Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PFZ
Mains level: Application based initiaitives by ISRO
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad has reported that Oceansat Satellite data from ISRO are used to prepare the PFZ advisories on the potential rich fishing areas and provide to the sea faring fishermen in all states.
Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ)
- This is the first advisory service started by INCOIS. The backbone of this service is the real-time data for ocean color and SST provided by the OCEANSAT and NOAA respectively.
- This service was started because there was a need to identify the potential fishing zones to help the fishermen to get better catch while they were at the sea.
- This service was started by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the help of the Department of Space and several institutions under the Ministry of Agriculture.
How it works?
- This service makes use of parameters such as sea surface temperature and chlorophyll content provided by NOAA-AVHRR and Oceancolor satellites.
- Features such as oceanic fronts, Meandering Patterns, Eddies, Rings, Up Welling areas etc. are identified sites for fish accumulation.
- These features can easily be identified from Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll data.
- The availability of Chlorophyll from OCEANSAT and MOdDIS has further enriched these advisories in the recent years.
- Hence, PFZ advisories have helped the fishing community to locate the fishing zones with accuracy.
Special advisories for fisherman
- Another feature of PFZ service is the generation of species-specific advisory to enable the fishermen folk to distinguish between the exploited and under-exploited species in the potential fishing zones.
- This enables them to have sustainable fishery management by targeting only the under-exploited species in the fishing zones.
- This approach enables them to avoid fishing the over-exploited species over and over again.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Essential Commodities Act, PSF
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Price Monitoring Division (PMD) in the Department of Consumer Affairs is monitoring the retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential food commodities due to increased panic buying by customers.
Essential Commodities Act
- The ECA is an act which was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which if obstructed owing to hoarding or black-marketing would affect the normal life of the people.
- The ECA was enacted in 1955. This includes foodstuff, drugs, fuel (petroleum products) etc.
- It has since been used by the Government to regulate the production, supply and distribution of a whole host of commodities it declares ‘essential’ in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices.
- Additionally, the government can also fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of any packaged product that it declares an “essential commodity”.
- The list of items under the Act includes drugs, fertilizers, pulses and edible oils, and petroleum and petroleum products.
- The Centre can include new commodities as and when the need arises, and takes them off the list once the situation improves.
How ECA works?
- If the Centre finds that a certain commodity is in short supply and its price is spiking, it can notify stock-holding limits on it for a specified period.
- The States act on this notification to specify limits and take steps to ensure that these are adhered to.
- Anybody trading or dealing in the commodity, be it wholesalers, retailers or even importers are prevented from stockpiling it beyond a certain quantity.
- A State can, however, choose not to impose any restrictions. But once it does, traders have to immediately sell into the market any stocks held beyond the mandated quantity.
- This improves supplies and brings down prices. As not all shopkeepers and traders comply, State agencies conduct raids to get everyone to toe the line and the errant are punished.
- The excess stocks are auctioned or sold through fair price shops.
Ex: The Union Government has brought masks and hand-sanitisers under the ECA to make sure that these products, key for preventing the spread of Covid-19 infection, are available to people at the right price and in the right quality.
What about Food Items?
- The items covered include rice, wheat, atta, gram dal, arhar dal, moong dal, urad dal, masoor, dal, tea, sugar, salt, Vanaspati, groundnut oil, mustard oil, milk, soya oil, palm oil, sunflower oil, gur, potato, onion and tomato.
- Based on the deliberations, Government takes various measures from time to time to stabilize prices of essential food items which, inter-alia, include appropriately utilizing trade and fiscal policy instruments like import duty.
- The govt. can impose stock limits and advise State for effective action against hoarders & black marketers etc. to regulate domestic availability and moderate prices.
- The government utilizes the buffer of agri-horticultural commodities like pulses, onion, etc. built under Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to help moderate the volatility in prices.
Back2Basics
Price Stabilization Fund (PSF)
- The PSF was set up in 2014-15 under the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Famers Welfare (DAC&FW) to help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities like onion, potatoes and pulses were also added subsequently.
