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in

01 7th International Dharma Dhamma Conference

CONTEXT
 The President of India Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the 7th International Dharma Dhamma
Conference in Bhopal.

Key-highlights

India Foundation is a New Delhi-based independent think tank that focuses on issues, challenges
and opportunities of Indian polity,

 Theme: Eastern Humanism for the New Era

 Organised by: India Foundation in collaboration with Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies.
 The Conference was aimed at bringing together religious, political and thought leaders from
Dharma-Dhamma traditions to ponder over building a philosophical framework for the emerging
new world order.
 The first International Dharma-Dhamma Conference was organized in 2012, at Sanchi University
(Madhya Pradesh).

The concept of Dhamma (Dharma)

 The Dhamma, as taught by the Buddha, is about overcoming dissatisfaction or suffering, which
Buddhists call dukkha.
 The Dhamma refers to Buddhist doctrine and is often interpreted to mean the ‘teachings of the
Buddha’.
 The Dhamma is one of the 'Three Refuges' of Buddhism, which are the Buddha, the Dhamma and
the Sangha.

02 International Conference on “Shared Buddhist Heritage”

CONTEXT
 The two-day international conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on “Shared
Buddhist Heritage” was inaugurated with focus on India’s civilizational connect with the SCO
nations.

About
 Organized by: Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of External Affairs and the International Buddhist
Confederation (IBC-as a grantee body of the Ministry of Culture).
 Aim of the Conference: to re-establish trans-cultural links, seek out commonalities, between
Buddhist art of Central Asia, art styles, archaeological sites and antiquity in various museums’
collections of the SCO countries.

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03 ‘Dhara: An Ode to Indian Knowledge Systems’

CONTEXT
 The unique and flagship initiative “Dhara: Ode to Indian Knowledge Systems”, taken up under
the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by Ministry of Culture has completed one year in February
2023.

About
 Dhara embodies that idea of ‘continuous flow’ of knowledge and wisdom from one age to another,
being adopted, questioned and modified over time so that we not only move ahead to the next
level of insights across various fields but do so on the back of the work that is already available to
us from our past.
 The Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) Division of the Ministry of Education located at AICTE,
New Delhi is the key execution partner for Dhara events.
 The programme was conceptualized as a series of lectures and discussions dedicated to specific
areas of inquiry highlighting India’s civilizational achievements.

SCO’s First International Conference & Expo on Traditional

04
Medicine

CONTEXT
 India inaugurated the first B2B Global Conference & Expo on Traditional Medicine under
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Guwahati, Assam.

Key-highlights of the Conference

 The Conference provided an opportunity to regulators, industries and business leaders in all the
SCO and partner countries to deliberate on various aspects of Traditional Medicine aspects such as
products, services, education, skill development, cosmetics, Herbal extracts.
 It also enabled them to further deepen the trade and friendship among each other in the area of
Traditional medicine and allied field.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

 The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is an Eurasian political,
economic, and security alliance of eight member multilateral organisation, established on 15
June 2001 in Shanghai, China.
 SCO includes 08 member states, 03 observers and 14 dialogue partner countries. India was
granted Observer status at the July 2005 Astana Summit and the status of full member on
9th June, 2017 at the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

India’s commitment to the promotion of traditional medicine

 On India’s proposal, the United Nations has declared 2023 as ‘International Year of Millet’.
 The establishment of WHO Global Centre of Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar proves that India
is a step in this direction.

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What is traditional medicine?

 The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills and practices
indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose
and treat physical and mental illness”.
 Scope: Ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well
as modern medicines.
 Traditional medicine in India is often defined as including practices and therapies — such as
yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha:
 Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country
 Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
 Sowa-Rigpa system is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as
Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti.

05 Exercise Shinyuu Maitri

CONTEXT
 The Indian Air Force (IAF) participated in Exercise Shinyuu Maitri with the Japan Air Self Defence
Force (JASDF).

About Exercise Shinyuu Maitri

 It is a bilateral military exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japan Air Self Defence
Force (JASDF).
 The IAF contingent took part in the exercise with one C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
 The exercise was organised on the sidelines of the Indo-Japan Joint Army Exercise, Dharma
Guardian.

06 Exercise La Perouse 2023

CONTEXT
 The third edition of the multilateral exercise La Perouse is scheduled to be conducted in the
Indian Ocean Region.

