WHY IN THE NEWS?

Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, launched the 5th edition of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC) on August 19, 2021.

About
DISC was launched under Innovations for Defence Excellence – Defence Innovation Organisation (iDEX-DIO).

• This challenge is meant to achieve self-reliance and foster innovation and technology development across the defence and aerospace sectors.
• This challenge was launched by Ministry in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission.
• It was launched with the aim of providing support to Startups, MSMEs and Innovators to create prototypes or commercialize products and solutions in the fields of National Defence and Security.
• Thirty-five problem statements

Under the DISC, 35 problem statements were launched comprising of 13 from Services and 22 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). 35 statements were launched from Armed Forces and OFB or DPSUs for the resolution by startups & innovators. These statements are areas like situational awareness, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, non-lethal devices, aircraft-trainer, 5G network, Drone SWARMS, underwater domain awareness, and data capturing.

iDEX4fauji

iDEX4fauji initiative is a similar initiative like DISC. It provided opportunity to Service personnel to showcase their talents in technological areas. iDEX initiative was launched in 2018, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Background

In the earlier editions of DISC, more than 80 start-ups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and individual innovators joined as winners across 40 technological areas.  DISC 5.0 was launched three years after the launch of DISC 1.0.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

AIM is a flagship initiative that seeks to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. It was launched with the objective of developing new programmes and policies in order to foster innovation in different sectors of the economy.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Chairman of 15th Finance Commission, NK Singh, has been elected as the new president of Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) Society.

About:      

• He succeeded former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who was the President of IEG since 1992.
• His name was recommended by Dr Manmohan Singh for the consideration of the IEG’s general assembly.
• Dr Manmohan Singh stepped down from this position for health concerns.

About Institute of Economic Growth

It is an autonomous, multidisciplinary centre that is used for advanced research and training. It was founded by VKRV Rao in 1952, but became operational in 1958. It is located at University Enclave of University of Delhi, New Delhi.

IEG’s research

Research in the Institute of Economic Growth are categorized in nine broad themes—

• Agriculture and rural development,
• Environment and resource economics
• Globalisation and trade
• Industry, labour and welfare
• Macro-economic policy and modelling
• Population and development
• Health policy
• Social change and
• Social structure.

Training Programme by IEG

IEG organises regular training programmes for the trainee officers from Indian Economic Service as well as some occasional courses for officers from Indian Statistical Service, NABARD, and university teachers.

Nand Kishore Singh (N.K. Singh)

He is an economist, Indian politician, and former Indian Administrative Service officer. Since 2014, He is a senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also served as Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha during 2008-2014 from Bihar for Janata Dal (United).  He has been a member of Planning Commission. He was appointed as chairman of the 15^th Finance Commission in 2017.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Mohammad Azam from Karimnagar district in Telangana has been awarded the National Youth Award recently by the Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur in Delhi for displaying exemplary leadership qualities.
• He has conducted several awareness programmes related to blood donation, organ donation and plantation programmes under the Haritha Haram project. The award carries an appreciation certificate and Rs 50,000 cash.
• Apart from these, he has also worked on water conservation, construction of soaking pits, works related to the Swachh Bharat mission and government welfare schemes, for the benefit of the people in various villages.
• He received the ‘Indira Gandhi NSS Award’ from then President of India Pranab Mukherjee. He was also awarded the Pratibha Puraskar award by the State government in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and the Rashtriya Gaurav Samman Award.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad was adjudged the second most polluted city out of the 50 ‘most polluted cities in the world in 2020 by a report prepared by British company HouseFresh. Ghaziabad reported an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 2.5 particulate matter (PM) in 106.6µg/m3.
• Preceding Ghaziabad, the Chinese city of Hotan in Xinjiang province has been named the most polluted city with a PM2.5 of 110.2µg/m3. The report attributed the air pollution in Hotan to sandstorms resulting from its closeness to the Taklimakan Desert, which is the largest shifting sand desert in the world.
• According to the report, Bangladesh was the most polluted country across the world in 2020, followed by Pakistan, India and Mongolia.
• Meanwhile, Judbury in Australia bagged the top position in the list of cities with the cleanest air with a PM2.5 level of 2.4µg/m3.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Reserve Bank of India has introduced the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index), which is a measure of the extent of financial inclusion in India.
• FI-Index incorporates the inclusion details of banking, investments, insurance, postal and pension sectors in India. This was among the announcements made in the first bi-monthly monetary policy in April this year.
• The value of FI-Index will range between 0 to 100. Where 0 denotes complete financial exclusion while 100 denotes full financial inclusion.
• Parameters of FI-Index: The FI-Index comprises of three parameters, namely- Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators. In total there are 97 indicators.

