Uttar Pradesh

• 17 Mar 2025

Swavalambini

Why in News? 

Recently, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ( MSDE ) in collaboration with NITI Aayog launched the women entrepreneurship programme Swavalambini at Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut . 

Key Points 

• About Swavalambini: 
  • Swavalambani It is a women entrepreneurship program aimed at empowering women by helping them develop an entrepreneurial mindset, providing necessary resources and guidance for business success. 
  • Program structure:  
    • A phase-wise entrepreneurship process is initiated comprising Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme (EAP), Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP), Faculty Development Programme (FDP ) and Financing . 
    • This will involve recognising and rewarding successful enterprises, which will inspire others and establish a clear framework for promoting women-led enterprises in India. 
    • Strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship in higher education institutions, making business creation a viable career path for women.  
    • Promote women-led enterprises as a key driver of India's economic transformation. 
  • Aligned with national policies: 
    • National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promotes skill integration, industry collaboration, and entrepreneurship-driven education. 
    • Swavalambanni works on this by ensuring financial and consultancy support for women entrepreneurs . 
    • It strengthens initiatives like Start-up India , Stand-up India , PM Mudra Yojana and Women Entrepreneurship Platform . 
    • Swavalambanni is in line with Union Budget 2025 , which launches a Rs 10,000 crore start-up fund and 100% tax exemption on start-up dividends for the first five years , providing crucial financial support to emerging women-led enterprises. 

Women Entrepreneurship Scenario in India 

• Total MSMEs in India: Over 63 million, Women-owned MSMEs 20% (12.39 million). 
• Employment Contribution: Women-led MSMEs provide employment to 22-27 million people. 
• India Ranking in Women Entrepreneurship: India is currently ranked 57th out of 65 countries in the Mastercard Index on Women Entrepreneurship (MIWE) 2021 . 
  • India ranks 70th among 77 nations in the Global Female Entrepreneurship Index (FEI) as estimated by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute. 
• Top states with highest participation of women-led MSMEs: West Bengal (23.42%), Tamil Nadu (10.37%), Telangana (7.85%), Karnataka (7.56%), and Andhra Pradesh (6.76%). 

Multi-Modal Logistics Park in Varanasi

Why in News? 

 An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed  between National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop a state-of-the-art Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) at Varanasi 

Key Points 

• About MMLP: 
  • Objective:  
    • It aims to strengthen the supply chain by seamless freight movement through road, rail and water routes, reducing costs and increasing business efficiency. 
  • Significance and Impact: 
    • Spread over 150 acres, the park will have direct connectivity to NH7 and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) , making freight transportation smooth and affordable. 
    • Connectivity with National Waterway-1 (NW-1) will facilitate cargo transportation through waterways , thereby reducing transportation costs . 
    • The construction of this logistics park will attract significant investments , which will give a boost to the economy of Uttar Pradesh. 
    • Traders, industries and MSMEs will benefit at local and national level , leading to increased production and exports . 
    • This project will generate direct and indirect employment opportunities at the local level . 
    • The logistics sector will be modernized , which will pave the way for developing such centres in other cities in the future. 
    • It will act as a model under the Gati Shakti scheme and multi-modal connectivity, promoting such projects in other states as well. 

 Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) 

• IWAI is a statutory body under the Ministry of Shipping . 
• It develops and maintains inland water transport infrastructure on national waterways through grants received from the Ministry of Shipping. 
• The Authority has its head office at Noida (Uttar Pradesh) with regional offices at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Rakka and Kollam. 

 Prime Minister's Gati Shakti scheme 

• Objective: To ensure integrated planning and implementation of basic infrastructure projects over the next four years with a focus on accelerating work on the ground, reducing costs and creating employment. 
  • The Gati Shakti plan subsumes the Rs 110 lakh crore ' National Infrastructure Pipeline ' launched in the year 2019 . 
  • Apart from cutting logistics costs, the scheme aims to increase cargo handling capacity and reduce turnaround time at ports to boost trade. 
    • It also aims to build 11 industrial corridors and two new defence corridors (one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Uttar Pradesh). Under this, 4G connectivity will be expanded to all villages.  
    • Also, a plan is being made to add 17,000 km of capacity to the gas pipeline network. 
• Integrated Approach: It entails bringing together 16 ministries dealing with infrastructure. 
• Gati Shakti Digital Platform: It involves creation of an umbrella platform through which basic infrastructure projects can be created and implemented effectively through real-time coordination between various ministries/departments. 

The Rise App

Why in News? 

 The Uttar Pradesh government has implemented the RISE app (Rapid Immunization Skill Enhancement - RISE) to ensure regular vaccination of children. 

Key Points 

• About RISE App:  
  • RISE (Responsive Immunization Support for Everyone) is a digital training and monitoring platform developed for effective implementation of immunization programs .  
  • The app provides real-time updates to help health workers monitor vaccination schedules, safety protocols, cold chain management , and adverse effects following immunization . 
  • RISE App plays a vital role in  strengthening Mission Indradhanush of the Government of India . 
  • This digital platform has been developed for staff nurses, auxiliary nurse midwives ( ANM ) and health workers to enable them to accurately monitor and effectively manage routine immunization of children. 
• Aim: 
  • The initiative aims to increase vaccination coverage , identify hesitant families and ensure proper vaccination .  
    • This app will further strengthen the safety and effectiveness of vaccination by replacing traditional training methods with a digital learning system . 
• Training and Implementation Process:  
  • The process of training health workers is being carried out in three phases: 
    • District level officers have been successfully trained in all the 75 districts of the state. 
    • Training of block-level officers is currently underway to ensure effective implementation of the programme at the ground level . 
    • After full implementation of the plan, around 52,175 vaccination personnel will be equipped with digital devices , which will increase their efficiency and data management efficiency. 

 Mission Indradhanush 

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India launched 'Mission Indradhanush' on 25 December 2014. 
• Mission Indradhanush is a booster vaccination programme, which was launched in 201 districts with low vaccination coverage. 
• It represents 7 vaccines against 7 diseases covered in the Universal Immunization Programme.  
  • These diseases are Tuberculosis, Poliomyelitis, Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus and Measles. 
• Apart from this, after inclusion of vaccines against Measles Rubella, Rotavirus, Haemophilus Influenzae Type-B and Polio, the number of these vaccines has increased to 12. 
  • In some selected states and districts, vaccines are also given against Japanese Encephalitis and Pneumococcus. 
  • To accelerate full immunization coverage, India has launched an ambitious plan – Intensified Mission Indradhanush .