UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 13-08-2020

Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP)

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) an initiative by the NITI Aayog, in collaboration with Dell Technologies has launched Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP).
• AIM is establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in schools across India with a vision to cultivate one million children in India as neoteric (modern) innovators.
• SEP will allow student innovators of ATLs to work closely with Dell volunteers.
• It provides training on business and entrepreneurship skills to students.
• They will receive mentor support, prototyping and testing support, end-user feedback, intellectual property registration and patenting of ideas, processes, and products, manufacturing support, as well as the launch support of the product in the market.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

• It aims to create a paradigm shift where children as young as 12 years of age are being introduced to the world of technology innovation.
• Eligibility - Schools (minimum Grade VI - X) managed by Government, local body or private trusts/society.
• Financial Support - It provides grant-in-aid of Rs. 20 Lakh to each school that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5 years to each ATL.

PM-SVANidhi

• The number of loan sanctions and number of applications received under PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme have crossed the mark of 1 lakh and 5 lakhs respectively within 41 days of commencement of the lending process on July 02, 2020.  
• The PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs under the ambit of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
• It aims at facilitating collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure.
• It covers about 50 lakh street vendors in the urban areas, including those from the surrounding peri-urban/ rural areas, to resume their businesses post COVID-19 lockdown.
• Features of the scheme

1. Incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on regular repayment of loan.
2. Cashback up to Rs 1,200 per annum on undertaking prescribed digital transactions.
3. Eligibility for enhanced next tranche of loan have also been provided.

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the implementation partner for the scheme.
• A graded guarantee cover is provided, on portfolio basis, to these lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to encourage lending to street vendors.

Human-Elephant Conflict

• World Elephant Day is observed yearly on August 12.
• It aims to spread worldwide awareness for the conservation and protection of elephants from the numerous threats they face.
• It was launched on August 12, 2012, to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
• Escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and mistreatment in captivity are some common threats to both African and Asian elephants.
• Recently MoEFCC has compiled a guide highlighting the best practices of human-elephant conflict management in India.

• The best practices have been discussed under several categories such as retaining elephants in their natural habitats by creating water sources and management of forest fires.
• The other best practices include

1. Elephant-proof trenches in Tamil Nadu,
2. Hanging wire electric fences and rubble walls in Karnataka,
3. Use of chili smoke in north Bengal,
4. Playing the sound of bees or carnivores in Assam.

MSME Restructuring scheme

• Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) announced restructuring package for small businesses in 2019.

• It aimed to recast Rs. 1 lakh crore of loans for 7 lakh eligible micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• The scheme announced by RBI is a one-time scheme wherein a loan tenor and interest rate can be revised without classifying the asset as a NPA.
• The facility is available for standard advances of up to Rs 25 crore only.
• Banks will need to make a provision of 5% towards these restructured loans.
• As per the existing scheme, the borrower account had to be standard as on January 1, 2020.
• Recently Union government has extended the scheme till March 2021.

OSOWOG

• The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had invited proposals for implementing ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) in May 2020.
• The concept of OSOWOG was introduced in the Global RE-Invest meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the first assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• OSOWOG is India’s initiative to build a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources.
•  The blueprint will be developed under the World Bank’s technical assistance programme that is implemented to accelerate the deployment of grid connected rooftop solar installations.
• OSOWOG is planned to be completed in three phases.

1. Phase I - It will entail interconnectivity within the Asian continent.
2. Phase II - It will add Africa.
3. Phase III - It will globalize the whole project.   

• This is seen as India’s counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO)

• BSISO is a movement of convection (heat) from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean roughly every 10-50 days during the monsoon (June-September).
• The BSISO of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is one of the most prominent sources of short-term climate variability in the global monsoon system.
• Researchers at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad have reportedly found a way to better forecast the Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO).
• They found that waves induced by active phases of BSISO are nearly 0.5 meters higher than those which occur during other phases of BSISO.
• The active phase (between June and August) enhances monsoon winds and hence the surface waves.
• Some other phases induce high wave activity in the north Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea
• Compared with the related Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) it is more complex in nature, with prominent northward propagation and variability extending much further from the equator.
• Wave forecast advisories based on the BSISO would be more useful for efficient coastal and marine management.

Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)

• MJO is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.
• It can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.
• It’s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• The MJO consists of two parts or phases.
• Enhanced rainfall (or convective) phase - winds at the surface converge, and the air is pushed up throughout the atmosphere.
• Such rising air motion in the atmosphere tends to increase condensation and rainfall.
• Suppressed rainfall phase - winds converge at the top of the atmosphere, forcing air to sink and, later, to diverge at the surface.
•  As air sinks from high altitudes, it warms and dries, which suppresses rainfall.
• The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), El Nino and MJO are all oceanic and atmospheric phenomena, which affect weather on a large scale.
• IOD only pertains to the Indian Ocean, but the other two affect weather on a global scale-up to the mid-latitudes.
• IOD and El Nino remain over their respective positions, while MJO is a traversing phenomenon.

Source: PIB, the Hindu