Decarbonizing Transport Project launched in India, ‘Vedic Food and Spices of India’, “Skills Build Reignite” MSDE-IBM Partnership, Article 340 of the constitution
1. NITI Aayog Launch Decarbonizing Transport Project in India
- NITI Aayog and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD jointly launched the ‘Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies’ (DTEE) project in India.
- The ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the development of modelling tools and policy scenarios.
- This is a very important and promising undertaking that will provide practical support for the Indian government for making the right choices on the way to a low-CO2 transport system.
- The DTEE project would help India translate its climate ambitions into actions.
- The modelling tool and assessment framework would provide a targeted analytical assistance to identify these climate actions and help us draw policies rooted in data analysis and advanced modelling.Given our diverse demographics across socio-economic factors such as population, age, income, etc.
- It would be important to first estimate the demand for transportation in India and then do a detailed modelling to compute the CO2emissions.
- Building on this evidence-based assessment of mitigation impacts, bringing DTEE and NDC-TIA together under this collaboration would support our policymaking by identifying various scenarios to achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets submitted by India under the Paris Agreement.
- This project could very well define our future urban policies and could help us in designing policies, which are firmly grounded in data and are likely to be highly efficient and impactful across the entire transport ecosystem in India.
- The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector.
- Out of the total carbon dioxide emissions in India, 13% come from the transport sector.
- These emissions have more than tripled since 1990.
- The increasing motorisation and demand for mobility in India have contributed to air pollution, congestion, as well as the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, in the urban area.
- In India, CO2 emitted per inhabitant was just about a twentieth of that of an average OECD country, yet.
- India’s transport CO2 emissions are likely to increase by almost 6% annually to 2030.
- India is actively taking a number of measures to tackle its emissions, including newer fuel emission norms as well as the promotion of electric vehicles in the country.
- NITI Aayog has been at the helm for the promotion of electric vehicles and sustainable mobility through its‘National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage’.
- The Decarbonizing Transport in India project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India.
- It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.
- The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative.
- It is part of the Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies family of projects, which supports transport decarbonization across different world regions.
- India, Argentina, Azerbaijan and Morocco are current participants. DTEE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
2. ‘Vedic Food and Spices of India’ under Dekho Apna Desh series
- To showcase the fruitful benefits about our country’s ancient form of health science, Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘Vedic Food and Spices of India’ under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series.
- The webinar focused on the importance of Vedic food and spices of India which remain unexplained to the world and never bridged to modern world cuisines.
- This session attempted to decode myths about some foods and present the secret of spices and the technique of preparations in order to inspire the traveller to come, explore and experience the original.
- Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series is an effort to showcase India’s rich diversity under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
- the treasure of Indian culture is much bigger and larger in the form of Vedic food and spice we have and how all the Veda’s (Scriptures) have about well being or what and how we should eat or maintain body.
- The significant amount of food knowledge contained in Rig an Yajur Veda.
- References were also made to the Vedic literature which throws considerable light on the food and drinking habits of the people.
- The best way to do tadka is in cold pan by adding ghee/butter followed by seeds and then chillies and rest of the spices and then switch on the flame and explained the method of usage of lubricant as per Vedas.
- Also It is an importance of cookware of cooking in the Earthenware, as food prepared in these vessels retains its natural flavour and keeps one grounded. The heat is also evenly spread and maintained.
- Copper pot has very good medicinal properties and no bacteria would survive.
- Iron pan are rich in minerals and food cooked is tasty.
- You may know that three doshas (body elements) in Ayurveda, which describe the dominant mind/body state: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
- While all three are present in everyone and how Ayurveda proposes that each individual has a dominant body element that’s unwavering from birth, and ideally an equal (though often fluctuating) balance between the other two.
- The merit of pans made with various metals is also stressed like how food from silver vessel cools down the body, relaxes and rejuvenates it.
- Food cooked in Copper and Brass vessel help in increasing the immunity level and metabolism.
- Betel leaves also help in controlling the doshas.
- The importance of various food and its health benefits is also shared like how any fat that melts in the palm is good for the body.
- Fruits are better than juices and though refined flour digest faster but it is not good and its flour with zero nutrients.
- As per the Vedic food Science, it is strongly advised to eat water rich vegetables and fruits like melon, watermelon, grapefruit, radish etc as it keep the body temperature balanced, less frequent urination which means body need not retain temperature etc.