- Procurement of these commodities will be undertaken directly from farmers or farmers’ organizations at farm gate/mandi and made available at a more reasonable price to the consumers.
- Losses incurred, if any, in the operations will be shared between the Centre and the States.
- PSF provides for advancing interest-free loans to State Governments/ UTs and Central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses they might incur on procurement and distribution interventions for such commodities.
- The scheme provides for maintaining a strategic buffer of the commodities for subsequent calibrated release to moderate price volatility and discourages hoarding and unscrupulous speculation.
- The PSF is managed centrally by a Price Stabilization Fund Management Committee (PSFMC) which will approve all proposals from State Governments and Central Agencies.
- The PSF is maintained as a Central Corpus Fund by Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), a society promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture for linking agriculture to private businesses and investments and technology.
With inputs from: http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Price_Stabilisation_Fund_(PSF)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0
Mains level: Various initiaitves for rural transformation
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development has informed Lok Sabha about the progress of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0
- Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 is the upgraded version of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 1.0.
- The scheme is extended to all educational institutes; however, under UBA 2.0 Participating institutes are selected based on the fulfilment of certain criteria.
About UBA
- It is a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, which aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5 villages so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
- It is a significant initiative where all Higher Learning Institutes have been involved for participation in development activities, particularly in rural areas.
- It also aims to create a virtuous cycle between the society and an inclusive university system, with the latter providing knowledge base; practices for emerging livelihoods and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private sectors.
- Currently under the scheme UBA, 13072 villages have been adopted by 2474 Institutes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EPS Scheme
Mains level: Scope and benefits of EPS
The Union Ministry of Labour & Employment has informed about the total enrollments under EPS.
Employees Pension Scheme (EPS)
- EPS is a social security scheme that was launched in 1995 and is facilitated by EPFO.
- The scheme makes provisions for pensions for the employees in the organized sector after retirement at the age of 58 years.
- Employees who are members of EPFO automatically become eligible for EPS.
- Both employer and employee contribute 12% of employee’s monthly salary (basic wages plus dearness allowance) to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) scheme.
- EPF scheme is mandatory for employees who draw a basic wage of Rs. 15,000 per month.
- Of the employer’s share of 12 %, 8.33 % is diverted towards the EPS.
Features of the 2020 Amendment
- EPS pensioners will get normal pension even after getting a reduced pension due to commutation.
- On retirement, if the employee opts for commutation of pension, a portion is paid as a lump sum based on the commutation factor while on the balance the pension begins.
- In simple terms, commutation means a lump sum payment in lieu of periodic payments of pension.
- In such a case, the amount of pension will be lower than the amount of pension without any commutation.
- The amendment seeks to restore the original amount of pension as per the commutation table, after 15 years equal to the same amount as it would have been without commutation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ro-Pax Ferry
Mains level: Not Much
Mumbai – the first metropolitan city in India has introduced Ro-Pax service to its transport infrastructure. M2M1 Ferry Vessel has commenced operations between Mumbai and Mandwa.
Ro-Pax Ferry
- Ro-Pax Ferry is a ferry that combines the features of a cruise ship and a roll-on/roll-off service.
- This service has brought much to the relief of daily commuters, job seekers and holiday-goers travelling between Mumbai and Mandwa and also other parts of Alibaug.
- Ro-Pax service enables people to ferry along with their vehicles on board, between Mumbai and Mandwa.
- With this, Mumbai, Alibaug and the adjoining Konkan region will experience a boost in tourism, hinterland connectivity and also job opportunities.
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Researchers from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism have found the mighty Himalayas subside and move up depending on the seasonal changes in groundwater.
Tectonic activity and groundwater
- The Himalayan foothills and the Indo-Gangetic plain are sinking because its contiguous areas are rising due to tectonic activity associated with landmass movement or continental drift.
- The new study shows that subsidence and uplift are found to be associated with seasonal changes in groundwater, apart from the normal, common reasons.
