Comprehensive Current affairs 12 july 2020

Indian PM Modi hails role of solar energy in Atmanir bharbharat scheme.

Modi on Friday said solar energy would play a major role in achieving self-reliance in energy, essential for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India).

The Rewa solar project, being touted as Asia’s largest, is the first such project in the country to break the grid parity barrier. While the Delhi Metro will use 24% of the electricity produced from it, Madhya Pradesh will use the rest. “The project, along with others, will make Madhya Pradesh a hub of cheap and clean energy,” said Modi.

While the world was in a quandary whether they should focus on environment or economy, he stated that India had shown these two were not in opposition to each other.

Boeing Completes Delivery of 37 Military Helicopters to India.

New Boeng Helicopters for Defence

In the month of June 2020, Boeing had completed delivery of all 37 military helicopters ordered by the Ministry of Defense for the Indian Armed Forces in 2015. Boeing told this via a news release announcement on its website on July 10th, 2020. AH-64E Apache Helicopter and 15 CH-47F(l) Chinook heavy-lift Helicopter were among 37 Military Helicopter- 22. The last five of the 22 Apache helicopters were delivered to the Indian Air Force at the Hindan Air Force Station in June 2020, while Chinook Helicopters delivery was completed in the month of March 2020.
Indian Cabinet Committee's Deal on Boeing.

Background.
The acquisition of the 37 Boeing military helicopters had been authorized by the Union Cabinet Committee on Security on 22 September 2015. The contract for the purchase of the 37 Military Helicopters was signed a week later, on 29 September 2015. The deal has an order provision that allows India to put an order for 11 more AH-64E Apache Helicopter and 7 additional CH-47F(l) Chinook Military Helicopters besides the 22 Apache and 15 Chinook. New Helicopters Contract Signed in February 2020 The US President's visit to India in February 2020 marked the signing of a joint USD 3 billion contract for the purchase of 24 MH-60 Romeo Seahawk Helicopter (built by Lockheed Martin 's subsidiary-Sikorsky Aircraft) for the Indian Navy at USD 2.6 billion and another 6 AH-64E Apache Combat Helicopters.

 

World’s First Reusable PPE Kits by Indian Manufacturing Company.

World’s First Reusable PPE Kits with Triple Viral Shield Technology launched
Indian Manufacturing Company- Loyal Textile Mills launched the first of its kind in the world-wide reusable PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits on 9th July 2020. Along with reusable

PPE kits, Loyal Textile Mills also unveiled reusable garments and face masks with zero virus penetration.
The reusable masks, clothing and PPE kits were introduced by Loyal Textile Mills in partnership with the textile manufacturing company headquartered in Reliance Industries Limited and Switzerland- HeiQ Materials AG.

The 3 items will be available on the market under the Loyal Textile Mills name 'Supera Shield.' Contents [hide] Triple Viral Shield Reusable Masks, Garments, and Kits Number of Times Reusable Triple Viral Shield Reusable Masks, Garments, and PPE Kits Technology 

1.  The reusable masks, garments, and PPE kits are made with the Viroblock Technology of HeiQ Materials AG.

2.       The fiber used for making the reusable masks, garments, and PPE kits was 'R ELAN Fibre' of Reliance Industries Limited. R ELAN Fiber inhibits bacterial and viral growth.

3.       Viral Barrier PU film Lamination: The fabric in the reusable mask and PPE kit has been engineered with viral barrier PU film lamination imported from the Republic of China (Taiwan). Number of Times Reusable As per Loyal Textile Mills, the garments and masks can be washed for up to 25 times for reuse while the PPE kit can be washed up to 10 times for reuse.

 

India- Bangladesh to expand trade and business partnerships.

India is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to enhance trade and business partnership with Bangladesh amid Beijing's recent efforts to woo Dhaka with duty-free access to its products.
While Chinese trade concessions can push Bangladesh into a “dual deficit and debt trap”, India is activating various connectivity initiatives for seamless movement of Bangladeshi products to the landlocked northeastern states and other parts of India.

India had offered duty-free access to several Bangladeshi products a decade before the Chinese decision and that step helped reduce deficit in Dhaka’s trade with New Delhi, said a source while  stating that India’s terms and conditions from trade concessions to loans are more favourable. Beijing has mulled over years before giving trade concessions to Dhaka and the step can push it towards a debt trap, said the above mentioned source.

