State PCS

• 17 Jan 2024

UP Lead in Pulling People Out of Poverty

Why in News?

According to ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06’, a paper issued by the NITI Aayog, Uttar Pradesh maintained its lead among states in pulling the maximum number of people out of multidimensional poverty (MDP) in the past nine years.

• The organisation flagged that 5.94 crore people in UP had emerged from MDP.

Key Points

• In the paper, it had pointed out that from 37.68% in 2015-16, the number of multi-dimensional poor in UP came down to 22.95% in 2019-21.
• In the NITI Aayog’s paper, it states that in 2022-23, this figure is reduced to 17.40%.
  • NITI Aayog considered 12 indicators aligned with sustainable development goals to measure multidimensional poverty.
• Oxford Policy and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), also contributed to the paper.
  • According to the report, multidimensional poverty in India was found to have declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23 with 24.82 crore people escaping poverty during this period.

NITI Aayog

• The Planning Commission was replaced by a new institution – NITI Aayog on 1^st January, 2015 with emphasis on ‘Bottom –Up’ approach to envisage the vision of Maximum Governance, Minimum Government, echoing the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism’.
• It has two Hubs:
  • Team India Hub acts as an interface between States and Centre.
  • Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds the think-tank acumen of NITI Aayog.

Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)

• OPHI is an economic research and policy centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. It was established in 2007.
• It aims to build and advance a more systematic methodological and economic framework for reducing multidimensional poverty, grounded in people’s experiences and values.

Accounts Linked to Cybercriminals Frozen

Why in News?

Recently, 8,674 bank accounts, allegedly linked to cybercriminals, have been frozen in Jharkhand on suspicion that these were being used for phishing activities.

• The maximum of 2002 accounts were frozen in Deoghar district, followed by 1,183 in Dhanbad and 959 in Ranchi.

Key Points

• The details of frozen accounts were received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre and a district and bank-wise list of such information was prepared.
• The data will be shared with the superintendent of police of all districts and banks for verification of the accounts.
• The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been carrying out a massive operation against cybercriminals in Jharkhand.
  • 495 people have been arrested for allegedly being involved in cybercrimes, and First Information Report (FIRs) lodged against 107 for cyber frauds in the past three months.
  • 1,164 mobile phones and 1,725 SIM cards have also been seized during operations against cybercrimes.
  • Raids against cybercriminals are being conducted regularly in various districts, including Deoghar, Giridih, Bokaro, Jamtara and Ranchi.

Cyber Crime

• Cybercrime is defined as a crime where a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a tool to commit an offense.
• It involves illegal or unauthorized activities that exploit technology to commit various forms of crimes.
• Types:
  • Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks: These are used to make an online service unavailable and take the network down by overwhelming the site with traffic from a variety of sources.
  • Botnets: Botnets are networks from compromised computers that are controlled externally by remote hackers. The remote hackers then send spam or attack other computers through these botnets.
  • Identity Theft: This cybercrime occurs when a criminal gains access to a user’s personal information or confidential information and then tries to tarnish reputation or seek a ransom.
  • Cyberstalking: This kind of cybercrime involves online harassment where the user is subjected to a plethora of online messages and emails. Typically, cyberstalks use social media, websites, and search engines to intimidate a user and instill fear.
  • Phishing: It is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

• Established in 1902 by the British Government, CID is an investigation and intelligence department of state police. On the other hand, CBI is an agency of the Central Government.
• CID is looking into murder, assault, riot or any cases as directed by respective High Courts.

Medical College and Hospital in Panchkula

Why in News?

Recently, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of a medical college and hospital in Panchkula.

Key Points

• The project is expected to cost over Rs 800 crore, to be constructed over 30 acres of land at Sector 32 in Panchkula by the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikarn (HSVP).
• The initial phase will involve an expenditure of Rs 500 crore, with an anticipated additional expenditure of Rs 300 crore. The entire project is slated to be completed within 30 months.
• The number of medical colleges in the state will increase to 29 in the future and the MBBS seats will go up to 3,500.
  • The number of postgraduate medical seats in the state is set to rise from 851 to 1,200, addressing the need for specialised doctors.
  • Para-medical colleges and physiotherapy colleges will also be set up within these medical colleges.
  • Medical colleges are being established across the state, such as Shri Krishna Ayurveda Vishwavidyalaya in Kurukshetra, an Ayush AIIMS in Panchkula for natural treatment, and the Kalpana Chawla University of Health Sciences in Kutail.

Haryana Panel to Decide Aid in Accidents Due to Stray Animals

Why in News?

According to Haryana chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal, the state government was taking significant steps to address accidents/incidents caused by stray animals.