About
 The biennial exercise La Perouse is conducted by the French Navy.
 It is aimed at enhancing maritime domain awareness and optimising maritime coordination amongst
the participating navies in the Indo-Pacific Region.
 The two day exercise provides an opportunity for like minded navies to develop closer links in
planning, coordination and information sharing for seamless maritime operations.

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07 13th edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra

CONTEXT
 The Singapore Army and Indian Army participated in the 13th edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra,
a bilateral armour exercise from 06-13 March 2023 at Jodhpur Military Station, India.

About
 Exercise Bold Kurukshetra is conducted under the ambit of the bilateral arrangement for the joint
Army Training and exercises between the Singapore Army and the Indian Army.
 First conducted in 2005, this exercise underscores the strong and long-standing bilateral defence
relationship between both countries and enhances cooperation between the two armies.
 Both defence establishments also interact regularly through high-level visits, policy dialogues,
courses and other professional exchanges.

First meeting of the Governing Board of BIMSTEC Energy Centre

08
(BEC)

CONTEXT
 India hosted the first meeting of the Governing Board of BIMSTEC Energy Centre (BEC) in
Bengaluru.

Key-highlights of the Meeting

 There was active participation from all BIMSTEC countries viz. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar,
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand along with BIMSTEC Sectt.
 India’s “Neighbourhood first” and “Act East” Policies were highlighted during the meeting.
 As the Host of the BIMSTEC Energy Centre, India made a presentation on establishing the BIMSTEC
Energy Centre (BEC) in India.
 It was conveyed to the member countries that the BEC will be housed in the premises of the Central
Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bengaluru.

Status of energy access in BIMSTEC countries:

 Bhutan has achieved 100 per cent energy access through off-grid energy sources.

Energy Resources in the region

The BIMSTEC region encompasses vast energy resources, including:
 331 billion tonnes of coal
 718 million tonnes of oil
 76 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas
 386 GW of large hydropower
 renewable energy of 1,359 GW potential

 Nepal has achieved 78 per cent of energy access, while Bangladesh achieved 95 per cent of
energy access.

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 Myanmar reported its access to energy as 50 per cent in 2019.

 Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand have achieved 100 per cent or near 100 per cent
energy access.

09 GeM commemorates the success of “SWAYATT”

CONTEXT
 A function was held to commemorate the success of “SWAYATT”, an initiative to promote Start-ups,
Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions on Government eMarketplace (GeM).

About SWAYATT
 Launched in: 2019
 Parent Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
 SWAYATT is a government initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through
eTransactions on Government eMarketplace (GeM).
 The intent is to promote inclusiveness of various categories of sellers and service providers on the
portal, by taking proactive steps to facilitate their training and registrations of such specific category
of manufacturers and sellers, develop women entrepreneurship and encourage participation of
MSME sector and Start-ups in public procurement.

Government e Marketplace (GeM) –

 GeM is a Section 8 company setup under the administrative control of the Department of
Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for procurement of goods and services by
Central Ministries, State Departments, PSEs and Autonomous Bodies.
 Social inclusion is a core value at GeM and we are focused on increasing participation from
under-served sellers who face challenges in public procurement

10 Atal Innovation Mission launches ATL Sarthi

CONTEXT
 Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) – NITI Aayog launched ATL Sarthi, a comprehensive self-monitoring
framework to strengthen the ever-growing ecosystem of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).

About
 Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India
to foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design
thinking mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
 As of date, AIM has funded 10,000 schools to establish Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).
 AIM is continuously strengthening this ecosystem by developing tools and framework to enhance
the performance of ATLs and achieve the desired objectives. ATL Sarthi is one such initiative in this
direction.
 As the name suggests, Sarthi is a charioteer and ATL Sarthi will enable the ATLs to be efficient and
effective.

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 The initiative has four pillars ensuring the performance enhancement of ATLs through regular process
improvements like a self-reporting dashboard known as ‘MyATL Dashboard’ and Compliance
SOPs for schools to ensure financial and non-financial compliances, on-ground enablement of ATLs
in collaboration with relevant local authorities through Cluster-based Approach and providing
ownership to schools to analyze their performance through Performance-Enablement (PE)
Matrix.

11 Spice Board of India

CONTEXT
 Spices Board of India celebrated its 36th Anniversary

About
 Founded on: 26th February 1987
 Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
 Headquarters: Kochi, kerala, India
 Spices Board is the flagship organization for the development and worldwide promotion of Indian
spices.
 It was constituted with the merger of erstwhile Cardamom Board and Spices Export Promotion
Council.
 The Board functions an international link between the Indian exporters and the importers abroad and
it has been involved in various activities which touch upon every segment of the spices sector.

