Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP)
- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) an initiative by the NITI Aayog, in collaboration with Dell Technologies has launched Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP).
- AIM is establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in schools across India with a vision to cultivate one million children in India as neoteric (modern) innovators.
- SEP will allow student innovators of ATLs to work closely with Dell volunteers.
- It provides training on business and entrepreneurship skills to students.
- They will receive mentor support, prototyping and testing support, end-user feedback, intellectual property registration and patenting of ideas, processes, and products, manufacturing support, as well as the launch support of the product in the market.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
- It aims to create a paradigm shift where children as young as 12 years of age are being introduced to the world of technology innovation.
- Eligibility - Schools (minimum Grade VI - X) managed by Government, local body or private trusts/society.
- Financial Support - It provides grant-in-aid of Rs. 20 Lakh to each school that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5 years to each ATL.
PM-SVANidhi
- The number of loan sanctions and number of applications received under PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme have crossed the mark of 1 lakh and 5 lakhs respectively within 41 days of commencement of the lending process on July 02, 2020.
- The PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs under the ambit of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
- It aims at facilitating collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure.
- It covers about 50 lakh street vendors in the urban areas, including those from the surrounding peri-urban/ rural areas, to resume their businesses post COVID-19 lockdown.
- Features of the scheme
- Incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on regular repayment of loan.
- Cashback up to Rs 1,200 per annum on undertaking prescribed digital transactions.
- Eligibility for enhanced next tranche of loan have also been provided.
- Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the implementation partner for the scheme.
- A graded guarantee cover is provided, on portfolio basis, to these lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to encourage lending to street vendors.
Human-Elephant Conflict
- World Elephant Day is observed yearly on August 12.
- It aims to spread worldwide awareness for the conservation and protection of elephants from the numerous threats they face.
- It was launched on August 12, 2012, to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
- Escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and mistreatment in captivity are some common threats to both African and Asian elephants.
- Recently MoEFCC has compiled a guide highlighting the best practices of human-elephant conflict management in India.
- The best practices have been discussed under several categories such as retaining elephants in their natural habitats by creating water sources and management of forest fires.
- The other best practices include
- Elephant-proof trenches in Tamil Nadu,
- Hanging wire electric fences and rubble walls in Karnataka,
- Use of chili smoke in north Bengal,
- Playing the sound of bees or carnivores in Assam.
MSME Restructuring scheme
- Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) announced restructuring package for small businesses in 2019.
- It aimed to recast Rs. 1 lakh crore of loans for 7 lakh eligible micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
- The scheme announced by RBI is a one-time scheme wherein a loan tenor and interest rate can be revised without classifying the asset as a NPA.
- The facility is available for standard advances of up to Rs 25 crore only.
- Banks will need to make a provision of 5% towards these restructured loans.
- As per the existing scheme, the borrower account had to be standard as on January 1, 2020.
- Recently Union government has extended the scheme till March 2021.
OSOWOG
- The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had invited proposals for implementing ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) in May 2020.
- The concept of OSOWOG was introduced in the Global RE-Invest meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the first assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
- OSOWOG is India’s initiative to build a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources.
- The blueprint will be developed under the World Bank’s technical assistance programme that is implemented to accelerate the deployment of grid connected rooftop solar installations.
- OSOWOG is planned to be completed in three phases.
- Phase I - It will entail interconnectivity within the Asian continent.
- Phase II - It will add Africa.
- Phase III - It will globalize the whole project.
- This is seen as India’s counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI).
Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO)
- BSISO is a movement of convection (heat) from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean roughly every 10-50 days during the monsoon (June-September).
- The BSISO of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is one of the most prominent sources of short-term climate variability in the global monsoon system.
- Researchers at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad have reportedly found a way to better forecast the Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO).
- They found that waves induced by active phases of BSISO are nearly 0.5 meters higher than those which occur during other phases of BSISO.
- The active phase (between June and August) enhances monsoon winds and hence the surface waves.
- Some other phases induce high wave activity in the north Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea
- Compared with the related Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) it is more complex in nature, with prominent northward propagation and variability extending much further from the equator.
- Wave forecast advisories based on the BSISO would be more useful for efficient coastal and marine management.
Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)
- MJO is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.
- It can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.
- It’s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
- The MJO consists of two parts or phases.
- Enhanced rainfall (or convective) phase - winds at the surface converge, and the air is pushed up throughout the atmosphere.
- Such rising air motion in the atmosphere tends to increase condensation and rainfall.
- Suppressed rainfall phase - winds converge at the top of the atmosphere, forcing air to sink and, later, to diverge at the surface.
- As air sinks from high altitudes, it warms and dries, which suppresses rainfall.
- The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), El Nino and MJO are all oceanic and atmospheric phenomena, which affect weather on a large scale.
- IOD only pertains to the Indian Ocean, but the other two affect weather on a global scale-up to the mid-latitudes.
- IOD and El Nino remain over their respective positions, while MJO is a traversing phenomenon.
Source: PIB, the Hindu
