Current Affairs Jun 30 – GES Reporter

Fortification of rice

Why in News?

To address anemia and micro-nutrient deficiency in the country, Centre has expedited capacity of the fortification of rice to increase from 15,000 MT to 3.5 lakh MT by incentivising and creating awareness among rice millers.

Earlier Steps

Government of India had approved a Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System” for a period of 3 years beginning in 2019-20.
NITI Aayog also in its “Strategy for new INDIA @75” has put suggested a mandatory fortification of staples and to incorporate fortified food-grains in Government programmes, TPDS (NFSA) ICDS, Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDM) etc.
The Department of Food & Public Distribution along with Food Corporation of India started distributing Fortified Rice under ICDS/MDM from April, 2021.
Presently, there is no scheme available for connecting rice millers with banks.
However, letter was sent to States to connect Millers with Banks in respect of various provisions of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package of MSME.
Also, the incremental cost of fortification of rice is fixed at Rs 0.73/Kg.
The Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on “Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System currently implemented in 6 States, – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have started the distribution of fortified rice under pilot scheme.
The State of Kerala and Odisha are likely to start the distribution shortly.

About

Fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets and a step towards nutritional security and to fight anemia and malnutrition in the country.
This strategy has a proven track record across many geographies in the world.
It may be noted that in India, 58.5% of young children aged 6-59 months, 53% of women within the reproductive age group and 22.7% of all men aged 15-49 years of age suffer from anemia (Source: National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – IV (2015-16).

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TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION FORUM (TIF)

Why in News?

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Navy and M/s Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore for creation of a joint Technology Incubation Forum (TIF).
The Technology Incubation Forum reflects the joint vision of Indian Navy and Bharat Electronics Limited towards innovative and creative thinking and fostering development of Emerging Technologies.
The broadcharter of the TIF includes technology development in the domain of Weapons & Sensors, Information Technology and Emerging Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Platforms/ Robotics, Image Processing and Cognitive Radio.
The TIF will spearhead mission mode development of deployable products under the Government’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative with involvement of Industry, Academia and Start-Ups.

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Electoral Bearer Bond Scheme 2018

The Government of India has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 vide Gazette Notification No. 20 dated 02nd January 2018.
As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person , who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.
The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches.
The Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.

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Asia’s longest and world’s fifth longest High Speed Track for automobiles

Why in News?

Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises inaugurated NATRAX- the High Speed Track (HST) in Indore which is the longest such track in Asia.
NATRAX, developed in an area of 1000 acres of land, is a one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests for widest categories of vehicles from 2 wheelers to heavy tractor trailers.

About

The NATRAX centre has multiple test capabilities like measurements of maximum speed, acceleration, constant speed fuel consumption, emission tests through real road driving simulation, high speed handling and stability evaluation during manoeuvred such as lane change, high speed durability testing, etc. and is a Centre of excellence for Vehicle Dynamics.

High Speed Track (HST)

HST is used for measuring the maximum speed capability of high-end cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Tesla and so forth which cannot be measured on any of the Indian test tracks.
Being centrally located in Madhya Pradesh, it is accessible to most of the major Original equipment manufacturer, OEMs.
Foreign OEMs will be looking at NATRAX HST for the development of prototype cars for Indian conditions . At present, foreign OEMs go to their respective high speed track abroad for high speed test requirements.
It is one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests, being one of the largest in the world.
Vehicle can achieve max speed of 375 Kmph on curves with steering control and it has less banking on ovals making it also one of the safest test track globally.

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Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga River Basin

Why in News?

Ministry of Jal Shakti released the Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga Basin.
The present glacial lake atlas is based on the inventoried glacial lakes in part of Ganga River basin from its origin to foothills of Himalayas .
Also launched the NHP –Bhuvan portal of NRSC.
The National Hydrology Project or NHP-Bhuvan Portal is a repository of information on the initiatives undertaken by NRSC under NHP with a facility to download the reports and knowledge products being developed by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) .
National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Hyderabad as one of the Implementing Agency under the National Hydrology Project (NHP), is carrying out hydrological studies using satellite data and geospatial techniques.
As a part of the responsibilities entrusted to NRSC under NHP, detailed glacial lake inventory, prioritization for Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk, and simulation of GLOF for selected lakes have been taken up for all the catchments of Indian Himalayan Rivers.
In the present study, glacial lakes with water spread area greater than 0.25 ha have been mapped using Resourcesat-2 (RS-2) Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor-IV (LISS-IV) satellite data using visual interpretation techniques.
Based on its process of lake formation, location, and type of damming material, glacial lakes are identified in nine different types, majorly grouped into four categories.

The expected utility of the atlas is:

The atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic glacial lake database for Ganga River basin with size > 0.25 ha
In the context of climate change impact analysis, the atlas can be used as reference data for carrying out change analysis, both with respect to historical and future time periods
The atlas also provides authentic database for regular or periodic monitoring changes in spatial extent (expansion/shrinkage), and formation of new lakes
The atlas can also be used in conjunction with glacier information for their retreat and climate impact studies.
The information on glacial lakes like their type, hydrological, topographical, and associated glaciers are useful in identifying the potential critical glacial lakes and consequent GLOF risk.
Central and State Disaster Management Authorities can make use of the atlas for disaster mitigation planning and related program.

