Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years;
Arjuna Award is given for consistent outstanding performance for four years; Dronacharya Award goes to the coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events;
Dhyan Chand Award is for life time contribution to sports development and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments is given Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy. In addition to these Sports Awards, the Ministry also recognises the spirit of adventure among the people of the country by bestowing the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
A large number of applications were received for Sports Awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Mukundakam Sharma (former Judge of Supreme Court of India) and other members comprising of eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administration, etc.
Tribes India expands its retail network to 122 outlets across the country We are firmly standing behind 50 lakh tribal artisans and forest gatherers in their hour of need – Shri Arjun Munda Posted On: 21 AUG 2020 4:55PM by PIB Delhi
Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs e-inaugurated via a video conference a ‘Tribes India Showroom’ in Indian Globe Chambers of LIC Western Zonal Office, Fort, Mumbai today. The inaugural event was attended by Secretary, MoTA Shri Deepak Khandekar, Chairman, TRIFED Shri R. C. Meena and MD, TRIFED Shri Pravin Krishna. Renowned designer Ruma Devi and cine star Pooja Batra also participated in the virtual inauguration.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri Arjun Munda said, “We are firmly standing behind 50 lakh tribal artisans and forest gatherers in their hour of need, steadily and firmly to sustain their income, employment and livelihoods.”
Speaking about his ministry’s firm resolve and TRIFED’s concerted efforts to support the tribal brethren, Shri Munda said that taking the Prime Minister’s message forward to “Be Vocal for Local” and to promote the livelihood of the tribal people marketing, TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs has initiated these path-breaking initiatives that have a wide-ranging impact.
In a bid to boost sales and enhance tribal income in these challenging times, Tribes India on Wheels – mobile vans stacked fully with Van Dhan natural produce, immunity boosters and other tribal products - has now been launched. These will take these products directly to the customer’s doorstep in 150 cities across the country.
Shri Munda also expressed his happiness that tribal arts and character is being displayed attractively in this flagship store in the tinsel town and the financial capital, Mumbai . Lauding the tireless efforts of the team of TRIFED warriors, he hoped that the handiwork of these artisans and communities, which is essentially made from the heart, will now get a bigger market.
He said that in a solid push to the existing infrastructure, two production centres for Minor Forest Produce processing as a part of the TRIFOOD project, in association with MoFPI and NSTFDC are being set-up in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, and Raigad, Maharashtra – giving many thousands of tribals employment opportunities!
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The TRIBES INDIA outlet which is located in the prestigious area of Fort is the third in the city of Mumbai; there are two existing outlets at Panvel and Juhu. The newly-inaugurated outlet at Indian Globe Chambers, D N Road, Fort, Mumbai is the 122nd Tribes India outlet across the country. Besides stocking products – arts and crafts from all the 27 Indian states, this is the first stop to focus primarily on Van Dhan essentials and immunity boosters – essential products during this pandemic.
A shelf in a storeDescription automatically generated Speaking on the occasion, Shri Deepak Khandekarcongratulated the entire team of TRIFED on their diligent efforts during the times of pandemic and reiterated the Ministry’s focus on “Be Vocal for Local.”
Ms. Ruma Devi, noted designer and Goodwill Ambassador of Tribes India also appreciated TRIFED’s work even during the lockdown which have helped the tribal artisans and offered her unstinted cooperation and support.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Mr. Pravir Krishna, thanked the Union Minister for his presence at the formal virtual launch of the Fort outlet.Acknowledging the Minister’s unstinted support for the cause of tribal welfare, he spoke about TRIFED’s path-breaking initiatives during the pandemic that have helped alleviate the distressed tribals by sustaining and improving their income and livelihood.
Due to the suddenness of the pandemic and the immediate lockdown, stocks by tribal artisans worth crores had been lying unsold. In order to ensure that these stocks of tribal artisans are sold, TRIFED trebled its efforts and launched an aggressive drive to sell these goods online through its Tribes India website (www.tribesindia.com) and also other retail platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and GeM.
A novel mobile van service, TRIBES India on Wheels was also launched on August 19, 2020 to bring healthy, immunity-boosting natural tribal produce, such as wild honey, organic haldi, amla, ginger, black pepper, directly to the doorstep of the customer. The van service is now operational in 31 cities across the country.
Another path-breaking initiative that is on the verge of being actualised is TRIFED’s about-to-be-launched exclusive e-marketplace for tribal producers – forest dwellers and artisans, to facilitate the purchase of MFPs, handicrafts and handlooms online.