- Water acts as a lubricating agent, and hence when there is water in the dry season, the rate of the slip of the fault in this region is reduced.
- In the Himalaya, seasonal water from glaciers, as well as monsoon precipitation, plays a key role in the deformation of the crust and the seismicity associated with it.
- The subsidence rate is associated with groundwater consumption.
Findings of the study
- The researchers have made the combined use of GPS and Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, which has made it possible for them to quantify the variations of hydrologic mass.
- The GRACE satellites, launched by the US in 2002, monitor changes in water and snow stores on the continents.
- The combined data suggest a 12% reduction in the rate of the subsurface slip. This slip refers to how fast the fault is slipping relative to the foot and hanging wall.
- The slip occurs at the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), due to hydrological variations and human activities, over which there is the periodic release of accumulated strain.
About GRACE Mission
- The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center.
- Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth’s gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017.
- By measuring gravity anomalies, GRACE showed how mass is distributed around the planet and how it varies over time.
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The WCD Minister has informed about some progress in the National Creche Scheme. As of today, 6453 creches are functional across the country under the Scheme.
National Creche Scheme
- Earlier named as Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme, the NCS is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through States/UTs with effect from 1.1.2017.
- It aims to provide daycare facilities to children (age group of 6 months to 6 years) of working mothers.
Salient features of the Scheme
- Daycare Facilities including Sleeping Facilities.
- Early Stimulation for children below 3 years and pre-school education for 3 to 6 years old children.
- Supplementary Nutrition ( to be locally sourced)
- Growth Monitoring
- Health Check-up and Immunization
Further, the guidelines provide that :
- Crèches shall be open for 26 days in a month and for seven and a half (7-1/2) hours per day.
- The number of children in the crèche should not be more than 25 per crèche with 01 Worker and 01 helpers respectively.
- User charges to bring in an element of community ownership and collected as under:
- BPL families – Rs 20/- per child per month.
- Families with Income (Both Parents) of up to Rs. 12,000/- per month – Rs. 100/- per child per month
- Families with Income (Both Parents) of above Rs. 12,000/- per month – Rs. 200/- per child per month.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Methanotrophs
Mains level: Methane emission
Scientists at Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have isolated 45 different strains of methanotrophic bacteria which have been found to be capable of reducing methane emissions from rice plants.
What are Methanotrophs?
- They are bacteria that metabolize and convert methane into carbon-di-oxide.
- They can effectively reduce the emission of methane, which is the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) and 26 times more potent as compared to carbon-di-oxide.
- In rice fields, Methanotrophs are active near the roots or soil-water interfaces.
- Besides methane mitigation studies, Methanotrophs can also be used in methane value addition (valorization) studies.
- Bio-methane generated from waste can be used by the Methanotrophs and can be converted to value-added products such as single-cell proteins, carotenoids, biodiesel, and so on.
Why rice fields?
- Rice fields are human-made wetlands and are waterlogged for a considerable period. Anaerobic degradation of organic matter results in the generation of methane.
- Rice fields contribute to nearly 10% of global methane emissions.
- Very few studies in the world have focused on Methanotrophs from tropical wetlands or tropical rice fields.
- Practically no cultures of indigenously isolated Methanotrophs from India were available.
- Native and relevant Methanotrophs isolated from rice fields can be excellent models to understand the effect of various factors on methane mitigation.
Must read:
https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-indian-paddy-fields-very-high-ny-based-study/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Mining regulations in India
Parliament has passed The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for amendments in Mines & Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 and The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015. The bill will transform the mining sector in the country boosting coal production and reducing dependence on imports.
Acts to be amended
- The MMDR Act regulates the overall mining sector in India.
- The CMSP Act provides for the auction and allocation of mines whose allocation was cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014.
- Schedule I of the Act provides a list of all such mines; Schedule II and III are sub-classes of the mines listed in the Schedule I.
- Schedule II mines are those where production had already started then, and Schedule III mines are ones that had been earmarked for a specified end-use.
Features of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020
Removal of restriction on end-use of coal
- Currently, companies acquiring Schedule II and Schedule III coal mines through auctions can use the coal produced only for specified end-uses such as power generation and steel production.
- The Bill removes this restriction on the use of coal mined by such companies.
- Companies will be allowed to carry on coal mining operation for own consumption, sale or for any other purposes, as may be specified by the central government.
Eligibility for auction of coal and lignite blocks
- The Bill clarifies that the companies need not possess any prior coal mining experience in India in order to participate in the auction of coal and lignite blocks.
- Further, the competitive bidding process for auction of coal and lignite blocks will not apply to mines considered for allotment to:
- a government company or its joint venture for own consumption, sale or any other specified purpose; and
- a company that has been awarded a power project on the basis of a competitive bid for tariff.
Composite license for prospecting and mining
- Currently, separate licenses are provided for prospecting and mining of coal and lignite, called prospecting license, and mining lease, respectively.
- Prospecting includes exploring, locating, or finding mineral deposit. The Bill adds a new type of license, called prospecting license-cum-mining lease.
- This will be a composite license providing for both prospecting and mining activities.
Non-exclusive reconnaissance permits holders to get other licenses
- Currently, the holders of non-exclusive reconnaissance permit for exploration of certain specified minerals are not entitled to obtain a prospecting license or mining lease.
- Reconnaissance means preliminary prospecting of a mineral through certain surveys.
- The Bill provides that the holders of such permits may apply for a prospecting license-cum-mining lease or mining lease. This will apply to certain licensees as prescribed in the Bill.
Transfer of statutory clearances to new bidders
- Currently,upon expiry, mining leases for specified minerals (minerals other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals) can be transferred to new persons through auction.
- This new lessee is required to obtain statutory clearances before starting mining operations.
- The Bill provides that the various approvals, licenses, and clearances given to the previous lessee will be extended to the successful bidder for a period of two years.
Reallocation after termination of the allocations
- The CMSP Act provides for the termination of allotment orders of coal mines in certain cases.
- The Bill adds that such mines may be reallocated through auction or allotment as may be determined by the central government.
- The central government will appoint a designated custodian to manage these mines until they are reallocated.
Prior approval from the central government
- Under the MMDR Act, state governments require prior approval of the central government for granting reconnaissance permit, prospecting license, or mining lease for coal and lignite.
- The Bill provides that prior approval of the central government will not be required in granting these licenses for coal and lignite, in certain cases.
- These include cases where: (i) the allocation has been done by the central government, and (ii) the mining block has been reserved to conserve a mineral.
Advance action for auction
- Under the MMDR Act, mining leases for specified minerals (minerals other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals) are auctioned on the expiry of the lease period.
- The Bill provides that state governments can take advance action for auction of a mining lease before its expiry.
With inputs from PRS India
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ARI-516
Mains level: Not Much
Pune’s Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), an autonomous institute of the DST has developed a hybrid variety of grapes which is resistant to fungal diseases, high yielding and has excellent juice quality.
ARI-516
- The hybrid variety ARI-516 has been developed by interbreeding of two species from the same genus — Catawba variety of Vitis labrusca and Beauty seedless variety of Vitis vinifera.
- It is a result of collaboration between Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science (MACS) and ARCI and can benefit farmers, the processing industry and consumers.
- This variety of grapes is resistant to fungal diseases, high yielding and has excellent juice quality.
- The fungal resistance of ARI-516 has been derived from Catawba, which is an American grape variety.
Commercial benefits
- It is also suitable for preparation of juice, raisin, jam and red wine and farmers are enthusiastically adopting the variety.
- It has superior quality fruits and higher yield per unit area.
- An early ripening hybrid, it matures in 110 – 120 days after pruning.
- Being moderately resistant to a majority of fungal diseases, its cost of production is lower.
Back2Basics
Grape production in India
- India ranks twelfth in the world in terms of grape production.
- About 78% of grape production in India is utilized for consumption, 17-20 % for raisin production, 1.5 % for wine and 0.5 % for juice.
