Current Affairs Jun 4 – GES Reporter

“Hisaab ki kitab”

Why in News?

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs launched the six modules of short films of Investor Education & Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) titled “Hisaab Ki Kitaab”.
“Hisaab ki kitab” is a series of 6 short films, developed by CSC eGov as a part of their training tool.
There are 6 short films/ modules of 5 minutes duration each.
The various modules highlights the importance of budget, saving, importance of Insurance schemes, various social security schemes of the government etc.
The modules also interestingly portray the consequences of a common man falling prey to the schemes and how they should protect themselves from Ponzi schemes.

PIB

INS Sandhayak

Why in News?

INS Sandhayak, the first of its class indigenously designed and built Hydrographic Survey Ship of Indian Navy, will soon be decommissioned after serving the nation for 40 years.

About

Sandhayak was conceptualised by then Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India, Rear Adm FL Fraser, AVSM, Padma Shri who had a strong desire for indigenously designed and built hydrographic survey vessels in India.
The design was finalised by Naval Headquarters and the construction of the ship began at GRSE Kolkata (then Calcutta) by laying the keel in 1978. The ship was commissioned to the Indian Navy on 26 Feb 1981.
Apart from Survey Missions, the ship has been an active participant in many significant operations such as Op Pawan – assisting the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1987, Op Sarong, Op Rainbow – rendering humanitarian assistance post Tsunami of 2004 and participation in maiden joint INDO-US HADR Exercise ‘Tiger-Triumph’.

PIB

Road upgradation project in Sikkim

Why in News?

The Asian Development Bank and the Government of India signed a $2.5 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan to support project preparation and design activities to upgrade major district roads in Sikkim that will help improve connectivity to important towns, rural areas, and pilgrimage and tourist destinations in the northeastern state.
PRF will support the state government’s priority in improving road connectivity in the hill state through planning and designing of major district and other roads and bridges that will help boost the state’s economy and improve accessibility for people in remote villages.
Sikkim’s road network requires upgradation to all-weather roads as frequent landslides and erosion damage roads and disrupt intra-state connectivity.
The ADB-funded North Eastern State Roads Investment Program launched in 2011 had earlier supported road improvements in Sikkim.

About ADB

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

PIB

Indus Best Mega Food Park

Why in News?

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries inaugurated the Indus Best Mega Food Park, at Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
The Mega Food Park will ensure value addition, longer shelf life for farm produce, better price realization for farmers, excellent storage facility and will provide an alternate market for farmers in the region.
The Park will also provide direct and indirect employment.

About Mega Food Park Scheme

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that the agriculture sector grows exponentially and become a major contributor to doubling the farmer’s income and the ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’ initiative promoted by Prime Minister.
To give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with a particular focus on perishables, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Mega Food Park Scheme in the country.
Mega Food Parks create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster-based approach.
Common facilities and enabling infrastructure is created at the Central Processing Centre and facilities for primary processing and storage are created near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs).
Under the Scheme, the Government of India provides financial assistance up to Rs. 50.00 Crore per Mega Food Park project.

PIB

Fixation of Minimum Wages and National Floor Wages

Why in News?

The Ministry of Labour & Employment Government issued an order and has constituted the Expert Group to provide technical inputs and recommendations on fixation of Minimum Wages and National Floor Minimum Wages.
The Group has been constituted for a period of three years from the date of notification.
The Expert Group is chaired by Prof Ajit Mishra, Director, Institute of Economic Growth.

Aim

The Expert group will give recommendations to the Government on Minimum Wages and National Floor Wage.
To arrive at the wage rates, the group will look into the international best practices on the wages and evolve a scientific criteria and methodology for fixation of wages.

PIB

Utilisation of domestic coal

Why in News?

The Government of India has enabled State governments and UTs by allowing flexibility in utilization of domestic coal amongst power generating stations to reduce the cost of power generation.
States can use their Linkage domestic coal, under flexible utilization of coal, in the Case-2 Scenario-4 power plants leading to reduction in cost of Power. Entire savings shall be passed on to the electricity consumers.
At present consumers of Punjab, Haryana and UP will benefit from this.

Significance

This will also help in reduction in import of coal and reduce the carbon emission as the coal will be used in the more efficient power plants with lower Station Heat Rate.

Case-2, Scenario-4 power plants

The Case-2, Scenario-4 power plants are those power plants which have been bid based on the Net Heat Rate and the power generated from such power plants is supplied to the state itself.
These power plants have been established through a bidding process under the guidelines issued by Ministry of Power under Section 63 of the Electricity Act 2003.