The Tribes India E-Mart platform will be an omni-channel facility for the tribals to sell their goods to a large national and international audience in an e-marketplace through their own e-shop. TRIFED is in the process of onboarding approximately 5 lakh tribal producers across the country and sourcing their natural produce, handcrafted goods.
In its mission to empower the downtrodden tribal people, by promoting the economic welfare of their communities across India (through development of marketing and the sustained upgradation of their skills), TRIFED, as the national nodal agency for tribal welfare, started the procurement and marketing of tribal art and craft items through its network of retail outlets called Tribes India. From a single flagship store at 9 Mahadeo Road, New Delhi in 1999, there are now 122 retail outlets across India.
With these renewed and continuous initiatives, Tribes India/ TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs continues its endeavour towards protecting and furthering the interests of the tribal communities across the country.
NHAI Planted 25 Lakh Plants in 25 Days to Mark its Silver Jubilee Year Posted On: 21 AUG 2020 4:50PM by PIB Delhi
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has developed a mobile App called ‘Harit Path' to monitor location, growth, species details, maintenance activities, targets and achievements of each of its field units for each and every plant under all plantation projects. The app was inaugurated by the Union Minister for RTH Shri Nitin Gadkari today.
According to an NHAI release, to commemorate 25 years of its service to the nation, it has also recently undertaken ‘Harit Bharat Sankalp’, a nation-wide plantation drive which is in line with its commitment to promote environment protection and sustainability. Under this initiative, NHAI planted over 25 lakh plants in 25 days along the stretches of the National Highways between 21st July to 15th August 2020. The drive takes the total cumulative number of plantations done during the current year to 35.22 lakh.
The nation-wide plantation drive has been actively taken up by NHAI’s regional offices to achieve the collective target of making greener national highways. Maximum number of over 5.0 lakh plants have been planted in Uttar Pradesh, followed by over 3.0 lakh in Rajasthan and 2.67 Lakh in Madhya Pradesh along the national highways. In order to ensure 100% survival of the plants, avenue plantation of minimum height of 1.5-meter have been emphasized along the national highway am
The Release says that in order to track the growth and health of the plants, photographs along with data of the plants captured using Harit Path shall be uploaded every 3 months on NHAI’s AI powered Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake. Highway contractors shall be accountable for proper upkeep and maintenance of the plantation and liable to replace the missing/dead plants. Performance and growth of the plants shall be linked to the payment to the contractors for this work.
After launch of the app, NHAI has immediately started work to create user ids of over 150 ROs/ PDs/ Horticulture experts. Apart from this, around 7800 plants have also been geo-tagged using the toda
NHAI has been undertaking plantation drives from time to time to develop eco-friendly National Highways and has constantly addressed ecological concerns by adopting environment-friendly methods. In the year 2020, NHAI plans to undertake a sustained plantation drive. The vision is to plant 72 Lakh plants along NH stretches collectively with concessionaire, State Government agencies and private plantation agencies. In addition, NHAI is engaging experts from the plantation, forestry, agriculture, horticulture with vast field experience.
Two professionals with suitable background and experience are being engaged for each of its regional offices. For proper supervision of plantation in each project, horticulture experts are also being engaged. Apart from plantation, NHAI is also emphasizing on transplantation of trees which are required to be axed for development of highway projects.
Payment now at 50% of average wages payable for maximum 90 days unemployment instead of 25% earlier from 24.3.2020 to 31.12.2020
Establishment of ICU/HDU services at 10% of total beds in ESIC Hospitals ESI Corporation Members appreciates measures taken by ESIC during Covid – 19 pandemic Posted On: 21 AUG 2020 11:04AM by PIB Delhi
The ESI Corporation during its 182nd meeting held late yesterday under the Chairmanship of Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Labour and Employment (I/C) has taken some very important decisions towards improvement in its service delivery mechanism and providing relief to workers affected by Covid-19 pandemic. Following important decisions were taken during the meeting:
ESIC is implementing the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna under which unemployment benefit is paid to the workers covered under ESI Scheme. The ESI Corporation has decided to extend the scheme for one more year upto 30th June 2021. It has been decided to relax the existing conditions and the amount of relief for workers who have lost employment during the Covid-19 pandemic period.
The enhanced relief under the relaxed conditions will be payable during the period of 24.03.2020 to 31st December 2020. Thereafter the scheme will be available with original eligibility condition during the period 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2021. Review of these conditions will be done after 31.12.2020 depending upon the need and demand for such relaxed condition.
