Current Affairs 15 July 2021 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 15 July 2021 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

7th BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers Meeting

Source : PIB
International Relation

What is discussed under 7th BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers Meeting ?

1. Discussion on four priority areas
2. Major Outcomes/Discussions
3. India in the Meet

Why in News ?

Union Minister for Labour & Employment chaired the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers Meeting under India’s Presidency.

• Ministers of the member countries viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated in the meeting.

Key Facts

• India organized the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting to exchange views on the impact of Covid-19 on global labour market, enhance information sharing, discuss and agree upon specific areas of cooperation between BRICS Member countries.
• Discussion on four priority areas of cooperation took place
  • Promoting Social Security Agreements amongst BRICS Nations;
  • Formalisation of Labour Markets;
  • Participation of Women in the Labour Force; and
  • Gig and Platform Workers: Role in the Labour Market.
• The significant aspect of the meeting was the adoption of the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Declaration.
• Major Outcomes/Discussions
  • COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the efforts made to address unemployment, decent work deficits and inequality.
  • It also illustrates the strong determination of BRICS Member countries to recover with stronger national economies, inclusive labour markets and social protection systems.
  • Promoting Social Security Agreements amongst BRICS Nations BRICS Ministers have resolved to carry out exchange of information among BRICS countries on employment and social security for cross-border labour flows and initiate social security agreements between BRICS nations within a reasonable time frame.
  • Formalisation of Labour Markets Member countries commitment to enhance the transition from informality to formality as a means towards improving
    • Living and working conditions
    • Productivity and job growth
    • Strengthening efforts to reduce poverty through access to quality employment and social protection.
  • Sustained participation of women in the labour market and strategies for the promotion of women participation in remunerative, productive and decent work.
  • Discussed need and role of digital platforms in providing resilience to national economies in the face of crisis such as COVID-19.

India in the Meet

• Highlighted the path breaking reforms by Government of India in amalgamation, simplification and codification of its labour laws into four labour codes
  • The Code on Wages 2019
  • The Code on Social Security 2020
  • The Industrial Relations Code 2020
  • The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020
• New Labour Codes provide integrated pathways towards robust formalization of the labour market, increasing participation of women in the labour force.

PRASHAD Scheme

Source : PIB
Infrastructure/Tourism/Culture

What is discussed under PRASHAD Scheme ?

1. About the Scheme
2. Cites under the Scheme

Why in News ?

Prime Minister inaugurated various development projects in Varanasi which includes Tourist Facilitation Centre under the Project Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II and operation of Cruise Boat from Assi Ghat to RajGhat under the Project Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme.

Key Facts

• National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) is a Central Sector Scheme fully financed by the Government of India.

  

• Its was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014-15 with the objective of integrated development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destinations.
• The scheme aimed at infrastructure development such as entry points (Road, Rail and Water Transport), last mile connectivity, basic tourism facilities like Information/ Interpretation Centers, ATM/ Money exchange, eco-friendly modes of transport, area Lighting and illumination with renewable sources of energy, parking, drinking water, toilets, cloak room, waiting rooms, first aid centers, craft bazars /haats/ souvenir shops/ cafeteria, rain shelters, Telecom facilities, internet connectivity etc.
• The project Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme – Phase II  was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 44.69 crores in Feb. 2018.
• And the project Development of River Cruise in Varanasi under PRASHAD Scheme was approved by the Ministry of Tourism with the cost of Rs. 10.72 crores in Feb. 2018.
• Cities Identified Under PRASAD Scheme are 
  • 2014-15 with 12 identified sites namely Ajmer (Rajasthan), Amritsar (Punjab), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Dwarka (Gujarat), Gaya (Bihar), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Kamakhya (Assam), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Puri (Odisha), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu).
  • During 2015-16, Patna (Bihar) and in 2016-17, 12 more sites were added in the scheme for development namely Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath (Uttarakhand), Belur (West Bengal), Deoghar (Jharkhand), Guruvayur (Kerala), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Somnath (Gujarat), Srisailam and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra).

Storage of Payment System Data And Mastercard Issue

What is discussed under Storage of Payment System Data And Mastercard Issue ?

1. About the Issue 
2. What is Storage of Payment System Data ?

Why in News ?

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Mastercard Asia/ Pacific Pte. Ltd. (Mastercard) from on boarding new domestic customers debit, credit or prepaid over violation of central bank’s directions on storage of payment system data. 

Key Facts

• The prohibition will be effective July 22.

  

• RBI had directed all system providers to ensure that within a period of six months the entire data and full end-to-end transaction details,  information collected carried or processed as part of the message relating to payment systems operated by them was stored in a system only in India was notified in 2018.
  • All system providers were also required to report compliance to RBI and submit a board-approved system audit report conducted by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within the specified timelines.
  • RBI has the power to release such notification under the Act Section 17 of PSS Act.
• As a result of Mastercard Asia/ Pacific Pte. Ltd. (Mastercard) do not comply with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data are to ceased operation in India.
  • The existing costumers will not be affected.

What is Storage of Payment System Data ?

• Reserve Bank of India issued a directive vide circular on April 2018 on Storage of Payment System Data advising all system providers to ensure that, within a period of six months, the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India.
• The entire payment data shall be stored in systems located only in India, except in cases clarified.
• Directions are applicable to all Payment System providers authorised / approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up and operate a payment system in India under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• For cross border transaction data consisting of a foreign component and a domestic component, a copy of the domestic component may also be stored abroad, if required.
  • There is no bar on processing of payment transactions outside India if so desired by the PSO (Payment Systems Operators).
  • However, the data shall be stored only in India after the processing.
  • The complete end-to-end transaction details should be part of the data.
  • The data may be shared with the overseas regulator if so required depending upon the nature / origin of transaction with due approval of RBI.

AI powered Grievance Management Application

Source : PIB
Technology

What is discussed under AI powered Grievance Management Application ?

1. About Application
2. How this application useful ?
3. What is Artificial Intelligence ?
4. National Strategy On Artificial Intelligence

Why in News ?

Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application developed by Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur.

Key Facts

• This initiative is another citizen centric reform of the Government that aims to empower the people at large.
• This is the first AI based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government.
• This is developed in such a way that it can understand the content of the complaint.
• With this capability it can identify repeat content as well as spam content automatically.
• This enable the application to identify the category of the complaint without any specific keyword.
• The application can identify the status  of the complaint whether it is resolved or not by the concerned office.
• User friendly search enable the user to formulate his own queries/categories depending on management requirements and seek performance results based on the query.
• How this application useful ?
  • Lakhs of complaints are received on CPGRAMS portal of DARPG.
  • This application will have great use in understanding the nature of complaints, geographies from where they registered and policy changes which can be introduced to create systemic improvements to address these grievances.
  • AI-powered application will automatically handle and analyse the complaints.
  • This would reduce human intervention, save time and bring more transparency in their disposal.
  • It marks the introduction of AI-based innovations into governance and administration.
• The success of this project in MoD will pave the way for extension of this application across other Ministries.

• The web-based application has been jointly developed by Department of Defence, MoD; DARPG and a team of IIT Kanpur.

What is Artificial Intelligence ?

• AI was a term first coined at Dartmouth College in 1956.
• Artificial intelligence is the ability of machines to perform certain tasks, which need the intelligence showcased by humans and animals.
• AI includes machines automatically learning from existing data without being assisted by human beings that allows the machine to absorb huge amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, and audio.
• The major characteristics of AI system are observation, analytical ability, problem solving, learning, etc.
• National Strategy On Artificial Intelligence
  • Government of India mandated NITI Aayog to initiate a national programme to direct the efforts of the Government in the area of artificial intelligence.
  • NITI Aayog released India’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NSAI) in June 2018.
  • NITI Aayog adopted a three-pronged approach
    1. Undertaking exploratory proof-of-concept AI projects in various areas,.
    2. Crafting a national strategy for building a vibrant AI ecosystem in India.
    3. Collaborating with various experts and stakeholders.
  • AIRAWAT, which lays down India’s approach for the development of AI-specific cloud-computing infrastructure, was released in January 2020.

World Youth Skill Day Programme

Source : PIB
Human Resource

What is discussed under World Youth Skill Day Programme ?

1. About the Day
2. Impact of COVID Pandemic
3. India and skill development

Why in News ?

Prime Minister addresses World Youth Skill Day Programme. He called for giving momentum to Skill India Mission by capitalising on the gains of last 6 years. 

Key Facts

• United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day.

  

• Aims to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment decent work and entrepreneurship.
• The theme for 2021 World Youth Skills Day is Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic.
• World Youth Skills Day 2021 will pay tribute to the resilience and creativity of youth through the crisis.
• Impact of COVID Pandemic
  • UNESCO estimates that schools were either fully or partially closed for more than 30 weeks.
  • June 19 countries still had full school closures, affecting nearly 157 million learners and 768 million more learners were affected by partial school closures.
  • ILO estimates show that globally, youth employment fell 8.7 per cent in 2020, compared with 3.7 per cent for adults.
  • Young people aged 15-24 have been even more severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis than adults.
  • Young women have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to young men.

India and skill development

• More than 1.25 crore young persons have been trained under Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.
  • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) Under Skill India.
  • The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood.
• Nation is fulfilling this visionary dream of Babasaheb through Skill India Mission.
  • National Skill Development Mission
  • National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015
  • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
  • Skill Loan scheme
  • Rural India Skill
• Going Online As Leaders -GOAL are helping tribal population with areas like art and culture, handicraft, textiles and digital literacy among tribal areas leading to entrepreneurship development among the tribal population.
• Van Dhan Yojna is effectively connecting the tribal society with new opportunities.

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