WHO forms independent panel to review handling of COVID.

World Health Organization (WHO) has set up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments. The announcement follows strong criticism by US President Donald Trump, which accused the WHO of being China-centric.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel. The co-chairs will select the other members.

The panel will then provide an interim report to an annual meeting of health ministers in November and present a substantive report next May.

WHO Director-General TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus said that the magnitude of this pandemic has virtually touched everyone and deserved a commensurate evaluation.

 

Exceptional Operational Efficiency from NTPC Singrauli.

NTPC Singrauli Unit 1, the oldest NTPC unit has emerged as the country's top-performing unit in the first quarter of the financial year, according to data released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The station's first unit began generating on 13 February 1982 and continues to serve the country with exceptional results.

As per a statement issued by NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power generation company and a central PSU under Ministry of Power, NTPC Singrauli Unit 1, has emerged as the top-performing Unit in the country in the first quarter of the financial year, as per the data released by Central Electricity Authority (CEA). NTPC Singrauli is the oldest Unit and a flagship power station of NTPC Ltd.

More About NTPC Singrauli

The first unit of the station started generating on February 13, 1982 and continues to serve the country with exceptional performance.

According to NTPC Ltd, NTPC Singrauli has an installed capacity of 2000 MW with five units of 200 MW each and two units of 500 MW each. Three units (1,4 & 5) of 200 MW have achieved PLF of 101.96%, 101.85% & 100.35% respectively in Q1 FY 20-21 among the Coal-fired Units, in the country.

With a total installed capacity of 62110 MW, NTPC Group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations.

 

Pace of contraction of factory output slows down in May.

The pace of contraction of India’s factory output slowed in May, falling 34.7% on year from 57.6% contraction in April, calculations based on data released by the government on Friday showed.

The government did not provide a number for the change in output from May 2020 but said the number of units responding has improved as compared to the earlier months of lockdown. The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation also revised the contraction in April from 55.5% earlier.

MoSPI said in a statement that this has had an impact on the items being produced by the establishments during the period of lockdown and the subsequent periods of conditional relaxations in restrictions.

 

RBI governor expects economy to return to normalcy after ease of lockdown.

According to RBI governor SK Dass "The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic may lead to higher non-performing assets and capital erosion of banks while the redemption pressure on

non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and mutual funds are emerging as crucial stress points in the financial system".

Flagging off these risks, the governor said that RBI’s policy action would depend on how the crisis unfolds even as he observed that the medium-term outlook still remains uncertain and depends on the COVID-19 curve.

Building buffers and raising capital in such a situation becomes imperative to strengthen the internal defences of financial intermediaries against the risks and to ensure credit flow, the governor said, alluding that the shocks to the financial system turning out to be more frequent than a ‘once in a lifetime events’ to ‘once in a decade’.

 

Cool Roofs and other solutions.

Context:
India is among the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the world.

In 2018, nearly 34% of the country’s population lived in the cities — this is expected to increase to 40% by 2030, contributing 75% of the GDP.

Driven by growing urbanization, the real estate sector contributed 6-7% of the GDP in 2017 — will increase to 13% by 2025, notwithstanding temporary setbacks due to the pandemic.

The exponential growth in urbanization implies using up most of the open spaces in urban and semi-urban areas and creating more of paved surface cover, heat-trapping roofs, buildings and Roads.

Heat island:

The term "heat island" describes built up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F (1–3°C) warmer than its surroundings.

In the evening, the difference can be as high as 22°F (12°C). Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water pollution.

Buildings- major contributors:

Often, buildings are one of the major contributors to incremental heat generation.

More than 60% of the roofs are made of concrete, metal and asbestos, all of which tend to trapheat.
Over time, these hot surfaces worsen the heat island effect and drive temperatures higher.

Further, buildings account for more than 30% of India’s electricity consumption and a significant share of annual carbon dioxide emissions.

It is thus imperative that any effort towards energy conservation must include a focused approach to urban areas and more specifically on buildings and built-up areas.

Mercers quality of living index:

Hyderabad has been rated as the best city in India in the Mercers Quality of Living Index for the last six years.