12 Controller General of Accounts celebrate 47th Civil Accounts Day

CONTEXT
 The Civil Accounts Day was celebrated to mark the 47th foundation day of Indian Civil Accounts
Service (ICAS) on March 1, 2023.

About Indian Civil Accounts Service

 The Indian Civil Accounts Service was constituted in 1976, after the maintenance of Accounts of the
Union government was separated from that of Audit.
 Consequently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India was divested with this responsibility.
 Two Ordinances, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of
Service) Amendment Ordinance, 1976 and Departmentalisation of Union Accounts (Transfer
of Personnel) Ordinance, 1976 were promulgated by the President on 1st of March 1976 to
initiate the process of separation of accounts from audit and paving the way for departmentalised
accounts.
 Consequently, every year on 1st of March, organization celebrates its foundation day.

About CGA
The Controller General of Accounts (CGA), in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance,
is the Principal Accounting Adviser to Government of India and is responsible for establishing and
maintaining a technically sound Management Accounting System.

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13 MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme

CONTEXT
 The government launched the MSME Competitive (LEAN) Scheme.

About the Scheme

 This Scheme is an extensive drive to create awareness amongst MSMEs about LEAN Manufacturing
practices and motivate and incentivize them to attain LEAN levels while also encouraging them to
become MSME Champions.
 Under the scheme, MSMEs will implement LEAN manufacturing tools like 5S, Kaizen, KANBAN, Visual
workplace, Poka Yoka etc under the able guidance of trained and competent LEAN Consultants to
attain LEAN levels like Basic, Intermediate and Advanced.
 Through the LEAN journey, MSMEs can reduce wastages substantially, increase productivity, improve
quality, work safely, expanding their markets, and finally becoming competitive and profitable.

14 5th Jan Aushadhi Diwas

CONTEXT
 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in collaboration with Pharmaceuticals &
Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), the implementing agency of PMBJP and States and Union
Territories is celebrating 5th Jan Aushadhi Diwas 2023 under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi
Pariyojana (PMBJP).

Jan Aushadhi Diwas

 Every year, in the first week of March, ‘Jan Aushadhi Saptah’ or Generic Medicine Week is
observed.
 March 7 is observed as ‘Jan Aushadhi Diwas’ or Generic Medicine Day, to increase awareness about
generic medicines among the people.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY).

 In 2015, the ‘Jan Aushadhi Scheme’ was revamped as ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana’
(PMJAY).
 In 2016, to give further impetus to the scheme, it was again renamed as “Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya
Janaushadhi Pariyojana” (PMBJP).
 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a campaign launched by the
Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.
 PMBJP stores have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but
are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs.

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15 Integrated Landscape Management Plan (ILMP)

CONTEXT
 As part of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), a comprehensive Integrated Landscape Management
Plan (ILMP) has been prepared for the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity in Panna Tiger
Reserve (PTR) & surrounding areas.

Constitution of Greater Panna Landscape Council (GPLC)

 Integrated Landscape Management Plan in Greater Panna Landscape is a major & unique measure
in Conservation history of India.
 The Greater Panna Landscape Council (GPLC) has been constituted to ensure systematic and time
bound implementation of the Greater Panna Landscape Management plan.
 Chairmanship of: Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh.
 Goal of GPL is to ensure “win-win” situation for conservation through integration with development
process based on a balanced approach.
 Adequate financial provisions have been earmarked for the implementation of Environment
Management Plan and Integrated Landscape Management Plan under the Ken-Betwa Link
Project.

Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP)

 The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the river interlinking project.
 It aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken River in Madhya Pradesh (MP) to Betwa in Uttar
Pradesh (UP) to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.

16 Star-rated appliances program

CONTEXT
 Union Minister Shri R.K Singh while commending the contribution of the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency in building an energy-efficient economy, launched the Star-rated appliances program
and also hailed the completion of a decade of PAT Scheme.

What is the Star-labelling program?

 The Star-labelling program is formulated under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
 It is run by the Indian government’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency under Ministry of Power that
promotes energy efficiency.
 The program provides information on the energy consumption of products and devices using
different standardized methods.
 It now covers 34 appliances, including the four newly added energy-efficient appliances.

About BEE
 The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government
of India.

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 It assists in developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy
intensity of the Indian economy.
 BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organizations to
identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned
to it under the Energy Conservation Act.
 The BEE is implementing several other innovative energy efficiency schemes and national programs
that have been successfully designed and implemented like the PAT Scheme, Standards and
Labelling for Energy Efficient Appliances, Energy Conservation Building Codes (ECBC),
Demand Side Management etc.