- Maharashtra leads in the production of grapes in India with a share of 81.22 %. A negligible share of grapes is used for juice production.
- A majority of farmers in Maharashtra cultivate ‘Thompson seedless’ and its clones for table purpose or raisin making.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gaura Devi and her contributions in Chipko Movement
Mains level: Chipko Movement
Union HRD Minister along with senior women officers of the Ministry planted a sapling in memory of Gaura Devi, Chipko Activist in New Delhi.
Gaura Devi
- Gaura Devi was born in 1925 in a village named Lata in the state of Uttarakhand. She moved to a nearby village named Reni by the Alaknanda River.
- She was elected to lead the Mahila Mangal Dal (Women’s Welfare Association) in the wake of the Chipko movement. The organization worked on the protection of community forests.
Her contributions in Chipko Movement
- Gaura Devi came to notice in 1974 when she was told that local loggers were cutting the trees.
- The men of Reni village had been tricked out of the village by news that the government was going to pay out compensation for land used by the army.
- She challenged the men to shoot her instead of cutting down the trees and she described the forest with her maika (mother’s house).
- They managed to halt their work by hugging the trees despite the abuse of the armed loggers.
- They kept guard of the trees that night and over the next three or four days other villages and villagers joined the action. The loggers left leaving the trees.
Impact
- After this incident, the Uttar Pradesh Government established a committee of experts to investigate the issue of felling of trees, and the lumber company withdrew its men from Reni.
- The committee stated that the Reni forest was an ecologically sensitive area and that no trees should be felled there.
- Thereafter the government of Uttar Pradesh placed a 10-year ban on all tree-felling in an area of over 1150 km².
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Qubit, Quantum Entanglement
Mains level: Quantum Computing and its applications
Researchers from Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institution under the Dept. of Science & Technology, have devised a new test for fairness of quantum coin or ‘qubit’ using entanglement theory. The Qubit is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer.
Entanglement Theory
- It is a special type of correlation that exists in the quantum world with no classical counterpart.
- The researchers from RRI made use of this quantum resource to arrive at a test for fairness of a quantum coin (a qubit).
- Their strategy, which makes use of entanglement, enables better discrimination between quantum states. Such advantage is valuable in quantum sensors.
- This work is a significant contribution to the domain of quantum state discrimination, which is an essential aspect of quantum information science.
- It brings out the crucial role of entanglement in improving our ability to discriminate quantum states.
- In this work the researchers concretely implemented the theoretical idea on the simulation facility of the IBM quantum computer.
Quantum coins
- By repeated trials, one can determine the fairness of a classical coin with a confidence which grows with the number of trials.
- A quantum coin can be in a superposition of heads and tails.
- Given a string of qubits representing a series of trials, one can measure them individually and determine the state with a certain confidence.
- The team has shown that there is an improved strategy which measures the qubits after entangling them, which leads to a greater confidence.
Significance
- This is a significant contribution to quantum state discrimination, an essential aspect of quantum information science which is expected to influence quantum sensing.
- The domain of Quantum Information and Quantum Computing Technology is a growing area of research which is expected to influence Data Processing, which in turn, plays a central role in our lives in this Information Age.
- For instance, bank transactions, online shopping and so on crucially depend on the efficiency of information transfer.
- Thus the recent work on quantum state discrimination is expected to be valuable in people’s lives in the current era.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC)
Mains level: Read the attached story
Scientists at International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad have developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
- Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells (PEMFC) are a type of fuel cell being developed mainly for transport applications, as well as for stationary fuel-cell applications and portable fuel-cell applications.
- Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure ranges (50 to 100 °C) and a special proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane.
- PEMFCs generate electricity and operate on the opposite principle to PEM electrolysis, which consumes electricity.
- They are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel-cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.
Working
- The PEMFC uses a water-based, acidic polymer membrane as its electrolyte, with platinum-based electrodes.