Hyderabad, since the second quarter of 2019, is also the fastest-growing real estate market in the country.
The commercial/institutional office space, which was 100 million square feet in 2015, is likely to double by 2021.

Telangana example:

In the short-term, it’s crucial to ascertain how to respond to extreme heat and urbanisation challenges during a major pandemic.

In the medium and long-term, we need proactive pre-disaster actions to reduce risk and to invest in forward-looking plans, policies and programmes to ensure we make the right choices to balance urban growth and sustainable development.

In the context of the urban built-up space, there is an opportunity upfront by ensuring the buildings are built smart.

Telangana has taken steps to ensure energy efficiency in its buildings by incorporating the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)’s Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).

ECBC sets minimum efficiency standards for all commercial buildings, including categories such as multiplexes, hospitals, hotels and convention centres.

This will go a long way in ensuring the environmental footprint of the sector is controlled.
Cool roofs in low cost:

Additionally, there exist low-cost solutions to reduce the heat stress in homes and offices and bring down the dependence on air conditioners.

Cool roofs, for example, offer a simple and a cost-effective answer to urbanisation challenges.

Cool roofs reflect sunlight and absorb less heat.

Depending on the setting, they can help lower indoor temperatures by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius as compared to traditional roofs.

These roofs also potentially lead to less air pollution since they save energy, especially on cooling appliances, such as fans and air conditioners.

Telangana cool roofs programme:

The Government of Telangana, realising the importance of low-cost cool-roofing technology, has already undertaken several meaningful interventions.

Telangana tested these technologies through pilots undertaken in 2017.

As part of the state’s building energy efficiency programme to implement a cool roofs pilot in low-income neighbourhoods to showcase the benefits and impact of cool roofs in the city.

The project focused on a set of 25 low-income households.

Dupont India supplied a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cool roof coating membrane called Tyvek.
The results found that indoor air temperatures were observed to be lower by an average of 2 degrees Celsius in the homes with cool roofs as compared to similar homes without cool roofs.

Working with knowledge partners, the Telangana Cool Roofs Programme has been designed and is ready for implementation.

The programme is a target-based initiative to increase the percentage of cool roofs in the state.

The programme will aim to install cool roofs in low-income housing and slum communities in the initial years, where the thermal comfort of the occupants is of paramount importance.

Commercial buildings are also an important segment, given the rising footprint of the commercial activity in the state.

While cool roofs have already been included in the prescriptive requirements of the state’s energy conservation building code, the government will eventually look to mandate the adoption in the latter years of the programme.

Conclusion:
A robust awareness generation and capacity building campaign is also a part of the programme.While it is important to focus on targets, the realisation of those targets has to be  ensured through a well-functioning ecosystem of suppliers and installers.

What is required at this stage is large scale marketing of the concept to make builders and owners aware of the advantages in terms of energy and cost savings.

 

Comprehensive Current affairs 11 July 2020

CPCB to strengthen monitoring system in Ganga and its tributaries.

Government has directed the Central Pollution Control Board to strengthen the monitoring system in Ganga and it’s major tributaries.It also asked the Board to carry out inspection of Grossly Polluting Industries on regular basis.

The directions were given in an inter-ministerial meeting which was held in the presence of Environment Minister and Minister of Jal Shakti in New Delhi today.

Close monitoring of water quality in coordination with National Mission on Clean Ganga was also emphasised and it was agreed upon that suitable mechanism will be developed.

Indian Ministry of culture to reprint 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur.

The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of reprinting of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur under the National Mission for Manus, NMM.

The first set of five volumes of Mongolian Kanjur published under the NMM was presented to the President Ram NathKovind on the occasion of Guru Purnima, also known as Dharma Chakra Day, on 4th July.

The National Mission for Manus was launched in February 2003 by the Government of India with the mandate of documenting, conserving and disseminating the knowledge preserved in the manus.

One of the objectives of the mission is to publish rare and unpublished manus so that the knowledge enshrined in them is spread to researchers, scholars and general public at large.

India-EU summit to be held on 15 July through video conference.

The Fifteenth summit between India and the European Union (EU) will be held via video conference on 15 July 2020. The summit is aimed to deliver concrete benefits for the people in the EU and India.