17 India’s first Air cooled condenser

CONTEXT
 State-owned power giant National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned India’s
first air-cooled condenser at North Karanpura super critical thermal plant in Jharkhand, which
would help in water conservation.

About the Project

 The North Karanpura plant will have a total capacity of 1980 MW, 3 Units of 660 MW each.
 This plant is based on one of the Most efficient Supercritical Technology and being a pit head
plant (10 Km from coal source) will supply economical power to the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, West
Bengal, and Odisha.
 This project has been envisaged with Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) which has almost 1/3rd water
footprint as compared to a conventional Water Cooled Condenser (WCC), a power ministry.
 This would result in saving of around 30.5 mcm of water annually, thus fulfilling the needs of around
1.5 million people in the region.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)

 NTPC Limited is India's largest energy conglomerate with roots planted way back in 1975 to
accelerate power development in India.
 NTPC Ltd, is a signatory to the prestigious UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate.

18 Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme

CONTEXT
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the Series IV of its Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme
2022-23 for a subscription.

About
 Sovereign Gold Bonds, are issued on behalf of the Centre by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an
alternative to purchasing physical gold.
 These bonds are issued as Government of India Stock under the Government Securities Act,
2006.

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 Important facts:
 Security: Unlike physical gold, there is no need for storage when investing in SGBs, which makes
them more secure.
 Collateral: SGBs can be used as collateral for loans. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be set
equal to the ordinary gold loan mandated by the RBI from time to time.
 No GST: Unlike gold coins and bars, sovereign gold bonds are not subject to goods and services
tax (GST).
 How to obtain? Sovereign Gold Bonds can be purchased from authorised post offices, Scheduled
Commercial Banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), Clearing Corporation of
India Limited (CCIL), and the stock exchanges NSE and BSE.

19 World’s first 200-meter-long Bamboo Crash Barrier “Bahu Balli”

CONTEXT
 The world’s first 200-meter-long Bamboo Crash Barrier has been installed on the Vani-Warora
Highway, Vidarbh, Maharashtra.

About
 This Bamboo Crash Barrier has been christened Bahu Balli.
 The recycling value of the bamboo barrier is 50-70% whereas that of steel barriers is 30-50%.
 The bamboo species used in the making of this barrier is Bambusa Balcoa, which has been treated
with creosote oil and coated with recycled High-Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE).

20 IREDA gets ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ status from RBI

CONTEXT
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)’ status to
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It was earlier classified as ‘Investment
and Credit Company (ICC)’.

Benefits of IFC Status

 With the IFC status, IREDA will be able to take higher exposure in RE financing.
 The IFC status will also help the company to access wider investor base for fund mobilisation,
resulting in competitive rates for fund raising.
 The recognition of IREDA as an IFC will increase the investors’ confidence, enhance the brand value,
and generate positive outlook in the market.
 The grant of IFC status is a recognition of IREDA’s 36 years of infrastructure financing and development
with focused development of Renewable Energy.
 With IFC status, IREDA will keep contributing towards Govt. of India’s target of 500 GW installed
capacity of non-fossil fuels by 2030.

About IREDA
 IREDA has been promoting, developing and financing new and renewable sources of energy with
the motto: “Energy for Ever” since 1987.

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 It finances all RE technologies and value chain such as solar, wind, hydro, bio-energy, waste
to energy, energy efficiency, e-mobility, battery storage, biofuel and new and emerging
technologies.

21 INS Trikand

CONTEXT
 INS Trikand participated in the International Maritime Exercise/ Cutlass Express 2023 (IMX/CE-23).

About International Maritime Exercise/ Cutlass Express 2023 (IMX/CE-23).

 IMX/CE-23 is one of the largest multinational maritime exercises in the world.
 While this is Indian Navy’s maiden IMX participation, it also marks the second occasion where an
Indian Naval ship is participating in an exercise conducted by the CMF.
 Earlier, in Nov 22, INS Trikand had participated in the CMF led Operation Sea Sword 2.
 Participation in exercises like Sea Sword 2 and IMX/CE-23 enables the Indian Navy in strengthening
relationships and enhancing interoperability and collective maritime capability with maritime
partners in the IOR.
 It also enables the Navy contribute constructively to regional stability and security.