The eligibility criteria for availing the relief has also been relaxed, as under: a.The payment of relief has been enhanced to 50% of average of wages from earlier 25% of average wages payable upto maximum 90 days of unemployment.
b. Instead of the relief becoming payable 90 days after unemployment, it shall become due for payment after 30 days.
c. The Insured Person can submit the claim directly to ESIC Branch Office instead of the claim being forwarded by the last employer and the payment shall be made directly in the bank account of IP.
d. The Insured Person should have been insurable employment for a minimum period of 2 years before his/her unemployment and should have contributed for not les than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the remaining 3 contribution periods in 02 years prior to unemployment.
With a view to strengthen ICU/HDU services in ESIC hospitals amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been decided to establish ICU/HDU services upto 10% of total commissioned beds in all ESIC Hospitals.
The members of ESI Corporation in meeting appreciated the actions taken by ESIC towards mitigating the effect of Covid-19 on its stakeholders besides providing its infrastructure for medical care to general public. So far, 23 ESIC hospitals with around 2600 Isolation Beds and aprox 1350 quarantine beds across India are functioning as COVID-19 Dedicated Hospitals to exclusively provide COVID medical services to the general public of the area.
In addition to above, around 961 Covid Isolation Beds are available in most of the remaining ESIC Hospitals across the country, making a total of 3597 Covid Isolation Beds in various ESIC Hospitals. Further, a total of 555 ICU/HDU Beds with 213 Ventilators have also been made available in these Hospitals.
B. ESIC Medical College & Hospitals at Faridabad (Haryana), Sanath Nagar, Hyderabad (Telangana), Gulbarga (Karnataka) and ESIC PGIMSR, Basaidarapur (Delhi) have startd ICMR approved in-house Covid-19 lab test service.
C. Plasma Therapy treatment is being provide at ESIC Medical College Faridabad (Haryana) and Sanath Nagar, Hyderabad (Telangana).
D. Rapid Covid-18 ANTIGEN TEST has also been started in all major ESIC hospitals of Delhi/NCR regions.
E. Alternate provisions have been made for providing non-Covid medical services from tie-up hospitals to the Insured Persons and their family members.
Context: The Odisha government has announced to give a facelift to the 11th century Lingaraj Temple, akin to its pre-350-year structural status.
The efforts will be to create a spiritual and ecological ambience in and around the Lingaraj Temple.
About Lingaraja Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest and largest temples in Odisha.
Built by king Jajati Keshari of Soma Vansh.
It is built in red stone and is a classic example of Kalinga style of architecture. Located to the north of the temple is Bindusagar Lake.
The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers.
The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath sect emanating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.
Deula style: The temple is Lingaraj Temple built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor.
Context: Recently, the Supreme Court held Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt of court for his tweets against the CJI S.A. Bobde and against the judiciary.
Now, Prashant Bhushan has asked the Court to defer the punishment till the review petition is filed and decided. He also submitted that the remedy of curative petition is also available.
About Curative Petition: The concept was first evolved by the Supreme Court of India in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and another case (2002) on the question whether an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement/order of the Supreme Court, even after the dismissal of a review petition.
The court used the Latin maxim “actus curiae neminem gravabit”,which means that an act of the court shall prejudice no one. It’s objectives are twofolds- avoid miscarriage of justice and to prevent abuse of process.
Related Constitutional provisions: The concept of the curative petition is supported by Article 137 of the Indian Constitution.
It provides that in the matter of laws and rules made under Article 145, the Supreme Court has the power to review any judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.
Procedure: A curative petition may be filed after a review plea against the final conviction is dismissed. It can be entertained if the petitioner establishes that there was a violation of the principles of natural justice, and that he was not heard by the court before passing an order.
It must be rare rather than regular. A curative petition must be first circulated to a Bench of the three senior-most judges, and the judges who passed the concerned judgment, if available.
Only when a majority of the judges conclude that the matter needs hearing should it be listed before the same Bench.
The Bench at any stage of consideration of the curative petition can ask a senior counsel to assist it as amicus curiae (Friend of the court). A curative petition is usually decided by judges in the chamber unless a specific request for an open-court hearing is allowed.
Context: The Madhya Pradesh government’s recent decision to reserve all government jobs for “children of the state” raises questions relating to the fundamental right to equality.
What’s the issue now? Reservation solely based on place of birth would raise constitutional questions.
What does the Constitution say? Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment under law in matters of public employment, prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence.
Article 16(2) states that “no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State”. The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.
Enabling provisions: However, Article 16(3) of the Constitution provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state. This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.
Why does the Constitution prohibit reservation based on domicile? When the Constitution came into force, India turned itself into one nation from a geographical unit of individual principalities and the idea of the universality of Indian citizenship took root.
As India has common citizenship, which gives citizens the liberty to move around freely in any part of the country, the requirement of a place of birth or residence cannot be qualifications for granting public employment in any state.