Highlights:

·         The summit will provide a platform to strengthen the EU-India strategic partnership based on shared principles and values of democracy, freedom, and rule of law.

·         Indian P M Modi is expected to hold extensive talks with the President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on a range of issues in the summit.

·          The leaders will reaffirm to promote effective multilateralism and a rules-based multilateral order, with the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core.

·          The summit is aimed to deliver concrete benefits for the people in the EU and India.

·          The leaders will discuss ways to boost cooperation in areas of security, climate, environment, trade, and investment, digital economy, and connectivity.

Australia suspends extradition treaty with Hongkong.

Australia said on Thursday it was suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to a new security law imposed there and announced measures to attract businesses from the Asian financial hub, provoking an angry response from Beijing.

PM Scott Morrison said Hong Kong students, graduates and workers in Australia on temporary visas will have the opportunity to stay and work for an extra five years and apply for permanent residency after that time.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Mr. Morrison’s government should stop interfering in Chinese affairs, warning that China, the biggest customer for Australian exports, reserved the right to take retaliatory action.

India-UAE gives permission for airlines to transport authorized people.

Civil Aviation Ministry today said, India and the UAE have allowed their airlines to carry people authorised to travel between the two countries.

According to the arrangement, charter flights operated by UAE carriers to bring Indian citizens from UAE will be allowed to carry ICA approved UAE residents on their return leg.
Indian carriers operating repatriation flights to bring Indian citizens from UAE to India will be allowed to carry the ICA approved UAE residents on the outward journey from India to UAE.
On the India to UAE journey, these flights will carry only those passengers who are destined for the UAE.ICA is UAE's Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.The Civil Aviation authorities of both the countries have agreed to operationalise the arrangement from 12th July.

India observed Fish Farmers Day 2020.

India celebrates 10th July every year as the "National Fish Farmers Day" to honor the fish farmers, aquapreneurs& fisher folks in recognition of their accomplishments in the field and their contribution in the growth of the fisheries sector in the country. This year it was 63rd National Fish Farmer's Day.

On July 10th, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in association with the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) hosted a webinar on the occasion of National Fish Farmers Day.

Background History:

Every year, on 10 July, the National Fish Farmer's Day is celebrated in memory of scientists Dr. K. H. Alikunhi and Dr. H.L. Chaudhury who successfully demonstrated induced breeding (Hypophysation) technology in Indian Major Carps on 10 July 1957 at the former CIFRI Pond Culture Division in Cuttack, Odisha. (presently Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, CIFA, Bhubaneswar). The event aims to draw attention to changing the way the country manages fisheries resources to ensure sustainable stocks and healthy ecosystems.

The event is celebrated every year by congratulating outstanding farmers, aquapreneurs, and farmers in appreciation of their accomplishments in the field and their contribution to the development of the country's fisheries sector. Apart from officials, scientists, professionals, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders, fishermen, and fish farmers from across the nation will participate in the event.

About NFBD Webinar:

On  July 10th the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying in association with the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) hosted a webinar on the occasion of National Fish Farmers Day. Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri P. C. Sarangi, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Government of India and senior officials from the Department of Fisheries graced the occasion.

Interacting with fishermen, officials, scientists, entrepreneurs at various locations across the country, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, observed that to consolidate the achievements of the Blue Revolution and pave the way from NeeliKranti to ArthKranti, under the leadership of Prime Minister PM Modi The "Pradhan MantriMatsyaSampadaYojana" (PMMSY) has been launched with the highest investment ever of Rs. 20,050 crore over the next five years in order to realize its goal of doubling the farmer 's income. This scheme would tackle critical gaps in fish production and sustainability, efficiency, technology, post-harvest infrastructure and management, improving and enhancing the value chain, traceability, creating a comprehensive system for fisheries management and welfare for fishermen.
Fisheries Minister said that providing ‘Quality Seed’ of fish is very important in enhancing production and productivity in the country.  On the occasion of 'National Fish Farmers Day,' he announced that the NFDB, in collaboration with the NBFGR, will undertake the work of developing 'Fish Cryobanks' in various parts of the world, which will promote the availability of 'fish sperms' of desired species to fishermen at all times. This will be the first time in the world when "Fish Cryobank" will be created, which can bring a revolutionary change in the country's fisheries sector to boost fish production and productivity, thereby enhancing prosperity among the fishermen.