- The protons pass through the membrane to the cathode side of the cell while the electrons travel in an external circuit, generating the electrical output of the cell.
Applications in disaster management
- Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with 10 kW systems is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.
- Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe and is followed by frequent power cuts.
- ARCI is now planning to set up a PEMFC system for Tamil Nadu to operate the systems like early warning systems, VHF set, IP phone, BSNL Ethernet and office equipment like scanner, computers, printers, phone, FAX and normal requirements like lighting and fan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Law for Rain Water Harvesting
Mains level: Rooftop water conservation strategy
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has issued the Model Building Bye Laws, 2016 for guidance of the States/UTs and has a chapter on ‘Rainwater Harvesting’.
Why such move?
- These laws aim to regulate the over-exploitation and consequent depletion of ground water.
- It would enable States/UTs to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development, which includes provision of rain water harvesting.
About the Bye Laws
- 33 States/UTs have adopted the rainwater harvesting provisions.
- The provisions of this chapter are applicable to all the buildings.
Various provisions
- As per Model Building Bye Laws- 2016, provision of rainwater harvesting is applicable to all residential plots above 100 sq.m.
- Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation and water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility.
- So the implementation of the rainwater harvesting policy comes within the purview of the State Government/Urban Local Body / Urban Development Authority.
Back2Basics
Groundwater governance in India
- Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under Section 3(3) of the ‘Environment (Protection) Act, 1986’ for the purpose of regulation and control of groundwater development and management in the Country.
- CGWA is regulating ground water withdrawal by industries/infrastructure/ mining projects in the country for which guidelines/ criteria have been framed which includes rainwater harvesting as one of the provisions while issuing No Objection Certificate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bank Mergers
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the mega consolidation of ten PSBs into four which include the –
- Amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank
- Amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank
- Amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India
- Amalgamation of Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank
About the merger
- The amalgamation would be effective from 1.4.2020 and would result in creation of seven large PSBs with scale and national reach with each amalgamated entity having a business of over Rupees Eight lakh crore.
- The Mega consolidation would help create banks with scale comparable to global banks and capable of competing effectively in India and globally.
- Greater scale and synergy through consolidation would lead to cost benefits which should enable the PSBs enhance their competitiveness and positively impact the Indian banking system.
Must read
Bank Mergers
[Burning Issue] Merger of Public Sector Bank
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Mains level: Regulations of API
The Government has made amendments in the export policy and restricted export of specified APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and formulations made from these APIs.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
- All drugs are made up of two core components: the API, which is the central ingredient, and the excipients, the substances other than the drug that helps deliver the medication to your system.
- The API is the part of any drug that produces its effects.
- Excipients are chemically inactive substances, such as lactose or mineral oil.
- The quality of APIs has a significant effect on the efficacy and safety of medications.
The notification covers the following APIs and formulations made from these APIs:
- Paracetamol
- Tinidazole
- Metronidazole
- Acyclovir
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
- Progesterone
- Chloramphenicol
- Erythromycin Salts
- Neomycin
- Clindamycin Salts
- Ornidazole
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trans-Fat
Mains level: Trans-Fat related health hazards
The limit of trans-fats to be not more than 5% is prescribed under Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 for vanaspati, bakery shortenings, bakery and industrial margarine and interesterified vegetable fats/oils.
What are Trans Fats?
- Artificial Trans fats are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.
- Since they are easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time, and give foods a desirable taste and texture, they are still widely used despite their harmful effects being well-known.
Why this move?
- Studies have recently shown that 60,000 deaths occur every year due to cardiovascular diseases, which in turn are caused due to high consumption of trans fats.
- Since the impact of trans fats on human health is increasing exponentially, it is very important to create awareness about them.
Standards for Trans-fats
- A draft notification to limit trans-fat to be not more than 2% by weight of the total oils/fats present in the processed food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient on and from 1st January, 2022 was issued on 28.08.2019.
