Comprehensive Current affairs 21 October 2020

NITI Aayog establishes Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre.

In order to address societal challenges through digital innovation, NITI Aayog today announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre, CIC with Amazon Web Services, AWS. It is the first of its kind in India.

This CIC is part of the AWS CIC Global Programme which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits and educational institutions, to come together on pressing challenges, apply design thinking, test new ideas, and access the technology expertise of AWS.

Mission director said, the NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies CIC will be a great enabler to budding innovators and start-ups and help in piloting state-of-the-art, cloud-centric digital innovations by leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, IOT and robotics, blockchain.

Mr Ramanan said, It is also aligned to the Prime Minister’s vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, as well that of NITI Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission. Vice President International Sales, Worldwide Public Sector of Amazon Web Services Inc. Max Peterson said, it is seeing public sector organizations around the world use cloud technology to innovate in a fast and agile manner, address problems at scale and transform public services for citizens.

He said, our Cloud Innovation Centres programme is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in public sector, by bringing together technology experts to address challenges.

Centre asks British government to exploit business potential in North east.

Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Jitendra Singh has invited the British Government and the private sector for exploiting huge business potential in North Eastern Region of India.

In a virtual meeting with officials of British High Commission, Mr Singh said, India and the UK, the two vibrant democracies enjoy a mutually rewarding business relationship and can work together in exploring and exploiting new opportunities in the North Eastern Region.

He said that new paradigms will emerge post-COVID, with a potential for new breakthroughs in economy, trade, scientific research and several other diverse areas in the region and it will be a win-win proposition for both India and UK.

Dr Singh also welcomed the British Council proposal for collaboration in the Education Sector for teaching Science and Mathematics in all the 8 States of the region and anMoU will be signed soon with North Eastern Council to take the collaboration to a new high. The Council also expressed willingness to work with Universities and Tech institutes of the region, mainly IIT Guwahati.

British officials have greatly appreciated the handicrafts, fruits, vegetables and spices in the North Eastern States and expressed their willingness to brand them and sell the same in global market.

Disturbed Area Act.

Recently, the President has given his assent to a Bill passed by the Gujarat Assembly in 2019, which made some amendments to the ‘Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provisions of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act, 1991’ - popularly known as the ‘Disturbed Areas (DA) Act’.

 Highlights:

• The Act was first introduced in Ahmedabad in 1986. At that time, due to large scale and continuous riots in Ahmedabad city, a number of areas started witnessing distress sale of properties mainly by people of a particular community.

• Under the DA Act, a District Collector can notify a particular area of a city or town as a “disturbed area”. This notification is generally done based on the history of communal riots in the area.

• The transfer of immovable property in the disturbed area can take place only after the Collector expressly signs off on an application made by the buyer and the seller of the property.

• The seller has to attach an affidavit stating that she/he has sold the property of her/his free volition, and that she/he has got a fair market price.

• The Violation of the Act’s provisions, that is, if property in a notified disturbed area is transferred without the Collector’s permission, invites imprisonment and a fine.

• The state government claims it is aiming to check communal polarisation of various parts of the state through the Act.

• It is applicable in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Himmatnagar, Godhra, Kapadvanj and Bharuch.

Thailand PM recalls parliament due to pressure from protesters.

Thailand’s embattled premier called on Monday for a special session of Parliament as protesters planned more rallies to demand his resignation, the release of jailed activists, and reforms to the monarchy.

•Tens of thousands of mostly young protesters have taken to the streets in the past week in defiance of an emergency decree banning gatherings of more than four people.

•Police said around 20,000 people protested across the capital on Sunday, although activists and local media estimated much bigger crowds.

 •As they prepared to rally again on Monday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said Parliament — currently in recess — would be recalled to discuss how to reduce tensions.

•The largely leaderless movement is calling for the resignation of Mr.Prayut — a former Army chief and mastermind of a 2014 coup — as well as the re-writing of the military-drafted Constitution they say rigged last year’s election in his favour.

•They want the abolition of a draconian defamation law that shields King MahaVajiralongkorn from criticism, greater transparency of royal finances, and for the monarch to stay out of politics.

Chinese and Taiwanese officials clash at Fiji.

China and Taiwan traded accusations on Monday over a violent altercation that broke out between Chinese diplomats and Taiwan government employees at a recent Taiwan National Day reception in Fiji.

.Both China and Taiwan confirmed the October 8 incident but each disputed the other’s claim of what precipitated the fight, which resulted in one Taiwanese staffer being sent to a hospital with a head injury. One of the Chinese diplomats also was injured.

•The confrontation, an extreme example of the tensions between the rival governments, erupted when Taiwanese at the gathering tried to stop Chinese diplomats from taking photos of guests at the reception marking Taiwan’s National Day, a Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Joanne Ou, said.

•"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the Chinese Embassy in Fiji’s staff’s actions which severely violates rule of law and norms of civilized behaviour,” said Ms.Ou. She said Taiwan had made a formal protest to the Fiji government.