The Tiger Census of India sets a New Guinness Record.

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, results of which were declared to the nation on Global Tiger Day last year by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has entered the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey. 

world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey Terming this achievement a great moment, Indian Environment Minister, in a tweet message said that this is a shining example of Atma nirbhar Bharat which in the Prime Minister’s own words, was attained through Sankalp se siddhi. 

The Environment Minister also said India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, has fulfilled its commitment to double the number of tigers four years before the deadline. The country now has an estimated 2967 tigers according to the most recent census. With this number, India is home to nearly 75 per cent of the global tiger population and has already fulfilled its determination to double tiger numbers, made in St. Petersburg in 2010, well before the 2022 target year. 

The citation at the Guinness World Record website reads- “The fourth iteration of the survey – conducted in 2018-19 - was the most comprehensive to date, in terms of both resource and data amassed. Camera traps (outdoor photographic devices fitted with motion sensors that start recording when an animal passes by) were placed in 26,838 locations across 141 different sites and surveyed an effective area of 121,337 square kilometres (46,848 square miles). In total, the camera traps captured 34,858,623 photographs of wildlife (76,651 of which were tigers and 51,777 were leopards; the remainder were other native fauna). From these photographs, 2,461 individual tigers (excluding cubs) were identified using stripe-pattern-recognition software.

About Project Tiger

As well as unprecedented camera trap usage, the 2018 “Status of Tigers in India” assessment also conducted extensive foot surveys that covered 522,996 km (324,975 mi) of trails and sampled 317,958 habitat plots for vegetation and prey dung. It’s estimated that the total area of forest studied was 381,200 km2 (147,181 sq mi) and cumulatively the collection and review of data equated to some 620,795 labour-days.”

The quadrennial All India Tiger Estimate is managed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority with technical backstop from India 's Wildlife Institute and implemented by departments and partners from State Forest. The latest 2018 findings showed that India now has an estimated

2967 tigers out of which photographed 2461 individual tigers, a whopping 83 percent of the tiger population, reflecting the detailed nature of the survey.

There is hardly any equivalent of such a based species-oriented program as Project Tiger in the world, which began with 9 Tiger Reserves, currently with 50 tiger reserves. India has now firmly established a leading role in the conservation of tigers, with its benchmarking practices viewed as a gold standard worldwide.

Indian space agency is going to launch Brazilian satellite next month.

The first earth observation satellite to be entirely developed by Brazil will be launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).The satellite is known by the name ‘Amazonia-1’.
On 25th January 2004, an agreement was signed for cooperation in the field of outer space between India and Brazil. As a part of the framework agreement ISRO will be launching a micro-satellite of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). This microsatellite will be for atmospheric studies as per the agreement.

Operations of Amazonia-1 will be joint with the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite Program (CBERS).  Under the CBERS program between China and Brazil, 6 satellites have been launched to date (The first satellite CBERS-1 was launched back in October 1999).

India's GDP to contract by 3 percent in FY21 says BofA.

BofA Securities, a foreign brokerage, stated that India's GDP will contract by 3% in FY21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, assuming the economy is opened up fully from next. The Indian GDP will contract this fiscal, with some estimates ranging up to 7% negative growth.

Highlights:

·    It also stated that RBI will monetize the fiscal deficit through the purchase of government bonds of up to $95 billion through open market operations (OMO), and its revaluation reserves of $127 billion will be used to recapitalize state-run banks.

·    BofA Securities has an estimated 3% contraction with the assumption of the economy opening up fully from mid-August. It is expected that this might rise up to 5% if the COVID-19 crisis prolongs.

·      It should be noted that India's GDP growth decelerated to 4.2% in 2019-20, the weakest in over a decade. The growth potential is over 7%.

·       Repo rate points cut down by 135 points amid covid Crysis.

·     From February 2019 till COVID-19 began, the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) has cut the repo rate by 135 basis points. That was shared by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das while delivering his keynote address on July 11, 2020 at the 7th SBI Banking & Economics Conclave.