INS Trikand
 INS Trikand is part of the Indian Navy's Western Fleet and operates under the Western Naval
Command headquartered at Mumbai.
 She is a modern warship with advanced technologies to make her stealthy, fast and formidable.
 With long reach and a state-of-the-art combat suite, the ship is designed to undertake a wide
spectrum of naval operations.

22 TROPEX 2023

CONTEXT
 Indian Navy’s major Operational level exercise TROPEX for the year 2023, conducted across the
expanse of IOR over a duration of four months from Nov 22 - Mar 23, culminated in the Arabian
Sea.

About TROPEX
 TROPEX (theatre-level combat readiness exercise) is the largest exercise of the Indian Navy.
 It sees the participation of all naval combat units, including ships, submarines, aircraft, and units of
the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard.
 Theatre-level exercises are aimed at verifying the navy’s offensive and defensive capabilities,
safeguarding national interests in the sea and promoting stability and peace in the Indian Ocean
region.

Key-highlights of TROPEX 23
 Set in the Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the theatre of operations
for the exercise extended approximately 4300 nm from North to South upto 35 deg South Latitude

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and 5000 nm from Persian Gulf in the West to North Australia coast in the East, spanning an area of
over 21 million square nautical miles.
 TROPEX 23 witnessed participation of approximately 70 Indian Navy ships, six submarines and over
75 aircraft.

23 Colombo Security Conclave

CONTEXT
 Indian Coast Guard Region (North East) conducted the fourth edition of Table top exercise under
the aegis of Colombo Security Conclave in Kolkata.

About Colombo Security Conclave

 The Colombo Security Conclave was formed in 2011 as a trilateral maritime security grouping of
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
 The roadmap of activities was later expanded, with Mauritius joining as the fourth member and
Bangladesh & Seychelles participating as observer countries.
 The Conclave underlines regional cooperation and shared security objectives concerning all littoral
nations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
 It aims to make maritime security, marine pollution response and maritime search & rescue priorities
for the region.

24 Very Short Range Air Defence System missile

CONTEXT
 DRDO conducted two consecutive successful flight tests of Very Short Range Air Defence System
missile off Odisha coast.

About
 VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPAD) meant for neutralising low altitude
aerial threats at short ranges.
 Designed and developed by: ISRO’s Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad
 The missile incorporates many novel technologies including Dual-band IIR Seeker, miniaturized
Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics.
 The propulsion is provided by a dual thrust solid motor.

MANPADS

 They are short-range, lightweight, and portable surface-to-air missiles which can be fired to
destroy aircraft or helicopters at short range.
 These missiles help protect troops from aerial attacks as they are most effective in targeting low-
flying aircraft.

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25 Digital India innovation

CONTEXT
 The Government has announced thematic funds in the Budget of 2022-23 to promote sunrise
sectors, including deep-tech. Moreover, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
has initiated several schemes/programmes to support technology start-ups, including deep tech
start-ups.

Important initiatives
Some of the major initiatives have been elucidated below:
 TIDE 2.0 Scheme: Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Scheme
was initiated in the year 2019 to promote tech entrepreneurship through financial and technical
support to incubators engaged in supporting ICT startups using emerging technologies such as
IoT, AI, Block-chain, Robotics, etc.
 Domain specific Centres of Excellence: The MeitY has envisaged and operationalised 26 Centres
of Excellence (CoEs) in diverse areas of national interest for driving self-sufficiency and creating
capabilities to capture new and emerging technology areas. These domain specific CoEs are act
as enablers and aid in making India an innovation hub in emerging through democratisation of
innovation and realisation of prototypes.
 SAMRIDH Scheme: The Government has launched the ‘Startup Accelerator Programme of MeitY for
Product Innovation, Development and Growth (SAMRIDH)’ in August 2021 with an aim to support
existing and upcoming accelerators to further select and accelerate potential software product-
based startups to scale.
 Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS): The NGIS has been approved to support software
product ecosystem and to address a significant portion of National Policy on Software Product
(NPSP) 2019.
 Support for International Patent Protection in E&IT (SIP-EIT) Scheme: The Government
had initiated a scheme titled “Support for International Patent Protection in E&IT (SIP-EIT) that
encourages international patent filing by Indian MSMEs and start-ups to encourage innovation and
recognise the value and capabilities of global IP.
 GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups): Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY) has launched an umbrella program Digital India-GENESIS to discover, support,
grow and make successful startups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities with emphasis on collaborative
engagement among startups, government and corporates for promoting digitisation based on the
principals of inclusivity, accessibility, affordability, leading to growth in employment and economic
outputs.

**********

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