- The benefits of using turmeric in daily cooking is as the ability of turmeric in cleaning the water, being antifungal, anti bacterial and good for immunity.
- That is why the recovery rate of Indians is faster compared to the world statistics.
- The Dekho Apna Desh Webinars are presented by Ministry of Tourism with technical support from the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).
- Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series is an effort to showcase India’s rich diversity under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
3. Cabinet approves Extension of tenure of the Commission constituted under Article 340 of the constitution within Other Backward Classes in the Central List
- The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the extension of the term of the Commission to examine the issue of Sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes, by 6 months i.e. upto 31.1.2021.
Impact including employment generation potential: The Communities in the existing list of OBCs which have not been able to get any major benefit of the scheme of reservation for OBCs for appointment in Central Government posts and for admission in Central Government Educational Institutions are expected to be benefitted upon implementation of the recommendations of the Commission. The Commission is likely to make recommendations for benefit of such marginalized communities in the Central List of OBCs.
Benefits: All persons belonging to the castes/communities which are included in the Central List of SEBCs but which have not been able to get any major benefit of the existing scheme of reservation for OBCs in Central Government posts & for admission in Central Government Educational Institutions would be benefitted.
Implementation schedule:
Orders for extension of the term of the Commission and addition in its Terms of Reference will be notified in the Gazette in the form of an Order made by the President, after receipt of the approval of the Hon’ble President to the same.
Background:
- The Commission was constituted under article 340 of the Constitution with the approval of President on 2nd October, 2017.
- The Commission, headed by Justice (Retd.) Smt. G. Rohini commenced functioning on 11th October, 2017 and has since interacted with all the States/UTs which have subcategorized OBCs, and the State Backward Classes Commissions.
- The Commission has come to the view that it would require some more time to submit its report since the repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription etc. appearing in the existing Central List of OBCs need to be cleared. Hence the Commission had sought extension of its term, up to 31st July 2020.
- However, due to the nationwide lockdown and restrictions on travel imposed on account of COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission was not able to go perform the task assigned to it.
- Therefore, the term of the Commission is being extended for a period of 6 more months i.e. up to 31.1.2021.
4. MSDE-IBM Partnership Unveils Free Digital Learning Platform “Skills Build Reignite” to Create to address the current skills gap in the country
- Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), is responsible for implementing long term institutional training to the nation’s youth through its network of training institutes and infrastructure.
- It plays a key role in the execution of vocational training schemes and in making ‘Digital India’ dream become a reality.
- The young learners now need specialised skill sets to work with the advanced technologies and to make use of the diverse opportunities available under the ‘new-collar jobs’.
- Hence, creating opportunities for Young India with focus on new-age skills like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, 3D – Technology, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, etc. which are aligned to Industry 4.0 requirements, has become the prime focus for DGT.
- With this in view, DGT has in the past one year, collaborated with many digital industry front-liners like IBM India Pvt. Ltd., Microsoft Corp. (India) Ltd., SAP India, Cisco Systems India Pvt. Ltd., Accenture Solutions and Quest Alliance, Adobe India, etc., to enable the students to become industry-ready.
- Even in the current scenario of the continuous impact of COVID-19, DGT is lining up with the industry partners in its efforts for enabling blended /e-learning with a combination of multimedia and similar digital resources for the students/ trainees, trainers and the administrators, by providing anytime, anywhere online digital content through its BharatSkills learning platform (https://bharatskills.gov.in).
- IBM has committed to provide multifaceted digital skill training in the area of Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to students & trainers across the nation in the National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
- Now, in its effort to address the current skills gap in the country, IBM and its partners are today introducing the SkillsBuild Reignite and the SkillsBuild Innovation Camp.
Background:
- In November 2019, IBM India, in partnership with Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, and its implementation partners, made the SkillsBuild online learning platform available to Indian students through Bharatskills (https://bharatskills.gov.in) of DGT.
- Digital classrooms on this platform are available to students and instructors from the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and technical education ecosystem in India.
- Within the first 6 weeks of its deployment in India, the platform has already benefited 4700 motivated learners from 15 states and Union Territories who have been able to continue their learning despite lockdowns and restrictions.
- It currently has impacted 14,135 learners who have completed 40,000 of courses and 77,000 hours of e-learning.
- SkillsBuild has been rated as India’s Top 10 online learning platform by National Skills Network.
- According to the India Skill Report (2019), only 45.6% of the youth graduating from educational institutions are employable.
- This reflects the massive shortage of skilled workforce in the country.