Covid - 19's Adverse Effect on REPO Points

The RBI Governor said repo rate has been cut overall since February 2019 by 250 basis points to alleviate liquidity stress and provide financial stability in the economy. The main aim behind the move was to tackle the economic growth slowdown. Das stated that during the Monetary Policy

Committee (MPC) meeting, they had extensively touched on economic growth issues. The MPC has agreed to slash the policy repo rate by 115 base points cumulatively.

Worst Health & Economic Crisis in 100 years Says RBI Governor

The RBI Governor claimed that this is the worst health and economic crisis of the last 100 years with unparalleled negative impacts on employment, production, and well-being. Das said the  existing world order, global value chains, labor, and capital movements across the globe have been dented.
RBI Governor further claimed that the coronavirus pandemic has represented our economic and financial system 's largest test of resilience and robustness. The new RBI initiatives seek to accelerate a cyclical turnaround in economic activity at a time when COVID-19 has struck the world along with other calamities, causing poverty and endangering thousands of people's lives and livelihoods. According to Shaktikanta Das, COVID may result in higher non-performing assets (NPAs) and capital erosion of banks.

Indian Consumer affairs ministry makes country of origin rag mandatory for e-commerce portals.

·         Amid the clamour to ban China-made goods, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has sent out a reminder to all e-commerce portals to ensure that the “country of origin” of the products being sold by them should be mentioned as part of mandatory declarations.

·         The Ministry’s reminder to e-commerce portals is part of a concerted effort by the government to have ‘country of origin’ declarations on these websites. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Wednesday held a second meeting on the matter after the initial consultation two weeks ago, attended by close to 30 e-commerce players.

·         These rules make it mandatory for all manufacturers to declare the package name and address of the manufacturer, common and generic name of commodity, net quantity, month and year of manufacturing, MRP and consumer care details.

Sindhu Darshan Mela observed in Ladakh.

Recently, Indian PM Modi has performed Sindhu Darshan puja at Nimu, the forward brigade place in Ladakh.

Sindu Darshan festival is celebrated along the banks of the River Indus (River Sindhu) in Ladakh.

·         It is celebrated every year on the day of Guru Purnima (full moon day), the festivities continue for three days.

·          It consists of features such cultural events as musical shows, dance performances and art exhibitions, organised by artistes from around India.

·          It also called as the Singhe Kabaab Festival, it draws focus to the Sindhu river and promotes the waterbody as a symbol of the communal unity and harmony.

·          The Nimu in Ladakh is surrounded by the Zanskar range and is on the banks of river Indus

 

Indian cabinet clears rental housing scheme for migrants.

A scheme for providing affordable rental housing to about 3 lakh urban migrants was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

The creation of affordable rental housing complexes was announced by Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on May 14 as a part of the package to address the COVID-19 crisis.
At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, the Cabinet approved the scheme, which will be a sub-scheme of the PradhanMantriAwasYojana-Urban that is implemented by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Rajya Sabha officials claim quorum required only during

deliberations.

Contradicting the Opposition’s argument for virtual meetings of standing committees to ensure quorum during deliberations, officials at the RajyaSabha Secretariat have said that quorum is essential only when the committees take decisions or adopt reports and not during routine deliberations.
Sources said this issue came up at a meeting on Wednesday chaired by RajyaSabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu. Congress leader and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology Jairam Ramesh had written to Mr. Naidu demanding a virtual meeting citing lack of quorum. Quorum for these meetings is generally 11 out of 30 members.
The officials, sources said, told Mr. Naidu that out of 281 meetings of the eight department-related Standing Committees that are headed by RajyaSabha members, 16% were held without quorum.

Sri lanka and Maldives eliminate Measles, Rubella ahead of target.

Maldives and Sri Lanka have become the first two countries in the South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of the 2023 target. The announcement was made by WHO South-East Asia's Regional Director, Dr PoonamKhetrapal Singh after the fifth meeting of the regional verification commission for measles and rubella elimination, held virtually.
Dr. Singh said protecting all children against these killer and debilitating diseases is an important step in endeavour to achieve healthier population and health for all. The Regional Director commended Member countries’ efforts to deliver life-saving vaccines to children even while battling the COVID pandemic.