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“Enforcing Contracts Portal”

Why in News?

Justice Department launches “Enforcing Contracts Portal”.
The portal aims to promote ease of doing business and improve ‘Contract Enforcement Regime’ in country.
The portal is envisioned to be a comprehensive source of information pertaining to the legislative and policy reforms being undertaken on the “Enforcing Contracts” parameters.
The portal to provide easy access to latest information on commercial cases in Dedicated Commercial Courts of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
The portal to also provide access to repository of commercial laws for ready reference.

Doing Business Report

The Doing Business Report of World Bank Group benchmarks business regulations across 191 economies of the world.
Within this, the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index is a ranking system which is an indication of an economy’s position relative to that of other economies across 11 areas of business regulation.
The “Enforcing Contracts” indicator is one such essential area that measures time and cost to resolve a standardized commercial dispute as well as a series of good practices in the judiciary.
Currently, only the cities of Delhi and Mumbai are under the purview of the Ease of Doing Business survey by World Bank. Kolkata and Bengaluru are likely to be included in the Doing Business Report in future.
Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, as the nodal department has been monitoring an array of legislative and policy reforms to strengthen the “Enforcing Contracts” regime for Ease of Doing Business in India in coordination with e-Committee, Supreme Court of India and the High Courts of Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Karnataka.
The portal is envisioned to be a comprehensive source of information pertaining to the legislative and policy reforms being undertaken on the “Enforcing Contracts” parameters.
It includes the latest data related to the functioning and disposal of commercial cases in the Dedicated Commercial Courts of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
These Dedicated Commercial Courts have been established for speedy resolution of commercial disputes and boast of dedicated infrastructure and exclusive judicial human power.
The new portal also hosts online reporting by all High Courts regarding the Mediation and Arbitration centres annexed to the Commercial Courts in order to monitor and promote institutional mediation & arbitration by way of Pre-institution Mediation and Settlement(PIMS) of commercial cases.
PIMS has been introduced with the aim of reducing pendency of cases and to promote mediation as a viable dispute resolution alternative in commercial cases.

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Creation of Ratings system for MSMEs

Why in News?

Minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways has called for creation of ratings system for MSMEs and Dashboard for effective monitoring of MSME schemes.
Simple and transparent methodology should be evolved to give ratings to MSMEs having good turnover, GST records to enable them to get finances from the banks and institutions.
Also proposed setting up of dashboard for monitoring schemes to prevent delays in decision making.
SIDBI to take decisions within three months and provide support.
MSMEs contribute nearly 30 percent to country’s GDP and provide employment to more than 11 crore people which in terms of volume is second after the agricultural sector.

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Association of cloud bursts with forest fires

Why in News?

A recent study has found a connection between the formation of the tiny particles, the size of a cloud droplet on which water vapor condenses leading to the formation of clouds and forest fires.
The quantity of such particles called the cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs) were found to have peaks associated with forest fire events.
Scientists measured the activation of cloud condensation nuclei and studied its impact on high altitude cloud formation and complexity of local weather phenomenon under the influence of different weather condition in the ecologically sensitive regions of Central Himalayas for the first time.
Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which can activate and grow into fog or cloud droplets in the presence of supersaturation (SS) was measured by a droplet measurement technology’s (DMT).
This first-time study showed that the highest concentration of CCN was found to be associated with excessive fire forest activities of the Indian subcontinent.
There were other peaks also associated with a variety of events, such as long-range transportation and local residential emission.
This research will be helpful in source allocation of pollutants reaching the high-altitude regions of Garhwal Himalaya.
Also, it will provide the better understanding for the cloud formation mechanism and weather extremities over this region.

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Advance deep tech-based research in India

Why in News?

The Indian research community will soon be able to pursue industry-relevant research opportunities in the areas of deep technologies that are novel, transformative, and can have a ground-breaking impact on a national scale.
The opportunities will be offered by the first-of-its-kind research initiative called ‘Fund for Industrial Research Engagement (FIRE)’ launched by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in collaboration with Intel India.
It will increase research opportunities in the space of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML), platform systems, circuits & architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), materials & devices, security, and so on from edge to cloud.

SERB-FIRE

SERB-FIRE is a novel initiative to bring together industry and academia on a common platform to exchange ground-breaking ideas and co-promote innovative research.
The FIRE program is a joint government and industry initiative with a co-funding mechanism to promote innovative technology solutions and strengthen academic research through collaboration with key research and development (R&D) organizations in India.
Having been conceived in collaboration with Intel India, it is also being extended to other industry members, which would increase its impact and reach.
The program intends to select highly impactful research projects in every cycle (typically once or twice a year), which have breakthrough potential at a national or global level. It will support the best researchers in academia with funding, mentoring, and industry connect.
As the next step, the FIRE program will share a Request for Proposal (RFP) and invite the Indian research community to submit research proposals.