•China’s Embassy in Fiji said in a statement released on Monday that Taiwan’s account was “inconsistent with the facts.” It said one of its staff also was injured.

 Finance ministry moots capital expenditure by CPSE’s critical driver of economic growth.

Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister NirmalaSitharaman today said that capital expenditure (CAPEX) by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is a critical driver of economic growth and need to be scaled up for the Financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

She said this while addressing a Video Conference with Secretaries of the Ministries of Petroleum & Natural Gas and ministry of Coal, along with the CMDs of 14 CPSEs belonging to these Ministries.TheMionistedr reviewed the capital expenditure of CPSEs in this financial year.

Today was the fourth in the ongoing series of meetings that the Finance Minister is having with various stakeholders to accelerate the economic growth in the background of COVID-19 pandemic.CAPEX target for 2020-21 is Rs. 1,15,934 crore.

While reviewing the performance of CPSEs,The Finance Minister asked the concerned Secretaries to closely monitor the performance of CPSEs in order to ensure the capital expenditure to the tune of 75 per cent of the capital outlay by the end of third quarter of financial year 2020-21 and make appropriate plan for it.

Agriculture ministry launches Ayushman sahakaryojana.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme today. The scheme is a unique way to assist cooperatives play an important role in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country.

• AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme has been formulated by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

• Mr.Tomar announced that NCDC would extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of 10 thousand crore in the coming years. He said that the ongoing pandemic has brought into focus the requirement of creation of more facilities. NCDC’s scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmer’s welfare activities by the Central Government.

 • Speaking on the occasion Managing Director of NCDC SundeepNayak said that the NCDC fund would give a boost to the healthcare services operated by the cooperatives in the country.

• NCDC’s AyushmanSahakar scheme aims at bringing transformation in the health services primarily in the rural areas.

Opposition Effect- Mars.

Because of the ‘opposition’ effect, Mars will look much brighter and bigger than usual in October 2020.

• In astronomy the opposition is defined as the circumstance in which two celestial bodies appear in opposite directions in the sky.

• The Moon, when full, is said to be in opposition to the Sun; the Earth is then approximately between them.

• A superior planet is the one with an orbit farther from the Sun than Earth’s is in opposition when Earth passes between it and the Sun.

• The opposition of a planet is a good time to observe it, because the planet is then typically at its nearest point to the Earth for a given year and because it is close, the planet appears brighter in the sky.

• The planets Venus and Mercury, whose orbits are smaller than Earth’s, can never be in opposition to the Sun.

• Mars and the Sun are on directly opposite sides of Earth.

• About every 26 months, the Earth passes between the Sun and Mars, this is when the three are arranged in a straight line.

• In 2020, while Mars’ closest approach to Earth was on 6th October, the opposition happened on 13th October.

 • Mars’s next close approach will happen on 8th December, 2022, when the planet will be 62.07 km away from the Earth.

Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 2003 in nearly 60,000 years and it won’t be that close to the planet until 2287.

• This is because the orbits of Earth and Mars are not perfectly circular and their shapes can change slightly because of gravitational tugging (pulling) by other planets. For instance,Jupiter influences the orbit of Mars.

• Mars will outshine Jupiter, becoming the third brightest object (moon and Venus are first and second, respectively) in the night sky during the month of October.

• During Opposition, Mars appears as a bright star to the unaided eye and when viewed from a telescope, it grows dramatically in size. Using a telescope shows more of the planet’s details such as dark and light regions, the solar ice caps and Mars’ surface.

CSIR-CMERI develops sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility.

A sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility has been developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI).

The facility will help to achieve decentralized decimation of solid waste.It will also help in creating value added products.The system has adopted the Bio-Digestion process as it creates minimum pollution.

The special features of the facility includes segregating wastes such as masks, diapers, sanitary napkins, etc.It also comprises disinfection capabilities that can break COVID-19 chain through Ultra Violet C radiation and by adopting hot-air convection methods.

The residue from the facility would be rich in carbon. It can be used in agriculture as fertilizer and to make bricks for construction purpose.

 The primary objective of the system is to remove the burden of the segregation responsibilities by adopting advanced segregation techniques.

Jason Kokrak wins USPGA title.

World No. 53 Jason Kokrak reeled off six birdies on a seven-hole stretch on Sunday on way to winning the CJ Cup and capturing his first US PGA Tour title.

The 35-year-old American fired a final-round eight-under 64 to finish 20-under 268, two strokes ahead of compatriot XanderSchauffele. The breakthrough victory for Kokrak comes in his 233rd Tour event. Tyrrell Hatton and Russell Henley finished a further stroke behind.

Focus on Mains:

International Solar Alliance.

Recently, India and France have been re-elected as the President and Co-President of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) for a term of two years at the virtual third Assembly of ISA. The first two assemblies were held in India in 2018 and 2019.

About International Solar Alliance:

• It is an Indian initiative that was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30th November 2015 in Paris, France on the side-lines of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21), with 121 solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn as prospective members.

