Comprehensive Current affairs 29 December 2020

The Ministry of Electronics and IT to implement Artificial Intelligence mission.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has got the green signal to roll out the ambitious Artificial Intelligence (AI) mission.

The AI Mission is a five-year programme announced in the Budget two years ago.

The Niti Aayog had earlier made a proposal worth Rs 7000 crore for the project, which will now be implemented by MeitY.

The main focus of the AI mission will be on AI; we want to be the leading nation in the world in terms of AI capabilities and cutting-edge technologies.

While premier institutes like the IITs will be involved in research, industry will be roped in for the actual implementation.

 The government is already running several centres of excellence in areas such as AI, augmented reality, fintech and agritech, which will all be subsumed under the mission.

MeitY had also announced the setting up a national AI centre.

MeitY’s programme included launching a national AI portal along with developing applications and doing proofs of concepts in the areas of health and education, Niti Aayog’s roadmap included setting up of five centres of research excellence, 20 institutional centres for transformational AI and a cloud computing platform called AIRAWAT.

V Ramgopal Rao committee .

A government committee recently reiterated a longstanding demand of the IITs — exemption from implementing reservation in faculty positions.

The Ministry of Education on April 23 had appointed a committee for suggesting measures for effective implementation of reservation in student admissions and faculty recruitment in IITs.

About the committee:

This committee, headed by IIT-Delhi V Ramgopal Rao, submitted its report on June 17, the contents of which were recently reported in the media.

Instead of implementing quotas in faculty positions, the panel has suggested that the 23 IITs should be exempted from reservations altogether under the CEI Act, 2019.

Rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted faculty recruitment, the panel has said in its report to the government.

The report states that IITs should be added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.

Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” mentioned in the Schedule and minority institutions from providing reservation.

 Cabinet approves revision in guidelines for providing Direct to Home (DTH) Services in India.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for revision of the guidelines for obtaining license for providing Direct-To-Home (DTH) broadcasting service in India.

The salient features of the decision are:

License for the DTH will be issued for a period of 20 years in place of present 10 years. Further the period of License may be renewed by 10 years at a time.

License fee has been revised from 10% of GR to 8% of AGR. AGR will be calculated by deduction of GST from GR.

License Fee will be collected on quarterly basis in lieu of presently annualbasis.

DTH operators shall be permitted to operate .to a maximum of 5% of its total channel carrying capacity as permitted platform channels. A one-time non-refundable registration fee of Rs.10,000 per PS channel shall be charged from a DTH operator.

Sharing of Infrastructure between DTH operators. DTH operators, willing to share DTH platform and transport stream of TV channels, on voluntary basis, will be allowed. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share the common hardware for their Subscriber Management System (SMS) and Conditional Access System (CAS) applications.

The cap of 49% FDI in the existing DTH guidelines will be aligned with the extant Government (DPIIT's) policy on FDI as amended from time to time.

The decision will come into effect as per revised DTH guidelines are issued bythe Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Medium Range Surface to Air Missile.

The maiden test of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) for the Indian Army, being jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), was successfully conducted.

The launch was conducted from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the Coast of Odisha around 1600 hrs and the missile completely destroyed a high-speed unmanned aerial target, which was mimicking an aircraft with a direct hit, the DRDO said in a statement.

The Army variant of the MRSAM system comprises a command post, a multi-function radar and mobile launcher system.

A number of range instruments such as radar, telemetry and electro-optical tracking system were deployed for capturing mission data, which validated the performance of the missile.

Israeli jets strike Gaza after militants fire rockets.

Israeli aircraft struck several sites in the Gaza Strip early Saturday after Palestinian militants fired two rockets toward southern Israel.

The airstrike targets included rocket manufacturing facility and training and military posts belonging to Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, according to the military.

Palestinian media reported the airstrikes shattered windows in east Gaza City. There were no reports of casualties.

The rockets fired on Friday were aimed at the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, but air defenses intercepted them, the military said. No Palestinian group in Gaza has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which broke months of cross-border calm.

Volleys of missiles from the Iron Dome defense system illuminated the sky in northern Gaza Strip as they exploded trying to hit the incoming rockets.

Rocket attacks and Israeli retaliatory artillery and aerial strikes are frequent, but they have largely been subdued in recent months due to the raging coronavirus outbreak in both territories.

Japan urges Biden to be strong in support of Taiwan against China.

A top Japanese defence official on Friday urged US President-elect Joe Biden to “be strong” in supporting Taiwan in the face of an aggressive China, calling the island’s safety a “red line.”

 Japan’s deputy defence minister, urged Biden to take a similar line on Taiwan as outgoing President Donald Trump, who has significantly boosted military sales to the Chinese-claimed island and increased engagement.