- Standards prescribed under various regulations of FSSAI are enforced to check that they comply with the standards laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
- In cases where the food samples are found to be non-conforming, recourse is taken to penal provisions under Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CHITRA stents
Mains level: Affordable medical devices and implants in India
The Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Science and Tech. Thiruvanthapuram an Institute of National Importance under the Department of Science and Technology has developed an innovative intracranial flow diverter stent for the treatment of aneurysms of the blood vessels of the brain.
What is Aneurysms?
- Intracranial aneurysm is a localized ballooning, bulging or dilation of arteries in the brain caused by progressive weakening of the inner muscles of the wall of the blood vessels.
- Spontaneous rupture of the aneurysm can result in bleeding into the space around the brain resulting condition called a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) which can lead to paralysis, coma or death.
- Most often a ruptured brain aneurysm occurs in the space between the brain and the thin tissues covering the brain.
How to avert risks of Brain Aneurysms?
- Flow diverters stents when deployed in the artery in the brain bearing the aneurysms, diverts blood flow away from the aneurysm.
- This reduces the chances of its rupture from the pressure of blood flow.
- The Surgical treatment of an aneurysm involves opening the skull and a clip on the neck of aneurysm, so that it is cut off from the path of blood flow.
- There are three non surgical, minimally invasive endovascular treatments of aneurysms of the brain.
- In two of these procedures, the aneurismal sacis filled with platinum coils or occluded using high viscosity liquid polymer which solidifies when released into the sac thus sealing the sac.
- All these techniques have some limitation or the other.
Why are flow diverter stent preferable?
- A more attractive third minimally invasive option is deploying a flow diverter stent to bypass the segment of the blood vessel which has the aneurysm.
- Flow diverters have the advantages of being flexible and adaptable to the shape and course of the vessel.
- Also flow diverters promote healing of the vessel wall by removing the constant stress of blood flow on it.
What is CHITRA flow diverter?
- The Chitra flow diverter is designed to have better grip on the walls of arteries of complex shapes in order to reduce the risk of migration of the device.
- The unique design is in its weave also makes this stent resistant to kinking or twisting, when it is placed in tortuous arteries and those with complex shapes. Even a 180 degrees bend does not occlude the lumen of the stent.
- Portion of the wires is made radio opaque for better visibility in X –Rays and fluoroscopy thus aiding accurate delivery of the diverter in the blood vessel.
- Nitinol, a super elastic alloy with shape memory was acquired from National Aero Space Laboratories, Bengaluru (CSIR-NAL).
- When the device is deployed at the site, it is released from its crimped locked position and assumes the desired and originally designed shape because of the shape memory property of Nitinol.
Benefits of CHITRA
- The imported Flow diverter stents costs Rs 7-8 lakhs and is not manufactured in India.
- With the availability of the indigenous CHITRA, a well established industry would be able to manufacture and sell at a much lower price.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Voluntary star labelling program, BEE, UDIT
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has included Deep Freezer and Light Commercial Air Conditioners (LCAC) under its Star Rating Programme on a voluntary basis.
What is the news?
- The program will be initially launched in voluntary mode from 2ndMarch, 2020 to 31st December, 2021.
- Thereafter, it will be made mandatory after reviewing the degree of market transformation in this particular segment of appliances.
- In order to cover split ACs beyond the scope of existing BEE star labeling program upto a cooling capacity of 18kW, BEE has prepared a star labeling program for split ACs having cooling capacities in excess of 10.5kW and upto 18.0 kW.
- This category of Air conditioners is termed as LCAC primarily due to their application in commercial air conditioning.
- Through this initiative, it is expected to save around 2.8 Billion Units by FY2030, which is equivalent to GHG reduction of 2.4-million-ton Carbon Dioxide.
Why such move?
- Energy Efficiency has the maximum GHG abatement potential of around 51% followed by renewables (32%), biofuels (1%), nuclear (8%), carbon capture and storage (8%) as per the World Energy Outlook (WEO 2010).
- India can avoid building 300 GW of new power generation up to 2040 with the implementation of ambitious energy efficiency policies (IEA – India 2020).
