Prelim Bits 06-03-2018

‘Eco-Circuits Projects’ – Swadesh darshan Scheme

Tourism Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 460.74 Crore for Five Ongoing ‘Eco Circuit’ Projects.
Eco Circuit is one of the thematic circuits identified for development under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
The five eco circuit projects are in the states of Uttrakhand, Mizoram, Kerala, Telegana and Madhya Pradesh.
The completion of the projects sanctioned under the scheme would result in increased tourist inflow thereby creating employment opportunities for the local community.
The Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme) was launched by Ministry of Tourism (MoT) – for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country.

SWADESH DHARSHAN	PRASAD SCHEME
Swadesh dharshan is a theme based tourist circuit’s development scheme.	The scheme is a National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD)
Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the following thematic circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tirtankar circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Sufi circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.	Under the PRASAD scheme thirteen sites have been identified for development, namely: Amritsar, Ajmer, Dwaraka, Mathura, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Amaravati, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Kedarnath, Kamakhya and Patna.
In the ‘Spiritual Circuit’ identified under the Swadesh Darshan scheme; the thrust is on development of particular thematic circuit consisting of various religious/spiritual destinations in a State and Union Territory.	Under the ‘PRASAD’ scheme the focus is on development and beautification of the identified pilgrimage destinations

Decline in Child Labor

As per 2011 Census, the number of main workers in the age group of 5-14 years in the country is 43.53 lakh.
This shows a decline from 2001 Census of 57.79 lakh.
After strengthening the legislative framework through amendment in Child Labour Act, Government has framed the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017 which ensures effective enforcement of the provisions of the Act.
To provide an enforcement mechanism an online portal PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement of No Child Labour) has been launched by the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
Government is also implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child labour.
Click here to know about PENCIL.

National Mission for Manuscript

National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) is engaged in documentation of Indian manuscripts.
A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value.
NMM was established by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India.
The Mission has the mandate of identifying, documenting, conserving and making accessible the manuscript heritage of India.
India possesses an estimate of 10 million manuscripts, probably the largest collection in the world, which covers a variety of themes, textures and aesthetics, scripts, languages, calligraphies, illuminations and illustrations.
NMM is working towards fulfilling its motto, ‘conserving the past for the future’.

Premium Tag for Coffee grown in Araku Valley

Coffee Board has applied for registration of Araku coffee under Geographical Indications to protect the unique identity of the coffee grown by the tribal communities of Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.
Arabica coffee from the Araku Valley area has gained popularity as a high quality speciality coffee internationally, through the “Integrated Coffee Development Project.”

Arakku valley is situated near the Odisha border in Vishakapatinam District of Andhra Pradesh.
It is a valley in the Eastern Ghats inhabited by different tribes.
It is also home to several tribes and they perform the Dimsa and Mayur dances during the Itika Pongal, the popular hunting festival in the month of April.

Saposhi – A New Malware

Cyber security agencies have detected a new malware called Saposhi, which is capable of taking over electronic devices and turning them into ‘bots’.
Once turned into bots they can be used for purpose such as a Distributed Denial of Service attack.

In 2017, CERT had issued an alert about Reaper.
Reaper is a highly evolved malware capable of hacking devices like Wi-Fi routers and security cameras and also hiding its own presence in the bot — a device taken over by a malware.
Mirai is also a malware that used a botnet of 5 lakh devices to crash the servers of Dyn, a leading domain name service provider, affecting services of popular websites like Twitter, Netflix and Reddit.

Internet of Things

A new trend in cybercrime is the exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities by IoT botnets, that was observed in malwares such as reaper and hajime.
Internet of Things or, more accurately the internet of devices, is all about connecting devices over the internet and letting them ‘talk’ to us, applications and each other.
The device may be anything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices.
It can also be components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig.
Internet of Things doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the internet; it can also be a network of things.
Some of IoT development in India are as follows,

The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), in its draft policy, targets to create an IoT industry in India of $15 billion by 2020.
Health sector where preventive therapy is becoming more important compared to Curative therapy which needs more data is relying upon the IoT.
The other two sectors are big production zones — oil rigs, generators and industrial plants — and the telecommunications world are also experiencing a major IoT development.

Map of the Day

Rivers Of USA and Canada

Source: PIB, The Hindu, Business Standard