What is the significance of The National Intelligence Grid?

• The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is the integrated intelligence master database structure for counter-terrorism purpose connecting databases of various core security agencies under Government of India collecting comprehensive patterns.

Significance of The National Intelligence Grid

• It will provide details relating to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details, among others, from a common platform to multiple security and intelligence agencies.
• It would also help the police and the Intelligence Bureau keep a tab on persons with suspicious backgrounds.
• Help to identify, capture and prosecute terrorists

PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education

• Union HRD Minister virtually released PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education.
• To mitigate the impact of the pandemic, schools will not only have to remodel and reimagine the way teaching and learning but will also need to introduce a suitable method of delivering quality education through a healthy mix of schooling at home and schooling at school.
• PRAGYATA guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online/blended/digital education for students who are presently at home due to lockdown.
• The guidelines stress upon the use of alternative academic calendar of NCERT, for both, learners having access to digital devices and learners having limited or no access.
• The PRAGYATA guidelines include eight steps of online/ digital learning that is, Plan- Review- Arrange- Guide- Yak(talk)- Assign- Track- Appreciate.

India dropped from Chabahar Port deal

• The Iranian government has announced that it will proceed with the construction of a railway line linking the Chabahar port with Afghanistan on its own, citing delays from India in funding and starting the project.
• India has invested $500 million (approximately Rs 3,700 crore) in the Chabahar project.
• The entire project would be completed by March 2022.
• The project aimed to connect the country with Afghanistan and Central Asia through a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, bypassing Pakistan.
• In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed the trilateral agreement to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia. The deal also represented a strategic victory for India over China, which has been competing to develop the port.
• Chabahar Port
• Located on the Gulf of Oman.
• It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti.
• India can bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan.
• Will boost India’s access to Iran, the key gateway to the International North-South Transport Corridor that has sea, rail and road routes between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.
• Chabahar port will be beneficial to India in countering Chinese presence in the Arabian Sea.
• Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON) had promised assistance to the railway line project. However, the work was never started as the United States imposed sanctions on Iran.
• India has already zeroed out its oil imports from Iran due to USA sanctions.

Google to invest 10 billion USD in India

• The investment will mainly focus Digital India initiative of Government of India.
• It is named the investment as “India Digitisation fund”.
• The firm is to focus largely on small and medium sized businesses and help them digitize their journey
• Fund would focus on areas such as enabling affordable access to the Internet and to information for every Indian in their own language; building new products and services in segments like consumer tech, education, health and agriculture; empowering businesses, especially small and medium ones, to transform digitally.
• Significance given the impending gap in the country’s tech investment ecosystem following the Centre’s clampdown on Chinese technology firms.

NABARD to give banks refinance of Rs 5,000 cr

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development will provide Rs 5,000 crore of refinance scheme for banks and financial institutions for providing finance to the beneficiaries of its 2,150 watershed development projects.
• These projects are spread over 2.3 million hectares of watershed, tribal development and rainfed areas
• The development finance institution also earmarked another Rs 5,000 crore for turning Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), building blocks of the country’s cooperative banking structure, into multi service centres.

Current COVID19 Situation in India

QUIZ TIME

PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education are for

1. School children
2. College students
3. Researchers
4. None of the above

Answer – A

Chabahar Port is located in

1. Gulf of Kutch
2. Gulf of Mannar
3. Gulf of Oman
4. Persian Gulf

Answer -C

Why India dropped from Chabahar Port deal?

1. Due to delay from India’s side
2. India zeroed out its oil imports from Iran due to USA sanctions
3. Both A and B
4. None of the above

Answer – C

Nabard to give banks refinance of Rs 5,000 for which of the following?

1. River development project
2. Road development project
3. Watershed development projects
4. Farmers development

Answer – C

Question of the Day

What are Primary Agricultural Credit Societies?

Answer in next session…