June 28, 2025

Current Affairs

QR Codes on roads built under PM Gram Sadak Yojana

Context: The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has directed all states and UTs to install QR codes on maintenance display boards of roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

Relevance of the Topic : Prelims: Key facts about PMGSY, QR Code Initiative.Mains: E-governance initiatives

QR Code Initiative

All states and UTs are required to install QR codes on maintenance display boards of roads built under the PMGSY.
Aim: To get public feedback about the quality and maintenance of roads using QR codes.
Each road will have a QR code on a maintenance information board. Anyone can scan the code using a smartphone to view road details, submit feedback and photographs about poor maintenance or road damage.
Integrated with the existing e-MARG system (used for routine maintenance monitoring).
Photos submitted by citizens will be reviewed by engineers and will be analysed using AI/ML tools to assign Performance Evaluation (PE) marks.
Trials were carried out in various states, including a pilot project in Himachal Pradesh. After this, the new facility was made fully functional.
Substandard work under the scheme has been previously flagged through existing mechanisms. The QR Code Initiative provides a mechanism for citizens’ feedback.

Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana

Launched: December 25, 2000 (PHASE - I)
Aim: To improve rural infrastructure through road construction.
Phases:
- The second phase was launched in 2013.
- Another component, called the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA), was launched in 2016 for the construction of rural roads in LWE-affected areas.
- The third phase was launched in 2019.
- The fourth phase was approved in 2024 to provide all-weather road connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations of population size 500+ in plains, 250+ in northeastern and hill states/UTs, special category areas (Tribal Schedule V, Aspirational Districts/Blocks, Desert areas) and 100+ in LWE-affected areas.
Funding Mechanism: Starting as a totally Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the funding pattern was modified to 60:40 between the Centre and states (except for northeastern and Himalayan states).
Implementing Agency: National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA), under MoRD.
Since the scheme was launched, a total road length of 8,36,850 km has been sanctioned, of which 7,81,209 km has been completed.
Under the PMGSY, all roads after the completion of construction are maintained by the contractor for five years. This is done using a mobile-cum-web-based e-MARG (electronic Maintenance of Rural Roads) system. It is an e-governance solution for managing and monitoring rural road maintenance.
As a whole, maintenance comes under the ambit of state governments, with rural roads being a state subject.

India set to integrate Rare Blood Donor Registry with e-Rakt Kosh

Context: National Institute of Immunohaematology (NIIH), Mumbai under the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched India’s first national rare blood donor registry to support patients with rare blood types who require frequent transfusions, particularly those with thalassemia or sickle cell disease.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about ICMR-Rare Donor Registry of India; E-RaktKosh

ICMR-Rare Donor Registry of India

NIIH has for the first time created a national 'rare blood donor registry' for patients with rare and uncommon blood types who need frequent transfusion especially in conditions such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease.
The portal called the ICMR-Rare Donor Registry of India (RDRI) already includes over 600 donors with rare antigen combinations and 250 very rare blood donors, including 170 Bombay blood group donors.
ICMR-NIIH is now in talks with the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) so that the rare donor registry portal can be integrated with e-Raktakosh, the Centralised Blood Bank Management System platform which provides information about blood availability.

Estimated Daily Blood Requirement in India is ~40,000 to 50,000 units per day or 15-18 million units of blood per year, but we have a shortage of 3-5 million units/year (approx. 10,000-14,000 units/day).

Need for integrating Rare Blood Donor Registry with e-Rakt Kosh

Rare blood groups occur in less than 1 in 1000 individuals, often characterised by absence of high-frequency antigens (HFA), or have a null phenotype (absence of all antigens in a group). E.g., Bombay Blood group, Rh-null (Golden blood) etc.
In the majority of blood banks in India, only ABO and RhD antigens are matched before issuing red blood cell components. However, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) has recognised over 360 antigens across 47 blood group systems.
Blood banks do not routinely test for minor blood group antigens. As a result, a mismatch of minor antigens between donor and recipient blood group profiles can lead to red cell alloimmunisation (immune response against foreign RBC antigens after blood transfusion). This reduces the effectiveness of blood transfusions. As a result, about 25% of all immunised patients have reported unsatisfactory transfusion support.

To overcome this challenge, an inventory of extensively typed blood donors and rare blood type donors is required.

Significance:

The integration will help people with rare blood groups easily trace blood banks and procure blood.
It will also assist the blood banks manage their stock and donors through a centralised system.

Annual Rath Yatra in Puri

Context: The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will begin in the temple town of Puri, Odisha on June 27, 2025.

Relevance of the Topic:Prelims: Key facts about Ratha Yatra; Lord Jagannath Temple.

Rath Yatra

The Ratha Yatra, also known as the Ratha Jatra or chariot festival, is a magnificent Hindu celebration held annually in the city of Puri, Odisha, India.
It is considered the oldest and largest chariot festival in the Hindu tradition, taking place during the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadh (June or July).
The festival revolves around the worship of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu or Krishna, and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra.
During the Ratha Yatra, the three deities are ceremoniously pulled in massive wooden chariots from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple.
The deities reside in the Gundicha Temple for a week and then return to their abode in the Jagannath temple (Bahuda Yatra).

About Jagannath Temple

Ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu.
The present temple was rebuilt by the king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Anantavarman Chodaganga, in the 10th century CE.
Location: Puri, Odisha (eastern coast of India).
Deities worshipped: Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra
The idol of Lord Jagannath is made of wood (neem wood, known as Daru) and is ceremoniously replaced every 12 or 19 years by an exact replica.
The temple is built in the Kalinga Architecture. The temple has distinct sectional structures: Deula, Vimana or Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum).