Current Affairs Oct 20

Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020

• While delivering the keynote speech at the inaugural function of 16th Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020, the Prime Minister said the future will be shaped by societies that invest in science and innovation.
• The three-day programme will bring together policymakers and scientific leaders, calling for deepened scientific collaborations in solving global health problems, with special focus on coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
• The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting, for the last 15 years, has fostered international innovation collaborations to address the biggest challenges in health and development.
• The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 co-hosted by the
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
• Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology,
• the Indian Council of Medical Research and NITI Aayog,
• along with the Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development and Wellcome.
• The Grand Challenges India was set up as a partnership of the Department of Biotechnology and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012, and Wellcome also joined the partnership.
• It works across a range of health and developmental priorities ranging from agriculture, nutrition, sanitation, maternal and child health to infectious diseases. 

PIB

India-Oman Joint Commission

• The 9th Session of the India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held.
• The meeting was attended by representatives of various government departments/ministries from both sides.
• Both sides reviewed the recent developments in trade and investment ties and reaffirmed their commitment to expand the bilateral trade and encourage businesses
• to invest in each other’s country in order to realize the untapped potential in the commercial and economic relationship.
• They both agreed to cooperate in areas of Agriculture & Food Security, Standards & Metrology, Tourism, Information Technology, Health & Pharmaceuticals, MSMEs, Space, Civil Aviation, Energy including renewable energy, Culture, Mining, and Higher Education.
• Also reviewed the progress of prospective Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the field of mining, standards and metrology, financial intelligence, cultural exchange, and information technology, and agreed to conclude them expeditiously.
• Also agreed to expedite their internal procedures for signing and ratification of the Protocol amending India-Oman Double Taxation Agreement and conclusion of the India-Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty.
• Indian side appreciated Oman for signing and ratification of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework Agreement.
• The close bilateral ties, including vibrant trade and cultural exchanges, have now expanded into a strategic partnership based on trust and mutual respect.
• Increasing bilateral trade and investment between the two countries is a key element of the strategic partnership. India is among Oman’s top trading partners.
• For Oman, India was the 3rd largest source for its imports and 3rd largest market for its non-oil exports.
• Indian firms have invested heavily in Oman in various sectors like iron and steel, cement, fertilizers, textile, cables, chemicals, automotive, etc.

PIB

Australia Returns to the Malabar Exercise

• Recently, the Indian Ministry of Defense issued a release on the upcoming trilateral India-U.S.-Japan Malabar exercises, noting that this year’s iteration would include Australia.
• The exercise will be held in the Indian Ocean.
• The decision to add Australia will make the upcoming iteration of Malabar the first exercise to include all four Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad,” states since the grouping’s reconvening in November 2017 after a decade-long hiatus.
• Royal Australian Navy last participated in Malabar 07-02 in September 2007; that iteration of the exercises also included a small Singaporean contingent.
• That exercise also coincided with the original convening of the Quad.
• The grouping was later disbanded after Chinese opposition.
• Australia’s inclusion in the drills comes at a time of heightened tensions between China and the Quad states.
• Notably, India, which viewed Canberra’s participation in Malabar with a certain degree of caution, has shed its previous hesitations amid a monthslong border standoff with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Eastern Ladakh this year.
• The expansion of Malabar is likely to further the integration of the Quad and reflects positive trends in India-Australia security cooperation.
• Having started as bilateral U.S.-India naval exercise in 1992, Malabar was formally trilateralized in 2015 to include the participation of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on a permanent basis.
• The decision to add Japan came seven years after India and Japan signed a 2008 joint declaration on security cooperation, reflecting growing convergence between New Delhi and Tokyo.
• Australia’s return to Malabar underscores the Quad’s expanding agenda in its post-2017 incarnation and will no doubt be closely watched in China.
• This year’s Malabar will likely have the effect of raising expectations for the Quad going forward.

Malabar Exercise

• Earlier, the annual Malabar Exercise has been conducted off the coast of Guam in the Philippine Sea in 2018 and off the coast of Japan in 2019.
• This year it is expected to be held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
• This year, the exercise has been planned on a ‘non-contact – at sea’
• The exercise will strengthen the coordination between the Navies of the participating countries.
• The participants of Exercise Malabar 2020 will engage to enhance safety and security in the maritime domain.
• They collectively support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules-based international order.

THE DIPLOMAT

IFSCA releases framework for regulatory sandbox

• The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) introduced a framework for regulatory sandbox enabling entities regulated by the watchdog
• to test their new solutions in a live environment and on a limited set of real customers with necessary safeguards.
• Under this sandbox framework, entities operating in the capital market, banking, insurance and financial services space shall be granted certain facilities and flexibilities to experiment with innovative financial technology (fintech) solutions in a live environment with a limited set of real customers for a limited timeframe.
• These features shall be fortified with necessary safeguards for investor protection and risk mitigation, and the regulatory sandbox will operate within the IFSC located at GIFT City.
• The IFSCA was established on April 27 this year with head office in Gandhinagar.
• In December 2019, Parliament passed a Bill to set up a unified authority for regulating all financial activities at the IFSCs in the country.
• IFSCA, with an objective to develop a world-class fintech hub at the IFSC located at GIFT-City in Gandhinagar (Gujarat), endeavours to encourage the promotion of fintech initiatives across the spectrum of banking, insurance, securities and fund management.
• All entities (regulated as well as unregulated) operating in the capital market, banking, insurance and pension sectors as well as individuals and start-ups from India and FATF-compliant jurisdictions, shall be eligible for participation in the regulatory sandbox.
• As an additional steps towards creating an innovation-centric ecosystem in the IFSC, IFSCA has proposed the creation of an ‘Innovation Sandbox’.
• It will be a testing environment where fintech firms can test their solutions in isolation from the live market, based on market-related data made available by the market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) operating in the IFSC.
• The Innovation Sandbox will be managed and facilitated by the MIIs operating within the IFSC.

ET

ICT Grand Challenge

• National Jal Jeevan Mission in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) had launched an ICT Grand Challenge
• to create innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ to be deployed at the village level.
• The ambitious mission focuses on service delivery rather than mere creation of infrastructure.
• This kind of technological challenge offers a great opportunity to ensure long-term sustainability of water supply systems in rural areas.
• This grand challenge will harness the vibrant IoT eco-systems of India for creating smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas.
• This challenge will provide opportunity to work for casue of Jal Jeevan Mission and to assure potable water supply through functional household tap connection to every rural household of the country.
• The successful developers will be given an opportunity to join the MeitYsupported incubator for further nurturing of the solution.
• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is being implemented in partnership with States for providing Functional Household Tap Water Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024.
• The programme focuses on service delivery at the household level, i.e. water supply regularly in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality, on long-term basis.
• This necessitates the use of modern technology in systematic monitoring of the programme and to capture service delivery data automatically for ensuring the quality of services.
• Digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to solve some of the biggest societal problems facing the nation.

Asafoetida (Heeng) cultivation in Indian Himalayan region

• Asafoetida, or heeng, is a common ingredient in most Indian kitchens –– so much so that the country imports Rs 600 crore worth of this pungent flavoured herb every year.
• Now, scientists at CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource, Palampur (IHBT), are on a mission to grow heeng in the Indian Himalayas.
• The first sapling has been planted in Himachal Pradesh’s Kwaring village in Lahaul valley last week.

What is asafoetida and where is it commonly cultivated?

• Ferula asafoetida is a herbaceous plant of the umbelliferae family.
• It is a perennial plant whose oleo gum resin is extracted from its thick roots and rhizome.
• The plant stores most of its nutrients inside its deep fleshy roots.
• Asafoetida is endemic to Iran and Afghanistan, the main global suppliers. It thrives in dry and cold desert conditions.
• While it is very popular in India, some European countries too use it for its medicinal properties.

How is India entering into heeng cultivation?

• Heeng is not cultivated in India.
• Government data states that India imports about 1,200 tonnes of raw heeng worth Rs 600 crore from Iran, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
• Between 1963 and 1989, India once attempted to procure asafoetida seeds, the ICAR – National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi stated. However, there are no published results of the same.
• In 2017, IHBT approached NBPGR with an experimental project idea to cultivate heeng in the Indian Himalayas.
• The challenge for the scientists here was that heeng seeds remain under a prolonged dormant phase and the rate of seed germination is just one per cent.
• To tackle this dormancy, which according to scientists is part of the plant’s adaptation technique to survive in desert conditions, they subjected the seeds to some special chemical treatments.
• In June this year, the CSIR institute inked an MoU with the agriculture ministry of Himachal Pradesh.

Which regions offer favourable conditions for asafoetida cultivation in India?

• The first asafoetida sapling, grown at IHBT’s Centre for High Altitude Biology, was planted by IHBT director in Kwaring village of Lahaul valley on October 15.
• Asafoetida best grows in dry and cold conditions.
• The plant can withstand a maximum temperature between 35 and 40 degree, whereas during winters, it can survive in temperatures up to minus 4 degree.
• During extreme weather, the plant can get dormant,
• Regions with sandy soil, very little moisture and annual rainfall of not more than 200mm are considered conducive for heeng cultivation in India.

What are some of the benefits of asafoetida?

• Published studies list out a range of medicinal properties of heeng, including relief for digestive, spasmodic and stomach disorders, asthma and bronchitis.
• The herb is commonly used to help with painful or excessive bleeding during menstruation and pre-mature labour.
• Being an anti-flatulent, the herb is fed to new mothers.

IE

Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center

• To address societal challenges through digital innovation, NITI Aayog announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS)—the first of its kind in India.
• This CIC is part ofthe AWS CIC Global Program, which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits, and educational institutions, to come together on pressing challenges, apply design thinking, test new ideas, and access the technology expertise of AWS.
• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center will enable government stakeholders, start-ups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems.
• Through the AWS CIC program, we now have the opportunity to experiment with the latest technology, and access world-class expertise that will help us advance citizen services, and better understand how frontier technologies can address the unique needs of our country.
• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies CICjoins a global network ofAWS public sector cloud innovation centers across Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and United States.

PIB

European Union’s Natural Habitats

• More than 80% of the European Union’s natural habitats are in poor or bad condition and more must be done to protect them, the European Environment Agency (EEA) warned in a report.
• The report, which covers the period 2013-2018, shows a deterioration from the 2007-2012 period when 77% of natural habitats were in “unfavourable”
• Common farmland species such as the skylark, and habitats such as wet heaths, are declining across the continent.
• Habitats and species are facing numerous pressures, including intensive agriculture, urban sprawl — coupled with tourism and recreation — unsustainable forestry activities, and pollution, among others.
• Climate change, with increasing drought and decreasing rainfall, also poses a challenge.
• In the six-year study, the EAA registered over 67,000 types of human activities that harmed the environment in the 28 EU member states, including Britain.
• Less than half of bird species in the EU, 47%, have a “good” conservation status, 5% points fewer than in the previous 2007-2012 reporting period.
• Habitats important to pollinators are another area of concern, as they are crucial to the planet’s biodiversity.
• Their conservation status has deteriorated more than others.
• The number of animal species whose conservation status was “good” was 27 %, which, while low, was 4% points higher than in the previous study.
• The areas protected by Natura 2000 covered 18% of EU land, unchanged from 2012, and 10% of marine areas, up by 4% points.
• Danish environmental group Noah, a member of the “Friends of the Earth” umbrella organisation, said however that this was not enough.
• At least 30% of land and 30% of marine areas in the EU should be protected by law, and environmental corridors should be made a part of a real trans-European nature network 

THE HINDU

Govt Enhances Expenditure Limit Of Candidates

• The poll spending limit for candidates contesting Lok Sabha and assembly elections has been enhanced by 10% based on the recommendation of the Election Commission
• that contestants be allowed to spend more on campaigning keeping in mind difficulties they may face due to COVID-19 curbs.
• The hike in expenditure limit will help candidates contesting Bihar assembly poll as well as bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 59 assembly seats.
• Over a month ago, the Election Commission had recommended a 10% hike in expenditure for all elections to be held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The notification issued by the Law Ministry said the maximum expenditure a candidate can incur for campaigning in Lok Sabha polls is now ₹77 lakh. It was so far ₹70 lakh.
• For assemblies, it has been hiked from ₹28 lakh to ₹8 lakh.
• The maximum expenditure limit for candidates to spend for their campaigning varies from State to State.
• The notification, which amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, does not mention that the limit has been hiked keeping in mind the pandemic and whether it is limited for polls being held amid COVID-19.
• The amended rules, the notification said, “Shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette and shall remain in force till such date as may be notified by the Central Government.” 

THE HINDU

Huge cat found etched into desert among Nazca Lines in Peru

• The dun sands of southern Peru, etched centuries ago with geoglyphs of a hummingbird, a monkey, an orca – and a figure some would dearly love to believe is an astronaut – have now revealed the form of an enormous cat lounging across a desert hillside.
• The feline Nazca line, dated to between 200 BC and 100 BC, emerged during work to improve access to one of the hills that provides a natural vantage point from which many of the designs can be seen. 

• A Unesco world heritage site since 1994, the Nazca Lines, which are made up of hundreds of geometric and zoomorphic images, were created by removing rocks and earth to reveal the contrasting materials below.
• Between 80 and 100 new figures had emerged over recent years in the Nazca and Palpa valleys, all of which predated the Nazca culture (AD200-700).
• These are smaller in size, drawn on to hillsides, and clearly belong to an earlier tradition.
• The archaeologist said the cat had been put out during the late Paracas era, which ran from 500BC to AD200.

THE GUARDIAN