Factly :-News Articles For UPSC Prelims | Jan 15,2021

USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) scheme

Facts:

• • USTTAD Scheme: The scheme was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
  • Aim: To upgrade the capacity building and traditional skills of master craftsmen and artisans.
  • Objectives:
    • Capacity building and upgrading of the traditional skills of master craftsmen and artisans;
    • Documentation of identified traditional arts/crafts of minorities;
    • Set standards of traditional skills;
    • Training of minority youths in various identified traditional arts/crafts through master craftsmen;
    • Develop national and international market linkages; and
    • Preservation of languishing Arts/Crafts.
• Knowledge Partners: To support Ministry and the Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) with technical inputs for capacity building of master craftsmen/artisan and upgrading their traditional skills, following knowledge partners will be involved by the Ministry:
  • National Institute of Fashion Technology.
  • Sectoral Export Promotion Councils.
  • Other expert agencies.
• Components of the scheme: The scheme has following programmes:
  • Up-gradation of Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts through Institutions.
  • USTAD Apprenticeship stipend for Research and Development.
  • Support to Craft museum for curating traditional arts/ crafts.
  • Support to minority craftsmen/artisans through Hunar Haat and Shilp Utsav for marketing their products through exhibitions throughout the country and abroad.
  • Recognition of talented Master Craftsmen & Artisans.

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One Planet Summit has commenced virtually

News: One Planet Summit has commenced virtually through videoconference.

Facts:

• • One Planet Summit: It has been organised by France in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
  • Objective: The summit focuses on four major topics 1) protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems; promoting agroecology 2) more sustainable way to grow food c) increasing funding to protect biodiversity and 4) identifying links between deforestation and the health of humans and animals.
  • Theme: “Let’s act together for nature!”.

Key Takeaways from the summit:

• • At least 50 countries committed to protecting 30% of the planet, including land and sea, over the next decade to halt species extinction and address climate change issues. However, the officials of the US, Russia, India and Brazil were absent at the summit.
    • According to a 2019 U.N. report on biodiversity, human activities are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history with extinction looming for over 1 million species of plants and animals.
  • The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People which was launched in 2019 by Costa Rica, France and Britain to set a target of protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030 has been joined by 50 countries.
  • The summit also launched a program called PREZODE which is an international initiative to prevent the emergence of zoonotic diseases and pandemics, which is already mobilizing over 400 researchers and experts across the world.
  • The summit also focused on investment for Africa’s Great Green Wall project, which involves gigantic efforts to stop the Sahara Desert from spreading further south.

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India’s first Indigenously Developed 9mm Machine Pistol

News: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed the country’s first indigenous machine pistol ASMI.

Facts:

• • ASMI: It is a 9mm Machine Pistol jointly developed by DRDO and the Indian Army. The weapon is aptly named “Asmi” meaning Pride, Self-Respect and Hard Work.
  • Range: The machine pistol can fire at a range of 100 metres and is in the class of the Uzi series guns of Israel.
  • Design: The machine sports an upper receiver made from aircraft-grade Aluminum and lower receiver from carbon fiber. The 3D Printing process has been used in designing and prototyping various parts including trigger components made by metal 3D printing.
  • Applications: The weapon has huge potential in the Armed forces as a personal weapon for heavy weapon detachments, commanders, tank and aircraft crews, drivers/dispatch riders, radio/radar operators, counter insurgency and counter-terrorism operations among others.
  • Significance: The pistol will pave way for self-reliance and it is expected to be inducted by the Services and Paramilitary Forces (PMFs).

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Henley Passport Index 2021

News: Henley & Partners has released the Henley Passport Index 2021.

Facts:

• • Henley Passport Index(HPI): It is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens.
  • When was it started? It was started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI) and was modified and renamed in January 2018.
  • Based on: The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association(IATA) which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information and research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.

Key Takeaways:

• • Topped by: Japan continues to hold the number one position on the index, with passport holders able to access 191 destinations around the world visa-free.
  • India: India ranks 85th in the index with a visa-free score of 58.
  • Neighboring countries: Pakistan (rank 107) and Nepal (rank 104) continue to be in the ‘worst passports to hold’ category with Pakistan having a visa-free score of 32 countries and Nepal having a score of 38 destinations.
  • Worst Passports: Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be the countries with the worst passports to hold with a passport score of 29, 28 and 26 respectively.

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Hisar Airport Inaugurated Under RCS-UDAN

News: Government has inaugurated the newly constructed Hisar airport in Haryana from Chandigarh under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN).

Facts:

• • Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme: It was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The scheme is a component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), 2016.
  • Aim: To develop a regional aviation market. It seeks to connect under-served and unserved airports in India through the revival of existing airstrips and airports.
  • Objectives:
    • Create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes.
    • Development of remote areas and enhancing trade and commerce and tourism expansion.
    • Employment creation in the aviation sector.
  • Duration: The scheme would be in operation for a period of 10 years.
  • Key Features of the scheme:
    • Under the scheme, airlines have to cap airfares for 50% of the total seats at Rs. 2,500 per hour of flight.
    • This would be achieved through (1) a financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators and (2) Viability Gap Funding– A government grant provided to the airlines to bridge the gap between the cost of operations and expected revenue.
    • The partner State Governments (other than North Eastern States and Union Territories where contribution will be 10 %) would contribute a 20% share to this fund.
    • Regional Connectivity Fund would be created to meet the viability gap funding requirements under the scheme.The RCF levy per departure will be applied to certain domestic flights.
• Phases Under the Scheme:
  • UDAN 1.0 and 2.0: During RCS-UDAN version 1.0 & 2.0, 66 airports were identified and 31 heliports (28 unserved heliports and 3 unserved airports).
  • UDAN 3.0: During UDAN version 3.0, to increase the tourism potential at the coastal areas, Tourism routes in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism and Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes were included.
  • UDAN 4.0: The focus of UDAN 4.0 is on priority areas like North East Region, Hilly States, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Islands.

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World’s oldest known cave painting (a wild pig image) found in Indonesia

News: Archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia – a wild pig – believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago.

Facts:

Source: Indian Express

• • About Cave Painting: The cave painting uncovered in South Sulawesi in Indonesia consists of a figurative depiction of a warty pig, a wild boar that is endemic to this Indonesian island.
  • Technique used: The researchers used a technique called uranium-series dating to analyse a mineral formation that overlapped part of the image and that must have formed after the cave art was produced. The mineral formation is at least 45,500 years old suggesting the artwork itself could be much older.
  • Significance: The painting provides the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region.
  • Is it the oldest human produced art? The painting may be the world’s oldest art depicting a figure, but it is not the oldest human-produced art. In South Africa, a hashtag-like doodle created 73,000 years ago is believed to be the oldest known drawing.

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