Pratibha Parv

✅ The ‘Pratibha Parv’ initiative was developed to address education issues and facility shortcomings in government elementary schools. It aims to assess and regularly track students’ academic performance.
✅Nodal Agency : Government of Madhya Pradesh
Impact
✅The initiative has had wide-ranging impact in the following respects:
🔸 Identification of areas of improvement in school education in the State.
🔸 Better quality of education.
🔸 Strengthened monitoring of schools.
🔸 Improved attendance.

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🔆Persistent Issue of Violence Against Women in India

✅The recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata have reignited nationwide concerns about women's safety and intensified protests by healthcare workers, who are now calling for a Central law to protect them.

✅Central Protection Act: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is advocating for the Implementation of a nationwide law to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals, similar to global examples like the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) zero-tolerance policy and the United States's felony (crime that is serious enough to be punishable) classifications for assaults

📍What do the Crime Statistics Reveal About Women's Safety in India?

✅Rising Crime Rates: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported 445,256 cases of crime against women in 2022.
✅From 2018 to 2022, reported crimes against women rose by 12.9%, reflecting both increased incidents and improved reporting.
✅The Women and Men in India 2023 report shows a rise from 359,849 cases in 2017 to over 445,000 in 2022, averaging 1,220 cases daily, averaging 51 First Information Report (FIRs) per hour.
✅The National Family Health Survey-5 found that nearly one-third of women aged 15-49 in India have experienced some form of violence.

📌What are India's Initiatives Related Women Safety?

📍Legislations:
✅International Conventions: India ratified key international conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.
✅India also endorsed the Mexico Plan of Action (1975) aimed at full gender equality and ending gender discrimination and the UN General Assembly Session on Gender Equality and Development and Peace for the 21st century.
✅The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956: Prohibits commercial sex work and trafficking of persons for prostitution.
✅Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986: Prohibits indecent representation of women in advertisements and publications.
✅National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, 2001: Aims for women's advancement and empowerment, addressing violence against women and providing mechanisms for prevention, assistance, and action.
✅Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005: Provides support for women victims of domestic violence, including shelter and medical facilities, with mandatory Protection Officers.
✅Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) (PoSH) Act, 2013: The POSH Act addresses sexual harassment faced by women in the workplace, aiming to ensure a safe work environment.
🔰The Act is based on the Vishakha guidelines established by the Supreme Court in the case of Vishakha & Others v. State of Rajasthan, 1997 which addressed workplace harassment
✅Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: Protects children from sexual offences, providing a legal framework for their protection and ensuring strict penalties for offenders

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GATE 2025

🔆Government Initiatives to Promote E-commerce in India:

✅Since 2014, initiatives like Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India, and Innovation Fund have supported the growth of E-commerce in the country.

✅Government e-Marketplace (GeM): It is an online platform for public procurement in India that was launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
✅Its objective is to create an inclusive, efficient, and transparent platform for the buyers and sellers to carry out procurement activities in a fair and competitive manner.

✅National Retail Policy: In order to administer offline retail and e-commerce in an integral manner, the government had identified five areas in its proposed national retail policy -
🔰Ease of doing business,
🔰Rationalisation of the licence process,
🔰Digitisation of retail,
🔰Focus on reforms and
🔰An open network for digital commerce (ONDC).

ONDC:
✅It has been built to promote open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
✅It uses open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.

✅The Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules 2020: It directed e-commerce companies to display the country of origin alongside the product listings.
✅In addition, the companies will also have to reveal parameters that go behind determining product listings on their platforms.
✅5G: Heavy investment made by the Government in rolling out a fibre network for 5G will help boost E-commerce in India.