A country is verified as having eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission for over three years by a well-performing surveillance system.
Maldives reported its last endemic case of measles in 2009 and of rubella in October 2015, while Sri Lanka reported last endemic case of measles in May 2016 and of rubella in March 2017.

US announces visa restrictions on Chinese officials related to Tibet.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced visa restrictions for a certain group of Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.

He said, Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas by US diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while Chinese officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.
Mr Pompeo announced visa restrictions on Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party officials involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas.

Compulsory Licensing of Remdesivir.

Some of the opposition parties had asked the Government to issue compulsory licences for the manufacture of a generic version of Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug being used to treat COVID-19 Patients.

What is Compulsory Licensing?

A compulsory licence is a licence or authorisation issued by the government to an applicant for making, using and selling a patented product or employing a patented process without the consent of the patentee.

Chapter XVI of the Indian Patents Act 1970 and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights discuss compulsory licensing.

The application for compulsory license can be made any time after 3 years from date of sealing of a patent.

When Compulsory License is Issued?

The Following Conditions should be fulfilled by the applicant:

Reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention have not been satisfied;

 Patented invention is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price.

 Patented invention is not used in India.

 Additionally, according to Section 92 of the Act, compulsory licenses can also be issued suo motu by the Controller of Patents pursuant to a notification issued by the Central Government if there is either a “national emergency” or “extreme urgency” or in cases of“public non-commercial use”.

When was the First License Issued?

·         India’s first ever compulsory license was granted by the Patent Office on March 9, 2012, to Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma for the production of generic version of Bayer’s Nexavar, an anti-cancer agent used in the treatment of liver and kidney Cancer.

Global Perspective on Compulsory Licensing:

·   This phenomenon of compulsory licensing is a hugely debated issue. Many developing countries are giving importance to the compulsory licensing because of the unavailability and unaffordability of the medicines, and they are continuously granting more and more compulsory licenses. The developed countries of Europe, USA are opposing this view as it would make innovation difficult for the pharmaceutical companies.
Need of the Hour:

·          Gilead Sciences’ anti-viral drug Remdesivir has shown efficacy in treating COVID-19
patients.

·    Media reports indicate that the U.S., which is hoarding all drugs found to be useful in combating the pandemic, has bought the entire stock of Remdesivir from Gilead for the next three months.

·         It will therefore not be available for the rest of the world.

·     Besides, while the cost of manufacturing Remdesivir for a full course — as worked out by experts — is less than $10 or Rs. 750 in the U.S. And about Rs.100 in India. Gilead, by virtue of its patent monopoly, is holding the world to ransom by asking a price that is hundreds of times its cost.

 

Scientists discover cause of production of Lithium in stars.

A forty-year-old puzzle regarding the production of lithium in stars has been solved by Indian researchers.Stars, as per known mechanisms of evolution, actually destroy lithium as they evolve

into red giants. Planets were known to have more lithium than their stars — as is the case with the Earth-Sun pair. However, leading to a contradiction, some stars were found that were lithium-rich.

The Sun, for instance, has about a factor of 100 lower amount of lithium than the Earth. About 40 years ago, a few large stars were spotted that were lithium-rich. This was followed by further discoveries of lithium-rich stars, and that posed a puzzle — if stars do not produce lithium, how do some stars develop to become lithium-rich?

For the present study, the group studied over 200,000 stars using the Galactic Archaeology survey of the Anglo-Australian Telescope.

 

Plastic Waste Management in Pandemic

The threat posed by plastic waste to the environment is well established. The corona pandemic has led to an increase in Plastic Waste.

Highlights:

·         In 2018, a report by McKinsey estimated that, globally, we generate 350 million tonnes of plastic waste. Only 16 per cent of it is recycled.

·         Today, due to pandemic the amount of plastic waste we are generating is much higher than that estimated in the McKinsey report.

·         The Guardian recently reported that there are possibly more masks than jellyfish in the oceans today. Management of plastic in India

·          We have the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, which were updated and amended in 2018. In fact, India saw incredible momentum in its fight for effective management of
plastic waste in the last year.

·          The Prime Minister made clarion calls for a jan andolan (people’s movement) to curb the use of single-use plastic (SUP).

·          Jan andolan was also to ensure proper disposal of all plastic waste.