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“Green Freight Corridor-2”

Why in News?

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has accorded high priority to building greater synergies between the Major Ports and Non-Major Ports in order to promote coastal trade and to provide sustainable, cost-effective and efficient Intermodal & Multimodal customer solutions.
By doing so, the Ministry aims to provide seaborne connectivity to the trade and industries in the hinterland, reduce congestion on the road and rail besides bringing down logistics cost.
As a step in this direction, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways inaugurated the loading operation on the maiden voyage of Coastal Shipping Service “Green Freight Corridor-2” from Cochin Port to Beypore and Azhikkhal Ports.
Green Freight Corridor Service is operated by Round The Coast Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, a JM Baxi Group Company. This service will connect Kochi-Beypore-Azhikkal, and later Kollam port will be added to this service.

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Not-for-Profit Hospital Model in India

Why in News?

NITI Aayog released a comprehensive study on the not-for-profit hospital model in the country, in a step towards closing the information gap on such institutions and facilitating robust policymaking in this area.
The study provides insights into the operation model of not-for-profit hospitals.
It presents research-based findings on such hospitals—categorized under ownership and premise of service—and makes subsequent comparisons with private hospitals and health schemes of the Union government.
The not-for-profit hospital sector provides not only curative but also preventive healthcare.
It links healthcare with social reform, community engagement, and education.
It uses government resources and grants to provide cost-effective healthcare to people without being concerned about profits. However, over the years, this sector has remained understudied.
The report proposes short- and long-term policy interventions—such as developing criteria to identify these hospitals, ranking them through a performance index, and promoting top hospitals for practising philanthropy, among others.
It also highlights the need to use the expertise of these hospitals in managing human resources with limited finance in remote areas.

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Chamoli disaster due to avalanche

Why in News?

The flash flood on February 7 in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand was due to large mass of snow, ice and rock avalanche along with a hanging mass of rock crashing into the Raunthi Garh valley floor.
This impact pulverised the combination of rock, snow and ice causing a rapid flow downstream of Raunthi Garh and into the Rishiganga valley leading to the deluge, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) said in a report.
Due to the large volume of debris and the deluge, an artificial dam had formed near the confluence of Raunthi Garh and Rishiganga River, by the flowing debris which blocked the flow of Rishiganga River and formed a small lake temporarily.
Climate change, that was triggering higher temperatures in the upper reaches of the Himalaya had a role and the constant freezing and thawing of ice made parts of rocks weak making them vulnerable to collapse.
Areas having risks posed by smaller mountain glaciers were also becoming important sites where such hazards formed.
The steep higher order streams and the narrow river valleys in the high-altitude areas of Himalayas remain extremely hazard prone, which are not only vulnerable to GLOF/Landslide Lake Outburst Flood (LLOF) hazards but have also become locale for a major disaster caused due to the domino effect of large/mega landslide and avalanche.

About Avalanche

An avalanche (also called a snowslide) is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earthquakes.

THE HINDU

China certified malaria-free

Why in News?

China was certified as malaria-free by the World Health Organisation, following a 70-year effort to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease.
The country reported 30 million cases of the infectious disease annually in the 1940s but has now gone four consecutive years without an indigenous case.
Countries that have achieved at least three consecutive years of zero indigenous cases can apply for WHO certification of their malaria-free status.
They must present rigorous evidence — and demonstrate the capacity to prevent transmission re-emerging.
China becomes the 40th territory certified malaria-free by the Geneva-based WHO.
The last countries to gain the status were El Salvador (2021), Algeria and Argentina (2019), and Paraguay and Uzbekistan (2018).
There is a separate list of 61 countries where malaria never existed, or disappeared without specific measures.

Global progress plateauing

China is the first country in the WHO’s Western Pacific region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than three decades.
The only others with certified status are Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei (1987).
The WHO’s World Malaria Report 2020 said global progress against the disease was plateauing, particularly in African countries bearing the brunt of cases and deaths.
Over 90% of malaria deaths occur in Africa, the majority — more than 265,000 — in young children.
China’s pioneering malaria battle
In the 1950s, Beijing started working out where malaria was spreading and began to combat it with preventative anti-malarial medicines.
In 1967, China launched a scientific programme to find new malaria treatments, which led to the discovery in the 1970s of artemisinin — the core compound of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), which are the most effective antimalarial drugs available.
In the 1980s, China was among the first countries to extensively test the use of insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria.

About Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals.
Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches.
Malaria is caused by single-celled microorganisms of the Plasmodium group.
The disease is most commonly spread by an infected female Anopheles mosquito.
The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito’s saliva into a person’s blood.
The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce.
Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be spread by humans.
Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum, whereas P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae generally cause a milder form of malaria.
The species P. knowlesi rarely causes disease in humans.

THE HINDU