What has the Supreme Court said on reserving jobs for locals? The Supreme Court has ruled against reservation based on place of birth or residence.
In 1984, ruling in Dr Pradeep Jain v Union of India, the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil” was discussed. The court expressed an opinion that such policies would be unconstitutional but did not expressly rule on it as the case was on different aspects of the right to equality.
In a subsequent ruling in Sunanda Reddy v State of Andhra Pradesh (1995), the Supreme Court affirmed the observation in Pradeep Jain to strike down a state government policy that gave 5% extra weightage to candidates who had studied with Telugu as the medium of instruction.
In 2002, the Supreme Court invalidated appointment of government teachers in Rajasthan in which the state selection board gave preference to “applicants belonging to the district or the rural areas of the district concerned”.
In 2019, the Allahabad High Court struck down a recruitment notification by the UP Subordinate Service Selection Commission which prescribed preference for women who are “original residents” of the UP alone.
How do some states then have laws that reserve jobs for locals? Exercising the powers it has under Article 16(3), Parliament enacted the Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act, aimed at abolishing all existing residence requirements in the states and enacting exceptions only in the case of the special instances of Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
Constitutionally, some states also have special protections under Article 371. Andhra Pradesh under Section 371(d) has powers to have “direct recruitment of local cadre” in specified areas. In Uttarakhand, class III and class IV jobs are reserved for locals.
Some states have gone around the mandate of Article 16(2) by using language. States that conduct official business in their regional languages prescribe knowledge of the language as a criterion. This ensures that local citizens are preferred for jobs. For example, states including Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu require a language test.
Context: The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of National Recruitment Agency, an independent body to conduct examination for government jobs.
Initially, it will organise a CET to screen/shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non -technical) posts, which are now being conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railways Recruitment Board (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Later on, more exams may be brought under it.
When was it first announced? The setting up of such an agency to conduct a common eligibility test (CET) was announced in the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February.
Composition: It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.
Functions of the proposed NRA: It will conduct a common preliminary examination for various recruitments in the central government.
Based on the common eligibility test (CET) score a candidate can apply for a vacancy with the respective agency.
How the test will be conducted? The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
The test will be conducted for three levels: graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) candidates. However, the present recruitment agencies– IBPS, RRB and SCC — will remain in place.
Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.
Other details: The CET score of a candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. To make it easier for candidates, examination centres would be set up in every district of the country.
While there will be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET, it will be subject to the upper age limit. The examinations will be conducted in 12 languages.
Why is the NRA needed? What are the challenges faced by students and agencies? As of now, aspirants have to take different exams that are conducted by various agencies for central government jobs. Candidates have to pay fees to multiple recruiting agencies and also travel long distances for appearing in various exams.
On an average 2.5 crore to 3 crore aspirants appear for about 1.25 lakh vacancies in the central government every year.
Context: Even before the end of final stage human trials or regulatory approval, several wealthier countries like Britain, France, Germany and the US have entered into pre-purchase agreements with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, a development that has come to be known as “vaccine nationalism”.
There are fears that such advance agreements will make the initial few vaccines unaffordable and inaccessible to everyone apart from the rich countries in a world of roughly 8 billion people.
What is Vaccine Nationalism? How it works? Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries.
This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
How was it used in the past? Vaccine nationalism is not new. During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines.
At that time, it was estimated that, in the best-case scenario, the maximum number of vaccine doses that could be produced globally was two billion. The US alone negotiated and obtained the right to buy 600,000 doses. All the countries that negotiated pre-purchase orders were developed economies.
Why its not good? What are the associated concerns? Vaccine nationalism is harmful for equitable access to vaccines. It further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power.
It deprives populations in the Global South from timely access to vital public health goods. Taken to its extreme, it allocates vaccines to moderately at-risk populations in wealthy countries over populations at higher risk in developing economies.
What needs to be done? International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises.
Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.
What is being done now? To bring about equitable and broad access, WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Gavi have come up with an initiative known as “Covax Facility”. The facility aims to procure at least two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of next year for deployment and distribution mainly in the low- and middle-income countries.
Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be leased out through Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Adani Enterprises Ltd. The lease is for a period of fifty years.
Hamas: Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has waged war on Israel since the group’s 1987 founding, most notably through suicide bombings and rocket attacks. It seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state. It also governs Gaza independently of the Palestinian Authority.
Context: Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID19 Innovation Challenge-Award Ceremony was recently held. 49 innovations in 5 focus areas were recognised.
What is Millennium Alliance? It is an innovation-driven and impact-focused initiative leveraging collaborative resources to identify test and scale Indian innovations that address global development solutions.
It is a consortium of partners (Public-Private Partnership) including the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation.