PIB – 21 September 2021

SAMUDRA SHAKTI

Focus: GS III- Defence

Why in News?

Indian Naval Ships participated in the 3rd edition of Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ with the Indonesian Navy scheduled off the approaches to Sunda Strait from 20 Sep to 22 Sep 21.

Details:

• The exercise aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship, enhance mutual understanding and interoperability in maritime operations between the two navies.
• The exercise will also provide an appropriate platform to share best practices and develop a common understanding of Maritime Security Operations. 
• The participating Indian Navy ships Shivalik and Kadmatt are amongst the latest indigenously designed and built multi-role Guided Missile Stealth Frigate and Anti-Submarine Corvette respectively, and form part of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet, based at Visakhapatnam, under the Eastern Naval Command.
• Indian Navy’s Anti-Submarine Warfare capable Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft P8I is also participating in the exercise. 
• In pursuance of India’s Act East Policy, Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti’ was conceived in 2018 as a bilateral IN-IDN exercise.
• The exercise has matured in complexity over the last two editions and will involve conduct of complex maritime operations including Military Interdiction Operations (MIO), Cross Deck Landings, Air Defence serials, Practice Weapon Firings, Replenishment Approaches and Tactical Manoeuvres. 
• Under the extant policies, the 3rd edition of Exercise Samudra Shakti exercise is being conducted in a COVID safe environment and seeks to bolster the maritime cooperation between the two navies and forge strong bonds of friendship across the Indo Pacific.

SURYA KIRAN

Focus: GS III- Defence

Why in News?

The 15th India-Nepal combined battalion level military training exercise ‘SURYA KIRAN’ commenced at Pithoragarh (UK) and will continue till 03 October 2021.

Details:

• During the exercise, an Infantry Battalion each from the Indian Army and the Nepali Army will be training together to develop inter-operability and share their experience of counter terrorism operations and disaster relief operations.
• A traditional opening ceremony was organized to mark the commencement of the exercise in which both contingents marched in harmony to the Indian and Nepali military tunes.
• Lt Gen SS Mahal, GOC Uttar Bharat Area addressed the gathering and exhorted the contingents to train and strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and also to share best practices.

NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PIEPLINE (NIP)

Focus: GS III- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Why in News?

Union Steel Minister said Collaborative action needed for enhancing domestic Steel Consumption in National Infrastructure Pipeline and in Rural Areas.

About National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)

• The National Infrastructure Pipeline is a group of social and economic infrastructure projects in India over a period of five years with an initial sanctioned amount of ₹102 lakh crore.
• The pipeline was first made public by the Prime Minister of India during his 2019 Independence Day speech.
• NIP will enable a forward outlook on infrastructure projects which will create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, thereby making growth more inclusive.
• NIP includes economic and social infrastructure projects.
• It has outlined plans to invest more than ₹102 lakh crore on infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, States and the private sector to share the capital expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
• During the fiscals 2020 to 2025, sectors such as Energy (24%), Roads (19%), Urban (16%), and Railways (13%) amount to around 70% of the projected capital expenditure in infrastructure in India.

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX 2021

Focus: GS III- Growth and Development

Why in News?

India has climbed 2 spots and has been ranked 46th by the World Intellectual Property Organization in the Global Innovation Index 2021 rankings.

Details:

• India has been on a rising trajectory, over the past several years in the Global Innovation Index (GII), from a rank of 81 in 2015 to46in 2021. 
• The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant start-up ecosystem, and the amazing work done by the public and the private research organizations.
• The Scientific Departments like the Department of Atomic Energy; the Department of Science and Technology; the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Space have played a pivotal role in enriching the National Innovation Ecosystem.
• The NITI Aayog has been working tirelessly to ensure the optimization of the national efforts for bringing policy led innovation in different areas such as electric vehicles, biotechnology, nano technology, space, alternative energy sources, etc.
• The India Innovation Index, the latest edition of which was released last year by the NITI Aayog, has been widely accepted as a major step in the direction of decentralization of innovation across all the states of India.
• A constant thrust in monitoring and evaluating India’s position in the global rankings has been provided by the NITI Aayog, including in the GII.

About Global Innovation Index (GII)

• The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation. It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, in partnership with other organisations and institutions, and is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
• The GII is commonly used by corporate and government officials to compare countries by their level of innovation.
• The GII is computed by taking a simple average of the scores in two sub-indices, the Innovation Input Index and Innovation Output Index, which are composed of five and two pillars respectively.
• Each of these pillars describe an attribute of innovation, and comprise up to five indicators, and their score is calculated by the weighted average method.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) – headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations.
• WIPO’s activities including hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all IP matters.
• WIPO also works with governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals to utilize IP for socioeconomic development.