Key Points

• A committee, chaired by the deputy commissioner, in all districts has been established to determine compensation in such cases, with decisions expected within four months of claim submission.
• The committee includes members such as the superintendent of police or deputy superintendent of police (traffic), sub-divisional magistrate, and a representative of the chief medical officer.
  • The committee will adhere to the guidelines and standards of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, while deciding on compensation for such cases.
  • The decision will be forwarded to the principal secretary of the department concerned or the project director of the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India), who must disburse compensation to the claimant within six weeks.
• Stray animals, for the purpose of compensation, encompass animals like cows, bulls, dogs, donkeys, nilgai and buffaloes.
• The Chandigarh high court has specified compensation amounts, such as Rs 10,000 for a dog’s bite and a minimum of Rs 20,000 for injuries caused by a dog bite.
• ‘Deen Dayal Antyodaya Parivar Suraksha Yojana’ was already in operation to provide compensation for such accidents.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Parivar Suraksha Yojana

• Government of Haryana announced the launch of 'Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Parivar Suraksha Yojana' in the budget for the financial year 2023-24.
• Under this scheme, on the basis of the data verified in Family Information Data Repository (FIDR), financial assistance will be provided on the death or permanent disability of a member of a family above the age of 6 years and upto the age of 60 years having an annual income less than Rs 1.80 lakh.
• The scheme will provide assistance based on the age of the individual at the time of death or permanent disability.

Cheetah Dies at Kuno National Park

Why in News?

Recently, another Namibian cheetah dies in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park.

• This is the tenth death among cheetahs brought from South Africa's Namibia in 2022.

Key Points

• Cheetahs have been extinct in India for around 70 years. Project Cheetah is an initiative to reintroduce the species into the country.
• According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), this is the first intercontinental reintroduction of a wild, large carnivore species.
• The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), a non-profit organisation in Namibia, was invited by the government of India to participate in a programme to reintroduce cheetahs to India.
• The then MoEF shared the first overview of Project Cheetah in September 2010.
  • This outlined the current status of cheetahs around the world, the benefits and complexities of reintroducing cheetahs into India, and areas where they may be reintroduced, along with information about the task force.
  • In January 2020, the Supreme Court approved the pilot programme to reintroduce cheetahs into the country.
  • In July 2020, India and the Republic of Namibia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), where the Namibian government agreed to donate the eight felines to the programme.
• Five female and three male Southeast African cheetahs between the ages of four and six were brought to India and kept in quarantine in Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.
• In February 2023, 12 more cheetahs were brought from South Africa to expand on the project. The MoEFCC further planned "to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years,"

Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)

• The CCF is a research and lobby institution in Namibia concerned with the study and sustenance of the country's cheetah population, the largest and healthiest in the world.
• Its Research and Education Centre, located east of Otjiwarongo.
• The CCF was founded in 1990 by conservation biologist Laurie Marker who won the 2010 Tyler Prize for her efforts in Namibia.

Kuno National Park

• Kuno National Park which is located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district is home to several cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa.
• Project Cheetah in India formally commenced on September 17, 2022, to restore the population of cheetahs, which were declared extinct in the country in 1952.

Project e-Adhigam and iDream Education

Why in News?

In 2022, the School Education Department, Government of Haryana has launched project e-Adhigam giving Samsung tablets to every Government School student of classes 10^th, 11^th and 12^th in Haryana.

• It comes with an integrated Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) solution for remedial and supplementary learning support.

Key Points

• For the PAL platform on these tablets, the Department has awarded work to three PAL solution providers to iDream Education.
  • iPrep PAL has been designed to become the one-stop, all-inclusive supplementary learning platform for students, including adaptive and dynamic access to animated video lessons, DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) content, practice questions, digital books and reference material, and practicals with simulations.
• e-Adhigam (Advanced Digital Haryana Initiative of Government with Adaptive Module) became the first of its kind, planned PAL on tablets project in the country.
  • Digital devices with pre-installed Personalized adaptive learning applications have been provided to all students for both in-school and at-home learning under teacher guidance and monitoring.
  • The tablets are issued to every student at the beginning of the academic year, they use it for learning in classrooms and revision at home throughout the year.
  • The tablets are then returned to the school at the end of the academic year, before being reissued to the new batch.
• Every student's usage and learning outcomes data are deeply tracked through central reporting dashboards, and student level usage and learning improvements are monitored through detailed analytics.
• PAL on tablets is one of the best ways to empower government school students to cover their previous year's learning gaps in a personalized, enjoyable and non-judgemental learning environment and achieve their grade-level learning objectives.

Note:

• iDream Education works with a vision to facilitate universal access to learning and growth. Solutions are designed to break the learning barriers and empower students to learn unlimitedly.
• To achieve this, it partners with System Integrators, Government, CSR, NGOs, and other ecosystem partners working with schools and students to deliver its digital content and learning platform through Smart Classrooms, ICT Labs, Tablets, Notebooks, and Mobile Devices.