PIB

Clean Energy Ministerial’s (CEM)

Why in News?

India along with Govt. of United Kingdom launched new workstream to promote industrial energy efficiency under the Clean Energy Ministerial’s (CEM) – Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) co-ordinated by UNIDO , at the 12th Chief Energy Ministerial (CEM).
India is committed to cut emissions intensity per unit of GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030.
The commitment hinges on effective deployment of low carbon technologies in Energy Intensive Sectors like Iron & Steel, Cement and Petrochemicals.

PIB

Oxygen Sensor

Why in News?

Indian Scientists have developed a nanorods-based oxygen sensor which works at room temperature with assistance of UV irradiation and can detect oxygen gas concentrations in places such as underground mines, at higher altitudes, inside aeroplanes and research labs.
Monitoring O2 concentration in very low ppm-level is of paramount importance, and a fast and selective oxygen sensor working at room temperature can save lives in places like underground mines, higher altitudes and improve the accuracy of numerous experiments being conducted in research labs.
A team of scientists have fabricated a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) nanorods array-based oxygen sensor which works at room temperature with assistance of UV irradiation and can detect broad ppm range of oxygen gas concentrations. They used titanium oxide for the purpose and work.
The sensor gives the best sensitivity with low power consumption and works at room temperature.
The sensor works in oxygen concentrations ranging from 25 ppm to 10 lakh ppm (100%) with good stability.

PIB

Reason behind decline in star formation activity 8 billion years ago

Why in News?

Astronomers tracking star formation activity of the young Universe billions of years ago have long been intrigued by the fact that star formation in galaxies which was at its highest about 8-10 billion years ago, had declined steadily thereafter.
Searching for the reason behind this, they have found that the likely cause for the decline is that galaxies were running out of fuel.
The fuel critical to hydrogen formation is atomic hydrogen gas content of galaxies.
A team of astronomers from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune, and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to measure the atomic hydrogen gas content of galaxies 9 billion years ago.
The measurement of the atomic hydrogen gas mass was done by using the GMRT to search for a spectral line in atomic hydrogen, which can only be detected with radio telescopes.

PIB

SAGE (Seniorcare Ageing Growth Engine) initiative

Why in News?

With the objective of focussing on the needs of India’s fast-rising elderly population, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will launch Senior care Ageing Growth Engine (SAGE) project to select, support and create a “one-stop access” of elderly care products and services by credible start-ups.
Start-ups can apply for being a part of SAGE through a dedicated portal.
The start-ups will be selected on the basis of innovative products and services, which they should be able to provide across sectors such as health, housing, care centres, apart from technological access linked to finances, food and wealth management, and legal guidance.
India’s elderly population is on the rise, and as per surveys, the share of elders, as a percentage of the total population in the country, is expected to increase from around 7.5% in 2001 to almost 12.5% by 2026, and surpass 19.5% by 2050.
The SAGE project is shaped on the recommendations of the empowered expert committee (EEC) report on start-ups for elderly.

PIB

SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21

Why in News?

India saw significant improvement in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to clean energy, urban development and health in 2020, according to the NITI Aayog’s 2020 SDG Index.
However, there has been a major decline in the areas of industry, innovation and infrastructure as well as decent work and economic growth.
Kerala retained its position at the top of the rankings in the third edition of the index, with a score of 75, followed by Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, both scoring 72.
At the other end of the scale, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing States. However, all States showed some improvement from last year’s scores, with Mizoram and Haryana seeing the biggest gains.

Holistic development

Developed by a global consultative process on holistic development, the 17 SDGs have a 2030 deadline.
The NITI Aayog launched its index in 2018 to monitor the country’s progress on the goals through data-driven assessment, and foster a competitive spirit among the States and Union Territories in achieving them.
In 2019, the indicators for inequality included the growth rates for household expenditure per capita among the bottom 40% of rural and urban populations, as well as the Gini coefficient — a measure of the distribution of income — in rural and urban India.
The 2018 indicators included the Palma ratio, another metric for income inequality.