·          Also, the entire country rallied together under the banner of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign.

Why single-use plastic is different:

·         Plastic is not the problem, our handling of it is.

·        We need plastic, but not SUP, which is difficult to dispose of effectively, and that is where the problem lies. It is important to understand this distinction.

·        By understanding this distinction we may change our behaviour and our lifestyles, to balance our need for plastic with effectively managing its waste.

Way Forward:

·      One way to approach the issue is to treat it not just as an environmental problem but as an Economic Opportunity.

·         We require new business models which are designed for sustainability.

·        In Uganda, they are melting plastic waste to make face shields which are being sold for just a dollar each.

·          But, most of all, we need a tectonic shift in the behaviour of consumers.

·         We need consumers to care about their role in the plastic waste value chain.

·        Under phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) village communities are now starting to plan for setting up waste collection and segregation systems, with material recovery facilities at the block- level.

·     Change is possible when we take necessary steps to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and, when all else fails, Remove, or dispose of plastic waste safely and effectively.

New agricultural infrastructure fund formed with 1 lakh

Crore budget.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme- Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The scheme will provide a medium and long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.

Under the scheme, one lakh crore rupees will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations, Self Help Group, Farmers, Startups and Centre and State agency among others.
All loans under this financing facility will have interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum up to a limit of two crore. rupees and this subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years.

CBDT signs MoU with SEBI for data exchange.

A  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two organizations.

Ministry of Finance in a statement said,  theMoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between SEBI and CBDT on an automatic and regular basis.

In addition to regular exchange of data, the two organizations will also exchange with each other, on request and suomoto basis, any information available in their databases for the purpose of carrying out their functions under various laws.

The MoU comes into force from the date it was signed and is an ongoing initiative of CBDT and SEBI, who are already collaborating through various existing mechanisms.

 

Tropical Cyclones.

Introduction.
Tropical cyclone Amphan intensified rapidly in the Bay of Bengal to become a “Super Cyclonic Storm” – the equivalent of a strong Category 4/weak Category 5 on the Saffir Simpson scale. It weakened ahead of landfall on Wednesday 20 May as a very severe cyclonic storm (strong Category 2 equivalent), bringing dangerous winds, storm surge and flooding to coastal areas of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh.

Amphan (pronounced Um-Pun) impacted densely populated areas, including the Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta) at a time when restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating disaster management – and making it more necessary than ever before.
Tropical Cyclone Naming:

Tropical cyclones can last for a week or more; therefore there can be more than one cyclone at a time. Weather forecasters give each tropical cyclone a name to avoid confusion. Each year, tropical cyclones receive names in alphabetical order.

Women and men’s names are alternated. The name list is proposed by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of WMO Members of a specific region, and approved by the respective tropical cyclone regional bodies at their annual/bi-annual sessions. Nations in the western North Pacific began using a new system for naming tropical cyclones in 2000.
There is a strict procedure to determine a list of tropical cyclone names in an ocean basin by the Tropical Cyclone Regional Body responsible for that basin at its annual/biennial meeting. There are five tropical cyclone regional bodies, i.e. ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones, RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee, RA IV Hurricane Committee, and RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.

Hurricane Committee determines a pre-designated list of hurricane names for six years separately at its annual session. The pre-designated list of hurricane names are proposed by its Members that include National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the North/Central America and the Caribbean. Naming procedures in other regions are almost the same as in the Caribbean. In some of the regions, the lists are established by alphabetical order of the names. In other regions, the lists are established following the alphabetical order of the country names. In general, tropical cyclones are named according to the rules at a regional level.

World Meteorological Organization maintains rotating lists of names which are appropriate for each Tropical Cyclone basin. If a cyclone is particularly deadly or costly, then its name is retired and replaced by another one.

Objective:
It is important to note that tropical cyclones/hurricanes/typhoons are not named after any particular person. The tropical cyclone/hurricane/typhoon names selected are those that are familiar to the people in each region.

Obviously, the main purpose of naming a tropical cyclone/hurricane is basically for people easily to understand and remember the tropical cyclone/hurricane/typhoon in a region, thus to facilitate tropical cyclone/hurricane/typhoon disaster risk awareness, preparedness, management and reduction.