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TSAT-1A Satellite

✅TSAT-1A Satellite India's first private sub-metre resolution earth observation satellite,
✅TSAT-1A is launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in the U.S
✅TSAT-1A is a sub-metre
high-resolution earth observation satellite carried into space as part of the Bandwagon-1 rideshare mission
✅Launched by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), India, in collaboration with Satellogic
✅ It will provide high-resolution satellite images, boasting increased collection capacity, dynamic range, and low-latency delivery through its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities
✅ (Bandwagon-1 Mission = It is a rideshare mission organized by SpaceX to launch multiple small satellites into orbit
✅ The mission is named Bandwagon-1 as it allows smaller satellite operators to jump on the bandwagon and
share a ride to space, reducing costs and increasing access to space)

Exercise Tarang Shakti

✅India will host its first multinational air exercise, ‘Tarang Shakti 2024’, in two phases starting on the 6th of next month in Sular, Tamil Nadu

✅ It is the IAF’s largest multilateral exercise. It aims to showcase India’s defence capabilities and enhance cooperation among the participating militaries.
✅ Participants: In this exercise, nearly 30 countries will participate, and out of 30, ten countries will join the exercise with their fighter aircraft.
✅ The ten countries bringing their aircraft include Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the USA, and Singapore. Eighteen other countries will attend as observers.
✅Features : It will feature flying and ground training, defence exhibitions, and cultural exchange programs. Defence personnel from the participating countries will also visit Indian tech companies.
✅India will display its indigenous fighter aircraft and equipment, including the Tejas, Rafale, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, and MIG 29.

🔆Virupaksha Temple

✅The Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, Karnataka, has been in the news due to concerns over the conservation efforts at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, particularly after a temple pavilion, saalu mantapa, collapsed during heavy rains in 2024.

📍Historical significance:

✅Dedication: The temple is dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form of Lord Shiva.

✅Location: It is situated in Hampi, within the Vijayanagara district of Karnataka, the temple is part of the larger Group of Monuments at Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

✅Inception: The temple has been in continuous operation since its inception in the 7th century AD, making it one of India's oldest functioning temples.
Development: Originally a modest shrine, the temple was expanded to its current grandeur during the reign of the Vijayanagara kings, with further additions from the Chalukyan and Hoysala eras.

📍Architectural features:

✅Style: The temple is built in the South Indian architectural style, showcasing intricate craftsmanship and advanced engineering.

✅Main structure: The temple complex includes a sanctum sanctorum, multiple pillared halls (the most elaborate being a hall with 100 pillars), antechambers, and grand gopurams (gateway towers).

Gopurams:
✅The temple has three prominent gopurams, with the eastern gopuram being the largest, standing nine storeys tall and 50 meters high.

✅The other two are smaller gopurams located on the inner east and inner northern sides of the complex.

✅Sculptural details: The gopurams are adorned with beautiful sculptures of various Hindu deities.

📍Innovative construction:
✅The temple's design incorporates principles of physics, such as the Rectilinear Light Theory and the pinhole camera effect.

✅Mathematical concepts like fractals, geometry, complex mathematics, and the Fibonacci sequence were also utilized in the construction.

✅Notably, the temple features an inverted pinhole image of its tower on the inner wall, a remarkable example of ancient engineering.

✅Cultural importance: The Virupaksha Temple remains a focal point of religious and cultural activities in Hampi, continuing to attract pilgrims and tourists alike. Its uninterrupted history of worship highlights its enduring significance in India's spiritual landscape.

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🔆 Vigyan Dhara Scheme

✅The Union Cabinet recently approved the continuation of three umbrella schemes merged into a unified central sector scheme called “Vigyan Dhara” under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

📍Vigyan Dhara Scheme:

✅It is a new central sector scheme unifying three umbrella schemes of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

✅The scheme has three broad components:
🔰Science and Technology (S&T) Institutional and Human Capacity Building,
🔰Research and Development and
🔰Innovation, Technology Development and Deployment.

✅These three schemes have been merged into the unified scheme ‘Vigyan Dhara’

✅This initiative, managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is designed to enhance India's S&T capabilities through a streamlined approach. 

✅The proposed outlay for the implementation of the unified scheme ‘Vigyan Dhara’ is 10,579.84 crore during the 15th Finance Commission period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

✅The merger of the schemes into a single scheme would enhance efficiency in fund utilization and establish synchronization among the sub-schemes/programs.

✅The primary objective of the 'Vigyan Dhara' scheme is to promote S&T capacity building as well as research, innovation, and technology development towards strengthening the Science, Technology and Innovation ecosystem in the country.

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