The annual FI-Index for the period ending March 2021 is 53.9 while for the period ending March 2017 it is 43.4. RBI will release the FI-Index in the month of July every year. There is no base year for this Index

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• In Jammu and Kashmir, the Army organised a 400 Km “JAZBAA-E- TIRANGA” Relay Marathon.
• The event was flagged off by Major General Rajeev Puri, General Officer Commanding, Ace of Spades Division, who led the relay, closely followed by other military personnel. More than 300 troops took part, carrying the Indian Tricolour all along the Line of Control (LoC).
• The run inculcated the spirit of brotherhood, as each soldier carried the symbolic National Flag of comradeship across the Area of Responsibility (AOR), handing it over to other units which stand shoulder to shoulder in war.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed every year on 19 August to pay tribute to humanitarian personnel and those workers who lost or risked their lives while doing humanitarian service. In 2021 we are celebrating the 12th WHD.
• The theme for 2021 WHD is #TheHumanRace: a global challenge for climate action in solidarity with people who need it the most

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come up with a draft rule with modifications in the existing regulation related to foreign investment to discourage round-tripping. The central bank is looking to tweak the existing regulations and has come up with draft rules around round-tripping.
• Some of the largest Indian companies, startups and multinationals with an India presence have put their outbound investment, fundraising and restructuring plans on hold as the RBI looks to introduce fresh regulations around “round-tripping.”
• According to the draft rule, any investment made outside India is an entity, in turn, invests in India will be treated as round-tripping if the purpose is to escape tax. This is as the same definition and rationale used by the tax department under General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) which companies have been complaining is quite broad in its scope.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Government of India announced MeitY-NASSCOM Start-up Women Entrepreneur Awards 2020-2021.

About:

• MeitY-NASSCOM Women Startup Entrepreneurs Awards is the first step that recognizes and cultivates the entrepreneurial spirit in women.
• Awards inspire next generation of women to lead Indian digital era in order to serve as guiding role models.
• It also encourages promising entrepreneurs who contribute to the nation’s economy as well as social community.
• It also provides leadership and serves as guiding examples for emerging and young future entrepreneurs.
• Awards were open to participation from tech start-up women entrepreneurs in which about 159 applications were received.
• Leaders from MeitY, UN Women, Industry and Academia together, decided 12 women entrepreneurs as winners.
• While 2 women entrepreneurs were declared as the Jury Choice.

Government’s focus

Government has set a new benchmark for inclusive development by setting the basic values around ‘antyodaya’. It works on the philosophy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas. Empowerment of women and promotion of entrepreneurship among them is also among key focus areas of the Government. Government has been taking several transformative steps such as:

1. MUDRA scheme to provide interest free loans to the poor.
2. Ujjwala scheme under which women are given free gas connections to save them from smoke-filled cooking
3. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme to educate the girl child,
4. Abolition of triple talaq for the dignity of women.
5. National Policy on Software Products, 2019- under which government is placing special emphasis on promoting and recognising women led entrepreneurship as leaders for tomorrow.

Startups and Entrepreneurs                          

Encouraging Startups and Entrepreneurs is also among thrust areas of Government with the help of StartUp India and Invest India programs.

Gender equality

This award is significant in bringing the gender equality. Women are leading by example including from winning medals in Olympics to building tech based Innovative solutions. Indian IT sector has also played a key role in gender equality. As per the NASSCOM, 35 % of the total IT workforces are women

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The Godfather of Sudoku, Maki Kaji, passed away at the age of 69, due to bile duct cancer.

About:

• He was the creator of popular numbers puzzle Sudoku.
• His work was spreading the joy of puzzles.
• He created the puzzle to be easy for children and others.

Who was Maki Kaji?

Maki Kaji was the president of Nikoli Co. Ltd. It is a Japanese puzzle manufacturer. He was popularly called as “the father of Sudoku” as he played a key role in popularizing this number game. He also invented other puzzle games including Masyu. He recently (July 2021) resigned as head of Nikoli, before his death.

Background         

He was born in in Sapporo, Hokkaido on October 8, 1951. His father was an engineer at a telecom company while his mother was an employer of a kimono shop. He did his schooling from Shakujii High School in Sapporo. Later he studied literature at Keio University, but dropped out in his first year. After several jobs such as being a roadie, a waiter and a construction worker, he lastly started a publishing business.

About Nikoli

Nikoli was a quarterly puzzle magazine by Kaji. Magazine was named after a race horse that had won Guineas Stakes race in Ireland. Later he founded the company with same name. Nikoli magazine was the company’s main product.

About Sudoku

Sudoku is a logic-based, combinatorial, number-placement puzzle. Puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid for which a well-posed puzzle has a single solution