 2020 to more than 48 Lakh unique users having accessed the portal and over 1.75 crores hits as of date.
• The Bharatskills Forum was launched On 1 October 2022 by Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MSDE in the presence of Ms. Trishaljit Sethi, Director General/ AS, DGT. On the occasion, Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari while sharing his views said that the learning platform of Bharatskills has now opened a two-way, unique facility for the trainers, trainees and those interested in skill training, for sharing relevant content within the skill community. We can say that the Bharatskills Forum is for the Skill Community and at the same time, by the Skill Community, he added.

Swachh Bharat 2022 Campaign

Paper 3 – Environment

Why Should You Know?

On October 1, 2022 Shri Anurag Singh Thakur to kick start a month-long nationwide Swachh Bharat 2022 Campaign from Prayagraj.

In details –

• Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Singh Thakur will launch a month-long nationwide Swachh Bharat 2022 at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh from 1st October 2022.
• Swachh Bharat 2022 programme is being organised in 6 Lakh villages of 744 districts across the country through the network of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) affiliated Youth Clubs & National Service Scheme Affiliated Institutions.
• The Department of Youth Affairs has set a target of collecting and disposing of 1 crore kg plastic waste through Swachh Bharat 2022.

About the Campaign

• Swachh Bharat 2022 will be launched with an aim to raise awareness, mobilize people and ensure their participation in making India clean.
• In this initiative, people from different regions, languages ​​and backgrounds will work together and the waste will be disposed of by these people on a completely voluntary basis.
• Swachh Bharat 2022 is not just a program but a serious attempt to make people realize the importance of cleanliness. This will also contribute to the Happiness Index of the country.
• The Department of Youth Affairs is trying to make this campaign the biggest cleanliness campaign run by the people in the country.

Objective

• The objectives of the Swachh Bharat 2022 programme are to organize cleaning of public spaces and households across all the districts of the country from 01st October to 31st October 2022, involve all segments of society, Government organizations including PRIs and Non- Government Organizations, to instil awareness and feeling of pride among citizens to keep their surroundings clean and waste free.
• Along with this campaign will give mantra of “Swachch Kaal: Amrit Kaal” and make this program a People’s Movement through Jan Bhagidari.

RBI hikes Repo Rate

Paper 3 – Economy

Why Should You Know?

RBI hikes Repo Rate by another 50 basis points to 5.9%

In details

• The repo rate, the rate at which RBI lends money to commercial banks, has been hiked by 50 basis points again. Considering the prevailing adverse global environment, resilience in domestic economic activity, uncomfortably high inflation level, the RBI has hiked the policy repo rate by 50 basis points, to 5.40%.
• Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.65% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.15%. The Monetary Policy Committee has decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth, stated RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Additional Measures:

The Governor announced a series of four additional measures, as given below.

1. Discussion paper on Expected Loss-Based Approach to be released for loan-loss provisioning by banks

• Banks currently follow incurred-loss approach, where provisions are made after stress has actually materialized, this is to be replaced by a more prudent approach which requires banks to make provisions based on assessment of probable losses.

2. Discussion paper on securitization of Stressed Assets Framework (SSAF) to be released.

• Revised framework for securitization of stressed assets was issued in Sep 2021, it has now been decided to introduce a framework for securitization of stressed assets, this will provide alternate mechanism for securitization of NPAs in addition to existing ARC route.

3. Internet banking facility for customers of Regional Rural Banks.

• RRBs are currently allowed to provide internet banking facility to customers subject to fulfillment of certain criteria, to spread digital banking in rural areas, these criteria are being rationalized, revised guidelines to be issued separately.

4. Regulation of offline payment aggregators.

• Online Payment Aggregators (PAs) have been brought under the purview of RBI regulations since March 2020. It is now proposed to extend these regulations to offline PAs, who handle proximity/ face-to-face transactions. This measure is expected to bring in regulatory synergy and convergence on data standards.

Growth Projection – 7.0% for 2022-23

• The Governor informed that the central bank’s growth projection for the Indian economy for 2022-23 is projected at 7.0 per cent with Q2 at 6.3 per cent; Q3 at 4.6 per cent; and Q4:2022-23 at 4.6 per cent, with risks broadly balanced.
• The growth for Q1 of 2023-24 is projected at 7.2 per cent.
• Against the current challenging global environment, economic activity in India remains stable, stated the RBI Governor. “While real GDP in first quarter of this year turned out to be lower than expectations, it is perhaps the highest among major global economies”, he added.

Inflation

• Inflation inched up to 7.0 per cent in August from 6.7 per cent in July, stated the RBI Governor. Global geopolitical developments are weighing heavily on the domestic inflation trajectory, he said.
• The RBI Governor stated that monetary policy has to carry forward its calibrated action on policy rates and liquidity conditions consistent with the evolving inflation growth dynamics. It must remain alert and nimble, he stated.
• Read the full statement of the Governor here; Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies here; and Monetary Policy Statement here.the people of India”