Greater weightage

Such economic measures have been omitted from the indicators used for this SDG in the 2020 edition of the NITI Aayog’s Index.
Instead, it gives greater weightage to social equality indicators such as the percentage of women and SC/ST representatives in State legislatures and the panchayati raj institutions, and the levels of crime against SC/ST communities.
The only economic indicator this year is the percentage of population in the lowest two wealth quintiles.
The country’s score on the SDG related to industry and infrastructure dropped 10 points to 55, while the scores on decent work dropped three points to 61.
The Clean Water and Sanitation SDG also saw a five-point drop, despite flagship government schemes in this sector. In a more welcome development, the SDGs on eradication of poverty and hunger both saw significant improvement.

THE HINDU

New geometrical lines discovered in Thar Desert

Why in News?

Using Google Earth images, drone observations and field visits, two independent researchers from France have identified eight sites around Jaisalmer in the Thar Desert, that show linear features resembling geoglyphs. Geoglyphs are large, un-explained geometrical patterns on land usually proposed to be man-made features.
The largest concentration of geoglyphs is reported from southern Peru.
Main area of interest was Boha, a small village 40 km to the north of Jaisalmer where they noticed a series of concentric and linear features.
They named these features Boha geoglyphs and suggested that the features could be at least 150 years old.

THE HINDU

Exploration of Venus Mission

Why in News?

NASA has selected two missions to the planet Venus, Earth’s nearest neighbour. The missions called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS have been selected based on their potential for scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans.
These missions will launch between 2028-2030.

About Venus

For those on Earth, Venus is the second-brightest object in the sky after the moon.
It appears bright because of its thick cloud cover that reflects and scatters light.
But while Venus, which is the second closest planet to the Sun, is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar sizes, the two planets have significant differences between them.

Have humans visited Venus?

Because of the planet’s harsh environment, no humans have visited it and even the spacecraft that have been sent to the planet have not survived for a very long time.
So far, spacecraft from several nations have visited the planet.
The first such spacecraft was the Soviet Union’s Venera series (the spacecraft, however, could not survive for long because of the planet’s harsh conditions), followed by NASA’s Magellan Mission that studied Venus from 1990-1994.
As of now, Japan’s Akatsuki mission is studying the planet from Orbit.

So what are these missions?

Both missions are part of the space agency’s Discovery Program, which began in 1992 to give scientists the chance to launch some missions that use fewer resources and have shorter developmental times. The two selections are a part of the ninth Discovery Program and were made from proposals submitted in 2019.
DAVINCI+ is short for ‘Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging’ and is the first US-led mission to the planet’s atmosphere since 1978. It will try to understand Venus’ composition to see how the planet formed and evolved.
This mission also consists of a descent sphere that will pass through the planet’s thick atmosphere and make observations and take measurements of noble gases and other elements.
Significantly, this mission will also try to return the first high resolution photographs of a geological feature that is unique to Venus. This feature, which is called “tesserae” may be comparable to Earth’s continents.
The presence of tesseraes may suggest that Venus has tectonic plates like Earth.
The second mission called VERITAS is short for ‘Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy’ and will map the planet’s surface to determine its geologic history and understand the reasons why it developed so differently from Earth.
VERITAS will orbit Venus with a radar that will help to create a three dimensional reconstruction of its topography which might be able to tell scientists if processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active there.
This mission will also map the emissions from Venus’s surface that may help in determining the type of rocks that exist on Venus–a piece of information that is not exactly known yet.
It will also determine if active volcanoes are releasing water vapour into the atmosphere.

Why Venus?

The results from DAVINCI+ are expected to reshape the understanding of terrestrial planet formation in the solar system and beyond.
Taken together, both missions are expected to tell scientists more about the planet’s thick cloud cover and the volcanoes on its surface.
Further, scientists speculate about the existence of life on Venus in its distant past and the possibility that life may exist in the top layers of its clouds where temperatures are less extreme.

EAGLE Act

Why in News?

A legislation to remove the per-country cap on permanent residency visas, or green cards, for the US has been introduced in the House of Representatives.
Recently, Democrat Representative introduced the Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021, which, according to their statement, will “benefit the US economy by allowing American employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace”.
The bill will be advantageous for Indian job-seekers who currently rely on temporary visas or await green cards to work in the US.

What does the EAGLE Act say about the per-country limit?

The bipartisan act seeks to phase out the seven per cent per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raises the per-country limit on family-sponsored visas from seven per cent to 15 per cent. It provides for a nine-year period for the elimination of this limit.
The seven per cent limit was introduced in the mid-20th century, which has led countries with relatively small populations to be allocated the same number of visas as a relatively large-population country.