Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 29 July 2024 | Download PDF

• Selected gift items presented to the President and former Presidents on various occasions will be auctioned by Rashtrapati Bhavan through an online portal called E-Upahaar.

About E-Upahaar Portal:

• Auction Portal: An initiative of the President’s Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan, for auctioning gift items presented to the Hon’ble President and former Presidents of India.
• Launch Date: The portal was launched by the President of India on July 25, 2024.
• Development: Conceptualized, designed, developed, and hosted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Objectives:
  • Increase citizen engagement.
  • Support noble causes.
  • Donate all proceeds from the auction to help children in need.

• Last year, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme reported a total of 1,862 disease outbreaks, with Kerala having the highest number, as informed to the Lok Sabha recently. 

About Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP):

• Programme Overview:
  • Decentralized, state-based surveillance programme in India.
  • Launched in November 2004 with World Bank assistance by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Objectives:
  • Strengthen and maintain a decentralized laboratory-based IT-enabled disease surveillance system for epidemic-prone diseases.
  • Monitor disease trends and detect/respond to outbreaks early through trained Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).
• Human Resource Development: Training of State Surveillance Officers, District Surveillance Officers, RRTs, and other medical/paramedical staff on disease surveillance principles.
• Information Communication Technology (ICT):
  • Use of ICT for data collection, collation, compilation, analysis, and dissemination.
  • Strengthening of public health laboratories.
  • Intersectoral coordination for zoonotic diseases.

• The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America recently signed the first-ever ‘Cultural Property Agreement’ on the sidelines of the 46th World Heritage Committee meeting at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

About Cultural Property Agreement:

• Objective: To prevent and curb the illicit trafficking of antiquities from India to the USA.
• Alignment: Aligned with the 1970 UNESCO Convention on prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property.
• Import Restrictions:
  • Restricts importation into the USA of certain archaeological material (1.7 million years ago to 1770 CE).
  • Restricts importation of certain ethnological material, including:
    • Civic, religious, and royal architectural material.
    • Religious material and ceremonial items.
    • Manuscripts (2nd century BCE to 1947 CE).
• Return of Objects: The USA shall offer to return any object or material on the Designate List forfeited to the US Government to India.
• Significance: The Agreement will aid in the quick seizure of Indian antiquities at US Customs and their repatriation back to India.

• Azerbaijan, the host of the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has announced the establishment of the ‘Climate Finance Action Fund‘.

About Climate Finance Action Fund:

• Capitalisation and Contributors:
  • Fund will be capitalised by fossil fuel-producing countries and companies from oil, gas, and coal sectors.
  • Azerbaijan is a founding contributor.
• Purpose and Operation:
  • A catalytic public-private partnership fund.
  • Mobilises private sector investment and de-risks investment.
  • Contains special facilities with concessional and grant-based support for natural disasters in developing countries.
• Fundraising and Operationalisation:
  • Becomes operational after the initial fundraising round of $1 billion.
  • Requires 10 contributing countries committed as shareholders.
• Capital Allocation:
  • 50% directed towards climate projects in developing countries (mitigation, adaptation, and R&D).
  • 50% allocated to help members meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to maintain the 1.5°C temperature target.
• Headquarters: Secretariat located in Baku, Azerbaijan.

• India has assumed the Chair of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) for 2024-25.

About Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre:

• It is an autonomous international organization established in 1986.
• It is for cooperation in and implementation of disaster risk reduction and building climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific region.
• Member countries: India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the founding members.
• ADPC’s international Charter was signed by nine founding member countries and it was put into effect in 2018 through the ratification by all the founding members.
• As of January 2020, ADPC is operating as an autonomous international organization governed by the Board of Trustees.
• Headquarter: Bangkok, Thailand and sub-centers in the country of operations are the operational parts of ADPC.

• The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given the green light for a black tiger safari in Similipal, Odisha.
• The safari will be situated 10 kilometers from Baripada, in the Manchiapada region, covering an area of 100 acres.

Key points:

• Tigers with the rare black gene from Nandankanan Zoological Park will be relocated to this new safari.
• The safari is expected to open for tourists by the end of this year.

Historical Context and Current Developments:

• Odisha is increasingly being recognized as a safe haven for tigers, with several tigers traveling great distances to settle in the state.
• Notably, a tiger named Nandan, identified through genetic studies, originated from central India and arrived in Nandankanan in 2013.
• Recently, two more tigers from the central India landscape have migrated to Odisha.

Impact on Tiger Population:

• The establishment of the black tiger safari is expected to further boost the number of tigers in the state, contributing to conservation efforts and attracting tourism.

• The state government has rebranded the Make-in-Odisha conclave to ‘Utkarsha Utkal’ as part of its strategy to attract both domestic and foreign investments.

Key points:

• Investment Goals: The BJP government aims to draw over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in domestic investment and over $2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) by 2029.

Budget Allocations and Schemes:

• Budgetary Support: An allocation of Rs 120 crore has been earmarked in the 2024-25 budget to support investment activities and promotional efforts.
• PROSPER-Odisha Scheme: The government will implement this scheme to establish industrial clusters and support 1,000 entrepreneurs annually, with a proposed outlay of Rs 808 crore.

• The education sector in Odisha has been allocated Rs 35,536 crore for the current year. 
• This is an increase of Rs 5,506 crore from the previous year’s budget of Rs 30,030 crore.
• School Education: The budget for school education has risen from Rs 22,528 crore last year to Rs 26,391 crore this year.

New Initiatives and Schemes:

• Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Scheme: To address dropout rates among tribal students, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi announced a new scheme providing an annual grant of Rs 5,000 to every ST student who progresses from Class 8/10 to Class 9/11. This scheme is expected to benefit around three lakh tribal students.

• Gangadhar Meher Shikshya Manakbrudhi Yojana: To combat dropout rates, this scheme has been allocated Rs 409 crore, a significant increase from the previous year’s allocation of Rs 155 crore.
• Godabarisha Mishra Adarsha Prathamika Vidyalaya: A new scheme with an allocation of Rs 50 crore aims to enhance the quality of primary education in rural and semi-urban areas.
• Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas: The initiative will receive Rs 935 crore. Additionally, Rs 25 crore has been proposed for PM SHRI schools.
• Mo School Renaming: The ‘Mo School’ program will be renamed ‘Panchasakha Shikshya Setu Abhiyan,’ with a proposed budget of Rs 332 crore.
• Heritage School Development: Rs 1 crore has been allocated for the maintenance of 45 schools that are over 100 years old.

Higher Education Funding:

• • Increased Allocation: The budget for higher education has been increased from Rs 3,173 crore last year to Rs 3,478 crore this year. Of this amount, Rs 280 crore is designated for the development of infrastructure in government colleges and universities.
• PM-USHA Scheme: The third phase of the RUSA scheme, now renamed PM-USHA, will receive Rs 155 crore.

• Research Promotion: Rs 36 crore has been allocated under the Odisha University Research and Innovation Incentivisation Plan to promote research.
• Odia University Funding: The allocation for the new Odia university at Satyabadi has been increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore.

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