Contents
- National Panchayat Awards 2020
- Higher Education Conclave: NEP
- Submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar
NATIONAL PANCHAYAT AWARDS 2020
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare congratulated the winners of National Panchayat Awards 2020 distribution in a function held virtually.
Details
- On National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th of April 2020, Prime Minister had direct interaction with the panchayat representatives of the country through a webcast.
- The winners of three categories of National Panchayat Awards – Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Purasakar, Child Friendly Gram Panchayat Award and Gram Panchayat Development Plan Purasakar were also announced.
- The minister said that Sarpanches and elected representatives of Panchayats should perform their responsibility for the overall development of villages. Panchayat representatives should also come forward to work on subjects like education, health and nutrition so that every village in the country can move forward on the path of complete development.
Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP): Given to Gram Panchayats (GPs) for their outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development by involving Gram Sabhas.
Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award: It is conferred to best performing Gram Panchayats (GPs) across the country which have developed their GPDPs according to the State/UT specific guidelines.
Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award: This award is given for best performing GPs/Village Councils (VCs) (one in each State/UT) for adopting child-friendly practices.
HIGHER EDUCATION CONCLAVE: NEP
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
The Prime Minister gave the inaugural address at the Conclave of Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Educational Policy.
Details
- The ‘Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy’ has been organized by the Ministry of Education along with the University Grants Commission.
- The conclave has been organized through video-conferencing by the Prime Minister.
- The main objective of the conclave is to throw light on various aspects of the new education policy so that all can contribute to the implementation of the New Educational Policy.
Click Here to read more about National Education Policy 2020
SUBMARINE CABLE CONNECTIVITY TO ANDAMAN & NICOBAR
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
Prime Minister will inaugurate and dedicate to the Nation through video conferencing the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Chennai and Port Blair.
Details
- The submarine cable connecting to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will enable delivery of faster and more reliable mobile and landline telecom services to Andaman & Nicobar Islands, at par with other parts of India.
- Works on the project began on 2018, and now it is set to be completed after just 2 years.
- The project is funded by the Government of India through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
- Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) executed this project while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) are the Technical Consultants.
Benefits
- Provision of reliable, robust, and high-speed telecom and Broadband facilities in these Islands will be a landmark achievement from the viewpoint of consumers, as well as for strategic and governance reasons.
- 4G mobile services, which were constrained due to limited backhaul bandwidth provided via satellite will also see a major improvement.
- Enhanced telecom and Broadband connectivity will boost tourism and employment generation in the Islands, give an impetus to the economy and raise standards of living.
- Better connectivity will also facilitate delivery of e-Governance services such as telemedicine and tele-education.
- Small enterprises will benefit from opportunities in e-commerce, while educational institutions will utilize the enhanced availability of bandwidth for e-learning and knowledge sharing.
- Business Process Outsourcing services and other medium and large enterprises will also reap the benefits of better connectivity.
Submarine communications cable
- A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea.
- The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried telegraphy traffic.
- Currently 99% of the data traffic that is crossing oceans is carried by undersea cables.
- The reliability of submarine cables is high, especially when (as noted above) multiple paths are available in the event of a cable break.
- Also, the total carrying capacity of submarine cables is in the terabits per second, while satellites typically offer only 1,000 megabits per second and display higher latency.
- However, a typical multi-terabit, transoceanic submarine cable system costs several hundred million dollars to construct.