• Its objective is to collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in ISA member countries.

• Till now, 87 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA and of these 67 have deposited their instruments of ratification. Nicaragua, a Central American country is the 87th and the latest country to sign the agreement.

 • The Government of India has allotted 5 acres of land to the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) campus, Gurugram and has released a sum of Rs. 160 crore for creating a corpus fund, building infrastructure and meeting day to day recurring expenditure of the ISA up to the year 2021-22.

Key Points of the Assembly:

• The Assembly approved institutionalising ISA’s engagement with the private and public corporate sector through the Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (CSCA).

• Various solar awards were conferred on countries as well as institutions.

• The Visvesvaraya award recognises the countries with a maximum floating solar capacity in each of the four regions of ISA, which are:

1. Asia Pacific Region.

2. Africa Region.

3. Europe and others Region.

4. Latin America and Caribbean Region.

• The Kalpana Chawla award for outstanding contribution of scientists and engineers working in the field of solar energy.

• The Diwakar award recognises organisations and institutions that have been working for the benefit of differently-abled people and have maximised the use of solar energy in the host country.

• The Assembly presented the report prepared by the World Resources Institute (WRI) which identifies the sources of funds, opportunities and constraints, in scaling up solar investments and the contribution of ISA in assisting Member countries.

• The ISA will work with WRI to develop a roadmap for mobilisation of USD 1 trillion by 2030.

 • In the wake of the global pandemic, ISA responded by setting up ISA CARES (like PM-CARES in India), an initiative dedicated to the deployment of solar energy in the healthcare sector.

✓ The initiative aims to solarise one primary health sector in each district of the target member countries.

• The ISA Secretariat has launched a Seventh Programme on Solarising Heating and Cooling systems.

✓ Demand for cooling alone outpaced solar deployment in 2017.

✓ Heating and cooling systems have scope to directly convert solar radiation and at Higher Efficiency Levels.

• SAARC Development Fund’s technical assistance along with the ISA Technical Assistance is proposed to be implemented jointly with the Asian Development Bank.

• The ISA has recently signed a tripartite agreement with the World Bank and the Government of India and is now actively involved in preparing a vision and implementation plan for “One Sun, One World, One Grid” Initiative to harness the power of interconnected grids for enabling Energy Transition to a low-carbon world.

India’s Perspective and Highlights:

• The President of the ISA Assembly, India’s Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister appreciated the Alliance Members coming together to work for combating climate change.

• He also highlighted various activities and programmes initiated by ISA since the 2nd Assembly like the development of a pipeline of more than USD 5 billion, aggregated demand for more than 270,000 solar pumps across 22 countries, etc.France

France’s Role:

• France has committed 1.5 billion Euros for financing solar projects in ISA member states up until 2022. The first project under the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) is being launched in Mozambique with the support of France and the European Union (EU).

• SRMI will help mobilise billions in private investment to finance more than 10 GWs of solar projects.

• In the frame of the ISA’s Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (Star-C) programme, the French National Institute for Solar Energy (INES) will launch a specific program for the small island states of the Pacific.

Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the amended Disturbed Areas Act passed by the Gujarat Legislative Assembly last year.

Background:

• The bill was brought last year to amend the ”The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act”, 1991, commonly referred to as the Disturbed Areas Act.

• The government had added some stringent provisions amid complaints from people that the current act was unable to curb the illegal sale or transfer of their properties in such notified disturbed areas.

What is the Disturbed Areas Act?

• Under the Disturbed Areas Act, a district Collector can notify a particular area of a city or town as a “disturbed area”. This notification is generally done based on the history of communal riots in the area. Following this notification, the transfer of immovable property in the disturbed area can take place only after the Collector expressly signs off on an application made by the buyer and the seller of the property.

• In the application, the seller has to attach an affidavit stating that she/he has sold the property of her/his free volition, and that she/he has got a fair Market Price.

Latest Amendments:

 • The amended law would stop polarisation and keep a check on attempts to cause any “demographic imbalance”.

• The Act bans sale of property by members of one religious community to those from another community without the prior approval of the district collector in areas declared as “disturbed areas”.

• To stop people from acquiring properties in disturbed areas through illegal means, the act proposes imprisonment between three to five years along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh or 10 per cent of value of property, whichever is higher.

• The word “transfer” now includes sale, gift, exchange, lease or taking possession of the property by way of power of attorney.

• The act also empowers the state government to form a “monitoring and advisory committee” to keep a check on the demographic structure in the disturbed areas.

• The government can form a special investigation team (SIT) to assist the state government in forming opinion before Declaring any area to be a Disturbed one.

Role of Collector:

• The collector can now check if there is any “likelihood of polarisation”, “disturbance in demographic equilibrium” or any “likelihood of improper clustering of persons of a community” if the transfer takes place.

• The collector can reject the application of transfer after making assessment on these grounds. The aggrieved person can now file an appeal with the state government against the Collector’s Order.