Daily Current Affairs for UPSC, IAS, UPPSC/UPPCS, BPSC, MPPSC, RPSC and All State PCS Examinations

Manodarpan, An Initiative Under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

IN NEWS

• Union HRD Minister to launch Manodarpan, an initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being.

PURPOSE

• During the COVID pandemic, the HRD Ministry felt the need to focus on continuing education on the academic front and the mental well-being of the students. The Ministry has, therefore, taken up an initiative, named, ‘MANODARPAN’ covering a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health & well-being during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
• ‘Manodarpan’ means mirror of mind which would enable the students to talk about their issues and problems they have been facing in the times of COVID-19. Also now that the results for Board exams have been released by CBSE, ICSE and many state boards the students would need emotional help more.
• The ‘Manodarpan’ initiative has been included in the ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ABHIYAN, as a part of strengthening human capital and increasing productivity and efficient reform and initiatives for the education sector.

SOME IMPORTANT ADVISORY IN THIS APP

• Tips for Parents to Help Children with Special Needs
• Learning Life Skills
• Adolescent Stress
• Unlock Family Togetherness

IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF MANODARPAN

• Advisory Guidelines for students, teachers and faculty of School systems and Universities along with families.
• Web page on the MHRD website
• National level database and directory of counselors
• National Toll-free Helpline
• Handbook on Psychosocial Support: Enriching Life skills & Wellbeing of Students
• Interactive Online Chat Platform
• Webinars, audio-visual resources including videos, posters, flyers, comics, and short films

CONCLUSION

• As India introduces measures to restrict movement as part of efforts to reduce the number of people infected with COVID-19, more and more of us are making huge changes to our daily routines.
• The new realities of school exams and results, working from home, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues take time to get used to.They can be particularly difficult for people with mental health conditions.
• Fortunately, there are lots of things that we can do to look after our own mental health and to help others who may need some extra support and care.Manodarpan could be game changer in this scenario.

CCRGA Issues Notice to Government of NCT of Delhi

IN NEWS

• The Supreme Court mandated Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising (CCRGA) has today issued a notice to Government of NCT of Delhi on an advertisement of the Delhi Government.

ABOUT

• The Committee had taken suo-moto cognizance of the points raised in the social media on the Delhi Government advertisement - questions had been raised on the necessity of Delhi Government to issue advertisements in Mumbai newspapers and had pointed that the purpose of the ad was only for political messaging.

SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES

• Under the Supreme Court guidelines dated 13th May, 2015 - the content of government advertisements should be relevant to the governments’ constitutional and legal obligations as well as the citizens’ rights and entitlements.
• The writ petitions was filed in public interest, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, to throw light on the enduring issue of use of publicly funded government advertising campaigns as de facto political advertising canvass which is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. (Common Cause Versus Union of India)

CCRGA

• As per the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court in 2015, the Government of India in 2016 had set up a Three Member Body consisting of “persons with unimpeachable neutrality and impartiality and who have excelled in their respective fields” to look into Content Regulation of Government funded advertisements in all media platforms.
• The Committee is empowered to address complaints from the general public on violation of the Supreme Court guidelines and make suitable recommendations.
• The Committee can also take suo-moto cognizance of any violation/ deviation of the Supreme Court guidelines and recommend corrective actions.
• Presently the CCRGA is chaired by Shri Om Prakash Rawat, former Chief Election Commissioner of India and the Members are Shri Ramesh Narayan and Dr. Ashok Kumar Tandon.
• The tenure of the members would be initially for a period of two years which shall be extendable by one year at a time, but overall extension should not be more than two times.

Rafale Aircraft

Why in NEWS?

• The first batch of five Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale is likely to arrive in India by the end of July 2020. The aircraft will be inducted at Air Force Station Ambala on 29th July subject to weather.

About

• The final induction ceremony will take place in second half of August 20 wherein full media coverage would be planned.
• IAF aircrew and ground crew have undergone comprehensive training on the aircraft, including its highly advanced weapons systems and are fully operational now.
• Post arrival, efforts will focus on operationalization of the aircraft at the earliest.

About Rafale

• It is a twin-engine medium multi-role combat aircraft.
• It is manufactured by the French company Dassault Aviation.
• Rafale has 'Omnirole' i.e. capability to perform several actions at the same time.
• It can also carry out interceptions during the same flight.
• The aircraft is fitted with an on-board oxygen generation system (OBOGS).
• It suppresses the need for liquid oxygen re-filling or ground support for oxygen production.
• The advanced Rafale aircraft can carry a nuclear weapon, and deploy long range air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs with different warheads and non-guided classic bombs.
• It can attain a maximum speed of Mach 1.8/750 kt (2,222.6 km per hour) and can climb up to 50,000 ft.
• While Sukhoi 30 MKI can carry ammunition up to 8,000 kg, Rafale can easily carry bombs up to 9,500 kg.
• It can carry out both air-to-ground as well as air-to-air attacks, including all combat aviation missions, including air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence.

Zoram Mega Food Park

Why in NEWS ?

• Minister of Food Processing Industry Harsimrat Kaur Badal e-inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Mizoram on July 20, 2020.

About

• This is the first Mega Food Park operationalized in the State of Mizoram.
• It has been set up under the ‘Mega Food Park Scheme’.
• It will provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers in the CPC (Core Processing Centre) and PPC (primary processing Centre) catchment areas.

Mega Food Park (MFP)/Scheme

• Scheme launched by Government of India in 2008 provides financial assistance up to Rs. 50 crore per project to setup modern infrastructure facilities for food processing called Mega Food Parks.
• It aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastage, increasing farmer income and creating employment opportunities particularly in rural sector.
• The Mega Food Park Scheme is based on “Cluster” approach and envisages creation of state of art support infrastructure in a well-defined agri / horticultural zone for setting up of modern food processing units in the industrial plots provided in the park with well-established supply chain.
• Mega food park typically consist of supply chain infrastructure including collection centres, primary processing centres, central processing centres, cold chain and around 25-30 fully developed plots for entrepreneurs to set up food processing units.
• It includes the creation of infrastructure for primary processing and storage near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) and Collection Centres (CCs) and common facilities and enabling infrastructure like roads, electricity, water, ETP facilities etc. at Central Processing Centre (CPC).