- Successful implementation of Energy Efficiency Measures contributed to electricity savings of 86.60 BUs i.e. 7.14% of total electricity consumption of the country and emission reduction of 108.28 million tonnes of CO2 during 2017-18.
About Star Labeling Programme
- The programme has been formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency, as part of its mandate, under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
- Under this Programme, BEE has covered 24 appliances till date wherein 10 appliances are under the mandatory regime.
- The existing BEE star labelling program for Air Conditioners is based on Indian Standard IS 1391 part 1, part 2 and covers AC with cooling capacities up to 10.5kW.
Other facts: UDIT
- Urja Dakshata Information Tool (UDIT) (udit.beeindia.gov.in), a first-ever initiative taken by BEE with the World Resources Institute (WRI), to facilitate a database on energy efficiency was also launched.
- UDIT is a user-friendly platform that explains the energy efficiency landscape of India across industry, appliances, building, transport, municipal and agriculture sectors.
- UDIT will also showcase the capacity building and new initiatives taken up by the Government across the sectors in the increasing energy efficiency domain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various initiaitives mentioned in the newscard
Mains level: Schemes for cultural promotion
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has informed about its various schemes in the Lok Sabha.
Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs)
- To preserve & promote various forms of folk art and culture of the tribals throughout the country including West Bengal, the govt. has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
- These are headquartered at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur.
- These ZCCs organize various cultural activities and programmes all over the country on regular basis.
These ZCCs under Ministry of Culture are also implementing a number of schemes for promoting the folk/tribal art and culture, details of which are as below –
1) Award to Young Talented Artists:
- The Scheme “Young Talented Artists” is carried out to encourage and recognize the young talents especially in the field of rare art forms.
- Talented youngsters of the age group of 18-30 years are selected and given a one-time cash award of Rs. 10,000/-.
2) Guru Shishya Parampara:
- This scheme envisages transmitting our valued traditions to the coming generations. Disciples are trained under veterans in art forms which are rare and vanishing.
- Rare and vanishing art forms of the region are identified and eminent exponents are selected to carry out the training programmes in ‘Gurukula’ tradition.
- The monthly remuneration for Guru – Rs. 7,500/-, Accompanist – Rs. 3,750/- and Pupils – Rs. 1,500/- each for the period of six month to maximum 1 year for one scheme.
- The names of the Gurus are recommended by the State Cultural Affairs Departments.
3) National Cultural Exchange Programme (NCEP):
- It can be termed as the lifeline of the Zonal Cultural Centers. Under this scheme, various festivals of performing arts, exhibitions, yatras etc are organized in member States.
- Artists from other zones/states are invited to participate in these programmes. Participation of artists from the Zone in festivals held in other parts of the country are also facilitated.
- Zonal centres also participate in Major festivals happening in member States by arranging performances during these festivals where large number of audience get chance to enjoy and understand art forms of other regions.
- These festivals provide opportunity to taste and understand various cultures of our country.
4) Preservation of Languages
- Sahitya Akademi, an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, encourages the preservation and promotion of languages, especially the unrecognized and tribal languages.
- The Akademi periodically organizes language conventions throughout the country in this regard.
5) Theatre Rejuvenation:
- To promote theatre activities including stage shows and Production oriented workshops, etc. Honorarium Up to Rs. 30,000/- per show excluding TA & DA is paid.
- The groups finalized on the basis their credentials as well as the merit of project submitted by them.
6) Research & Documentation:
- To preserve promote and propagate vanishing visual and performing art forms including folk, tribal and classical in the field of music, dance, theatre, literature, fine arts etc. in print/ audio – visual media.
- The art form is finalized in consultation with state Cultural Department.
7) Shilpgram: To promote folk and tribal art and crafts of the zone by organizing seminar, workshops, exhibitions, craft fairs, design development and marketing support to the artisans living in the rural areas.
8) Octave: To promote and propagate the rich cultural heritage of North East region comprising of eight States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura to the rest of India.
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