Daily UPSC Current Affairs for UPSC- 08 December 2022 | Prelims Bits

‘Geo-Ladakh’- Spatial Data Infrastructure geoportal for UT-Ladakh

Geo-Ladakh in News

• Union Minister of State Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that Government of UT – Ladakh has approached the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), for developing “Spatial Data Infrastructure geoportal ‘Geo-Ladakh’ for UT-Ladakh”.
  • Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) is a unit of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Presently, ISRO is setting up an optical tele-scope at Hanle for tracking spacecraft and space objects.

What is Geo-Ladakh?

• Geo-Ladakh project encompasses spatial database generation (water resources, vegetation and energy potential) using remote sensing, geospatial techniques and the development of a Geo-portal for hosting this database.
• The Geo-Ladakh project also aims towards training of UT-Ladakh officials on Geospatial techniques and applications.
• Geo-Ladakh Portal provides geospatial data visualization and analytics for UT-Ladakh, consisting of Spatial viewer, Carbon Neutrality, Geospatial utlility mapping and Geo-Tourism.
• An MoU was also signed between IIRS (ISRO) and UT-Ladakh Administration on January 1, 2022 towards carrying out the above work.
• The potential of space technology could be used for generating the spatial database on-
  • Time series snow cover,
  • Fresh water availability,
  • Sites for renewable energy potential (solar and wind),
  • Availability of alpine pastures/grazing lands for natural resource management and
  • Change assessment at periodic interval.

NaviC System- Usage in India Increased

NaviC System in News

• Recently, the Union Science and Technology Minister in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, informed that the usage of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NaviC system) has increased in India.

Why usage of NaviC System is increasing?

• NavIC finds utilisation in national projects like public vehicle safety, power grid synchronisation, real-time train information system, fishermen safety, etc.
• Other upcoming initiatives viz. common alert protocol-based emergency warning, time dissemination, geodetic network, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc. are in the process of adopting NavIC system.
• Mobile phone models in the country are already having NavIC compatibility.
• Department of Space is constantly engaged with the manufacturers of mobile phones and chipsets to support them technically for adding NavIC compatibility in their devices.

What is NaviC System?

• NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• NavIC was originally approved in 2006 at a cost of $174 million.
• It was expected to be completed by late 2011, but only became operational in 2018.
• NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km (930 miles) from its boundaries.

Use of NavIC System

• NavIC system provides signals for positioning.
• Applications like Google Maps can utilize the position obtained through NavIC or other similar system and display it on a map or other user interface for easy visualization.
• Signals provided by NavIC system are agnostic to the end-user application.
• Hence, a mobile phone which has NavIC compatibility automatically uses NavIC signals when showing position on maps.
  • Performance of NavIC system is at par with the other positioning systems.

Sakhi-One Stop Centres

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme

RoDTEP Scheme in News

• Recently, the Union Government expanded the scope of RoDTEP Scheme (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products).

Increased Scope of RoDTEP Scheme 

• RoDTEP Scheme includes the exports made from the Chemical sector, Pharmaceuticals sector and exports of articles of iron & steel under chapters 28, 29, 30 and 73 of ITC(HS) schedule of items.
• The expanded list of items under RoDTEP Scheme will be applicable for exports made from 15^thDecember, 2022.
• Expanding the scope of RoDTEP Scheme will go a long way in boosting our exports and competitiveness in the global markets, generate employment and contribute to the overall economy.
• The expanded list of eligible export itemsunder Appendix 4R will increase from current 8,731 export items (8 digit tariff lines) to 10,342 export items (8 digit tariff lines).

What is RoDTEP Scheme?

• RoDTEP is based on the globally accepted principle that taxes and duties should not be exported, and taxes and levies borne on the exported products should be either exempted or remitted to exporters.
• The RoDTEP scheme rebates/refunds the embedded Central, State and local duties/taxes to the exporters that were so far not being rebated/refunded.

• The scheme is being implemented from 1^st January 2021 and the rebate is issued as a transferable electronic scrip by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) in an end to end IT environment.

Scope of Freedom of Speech and Expression

One District One Product (ODOP) initiative operationally merged with ‘Districts as Export Hub (DEH)’ initiative

One District One Product (ODOP) Initiative in News

• Recently, ODOP initiative was operationally merged with ‘Districts as Export Hub (DEH)’ initiative of the DGFT, Department of Commerce, with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as a major stakeholder.

One District One Product (ODOP) Initiative

• Central Government has initiated One District One Product (ODOP) in all States/UTs of the country, as a transformational step towards realizing the true potential of a district, fueling economic growth, generating employment and rural entrepreneurship, taking us to the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• The ODOP Initiative is aimed at fostering balanced regional development across all districts of the country, enabling holistic socio-economic growth across all regions.
• The objective is to focus on District of the country as unit for converting into a manufacturing and export hub by identifying products with export potential in the District.
• The Department of Commerce is engaging with State and Central Government agencies to promote the initiative of ODOP, which is an on-going process.

Key Achievements of One District One Product (ODOP) initiative

• The ODOP GeM Bazaar was launched on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) on 29th August 2022 with over 200 product categories created on the platform to promote sales and procurement of ODOP products across the country.
• ODOP products are showcased in various International forums such as World Economic Forum, DAVOS in May 2022, at International Yoga day (IYD) in New York, US in June 2022 etc.

The ODOP initiative has been identified for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in Holistic Development through One District One Product (ODOP) category in April, 2022.

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UPSC Daily Current Affairs – 06th December 2022 | Prelims Bits

UPSC Daily Current Affairs – 06th December 2022 | Prelims Bits

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