Japan’s engagement with Taiwan has also flourished in recent years on a largely non-governmental basis. Tokyo maintains a “one China” policy, delicately balancing its relationships with neighbouring giant China and its longtime military ally in Washington.

Japan shares strategic interests with Taiwan, which sits in sea lanes through which much of Japan’s energy supplies and trade flow.

Caspian Sea.

As per a recent study, by the end of the century the Caspian Seawill lose at least 25% of its former size and will also be 9-18metres lower.

Caspian Sea borders five countries and the major river feedingit is Volga.

Caspian Sea waters are isolated, its surface is already around 28metres below global oceans.

Andrott Island.

Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Bulbul will undertake a sailingexpedition from Kochi to Andrott Island.

Andrott Island is the Largest island in the Lakshadweep.

Andrott is the nearest island to the mainland and hasan east-westorientation unlike other islands lying in the north-south direction.

Zero Liquid Discharge.

The Centre is examining various options of moving forward on the country’s Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy to ensure that investment in emerging sectors such as semiconductors is not hampered while environment continues to be protected.

ZLD is a water treatment process to recirculate all the water back to the process with zero liquid waste. Government regulations demand fool-proof operations of the wastewater treatment plants for the purpose.

The Department for Policy on Investments and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been getting suggestions for removing regulatory compliances such as Zero Liquid Discharge to encourage investments in sectors like semiconductors. Any decision on removing regulatory compliances will be taken only after consulting all sectors.

The DPIIT has held discussions with stakeholders such as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State governments of Gujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, on what the policy for zero level discharge will be going ahead, the official said However, according to the industry, for products like semiconductor, meeting ZLD standards might be difficult as ultra-clean water is needed for chip manufacturing and it would also be expensive to contain the recycled water.

The Centre has got representations from the industry to see if there could be changes in the ZLD standards for sectors like semiconductor that are finding it difficult to meet them.

The MoEFCC is the nodal Ministry for the matter related to policy on Zero Liquid Discharge while the DPIIT’s role is to ensure that concerns of industry get addressed.

Bharatskills portal.

The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students and also future-ready employability skilling program for upskilling and reskilling.

Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

 The Directorate General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is responsible for implementing long term institutional training to the nation’s youth.

It has an extensive network of about 15,000 training institutes (ITIs) and 33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).

DGT plays a key role in the execution of vocational training schemes and in making ‘Skill India’ dream become a reality.

DGT has launched an online learning platform called the Bharatskills in Oct 2019, a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem.

It has to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.

This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.

IFFCO gas leak.

Two persons died and several took ill in a major ammonia gas leakage at the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) unit at Prayagraj.

The victims had come in contact with the concentrated form of ammonia gas that leaked heavily from the plant.

A tri-hydroid of nitrogen (NH3), ammonia is a building block for ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) that is used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertiliser.

According to experts in Chemistry, ammonia is stored for industrial use in liquid form under high pressure or in gaseous form at low temperature, as was the case in the IFFCO unit where the accident took place.

How ammonia gas affects the human body?

Ammonia in moderate concentration, can cause irritation to eyes, skin, nose and throat. Ammonia interacts immediately upon contact with moisture present in the skin, eyes, oral cavity, respiratory tract to form ammonium hydroxide, which is very caustic and disrupts the cell membrane lipids, ultimately leading to cellular destruction.

As cell proteins break down, water is extracted, resulting in an inflammatory response that causes further damage.

Ammoniais highly soluble in water, is found in soil, air, and water;

It is naturally present in the body and secreted by the kidneys to neutralise excess acid.

It is highly diluted when in the environment and does not affect the human body to a noticeable level.

What are main uses of ammonia?

Ammonia is critical in the manufacturing of fertilizers, and is one of the largest-volume synthetic chemicals produced in the world.

More than 80 per cent of ammonia made is consumed in the manufacturing of fertilizer, and most of the remainder goes into the production of formaldehyde.

Himalayan trillium.

The Himalayan trillium (Trillium govanianum), a common herb of the Himalayas was declared ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last week.

Himalayan Trillium:

• In recent years, the plant has become one of the most traded commercial plants of the Himalayan region, due to its high medicinal quality.

• It is found in temperate and sub-alpine zones of the

Himalayas, at an altitude from 2,400-4,000 metres above sea level.

• Their existence has also been traced across India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

• In India, it is found in four states only- Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand.

• Often called Nagchatri, in local areas this herb grows to a height of 15-20 cm.

Various Applications:

• It has been used in traditional medicine to cure diseases like dysentery, wounds, skin boils, inflammation, sepsis, as well as menstrual and sexual disorders.

• Recent experiments have shown that the rhizome of the herb is a source of steroidal saponins and can be used as an anti-cancer and anti-ageing agent.

• This increased its market value and has now become an easy target for poachers.